I blinked. “What?”
I’d never known exactly when I was born. When they found me on the shores of Mysthelm, the healers and midwives estimated my age, but they could only guess around what season: spring.
“I may have talked to Thecae and his mother.” Nox rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “They remembered when you were born. The spring equinox. Your parents always told everyone you were their new beginning, the warmth after the winter’s cold.”
My gaze dropped back to the silhouettes. I reached forward and traced the outline of my mother’s hair, feeling every smooth dip in the wood.
“And Thecae also gave me the wooden plank,” he said, even softer this time. “It’s a remnant from the shipwreck. The only thing that survived, besides you.”
I steepled my hands, pressing my fingers into my lips as I exhaled. A tremor shuddered through me.
For so long, my past had been a shadow. Faceless, unreachable, slipping through my fingers. I’d uncovered more of myself all those weeks ago in Tenebra, but even then, we had a mission. We had to keep moving, and I couldn’t let myself get caught up in ancient history.
But they werealwayshere. My mother and father, carved from the wreckage that stole them from me and shaped by the hands of the man I loved. A man whosawme, who knew what I’d lost and had wanted to start something new.
Our new beginning.
Tears slipped free before I could stop them. They traced the curve of my cheek and fell onto the wood, staining the corner of my father’s silhouette. My fingers hovered just above the plank, not quite touching it this time.
“I don’t…” My voice cracked. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Nox leaned forward to kiss my forehead. “I just wanted you to have a piece of them. They would be so proud of you.I’mso proud of you.”
“You have to say that,” I commented with a choked laugh, wiping a finger under my eye. “It’s my birthday.”
Something occurred to me, and my back snapped straighter. “You didn’t throw a surprise party for me, did you? Nobody’s going to jump out from under the bed?”
He chuckled. “I certainly hope not. If so, they’ve been there for a while. Do youwanta party?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, then carefully moved the planks of wood out of the way so I could settle in his lap. “Maybe a dinner. But I wantlotsof gifts.”
He snorted at that.
“Or just you,” I murmured as I tucked my head under his chin. “We could sit like this all day. No meetings, no couriers delivering messages to theillustriousGovernor Duma.”
He leaned us back onto the pillows propped against the headboard. “I think I can arrange that. They can all wait until tomorrow.”
I craned my neck to meet his gaze, taking in the little flecks of silver glinting in the navy pools. His lips found mine, warm and soft and unhurried. Like the hint of springtime spreading across the cold, cracked winter.
Tomorrow, I thought to myself.
Our tomorrow had finally come.
Epilogue
VERA
I rubbed the two letters in my grip, the smoothness of the parchment at odds with the roughness of the contents. It was fitting, I supposed. Pretty things often hid the harsh reality beneath.
As if I hadn’t already read them a thousand times, I flicked the first one open, my eyes scanning my own handwriting in the low torchlight of the docks.
To Mother and Nox,
Thank you both for everything you’ve done to get my life back to some semblance of normal. Being with you again has reminded me what it’s like to have a family, and I love you more than you could possibly know.
But nothing about my life has ever been normal. And for so long, I’ve been forced to do what others wanted me to. I need to figure out where I go from here, and I don’t think I can do that in Drakorum. There’s too much pain there. Too many memories.
I’ll come back when I’m ready. Don’t try to search for me. All I want is for you to live your lives—you deserve that as much as I do.
