“We’re both giving up everything we’ve ever worked for,” I said, the magnitude of it settling over me.
“No,” Bash corrected, pulling me closer. “We’re giving up things we worked for before we knew what we really wanted. Now we know, and we’re building something better.”
I leaned into his warmth, grateful beyond words for his certainty when mine wavered. “Back to Cascade Bay, then. Back to being Eddie York and finishing my degree.”
“Back to our apartment, our life, our friends who don’t care about titles or scandals.” Bash pressed a kiss to my temple. “Back to being ourselves.”
“What will we do for money after my father stops funding your security detail?”
“We’ll figure it out. I’ve got savings, military benefits, references from this assignment that should help me find private security work. You’ll have your degree soon enough, and then you can work too. We’ll make it work, Eddie. People do it every day.”
I thought about the life we’d be building—modest by the standards I’d grown up with, but honest and authentic and ours. No royal obligations, no family expectations, no performance required. Just Eddie and Bash, building a future based on love instead of duty.
“I can’t wait,” I said, and meant it completely.
“Your father surprised me,” Bash said after a moment. “I thought he’d try to bribe me to leave you alone or threaten to destroy my life if I didn’t.”
“He still might,” I said with a slight smile. “But I think he’s beginning to understand that I’m serious about this. That I’m not going to change my mind or come to my senses or whatever he was hoping would happen.”
“And the king?”
“Father will handle Uncle Henry. They understand institutional priorities, and a quiet compromise is better than an ongoing scandal.” I turned to face Bash fully. “Are you sure about this? Really sure? Because once we go back to school, once people figure out we’re together, there’s no going back. Your career will be over, we’ll be completely dependent on each other, and we’ll be under more scrutiny than you can possibly imagine.”
Bash cupped my face in his hands, those dark eyes steady and sure. “Eddie, I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. I love you. I choose you. I choose us.”
I kissed him then, pouring all my gratitude and love and commitment into the connection between us. “I love you too.”
EPILOGUE
TEN YEARS LATER – EDDIE
The sky was sharp blue, the air rich with the scent of honeysuckle and fresh grass, and the temperature a muggy thirty-two degrees Celsius—or ninety Fahrenheit, as Bash would insist on saying—which was still a good ten degrees warmer than I preferred. In the distance, a string of clouds crowned the Smoky Mountains, proving how they’d earned their name.
We’d lived here for five months now, but I still wasn’t accustomed to the views. Every morning, when I stepped onto our wraparound porch with my coffee, it struck me how blessed I was to call this place home and to share that privilege with the man I loved. My husband now, Bash, and I’d taken his surname, making me Gregory Puller—though nearly everyone called me Eddie these days.
Except for one little girl with beautiful brown hair, fair skin, and my green eyes. She called me Daddy.
“You guys picked a phenomenal spot,” Orson said, stretching his legs in one of the wooden loungers Bash’s father had handcrafted. “The view is amazing. And I love how you kept the original elements as much as possible. The place has character.”
It did. We’d purchased the century-old farmhouse for a fraction of its potential worth and invested months of labor and most of our savings into transforming it into exactly what we’d envisioned. Only ten kilometers from Bash’s parents, it was our little slice of heaven. “Thank you. The renovations took forever, but it was worth it.”
“Is it true Bash’s father did half of it himself?” Nils asked while gently rocking his five-month-old daughter Freja, who’d fallen asleep in his arms.
“Honestly, I don’t know what we would’ve managed without Dad. He handled most of the flooring and cabinetry, but more importantly, he kept the contractors honest whilst Bash was away on assignment.” I couldn’t keep the fondness from my voice when speaking about my father-in-law. “It was perfect timing, as he’d just retired and was delighted to have a proper project.”
Nils grinned. “You mean to say that bossing around people is not your strong suit?”
Everyone laughed, including me. I still detested confrontations, and there were moments when I marveled at how I’d ever summoned the courage to stand up to my father and uncle that Christmas Eve so many years ago.
“I was more than happy to delegate that responsibility to Dad. He’s rather more comfortable with what he calls ‘keeping people honest’ than I am.”
A loud cheering had us all look over to a makeshift football field, where Adan and Tore were playing against Floris and Farron, with Bash serving as referee. Well, attempting to referee, as he was laughing too hard at their competitive banter to maintain proper authority. And by football, I meant soccer, obviously.
For the first time in years, our little group had reunited with not only the four princes who’d made that fateful pact a decade ago, but with our partners and children as well. The result was delightful chaos, and I was savoring every moment.
“Floris and Farron are determined to wipe the floor with Adan and Tore,” Orson said, taking a long swig from his beer.
“You mean Farron and Tore are determined to wipe the floor with each other,” Nils corrected him. “Those two are still rivals on the field.”
