"I didn't want you to reconsider, Faylanna," Tavis said, looking down at her again. She lost herself in his eyes, and found the answer to the question that had been in the back of her mind. The cause of him using her full given name was there, shining clearly in his thoughts. She saw the other side of all her reasons for disliking the use of that name, the positive in all of it that he had seen. Where she had called herself arrogant, he saw her as confident and decisive. He thought she was a little humble, in spite of her father's supposed airs. He had looked at the things she had told him and decided that he loved her for all of who she was, so he used the name that included those aspects of her. Her heart warmed at the thought, which made him smile at her more broadly still.

"I need to go back," Faylanna said into the silence after the wonder of this realization faded and she came back to her senses. "I can't leave my father there, and there's so much to set to rights with the estate. I'm the last of my House, so it falls to me to do it."

"No." The finality in both Tavis and Keari's voices shocked her as they answered together.

"I won't take you back there, Faylanna," Keari said, holding a hand up to forestall her argument. "Beyond even the laws regarding Legacies, I don't want to take you anywhere near that house or the fields, not after what we saw. I can't say what dangers linger there. Better to take you away from here, perhaps back to Rianza."

She opened her mouth to argue, but Tavis spoke before she could. "Be reasonable. We'll go back eventually, but not alone, not even just the four of us."

He knew she couldn't argue with that, and she knew he was right. Rushing to return to Iondis would not bring her father back. The dead would wait, Calder and all the others too. The estate wasn't hers to do anything with yet either, she knew, not until the Justice Ministry had properly executed her father's Legacy. Because of her family's status as n.o.bility, that would require the involvement of the Emperor.

As if knowing where her thoughts had led her, Keari said quietly, "I can a.s.sure you that both I and my father will ensure that the process moves swiftly, and you will have every resource we can give you to put your home right again, Faylanna."

Tavis straightened at the prince's words, and she felt the flash of panic go through him. Faylanna said quickly, "I- Tavis knows, Keari. Just after the bond, it crossed my mind and he saw-"

Keari's laugh cut her off. "I knew what it likely meant when you said you two had bonded. It's virtually impossible to keep secrets from your partner, especially during the first hours after the bond has formed. I can't think of anyone I've ever known who has managed it. But please, Tavis, unless we're in official company, just call me Keari. I'm not one for formality when it can be avoided. In any case, I think it's time we return, to Rianza and my house. Eliar must be just about bursting to find out what's happened by now."

Tavis was embarra.s.sed by the request but nodded. Faylanna smiled. They all rose and Keari put the fire out as Faylanna drew Tavis away a little. "There was something I meant to tell you earlier, and I want to say it out loud, so I know you hear it all. Thank you. You've given me so much, saved me so many times, more even than you know. Everything you did, everything you had offered me, let me see Marcius for what he really was, how little he really offered. Who you are let me see through the illusion he tried to craft for me. I think his last attempt failed because you were all I could think of."

He stared at her for several long moments, and then smiled. "It's nice to know I've been in your thoughts as much as you've been in mine, even before..."

She took a step forward and slid her arms up around his neck. Gently pulling his head down to hers, the same excited heat coursed through them both as their lips met and she kissed him until there was no question in his mind on any subject.

After an while, their lips parted just enough for him to whisper, "I love you."

She opened her eyes to lose herself in his brilliant green ones and whispered back, "As I love you."

The End.

About the Author.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Julie Elizabeth Hill exported herself to Vancouver, British Columbia after many years of staring longingly at the map following every snowfall. For as long as she can remember, she's been making up stories, but it wasn't until high school that someone suggested writing them down. Since then, she's been hopelessly in love with story crafting, often forgetting about everything else in the process.

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