Two Years Later
The former fort city of Udara was a torched monument: a testament to the horrors of war and the emotions and people that fueled it.
The Battle of Marigold’s Burning, as it came to be called, marked the end of the War of Wither. Sacer reeled from the late Iree Nobelis’ attack, Cerid Creed’s revealing of the truth to the war as a whole, and, perhaps most of all, the concerted efforts of Ghuria’s army to help Sacer’s citizens.
Gren Fall spoke on behalf of his nation many times at length back then. If not for the tragedy and his personal, life-risking involvement in the evacuation efforts, it was unlikely many would have listened to a single word he had to say. But he had, and they did. Iree Nobelis’ actions did a good deal to prove his claims, after all.
After helping to settle matters enough for Sacer, Ghuria and Sirpo to enter into peaceful talks, he vanished.
The leaders of the three nations, all three democratically elected—Cerid Creed, Sil Aberforth, and Pearlie Kingfisher—met to renegotiate territory lines in order to spare Ghuria’s ailing population at last. Ghuria would be completely abandoned in the span of a week as the territories worked to support and accommodate each other in ways they never had even considered trying before.
In the face of what had been lost, few were inclined to resist. Of course that hadn’t stopped Shark and Cerid from having to fight just as hard as ever for acceptance in the years to follow, but this was nothing they hadn’t been prepared for. Old wounds were still open between the Sacerians and Ghurians. Peace wasn’t instantaneous or easy, but they had finally come to a place where a different kind of future was possible for Atritaria.
Now, as the two stood before the city’s ruins, taking in the weight of the past and how far they had come, they were able to feel a sense of peace.
“Sometimes it still feels like yesterday,” Shark sighed, pulling Cerid closer with an arm around his shoulders and nuzzling his hair. “The day you came to Sirpo and changed everything, literally crashing back into my life like that.” They laughed before reflecting quietly, “All these things happened, that if just one little factor had changed, it would all be so different…”
“Any regrets, my love?” Cerid had become a more unsmiling, quieter and colder person following his father’s death—something his stepmother and niece had never been able to forget or forgive him for despite Cinder’s actions—but he gave off an air of happiness in this moment.
“None. Thea would say the same if she were here.”
“I truly hope so.”
Together they studied the way the rings on their fingers had the exact same glint in the sunlight, a perfect pair as one.
“I am sorry she could not be your best woman, as you say.”
“She was there in spirit. Always is.”
Cerid closed his eyes and tried to let go of it all. The things his family and Shark’s had done to the both of them. So many people who, even now, denied their right to love and exist just as anyone else would be able to do while taking the easiness of it for granted. What he had done to his father when given his choice.
But he could not let go of it, and he never would.
At the same time, he would have his love, the other half of his very soul, by his side until the end of his days. He would have his friends and the people who had the courage to step out and live thanks to what he and Shark had been able to do. All this with help from so many they held dear and, frankly, deserved most of the credit. Cerid was constantly humbled by his role as a leader. It was his duty to serve them well with everything he had since they had seen fit to place their trust in him. He would not betray it.
“Shall we visit them soon?” he asked, coming to the same conclusion he always did when the past tried to bog him down.
“Yeah. Let’s invite the others too.” Shark gave him a soft, lingering kiss and held him tight, making him feel just as precious and adored as Cerid had since the moment they had confessed their feelings as children who hadn’t known that the worst was yet to come.
That they’d get through it all anyhow, together. Always.
*
Ariana watched as her sister and sister-in-law giggled and squealed as they romped in the brisk, salty water of one of Sacer's many reopened beaches. She was more comfortable reading in the shade of her umbrella, but she’d join them after finishing another chapter or two since it would make Pearlie happy.
Life was busy as Cerid’s bodyguard. Opposition to change was just as sure as the thing itself. Still, she got regular time to herself, good benefits and all that. Cerid would never treat her with anything less than the decency she deserved as a human being. This was a world where she still had to pick her battles, but she wasn’t alone anymore. She allowed that, and there was power in it.
Standing in the surf and wiggling her toes in sodden sand, she couldn’t help but think about distance. Almost immediately things were settled enough to call civil, Rhys and Wesley had departed across these blue waves. None of them had heard a peep from either since. Only those who had fought alongside them believed with utter certainty that they were still alive out there. Ariana fully expected the entertainment of their return someday.
Then there were Pearlie and Johanna, both shrieking as they dragged each other into the water over and over in a way both affectionate and competitive. They had offered again and again and still yet again for Ariana to move in with them, but as always she had to do things her own way.
Yeah. Her life was really hers. She was taking full responsibility for that fact. She provided for herself and served as her own support while not failing to realize and appreciate the unfaltering, loving support of her family and friends.
Love. Yeah, love was a funny thing. Everyone she cared for had someone to love in a way she didn’t quite understand. Was she jealous? No, not really. She may not have felt love the same way everyone around her did, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel it at all.
With a chuckle and a sigh, she snuck up behind Pearlie and gave her the biggest splash she could. “When’s this whole get-together Shark and Cerid suggested happening?”
“As if you haven’t been looking forward to it more than anyone!” Pearlie laughed, and then Johanna proceeded to team up and politely submerge her.
Just like this, Ariana thought. This was what her happiness looked like. Everyone she cared for was at peace, and her own future was sparkling with the promise of the unknown.
Her own happiness on her own terms. There was no better life Ariana could think to live, and no life she had ever wanted more, than that.
*
People needed to deal with the consequences of their actions. She wasn’t responsible for all the world’s hurts. She’d done enough, and Iree had taken enough from her. She deserved to actually have a future now. Go on now. Let us handle the rest.
These were the sorts of arguments Ariana, Cerid and Shark had used to convince Dorothea to choose to live rather than undo every single thing Iree had done that day on top of healing Ghuria’s lands. She never fully forgave herself for making the choice she did, but she never fully regretted it either.
No one else would have forgiven her either or let her be had they known she was still alive. In the chaos of rebuilding after the last battle, she’d been able to disappear. Cerid stated that the Atlin way of dying had taken her, and no one had much time to dwell or grieve for her in the face of everything else. Gren had joined her after being sure all was well enough to leave in others’ hands.
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She and Gren laid low for a bit and then returned to Ghuria once its people left for more bountiful lands. Dorothea had never realized until the others proposed new solutions to her that she had been working under the assumption the entire time that the people of all three lands needed to stay divided. There was room and resources for everyone as long as they came together. Two years was nowhere near long enough to tell if this would be a lasting peace, but Gren said it looked promising. Dorothea was inclined to believe him.
They moved into his childhood home. Empty houses surrounded them like a collection of mausoleums, but neither of them minded. It was peaceful, and that was what mattered and gave them joy. They kept a small garden of flowers, herbs and vegetables. Gren brought her wildflowers from his hunts, these pressed into a book that she sometimes hugged when he was gone.
She’d had to have a porch swing; a porch swing simply said home. Today that was where she waited around the time Gren had said he’d come home. Sometimes he liked to go off on his own through Ghuria, experiencing it in a way he had never been able to before. Free from danger.
He would always greet her in the same way, and he did so with the gentle predictability she’d come to adore in him. He’d grin as he came up the stone walkway, pace quickening at the sight of her. He’d cross all the porch steps in one stride and then bend over her to place a gentle kiss to her lips, tucking the flowers he always carried into her hands at the same time.
He’d say one of two things: “Hello” or “I love you,” but they really meant the same thing. Then they would walk inside arm in arm. Their first day there, he had insisted on carrying her across the threshold, saying it would make it feel like their home. Theirs, together for the rest of their lives. And it really did. They had built a simple life in this house filled with ghosts, releasing the specters with the warmth of a life they had fought for.
Clashing colors and patterns filled the rooms from top to bottom, creating a chaotic sense of whimsy. Tea Dorothea prepared at just the right time for it to cool perfectly to drink right when they entered would sit on the living room table in front of the couch. She’d light candles while Gren either picked out a book for them to read together (he was no longer uncomfortable reading aloud to her) or got settled, simply in the mood to talk. They would cook dinner together when they got peckish. Dorothea surprised him with a ready dessert perhaps a little too often, but she couldn’t help herself after realizing what a sweet tooth he had.
They would clean up and do whatever chores they hadn’t taken care of that morning. Lazy morning or lazy evening, Gren would say, never both. Dorothea would then remind him that whether or not they ended up sleeping in was often due to him. He couldn’t really deny it.
Gren was quite fond of their post-dinner bath. Dorothea had gotten used to rarely bathing alone, and it was something she looked forward to as well. Gren usually got her to admit things like that with what he would more likely than not initiate directly afterwards.
Well, it was as he’d said all that time ago. He’d waited until the answer to the question of if she was scared was no. And then he’d run with it. Sprinted, more like. Of course it just made her love him all the more to see such enthusiasm. Some nights they would sleep quietly after stopping at the quieter intimacy of the bath, of course. Other days they wouldn’t be able to leave each other alone. Wondering what each day would bring was part of the fun.
Now, Gren arranged the blankets over them as they cuddled up to drift to sleep talking to each other as they always did.
“I had a dream last night,” he said, stretching before turning to her, one hand idly rubbing her thigh and the other making loops of her hair.
“What about?”
“My mom and dad were there. We were in this huge field of flowers. Dozens of kinds, ones I’ve never seen in real life. And they just hugged me and hugged me, saying things I couldn’t hear even though they were right there, and then Grella and Fir came running up. You were between them and they were holding your hands. You all seemed happy. Again, I couldn’t hear what anyone was saying, but dream me didn’t mind. We all just ran towards the sun. Even though it kept getting farther away, we just kept running. Didn’t matter we’d never get there. The whole time, you were all yelling things and laughing. Near the end you leaned over to whisper something in my ear. I started to hear your voice, and then I woke up. That’s when I went outside and found you in the garden this morning.”
Dorothea smiled. “A good dream.”
“Yeah. A good dream. I know what they’d be saying.” He looked at her with so much love that she could barely restrain herself. Luck would have it that they tended to be on the same page. His fingers slid the barest bit beneath the edge of her shorts.
“I’m beyond happy,” Dorothea said softly as he eased her onto her back and straddled her.
“You’re up to it?”
She was still covered in marks from the night before. And the night before that. He always just liked hearing her answer and being sure, and she his. Her communication of consent was to strip out of her shorts and shirt as fast as she possibly could. Eagerness went both ways. “Come here.”
Gren laughed, peeling them both out of all remaining clothes. “Gently?”
She pouted at him, always did when he chose to ask. “At first.”
“And then?”
He didn’t tease her much, but he couldn’t seem to help himself at times like this. “I’ll let you know.” But they both already knew the answer.
He’d laugh again, and then they’d love each other as deeply as they could, over and over. At the end they would hold one another as they caught their breath with that powerful raw hunger satiated. They would sleep well, falling into blissful exhaustion.
Dorothea woke the next morning to the feeling of his lips tickling her neck.
“I’m the one waking you up. How rare,” he said once she started giggling and turned to face him.
“I don’t know if I feel like moving today,” she replied with a yawn and a stretch.
“Stay here then. I’ll prep everything.” Shark, Cerid, Ariana, Pearlie and Johanna would be visiting today. They tried to sneak down when they could, delivering very random care packages and new stories each time.
“No, it’s more fun to do it together. Don’t,” she added before he could take the opportunity for a double entendre. “Goodness… I need to hide all this.” She traced the constellation of love marks across her body. “And you wonder why I keep sewing myself longer skirts and shirts with high collars. You. Your fault, sir.”
He laughed and kissed her, and they cleaned up together before heading to the kitchen. They had only just finished tying their aprons when a knock came at the door.
“They’re not supposed to be here for hours…” Dorothea stood back as Gren narrowed his eyes. “Relax. Just check who it is. I don’t think anyone will have found us, but we’ll hear them out if that’s the case.” That was what they’d decided long ago. They wanted this life together, but they would consider the needs of anyone who approached them.
“Right.” They went to the door, nodded to each other, and prepared to greet their guest.
“Dorothea, Gren. Been a while,” Rhys greeted.
Wesley was grinning like he’d used to, though it had lost its predatory sense in favor of a more relaxed general flavor of mocking. “Yo.”
“Hi,” Dorothea breathed. She then threw her arms into the air. “Rhys!” she shrieked, throwing her arms around his neck.
“Oof!” He stumbled back, laughing. “You’ve lost weight. Way too much weight. Are you eating?”
“Yeah, you look like shit,” Wesley said bluntly.
“Wes,” Gren sighed, “it’s been two years since I’ve heard a word from you and the first thing you do is insult my wife?” He paused. “You know, that tracks.”
“It’s a wide world beyond the sea,” Wesley said. “Couldn’t exactly send many letters.” He sighed as Rhys let go of Dorothea so he could reach over and pinch Wesley on the cheek. “Fine. I apologize for my words.” He arched a brow at Rhys. “Good enough?”
“Yes, yes.” Rhys backed up to put a hand on Wesley’s shoulder and smiled at Dorothea and Gren. “We’ve got a lot of stories we could share with you both. If you want.”
“You’ll fit right in,” Gren said with a laugh. “Everyone will have a lot to say.”
“Cool.” Wesley seized Gren by the wrist to drag him inside. “Say what you have to, Rhys. Make it quick, before I get jealous.”
“What?” Dorothea looked between them and Rhys quickly, and then they were alone. “Yes?”
Rhys smiled. “You remember what I said to you that night? The night we talked in our camp in Ghuria. What was it we were celebrating? That Ghurian festival.”
“I remember.”
“Then do you remember what I said to you?”
“Of course.” She’d never breathed a word of it to anyone else.
I don’t know what love is. I don’t know what it’s supposed to be or how it’s supposed to feel. But I want to find it. When I do, I’ll come back to you.
Dorothea smiled. “And you’re here.”
“Yeah.” He took a breath and exhaled with an easy smile, as if he was tasting the wind of the world in an entirely new way. “So I wanted to tell you this, no matter what.”
“I already know,” Dorothea said softly. “I’ve been waiting a long time, and hoping.”
They both looked to the house, where Gren and Wesley were bickering and laughing about something.
“I love you, Dorothea,” Rhys said. “Thank you for being my best friend. I wouldn’t have been able to get this far or gain the love I have without you.”
“I love you too, Rhys. I’m so glad I met you.” She laughed and teased, “Would you be okay with being in a tie for my absolute best friend?”
Rhys smiled warmly. “More than enough.”
“Are you done yet?” Wesley called out. “It’s totally cool if not!”
“Yes, we’re done!” Rhys replied. “Come on. Lots to talk about and plenty of time.”
Dorothea entered the warmth of her home, where the bloom of happiness that had rooted in her only grew larger and more beautiful by the day. There was plenty of time left, even if sometimes it didn’t feel like nearly enough. There was plenty of love left to give and plenty of things left to share. She had averted that painful, lonely future she’d once thought was certain.
“I love you,” she whispered in Gren’s ear as Wesley jumped up to ruffle Rhys’ hair while peppering him with playful questions about what he’d said to Dorothea.
“Mm.” Gren put his cheek to her hair while chuckling at his friend’s antics. “I’m happy,” he said quietly. “So happy I can’t even contain it sometimes.”
“Me too.”
That was how it would be until the end.