The Shadow Princess (Chronicles of the Stone Veil 6)

“I never gave up hope, Bastien.”

“No, you didn’t,” he murmurs, pressing his forehead to mine and cupping the back of my head. “Thank the gods you didn’t.”

I let him hold me, not wanting to ever move. If time could stand still, I’d happily exist just like this.

But Kieran clears his throat and draws us apart. He grins evilly, and Bastien glares.

“Why don’t you go do something useful and spread the word that Ferelith is dead?” Bastien suggests pointedly.

“I’m still waiting for the good part,” Kieran quips, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Get out of here, or I’ll make you get out of here,” Bastien growls.

“But you love her, right?” Kieran prods, and his tone is quite serious. “Because that’s the important part.”

“Yes, I love her,” Bastien grouses and I can’t help but laugh. “I’d like privacy to tell her again.”

“Again?” Kieran looks slightly disappointed.

“He said it while Ferelith was killing him,” I explain.

“So, under duress,” Kieran surmises. “Doesn’t count.”

“It does count.” Bastien releases me, grabs his brother by the arm, and physically escorts him to the door. Given that it was decimated earlier by Bastien’s magic, he does nothing more than shove him through the opening with another order to spread the word.

Kieran winks at me and then disappears.

Bastien turns and walks to me, right into a long kiss, gathering me in tight and crushing his mouth to mine. It’s better than our first kiss—maybe it’s a first kiss again, of sorts.

When he pulls back, his expression exudes so much emotion, I feel like I’m going to burst with joy. “I love you, Thalia. I might have lost it for a bit, but it was inevitable it would come back. No one could be around you and not love you. I’m just the lucky guy who you happen to love back.”

“So much,” I say, drawing his head down for another kiss. When we part, I say, “We have so much work to rebuild Kestevayne and the peace within Vyronas.”

“There might be others who will try to use blood magic for power,” Bastien says.

“Which means I need a strong man to sit on the throne with me.” I stare at him. “It means we should marry with all due haste.”

Bastien grins. “I’m not so old-fashioned that I mind you being the one to ask. I’m also not foolish, so I accept. But we should make this official again.”

And to my surprise, he conjures to the palm of his hand the pink diamond ring he’d given me all those years ago under a pressian tree before I gave my virginity to him.

Plucking it up, he takes my left hand and slides it onto my ring finger.

I stare down at it in wonder. “How… where… is that…?”

Bastien nods. “I took it back from Laina that day you returned and had been keeping it safe.”

My heart soars to know that Bastien had some emotional pull to me when I returned, otherwise he would have never procured the ring from Laina to save it. “You had glamoured it before I went through the veil.”

He nods again. “I needed you to wear something a bit more subtle in the First Dimension, but I’m sure you have figured out it was to protect you. The stone was bespelled.”

“Yes, I had figured that out.” I glance up at him. “We need only find a Conclave member to perform the ceremony, so let’s get looking.”

Bastien laughs and gives me a swift kiss. “Let’s at least have a few days to make a joyful celebration. We have a lot of cleaning up to do here at the palace.”

I shake my head. “Clairmont. It has to be back in Clairmont among all the people who you led for seven years and who worked so hard to fortify the troops with my protection magic. That’s who needs to be at our wedding.”

“Agreed,” Bastien says. He kisses me again, and this time, it’s even better. He lifts his head, lips pressed in a flat line. “We have to invite your father or else he’ll kill me.”

“He told you that?” I ask, shocked.

“He told me a lot of things. He also helped us defeat a horde of demons inside the castle. So I’m feeling very inclined to grant his wish.”

I’m stunned. “He helped us?”

Bastien nods. “He said he’d pay a price for it.”

My heart twists. What does that mean? “He wasn’t allowed to interfere.”

“He did because he cares for you.” Bastien takes my hand and leads me from the throne room. “Makes me sort of appreciate the bastard now.”

I laugh as we walk through the obliterated doorway. “Where are we going?”

“To do what a queen does in times such as this. You’ll make the rounds to the troops, visit the injured, talk to the families of the dead. Then you’re going back to Clairmont where you will rest because you’ve worked yourself into the ground and just went head-to-head with Ferelith.”