Madeline’s body was tender. She woke with a confused groan that turned into a sensual chuckle as she remembered the night before. Best of all, she remembered every night before. Each minute they’d spent together, in bed and out. Her memory had finally returned. Her fully embraced connection to the ruby sword had probably helped, but, as Vasilisa had said, she’d also needed time to heal. Time to recover and find herself again.
The warm glow her memories of lovemaking had created was quickly dispelled when she realized she was waking up alone.
Madeline jumped from the bed with nothing but the sheet to wrap around her. She stumbled into the room next door, only to nearly collapse in relief when she found Trevor kicking happily in his borrowed cradle. A Light Volkhvy servant greeted her from the rocking chair in the corner, and there was an empty bottle on the stand.
“The queen advised us to let you rest,” the servant said. Madeline’s cheeks grew hot when the servant’s eyes twinkled in the morning light. Did the entire palace know that she and Lev were enjoying a passionate reunion?
Lev.
Where was Lev?
Madeline leaned over to brush Trevor’s strawberry blonde curls from his forehead. He laughed and reached for the heavy locks of her scarlet hair that dangled in his face.
“I have to find your father, but I’ll be back and we’ll spend the whole day together,” Madeline promised.
She forced herself to shower in spite of the worried pounding of her heart. She dried and dressed in a light, short summery dress unlike anything she’d ever owned. Her memories were back, but it would take some time for her to be able to read the variations in the connection they shared. The ruby sword still glowed faintly in the corner of the bedroom. She took solace in that, even though she couldn’t quite sense where Lev had gone or what he was up to without her.
He hadn’t forgiven the queen.
That thought followed her outside and up the hill to a large gazebo that overlooked the sea. The structure had been built above the rose garden, but Madeline turned her attention away from the roses and toward the ocean. A gentle breeze caused the swings that ringed the gazebo to sway.
Vasilisa was fine. She climbed from a path that led from the shore to the garden. When she saw Madeline, she joined her at the base of the gazebo steps.
She was dressed all in white again. Madeline had been told that Vasilisa had worn violet for mourning in honor of the daughter she’d thought she’d lost. For hundreds of years, she’d worn nothing but shades of purple.
“You told me I couldn’t trust him,” Madeline said when the queen paused on the stair.
“I was wrong. About Lev and a great many things. He had attacked Anna. He had poisoned her with his bite because of his hatred for Volkhvy blood. She almost died. I thought he was lost. Completely feral. But he was only trying to protect his family. He thought she was trying to hurt Soren. He thought she was as guilty as he knew me to be,” Vasilisa said. Her story was briefly interrupted by Lev’s appearance on the cliff above the sea, where the white wolf had first appeared. They watched him walk down the hill toward them. “I’m sorry I misled you. I was honestly trying to keep you and Trevor safe,” Vasilisa continued.
“I can keep us safe,” Madeline proclaimed.
“With my help,” Lev said as he joined them.
“Where have you been?” Madeline asked.
He came to stand beside her. She noted the way he positioned his large body in between her and the tiny queen. The Light Volkhvy queen only smiled.
“You will forever be a wild creature, Lev Romanov. I well remember how skittish you always were around me as a puppy. I suppose I justified that caution in the end,” Vasilisa said. The white of her Victorian-style dress gleamed like a truce flag in the sun. “I will leave you two to discuss what Lev has retrieved from Bronwal.”
The queen walked away from the stairs rather than climbing them, and headed into the garden on the gravel path.
“You’ve been to Bronwal?” Madeline asked.
“Ivan has allowed the mirror to be repaired. Elena insisted,” Lev said. “I used the portal to fetch something you may or may not remember.”
Lev raised his hand toward her, and Madeline’s breath caught in her throat. A bright red gem in his palm had caught the sunlight, and it sparkled in a familiar gold setting. It was the ring he’d given her so long ago. The one that Vasilisa must have removed from her finger as she’d fallen asleep.
“Will you be my wife, Madeline? As we were once upon a time?” Lev asked. He took the ring in his thumb and forefinger and held it up for her inspection. She loved it. She loved him. Of course, her answer would have been yes. Except there was another answer altogether.
“I’ve always been your wife, Lev. And I will be forever. Even Ether couldn’t part us.”
Madeline lifted her hand so he could slip the ring on her finger. It felt familiar and fine.
“But I do think a celebration is in order. What would you say to a wedding? I think it’s high time the Romanovs reclaimed their former glory, and I have just the place and time in mind,” Madeline said.
Lev swept her up into his arms and carried her back toward the palace. They had the whole day and the rest of their lives ahead to plan and play with Trevor.
And with each other.