Leaves of Revolution (36 page)

“Don’t do that. Seriously. It was a stupid thing for me to say to a new mom who has a legitimate reason to worry. But in the future, just know that if you trust me to watch your child, and you come in here and I’m not dead on the floor – the baby is safe, okay?”

She nodded. “Thank you for watching her for me.” Her voice was too small, betraying that she still felt bad for her reaction.

“Come here, Nay.” He held out his arms to her and she obliged, whether because she really wanted to or because it would be easier to hide her emotions he didn’t know, but he held her tight and let her pull herself back together. “I’ll think before I speak next time, okay?”

Her head moved up and down against his shoulder. “It feels stupid that you have to,” she mumbled.

“Some of the things you’ve been through change the ordinary definition of stupid, sweetheart. It’s not like I never require patience from anyone.” He wasn’t as touchy about kidnappings as she was, but there had been meetings about executing war prisoners he’d had to step out of. And some of his dreams…

She reached for his hand and squeezed it.

He didn’t mean to kiss her forehead; it just happened, like a reflex he had no control over.

There was no time to regret it, though. In the next instant she turned her face up to his and put her arms around his neck, pulling him down toward her until their lips touched.

It wasn’t like fireworks – sparks that might brilliantly illuminate the sky for a moment, but then fizzle into darkness, needing a new flame to ignite them every time. This was like the tide – strong, powerful, and inevitable washing over them both; eroding some part of who he had been and exposing something new underneath.

A long time – possibly days – passed before either of them could finally pull away.

“Wow,” he breathed.

THOMAS SNEAKED UP BEHIND Mia and cleared his throat. She jumped, nearly dropping Sarah, and turned around to give him a death glare – and a nice left hook to his shoulder.

“Hey!” he said. “I’m not the one who’s
working
when Quinn specifically gave you the rest of the day off.”

“Who’s working?” She kissed Sarah on the nose. “I’m just enjoying a party with one of my favorite people. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

It was beautiful. The massive ballroom in the center of the castle was the one space Tolliver had managed to restore. Although Quinn had made a few choice comments about the obvious order of his priorities, she’d decided not to turn her nose up at the opportunity to use the room – with some quick alterations and new decorations, of course.

Thomas wasn’t terribly interested in the beauty of the castle right now, though. “If you’d let her go play, I know someone else who wouldn’t mind a few of your kisses.”

“And who is that?” Mia teased, but she planted another kiss on the toddler’s head and then set her down.

Grinning, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, kissing each of her freckled cheeks and then her nose.

“You’re in a good mood,” she said, running her index finger through the hair just above his ear, sending shivers all the way down him. She giggled, and this time he kissed her on the mouth.

“What’s not to be in a good mood about? The war is over, the kingdoms are safe, my family is here, there are new babies… you’re here with me.”

There it was – the warm spread of pink across her cheeks that always made his heart beat faster. “Did you see Zander over there, staying within six inches of your sister?” she asked.

“Yes, I did. It’s another reason I’m happy. I also see you, changing the subject away from yourself as usual.”

She rolled her eyes. “There’s no interesting news about me tonight.”

“You don’t think so?”

“Do you know something I don’t?”

“Yes, actually.”

Both of her eyebrows went up, and the pink grew darker, which made it even more fun. “And what do you know, Thomas?”

“That I’m planning on proposing to you later tonight.”

The pink flowed out, replaced with white for a full twenty seconds before color rushed in again – this time a deep, dark scarlet. “Excuse me?”

He grinned. “I thought I would warn you first, to give you time to decide how you’re going to answer.”

“You think I need time to decide?”

“Well, I hope not. I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t
almost
sure, but it seemed only fair to prepare you.”

“Thomas John Rose…”

“Yes, Amelia Louise Willoughby?”

“You’re impossible.”

“Yes, I am. So will you marry me … after I propose to you later?”

“I’ll think about it – I’ll get back to you then.”

He laughed. “I love you, Mia.” He kissed her again, first on the nose, and then long and slow on her lips.

They finished just as horns began to sound, announcing the impending entrance of Quinn, William and Samuel. He wrapped his arms around Mia’s waist as they turned to watch.

“Sophia looks so pleased,” Mia said, twisting up to give Thomas a sardonic look.

“Hard to say if that’s because of Quinn, or because Tobias is a guest of honor. She should probably just be glad she’s at the party.”

“Yes, with Jonathan baby-sitting her.”

“I think it’s fair. If Sophia does whatever serves her own interests best, then there’s no reason Quinn shouldn’t do the same with her. Quinn could have done much worse than stripping her titles and keeping her under supervision away from the castle.”

Mia chuckled. “I wasn’t disagreeing. I’m happy she gave Quinn that dagger, but she did too much to cause the problem in the first place. It was Quinn’s own forces who shot those arrows and charged the stage – not Sophia’s. It’s a little unfair to make Jonathan watch her, though.”

He shrugged. “Jonathan does his own thing. She didn’t make him – nobody can make him do anything, I don’t think. He believes she wasn’t involved in the attack and abduction at Wellham, and maybe she wasn’t, so he’s being gracious, I guess.”

“She is his mother.”

“Yes, she is.”

“And she did just lose another one of her sons.”

There wasn’t time to respond before the main doors opened, revealing Quinn and William, so he just nodded into Mia’s hair. He couldn’t be sorry that Tolliver was gone, but he supposed he could muster some sympathy for the man’s mother. A little, anyway. So long as he didn’t have to deal with her much.

The crowd was quiet as Quinn and William walked down the green carpet in the center of the floor, all the way up the steps of a stage. She was resplendent in her green gown, her auburn curls flowing around the delicate gold and green crown on her head.

William held Samuel; he was a tiny, chubby clone of his father in his matching fur-trimmed green velvet cape. Both of them kept their eyes on Quinn as she stepped forward, the shining adoration from them shouting that no matter how much her people loved her, they could never match the devotion of her family.

Thomas pulled Mia closer.

“Amazing, isn’t she?” A voice said, close to Thomas’ ear.

He nearly let go of Mia as he spun to look.

Alvin grinned, and Thomas settled back in with Mia to watch.

At Quinn’s coronation, she had seemed so young and nervous and unsure of herself. Actually – Thomas knew – it had been more than just “seemed”. She’d been a newlywed and was pregnant, and had no idea what she was doing.

There was no trace of any of that now. The young woman who stepped to the front of the stage to address her people was smiling and confident, her voice strong and clear.

A few feet from where he and Mia stood, he could see his parents both grinning widely as they held each other close.

“Thank you all so much for coming,” Quinn said. “Tonight we celebrate the end of the war with Dovelnia and the beginning of peace in our kingdom.”

She waited for the cheers to die down before she continued. “We are also celebrating the reunification of our kingdom to our brothers and sisters of Eirentheos. As of today, nearly all of the borders are open and citizens of both kingdoms are free to travel, emigrate, and trade between the kingdoms however they wish.”

This, too, drew much cheering.

“I personally would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the king of Eirentheos – my dear father-in-law, King Stephen, for his unending support and provision of troops to help Philotheum in our time of need.”

Thomas’ father blew a kiss toward her and then bowed his head.

Quinn cleared her throat. “I have learned many things in my short time as queen of Philotheum. While it would be my wish to share only happy news this evening, I feel it is important to be honest with you all about the more difficult realities that follow a war.”

Thomas saw her chest rise and fall sharply. William took a small step closer to her, but he didn’t interfere – letting her stand on her own. “I intend to see Philotheum fully rebuilt and rise to become the strong, powerful, and gracious kingdom it was always meant to be. All citizens of Philotheum who wish to share in that dream will be welcomed, and provided and cared for.

“However, I have outgrown any patience I once had for those who wish to undermine those goals, or would work to sabotage the prosperity and safety of the citizens of this kingdom or our alliance with Eirentheos.”

This time, the crowd was quiet.

“I will extend a one-time offer to those here who disagree with me, or with those goals. You may, in the next ten days, cross the border into Dovelnia if their beliefs are more in line with yours. Be advised that it will be a one-way trip. For the indefinite future, no person may cross the Dovelnian border coming toward Philotheum for any reason without express consent from me personally.

“Over the coming moons, my advisors and the captains of my guard will be conducting a thorough investigation in every town and village to uncover every person who assisted the Dovelnian army, or who funded their efforts, or who has harmed any loyal citizen or their property in any way. Those who have committed crimes will be punished for them, and all titles and property will be stripped from anyone who is found to have committed treason. I don’t expect for every citizen to agree with every decision I make, and I am open to cooperative discussion, but I will not tolerate any sort of abuse of my people any longer. The crown has been restored to its rightful place, and here it will stay, on my head until it is time for Prince Samuel to wear it. I intend to wear it well, and to defend it as necessary.”

Now the cheering was so loud, and went on for so long, that Quinn had to wait for several minutes before she could speak again.

“Enough with the not-so-fun news. It’s time to celebrate. Please enjoy the wonderful dinner and dance and play with your loved ones. I know I will be with mine.” She reached behind her for William’s hand, and he took it and stepped forward, planting a chaste kiss on her lips before the two of them held their hands in the air together.

Even Samuel lifted his arms up as the people cheered their queen.

Dear Readers,

Thank you so very much for coming along on the journey of The Dusk Gate Chronicles with me. I have very much enjoyed hearing from all of you, and sharing these stories with you.

As you may know, when I first started writing, I planned for four books in the series. Somewhere along the line, though, these characters have developed minds (and wills!) of their own, and the story begs to continue to be told. I do not currently have definitive plans, but I’m pretty sure we haven’t heard the last from William, Quinn, Thomas, Linnea, Zander, and Owen. Or Alvin. (That’s what I said after I wrote
Canes of Divergence
!)

As for my
next
project (probably – some characters have a tendency to speak louder than others at times), read on after the end of this note for a short excerpt from my upcoming work,
Rumpelstiltskin’s Daughter.
(It’s not a final draft, and I’ve changed the beginning of the story more than once, but it’s a taste of the characters and what’s to come.)

If you would like to find out more, and stay up to date, or chat with me and other readers of The Dusk Gate Chronicles, you can do so in a number of ways.

My website is at
http://www.breeanaputtroff.net

I am often on Facebook, and respond to messages and posts at
www.facebook.com/duskgate
Give me a like!

You can follow me on Twitter. I’m
@bputtroff
– usually chatting about my writing progress, and other silly stuff.

I also have a newsletter, where I send out stories, news, and sometimes exclusive content. My newsletter subscribers even got to read deleted scenes from the first draft of Blooms of Consequence – in the very earliest draft, William, Quinn, Thomas and Linnea did get to go for a visit to Bristlecone. I never, ever, use my newsletter list for spam, but I do occasionally send out prizes, especially Dusk Gate swag, to readers just for being part of the list.

If you’d like to subscribe to the newsletter, you can do so at this link:

Breeana Puttroff’s Newsletter
 

Again, thank you so very much for sharing your time with me, Quinn, William, Zander, Linnea and the rest.

Reviews of any kind are always appreciated, and help other readers know whether they might enjoy the books. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Breeana Puttroff

[email protected]