Anth - Mistletoe & Magic

by Mistletoe

  Taran looked between them. "This isn't the first time you've seen Lady Emilia, sir."

  Nicholas grinned and he patted his new beloved's plump hand. "You're not the only one to see a woman of amazing virtue from the Vale of Snow, my friend."

  Ariana's eyes misted with tears and she hugged the old man. "I'm so sorry we considered fighting you, sir. We were desperate. I hope you will forgive us."

  Nicholas laughed. "You are forgiven, my dear. You and Taran share a warlike ancestry, so your lapses are to be expected. And rarely have I enjoyed a scene so much as that of you mail-clad and ready to skewer me. And rather than saving this gentlewoman's heart, you have turned her into a Valkyrie. I haven't laughed so well and so hard in a long while."

  Emilia tapped his arm. "Before you journey onward, would you care for some tea?"

  "That would be welcome indeed." Nicholas tucked her hand on his ann and covered it with his own. "Perhaps you have tired of living alone in this manor, so far from everything? It may be I can offer you a more interesting home."

  Ariana fidgeted. "What about us?"

  "You have given me the two gifts most worth having, Ariana. Laughter, and love. All the pride, doubt, and fear in the world can't hold a candle to the power of these two."

  "Does that mean you'll let us come home to the Vale with you?"

  Nicholas smiled. "As peaceful as your absence was for all of us, I find I missed you both. Of course I will let you return. The children have need of you."

  Ariana beamed and Taran breathed a deep sigh of relief. "We will not let you down this time."

  "See that you set your shops in order. While you were gone, your helpers commenced baiting each other, and have been scuffling far too much. Also, Hakon has taken up with Kiya, and I fear another such quest as your own will soon be in order. A Viking and an Egyptian… Who would have thought?"

  They went inside the manor, and the Laplander elves seated themselves with cookies before Emilia's beautiful tree. Ariana looked happier than Taran had ever seen her, content and peaceful, a woman rather than a fearful child. Emilia skittered around the room, serving tea, and lavishing attention on Nicholas.

  Ariana watched them, smiling. "What will you tell your friends and relations, Emilia? You can't very well tell them you're going to live with Saint Nicholas, after all."

  Emilia tapped her lip. "We will stop at their homes on our way. Ill introduce Nicholas as a German nobleman, whom I have decided to marry after a whirlwind courtship. I'll explain that I plan to go abroad at his side. That is true enough, as far as it goes. I'll bequeath my home to Jane and David. I do not think they would deny me joy in my declining years, do you?"

  Emilia bade her friends farewell, and was met with the warmest delight from all. She had given others such compassion and happiness that no one thought of denying her own. Her friends stood at their doorway while Nicholas drove his strange harnessed animals across the snow. The creatures resented the strain of picking their way on foot, but he kept them earthbound until the sleigh had moved out of sight.

  Taran held Ariana's hand in his, treasuring each second at her side. She had changed. They both had changed, because the energy they had spent in fear and in doubt had finally turned to love. It had been love that inspired him to take her from her violent country, ages ago. And love that kept him beside her through every battle since. As the sleigh lifted from the ground, he knew it was love's wings that carried them now.

  The stars kindled like fire around them and the frosty air sparkled with hope. Tiny sleigh bells rang as Taran bent to kiss Ariana. Around them, all else was forgotten, and as they kissed they heard Nicholas's booming voice.

  "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night"