And when we were done, and Sendra brought me to look on the result of her handiwork in the large walnut-framed mirror that hung on one wall — why, I could barely recognize myself. True, it had been nearly two weeks since I had last seen my own reflection, and yet I thought this alteration was something more than that. The Marenna who gazed back at me seemed a different woman, more serious, a certain soberness in her dark eyes that had not been there a fortnight ago. This woman looked as though she could be a duchess.
“Oh, you are the most beautiful woman in the kingdom,” Sendra said, her hands clasped together as she gazed upon me.
“I am not so sure about that, but as long his Grace is pleased by my appearance, then all is well.”
“Oh, he will be most pleased. But you must go now, my lady — I will show you the way.”
I began to thank her, but a more pressing notion popped into my mind. “Sendra, you will be staying here with us, won’t you?”
A flush touched her cheeks. “I would like that very much, my lady. If it is what you wish.”
“Oh, it is,” I assured her. Somehow learning how to be a duchess did not sound quite so frightening if I could negotiate those pathways with my faithful lady’s maid at my side.
She dropped a curtsey. “Then of course I will be here for you.”
I reached out and squeezed her hand, then quickly let go, for it was time for her to lead me from the suite and down another staircase — not the narrow one Thani had used to bring me here, one which I guessed was intended for the servants’ use, but a grand affair of marble with carved walnut banisters on either side — and on into the banquet hall, which was crowded with more than a hundred beautifully dressed people, all of whose eyes were immediately fixed upon me.
Hot blood rushed to my cheeks, and I had to fight the urge to flee. But there was Thani, coming to me so he might take me by the hand and proudly announce, “Noble lords and ladies — I give you Marenna Sedassa, Duchess of Marric’s Rest!”
Everyone broke into applause, which only made my cheeks flush that much more. But I did not have time to be too embarrassed, for Thani led me to the high table, where my father and my brothers and their wives waited, all dressed in their finest. Having those familiar faces around me, all of them so clearly happy to see me so settled, made me feel somewhat more at ease. And there, too, were Hal and Lynnis, both of them finely dressed, he in a handsome wool doublet in a rich wine color, and she in a green silk damask gown that brought out the color of her beautiful eyes.
To my surprise, she was seated on my right, and shot me a wicked smile as I stared at her in surprise. It had been so good of Thani to include my friends in the banquet, but I hadn’t thought they would be able to sit with us at the high table.
“Your husband is not much of one for pomp and circumstance,” she murmured in my ear as the same pretty black-eyed maidservant who had spoken to me earlier came up to the table and began to pour wine for all of us. “To him, we are your friends, and our station matters very little. I suppose that is what comes from having a ‘commoner’ for a mother.”
I flushed at the word, for I recalled all too well how I had spoken it to Lynnis not so long ago when discussing the duke — my husband, that is. But I thought that she probably had the truth of the matter, for Thani had not spent his entire life in Sirlende, being waited on hand and foot, but had come here as a youth after knowing what it was like to work in his family’s fields, to know the happiness of a day spent in doing something one loved.
“Well, I am very glad to hear it,” I replied. “For while I do not think I will miss scrubbing the floors, I would have missed you and Hal very much, if my new rank were to forever separate us.”
“No need to worry on that front. Indeed, his Grace is already talking about having a new house built for us in the spring, now that we are expecting this little one.” Her hand touched her gown at her waist, although of course she was not showing at all yet. “I suppose it is a way of showing respect for the new under-overseer.”
“Oh, is Hal to be given that position?” I asked, happier than ever for the two of them.
“Yes, because it is true enough about Master Threnson. He has no desire to take up his work again after his leg has healed, and your husband has said he will give him enough money to get settled in the city, hopefully in an occupation that is more to his taste.”
Again I could not help but be impressed by Thani’s generosity. When faced with such goodness, I found that I could not hold on to what little of my anger remained. Yes, he and my father — and, it seemed, almost everyone here on the estate — had been involved in the plan to hide the truth of “Corin’s” identity, but no harm had come to me.
Indeed, in that moment I believed that I would have been very much worse off, if it were not for the way Thani had shown me a way to live a better life.
The feast was a merry one, although I knew I could not sample even a third of all the dishes I had helped to prepare. And again, each of them had more savor, because I knew of all the effort which had gone into them, all the care and thought.
At last, though, the feast was over, and all of us guests moved into the ballroom so the servants might begin to clear away the empty dishes and glasses and platters from the banquet hall. The musicians on the dais at the far end of the room immediately struck the first chord for the verdralle, and it was time for all those inclined to dance to find their partners, and begin the sweeping movements of the dance.
And oh, how wonderful to have Thani take me in his arms and hold me close as we began to make our circuit of the dance floor, my senses nearly overwhelmed by the gleam of the candles and the warm hues of the swags of autumn leaves that decorated the chandeliers and the windows. His clothing smelled of cloves, warm and spicy, as delicious as he was.
As we swirled around, I caught glimpses of those who had decided to stand and watch rather than dance. There was my father, beaming as he looked upon Thani and me, and there, too, were my brothers and their wives, wearing their best smiles, and Hal and Lynnis, who perhaps had decided to wait out this one because of her delicate condition. Yes, my family had not been there to witness my marriage to the Duke of Marric’s Rest, but at least he had made sure to give me a wedding feast and ball that would be the envy of any woman.
“Happy?” he asked, and I nodded.
“Almost too happy.”
His blue eyes glinted down at me. “Can one be too happy?”
I pretended to consider. “I am not entirely sure. I suppose that is something we will have to put to the test.”
“Challenge accepted, your Grace.”
And even though we danced in front of everyone, he bent and kissed me fully on the mouth. Not too deep or too lingering a kiss, but a promise of things yet to come. I had thought I could not feel more alive than I did already, swirling about the dance floor while held firmly in his arms, but the touch of his lips on mine awoke a fever within me, one that I knew would finally be slaked.
First, though, we had to make our way through the rest of the evening, which passed in something of a joyful blur. I spoke with my father, assuring him that I had already forgiven him for the subterfuge he and Thani had perpetrated, and I accepted the congratulations of my brothers and sisters-in-law, and many others who were only names to me, but who I hoped would become my friends in the future.
At last, though, Thani and I were able to bid farewell to our guests, and climb the stairs to our suite. Within, all was in readiness, a fire dancing in the hearth, the embroidered coverlet on the bed already turned down, a decanter of wine and two glasses waiting on a table in the sitting area. He poured wine for the two of us, and we drank to our health and our shared future.
But then he set down his glass, his expression quite serious. From a pocket in his doublet, he drew out a heavy gold ring set with diamonds, then slipped it onto my finger. I had to blink back tears, for I had felt the lack of a wedding ring keenly. Now I truly felt that we were married.
> Voice soft but urgent, he asked, “Will you be my wife, Marenna?”
I knew precisely what he asked of me. In the eyes of the gods and of the world, we were already man and wife. However, the two of us knew better. We must be together now, in the manner Lynnis had spoken of.
The shiver that went through me then was not one of fear, but of delicious anticipation. “Oh, yes, Thani. Make me your wife.”
He came to me, and kissed me, and plucked the combs and pins from my hair so it fell onto my shoulders in a heavy mass, and pulled the drawstring at the neck of my chemise so it was loosened, and I was revealed to him. No time to be embarrassed, for he was caressing me then, touching me in a way that seemed to bring forth a sweet, needy fire within my veins. We fell onto the bed together, arms wrapped around one another, desiring nothing more than a joining that had been delayed for far too long.
And when it was over and I lay in his arms, I could only think of how splendid this was, how splendid he was. Thani…Corin…it mattered not. What mattered was the heart and the strength of the man who held me now, who would be my husband in this world and the next.
“What do you think?” he inquired, as he reached up with his free hand to rub his chin while we rested there, supported by soft feather pillows. “Should I grow the beard back?”
“Don’t you dare,” I replied in mock-severe tones. “Your face is far too handsome to cover up in such a fashion.”
“I will not comment on my handsomeness, but I have found that shaving each morning does require an inordinate amount of time.”
I rolled over on my side so I might gaze at him, at the fine outline of his profile silhouetted against the fire in the hearth. “If you stop shaving, and return to the state in which I first saw you, then I will have no choice but to call you ‘Thrushbeard’ all the rest of your life.”
“The gods forbid!” He chuckled and pulled me close so he might kiss me again. This late in the evening, his chin had begun to show some scruff, just enough to be pleasantly scratchy against my cheek. “I certainly do not want my wife referring to me as ‘Thrushbeard.’ So as long as you don’t mind the time it takes, then I will do my best to maintain my current appearance.”
“I won’t mind,” I said. “It will make me happy, I think.”
A certain glint entered his eyes. “You know that I live to make you happy, Marenna.”
“You do?” I asked, my voice somewhat arch. “Perhaps you should prove that to me.”
“With pleasure,” he said, and pulled me to him again. Another kiss, and another, and then his hands were upon me, his body against mine.
And yes, he had only been telling the simple truth.
He did know exactly how to make me happy.
The End
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Dear Readers:
This is the last of the Latter Kingdoms novels — I had originally planned to have Moon Dance be the last book in the series. However, fate intervened (as it often does) when I agreed to write a fairy tale–based short story for a fantasy anthology. I chose the tale of King Thrushbeard, as it’s a more obscure story and not one that as many people are familiar with, unlike Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Rumplestiltskin, or some of the other fairy tales I’ve retold in this series. Unfortunately, the person organizing the anthology didn’t have a formal sign-up sheet or anything like that where we could call “dibs” on the stories we’d chosen, and someone else picked Thrushbeard as well. Since she’d already written her story, whereas all I’d done was take notes, I begged off and did not participate in the anthology.
But I couldn’t quite let go of the story. Since I’d already laid the groundwork — part of which was providing a happy ending for Sorthannic Sedassa, who’d gotten a raw deal in One Thousand Nights when Lyarris decided to leave Sirlende and marry the Hierarch of Keshiaar — I decided to go ahead and turn my story idea into a novel. To be honest, that worked out better for me anyway, since I’ve always had a difficult time writing shorter pieces!
The hard part about retelling fairy tales — for me, anyway — is attempting to give logical motivations for the sometimes capricious decisions of the characters in these very old stories. While the spoiled princess in the original Thrushbeard tale does deserve to get some kind of comeuppance, she’s still treated fairly harshly for her transgressions. I tried to soften some of her punishments in this retelling, since the last thing I wanted was for the hero to come off as unsympathetic, although of course he has his own reasons for the trick he plays on the heroine.
And while it’s hard to say goodbye to a series, nine is a good number, and that is where I’ll leave this one. I’ve loved every moment I’ve spent in the world of the Latter Kingdoms, but it’s time to move on to new stories, new worlds.
I hope you’ll explore those worlds with me!
Christine Pope
Santa Fe, New Mexico
October 2017
ALSO BY CHRISTINE POPE
(SERIES WITH AN ASTERISK ARE COMPLETE)
THE WATCHERS TRILOGY*
(Paranormal Romance)
Falling Dark
Dead of Night
Rising Dawn
THE WITCHES OF CLEOPATRA HILL
(Paranormal Romance)
Darkangel
Darknight
Darkmoon
Sympathetic Magic
Protector
Spellbound
A Cleopatra Hill Christmas
Impractical Magic
Strange Magic
The Arrangement
Defender
Bad Blood
Deep Magic
Darktide (January 2018)
Books 1-3 and Books 4-6 of this series are also available in two separate omnibus editions at special boxed set prices.
THE DJINN WARS
(Paranormal Romance)
Chosen
Taken
Fallen
Broken
Forsaken
Forbidden
Awoken
Illuminated
The first three books of this series are also available in an omnibus edition at a special low price!
THE SEDONA FILES*
(Paranormal Romance)
Bad Vibrations
Desert Hearts
Angel Fire
Star Crossed
Falling Angels
Enemy Mine
The first three books of this series are also available in an omnibus edition at a special low price!
TALES OF THE LATTER KINGDOMS*
(Fantasy Romance)
All Fall Down
Dragon Rose
Binding Spell
Ashes of Roses
One Thousand Nights
Threads of Gold
The Wolf of Harrow Hall
Moon Dance
The Song of the Thrush
Books 1-3 and Books 4-6 of this series are also available in two separate omnibus editions at special boxed set prices.
THE GAIAN CONSORTIUM SERIES*
(Science Fiction Romance)
Blood Will Tell
Breath of Life
The Gaia Gambit
The Mandala Maneuver
The Titan Trap
The Zhore Deception
*An asterisk indicates a completed series.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christine Pope has been writing stories ever since she commandeered her family’s Smith-Corona typewriter back in the sixth grade. Her work includes paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and science fiction/space opera romance. She fell under the Land of Enchantment’s spell while researching her Djinn Wars series and now makes her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Christine Pope on the Web:
www.christinepope.com
Table of Contents
Copyright
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Author’s Note
Also by Christine Pope
About the Author
The Song of the Thrush Page 20