The Raven Lord | Book I

Epilogue

Three days later, the Huntress and the Stygian Lord sat huddled in the crow's nest of the newly named ship, The Dove. 

His hands danced through her hair as she bathed in the warmth of the sunlight, salt air kissing her face. Life at sea was something she could get used to, even if it was only temporary. 

The Stygian Lord brought his lips to her temple and she smiled, stretching like a cat waking from its nap. 

"I could do this forever," she sighed. 

He smiled down at her warmly, his amber eyes tracing every movement she made. "As could I." 

Sitting up, she opened her eyes and leaned into his chest. "Shouldn't we be down there?" She pointed down far below where the strawberry haired boy teased and chided the spymaster as he turned green at the ship's edge, his twin merely laughing along as she perched in the shade to sharpen her blade. 

"They can manage," said the Stygian Lord. 

She looked to his tanned face, her brow raised in question. "And what about us?" 

He drank in her appearance: the way her salt and wind-blown hair curled at her forehead, the way her sea-green eyes reflected the waves. And the way she looked at him: as if there was something there worth having. 

"We will be just fine," he answered. "Besides, the North holds many secrets, but nothing we can't face."

"And after that?"

"And after," he trailed kisses from her nose to her cheek bone. "We take our home back." 

"That sounds like a good plan," she purred. As he lowered his lips to hers, her eyes went wide. She broke out in laughter and he pulled away, both amused and curious. 

"What's this?" he smirked. 

"How have I never noticed?" she said, more to herself than to him. 

"Noticed what?" 

She laughed again and again before calming herself long enough to say, "You're him."

"Who?" 

"The dagger, the antefixes on Elyon and the buildings of Aurus, your last name." She listed all that she had compiled against him in the past months, piecing the last bits of the story together. 

"Who am I, Little Dove?" 

"You're the Raven Lord."

His brow arched at the absurd name as she broke into yet another fit of laughter. He did not know what she meant, nor why it seemed humorous to her. Nonetheless, his face split into a smile and he laughed along with her. 

And there, sailing toward an unknown land in hopes to get their home back, and despite what they faced, they laughed. 

And together, they were whole.