Gemstone Academy: Diamond Class

Epilogue

       I sat in the parlor of my castle wearing a deep purple ballgown. It was a lot like the one Dario's mother wore on the day he was supposed to marry Adrijana. Needless to say, that engagement ended awhile ago. Thank goodness.

       Victoria and Humphrey sat across from me. She looked radiant as she chirped away about how well her mother's bakery was doing. Humphrey watched her with adoration in his eyes. I had no idea if he was actually listening to her or not, but it was still cute.

       "Aren't you meeting with the demons tomorrow?" Humphrey asked me suddenly.

       I nodded. "Yes. Tomorrow afternoon." 

      "And how do you think that's going to go?" Victoria asked.

      "We're optimistic," I said.

       Shortly after the demon fight, Elridge, the higher ups, and I all met with the remaining enemies. So far, all of our encounters had been peaceful. We didn't expect them to try anything like rising up again. At least not any time soon.

       There was a knock on the door, and my butler Gray came in, escorting Dario.

     "Dario!" I said jumping up. "I didn't think you were coming until tomorrow."

      "I couldn't wait until tomorrow," He said. "I need to talk to you."

      "Uh oh, that sounds serious," I said laughing.

      Dario didn't say anything.

      "I think we're gonna go," Victoria said standing up.

       "What? We just got here," Humphrey said.

      Victoria smacked him. "Let's go!"

      The two of them waved at us, and slid out the door.

      Huh.

      I turned to Dario, who was fiddling with something in his hands. "Can we go to the library?"

       "Uh. Sure," I said.

       Luckily the library wasn't far from the parlor. Dario was fidgeting the whole way there. What the heck was wrong with him? He wouldn't have come here without feeding.

       "Dario, are you okay?" I asked when we got to the castle library. He was now looking at a shelf of books.

       "Uh yeah. Why?" 

       "Because you said you came here a day early to talk to me, and now you're acting super weird."

        "Why did you break off your engagement with Lazarus?"

       "Um. I did that two months ago. You know why," I said.

       "Indulge me again."  

       "Because if I had married him then I would have to be queen of his country on top of leading the mythical creatures. I didn't want my attention divided like that."

      "Is that the only reason?" Dario asked, facing me.

       "Uh no," I said. I didn't understand why we were having this conversation again. We had the same one two months ago. "I've been kind of seeing someone else. Remember?"

       "Do you want to keep seeing him?"

        "I- what? Dario, of course I want to keep seeing you! What kind of question is that?"

       "I mean, do you want to keep seeing me forever? Do you want to wake up everyday and see me?"  

       "Yes," I said without hesitating.

       "Good," Dario said pulling whatever he had been fiddling with earlier out of his pocket. "Because I love you so so so much. And I didn't want to wait to do this any longer."

        "Dario what are you-?"

        I stopped and threw my hand over my mouth when he got down on one knee. That stupid box was a ring box.

       "Elizabeth Huntress, will you marry me?"

         It goes without saying that the ring was beautiful. The diamond appeared to be in the shape of a crown. How very appropriate.

      It took me a minute to find my voice. "Yes," I choked.

       Dario slipped the ring on my finger and quickly stood up to hug me. I held onto him tightly, feeling very weak at the moment.

      "I'm sorry it wasn't more extravagant. But I wanted to do it in a library. It just seemed right."

       "We've spent countless hours together in libraries," I whispered. "It's perfect."

       "I guess I could have proposed in a hallway
too."

       "Where you first bit me?" I guessed.

       "Yep. Love at first bite."

       "I should hit you for that pun," I said. "Also, good thing you went for the library."

        He pulled back a bit to kiss me, and I held onto him tighter. I couldn't possibly be as close to him as I wanted to be right now. I purposely bit my lip, drawing blood for him.

       "Careful," He whispered into my mouth, licking up the blood in a second. "I don't want to do anything indecent in a library."

        I giggled. "I love you. And there's no one else I'd rather have at my side while I'm leading our world."

       "And it is my honor to forever serve you," Dario said. "My Angel."