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“Here we are,” Scarlett said while they moved seamlessly through the dance steps. “Back where it all began.”

“A lifetime older and perhaps a little wiser,” Callan agreed.

Scarlett scoffed. “A little? I have been told by many that I have become wise these last months. And you?” Her features softened as she looked up at him. “You have become a king worthy of his crown, your Majesty.”

“Thank you, Scarlett.”

“Are you happy?” she asked after a moment.

He scanned the room, finding Tava across the hall speaking with Drake and Ezra. Eva had been with Tula almost all evening, and he found them on the dance floor. Tula had apparently convinced Rayner to dance, and Eva had dragged Cassius to the dance floor with her.

Finally, he said, “Yes, Scarlett. I am very happy.”

“The light suits you,” she replied, releasing a hand to spin under his arm. Her black dress flared at her feet before he pulled her back to him.

“And you, Scarlett? Are you happy?”

“I am.”

“Are you free?”

She studied him for a long moment, and he could see the tears shimmering in her eyes. There was a thickness to her voice when she said, “I am, Callan. I am free.”

The song came to an end, and he bent to press a soft kiss to her cheek. “I am glad, Scarlett.”

There was a swirl of shadows before she was pressing a vial into his hand. “Should you ever need me, I will always come.”

He watched her make her way back to Sorin, but she never made it. Cyrus was intercepting her and swinging her back onto the dance floor as she tipped her head back in laughter.

Tava caught his eye, and she excused herself, making her way to him. Callan tucked the vial into a pocket before immediately pulling her in close.

“You were wonderful today,” he said, dipping his head to murmur into her ear.

He watched her cheeks turn a light pink. “You have told me that multiple times now.”

“You look beautiful.”

Her blush deepened. “You have said that multiple times as well.”

He hummed. “Did you go shopping for me for tonight, Little Fox? Something in blue and grey? Perhaps to celebrate the coronations?”

Her eyes went wide. “Callan!” she admonished in a whisper, that blush going even deeper.

He laughed. A real one that he felt in his soul as he bent to brush his lips across hers. “Do you need some air?” he murmured.

“Yes, please,” she whispered.

They made their way through the side room, and Callan led her down the hall to the conservatory. It was different from the last time they had been here. It had been cold and the middle of winter. Now it was late spring, and several of the windows were open.

He was watching her run her fingers along some new buds when he said, “I have been meaning to ask you: do you wish for Ezra to continue being one of your personal guards?”

“This again?” she sighed, glancing over her shoulder.

“You are a queen, Tava,” he answered. “A queen needs personal guards.”

“Not following me everywhere every moment of the day.”

He arched a brow. “I am going to assume there is no place to sneak off to anymore, and if there is, you will be taking me with you?”