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“You know what they say, darling,beware what you wish for.” Her tone was warm, filled with love and simple comfort. How different it was from the one that she had used to announce, “You’re fired,” all those months ago.

“I think it all turned out alright. Don’t you?”

“I wish some things would have ‘turned out’differently. I regret being as blind as I was.”

Sam squeezed the waist she was embracing and pressed her face into the warmth of Magdalene’s neck.

“She was your friend. Sometimes your only friend. If this was me, you’d tell me not to be too hard on myself. To be gentle and considerate of someone who was holding on to her friend, even if said friend turned out to be a creepy stalker.”

Magdalene ran her fingers through the short hairs at the nape of Sam’s neck, making her shiver.

“You read me a little too easily these days, darling.”

“No, I merely love you more every day, and you share yourself with me more every day.”

“Flatterer.”

In the ensuing silence, Magdalene reached for a satchel that Sam initially hadn’t noticed she’d been carrying and sat up straight, letting go of Sam while she rummaged inside. She pulled out a thin book, and Sam’s heart clenched.

“You know, I don’t tend to be regretful for too long, what with running the school and loving you and rebuilding all of this? Who has the time for regrets and remorse? But I regret that some things were lost in that fire. I know how much restoring ‘The Light Princess’ and getting a copy with your own money meant to you.” Her hands caressed the antique book and Sam simply stared.

“I took the liberty of contacting the Boston Public Library, and it turns out they are fundraising again, wouldn’t you know it? They were more than ready to sell one of their two copies to me. This one having been restored ten years ago by one Samantha Anne Threadneedle, Boston College student. It says so right here on the insert of the dust jacket.”

What tears hadn’t spilled before were suddenly flowing freely down Sam’s cheeks. But this time Magdalene did not reach to wipe them away, simply watching Sam’s face and speaking softly.

“You are the true hero of our book, Sam. You, who saved the day, almost lost your life, made sure the school got rebuilt, took your father’s place on the Board and, with your brains and nerdy math skills, rejuvenated the endowment… It is you who allowed my dream to come true. To see Dragons prosper. And to be able to share it with the one I love. I was simply helping you along, darling. If me holding your hand along the way has made it even a little easier for you to succeed, I’m grateful for that chance, Sam.”

Magdalene opened the book where a piece of paper was sticking out like a bookmark, and Sam could see it was a printout of airplane tickets.

“You know me, Sam. I can’t quite stop myself from going overboard. But this time it’s absolutely necessary. Once the dust settles here, you and I will take that European trip you’ve been dreaming about. And none of this backpacking stuff. I’m much too old to be sleeping in tents. And indoor plumbing is a must. I hope you’ll accept staying at some finer hotels with me, darling.”

Sam sniffled, and Magdalene offered a lace handkerchief. Trust this woman to not only be prepared but to also do so in style. Sam wiped her eyes and tried to gather her scattered thoughts.

“I thought for the longest time that you were my Light Princess. My wanderer, the one who came and settled at Dragons and found a heart and home,” Sam whispered and covered the hands that were still folded on the battered cover of the hundred-year-old book with her own and felt them shake slightly under her touch. “But I was wrong, Magdalene. I may not have been wandering, but I was still lost. I may have had a place, but I was untethered. You came, and you gave me two things I’d never had, not in the way I dreamt about having them. You gave me love, and you gave mehome.”

The smile that her words were met with was blinding.

“Are you saying that I am the Prince in this equation? Me? The Prince?”

Sam laughed at the faux haughty expression on her lover’s face. Those eyes that never ever lied were filled with such love and such warmth, the blue almost completely overtaken by amber.

“You are very princely at times. You even have your own entourage.” She gestured towards the sleeping Willoughby, snoring peacefully, oblivious to the joy surrounding him.

“I do have an entourage, who’d have thought?” Magdalene’s face was suddenly serious. “I hope you know it, Sam, I have everything I need these days.”

“So do I. Everything I need.”

They sat on the Amber Dragon Cliff, their hands clasped over an ancient book with Willoughby at their feet, purring loudly, in perfect sync with the summer breeze coming from the ocean and the blooming jasmine at their backs. They were together; they were safe; they were home.