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I opened it, Nerys not even pretending to hide her appreciation for my attire, or lack of it. She was dressed in tight, form-fitting breeches and a loose, tunic-style top that fell off one shoulder.

“By Elydor’s breath, you are magnificent.”

I stepped back. Nerys closed the door behind her.

I was already halfway across the room, afraid to touch her before I said my piece. Once I did, it would be all but impossible to stop.

“How was your day?” I asked, heading toward my leather satchel. With the sun beginning to set, casting a late day glow into the chamber, and the sounds of water’s life-giving flow all around us, I’d never felt more connected to this place before. Perhaps it was Nerys, knowing, or hoping, what was to come. Or perhaps it was an echo of my human ancestors’ tie to Thalassaria, one I’d never known existed.

“Interesting,” she said. “Less contentious than I’d have expected.”

Reaching into my bag, I pulled out my Keeper’s ring and palmed it, heading to the windows. When Nerys joined me, I turned toward her.

“I don’t know if this is the time or place, but there is much I need to speak with you about.”

“I’m not due back until the meal.” Her gaze dipped, and I steeled myself against a desire so strong that I wondered if it would someday consume me.

I opened my palm, revealing the gold ring, its sole gem representing the runes etched into the AetherianGate when it first opened, a reminder that my ancestors were forever tied to it.

“This ring represents my oath,” I began, “and promises I’ve kept, along with ones I have yet to fulfill. It binds me to secrets and traditions that are older than we are. But today, I make a new vow. You asked me once if I thought we could be possible. I did not, believing my duty in Estmere. And though I still owe a debt to the humans that must be repaid, I would do it here, in Thalassaria. If you wish it.”

Her eyes searched mine.

Holding my breath, I waited. Would it be enough?

“I wish it, to the depths of my soul. I love you, Rowan, and have vowed to lead Thalassaria on a new path forward. A human king at my side will challenge traditions older than memory itself. Yet I believe in my people, in their strength and wisdom to embrace what is right, not just what has always been. Together, we can show them that unity is our greatest power.”

I put the ring in her hand and closed Nerys’s fingers around it. “Ahumanking. I am, as you will remember, very much mortal.”

Nerys would sacrifice as much as me, or me, for us to be together.

“I found a strength within me, one that was always there but buried beneath fear and doubt. When the time comes, I will draw on it and trust that heartbreak will not crush me completely.”

Could I live with the knowledge that, someday, I would break her heart?

Aye. More easily than I could walk away from Nerys now.

“Will you marry me, Nerys?” Then remembering she was not human, “Rather, will you partner with me, for my eternity?”

In response, she leaned into me, and I was lost. Kissing her, knowing we were to marry, was a very different sort of kiss. There was no end in sight but a beginning that I never could have imagined coming here.

No longer holding back, I allowed my hands to roam freely. From her shoulders down to her waist, I made quick work of Nerys’s top as her hands moved between us.

“I wanted to do that,” she said, separating herself long enough to place my ring on the nearby table and take off her boots, “the second I walked into the chamber.”

Standing before her completely nude as Nerys had removed my towel, I marveled at the forces that brought me here. If the Gate had not closed… if Mev had not come through… I could not wish for the suffering my people had been through, being cut off from their families, but at the same time, I could not help but celebrate the wheels that had been put into motion for me to travel here and have met Nerys.

“You best move quickly,” I told her, slowing closing the distance between us, “because any piece of clothing remaining on your body when I reach you may or may not remain intact when I do.”

Making good on my promise, I did not go gently disrobing my future wife. She gasped as I pulled the form-fitting breeches down, helping her feet from the garment. With nothing but her glorious naked form begging to be touched before me, I lifted and carried Nerys to the bed.

She giggled, a sound I rarely heard from a woman with so many serious burdens to carry, as I tossed her on the bed. When she flicked her wrist, I was surprised to be enveloped by a silencing mist. I was even more surprised when Nerys flipped us around and moved between my legs as I’d intended to do with her.

“What,” I croaked out, “are you doing?”

She smiled, taking me in both hands. “Is that not evident? I am pleasing the man that would be my partner.”

“Nerys,” I started but could not finish. Without warning, she bobbed her head down and took me into her mouth. Gripping the back of her hair, I squeezed its silken strands between my fists. This hadn’t been the plan, but reminding myself the woman I’d just committed to partnering with, I would have to become very comfortable with less predictability very quickly.