“Maia,” he says, and then we’re both running at each other, and a moment later I’m in his arms. He’s squeezing me so tightly I can barely breathe, but it doesn’t matter because he came back, he doesn’t hate me, and he’s whispering things like safe and sorry and dear into my hair.
“Are you all right?” he asks when he finally releases me. “I came back, I saw the house—I thought you were dead.” He’s no longer clutching me to his chest, but he has one hand on my waist and another cupping my chin, and I’m grasping his arms in return. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to let go of him again.
“I’m all right,” I say. “Truly.”
And for the very first time, those words are the truth.
“I found your sister,” he says. “She was wandering the streets. She didn’t even know her own name. If I hadn’t met her at the ball—”
I shudder in fear and relief at once. If he hadn’t remembered that brief introduction, he wouldn’t have known her, and she would be wandering still. She could have been lost forever.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“I took her to the palace. She isn’t hurt otherwise, but she couldn’t tell me what happened, and when I got back, the house was on fire. Nobody could get close. I thought you were dead.”
“I lied,” I blurt out. “When I said I didn’t love you. I’m sorry.”
“I know,” he says. “I knew as soon as I took two minutes to think about it. I was on my way back to your house when I found Thea. I was going to sit on your doorstep and wait as long as it took you to tell me the truth. And I was going to tell you how sorry I was for all the things I said—”
Then I do let go of his arms, so I can grab him by the neck and pull him into a kiss.
“That’s your punishment,” I say when our lips finally part. “You have to let me kiss you as much as I want.”
He laughs. “Does that mean you’ve decided to marry me?”
“Yes,” I say, and it’s a while before we speak again.
Finally I take him by the hand and draw him back toward the ruined apple tree. “I need you to meet my other sister,” I say. “Properly, this time. I love her very much, and you’re going to help me take care of her.”
“If she can make you admit to loving her,” he says, “she must be very—”
Then he sees Koré and stops.
“Do you know,” he says after a moment, “your house gets stranger every time I visit?”
I laugh shakily. “You have not heard the half of it.”
But now I can tell him. Now I can speak to him day after day and not be afraid. I can speak to the whole world, if I want.
And every word I say will be true.