The Beastkeeper's Bride

Epilogue

Epilogue

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

He came across her atop the knoll, as he had several times over the last few days.

Millie rose from her kneeled position beside her father's tombstone, brushing off the grass and small clumps of dirt that clung to her snug fitting breeches- an outfit accommodation made when she was tending to matters on the lands surrounding the estate.

The day was overcast, the grey light glooming the surroundings with a sombre atmosphere that added to the cold of the winter afternoon. Despite this, an abundance of violets bloomed persistently at the bases of the gravesites belonging to the Ravensfield ancestry, including Millie's mother and father- a gesture of gratitude bestowed to her on behalf of Kaede or Caëlhon. It was a small memorial on the grand estate- a secluded area of respect with an ample and undisturbed view of the majestic property with all its rolling hills, pristine forests and encroaching wildlands. Five generations of her family were laid to rest atop the knoll, each bequeathed with an intricately carved gravestone that was resplendent with the family crest.

Her head angled towards Blayne as he approached her quietly, a soft smile gracing her lips as she saw him and turned fully to meet him. Crests of pink blossomed against the apples of her cheeks, bitten by the frigidity of the weather, and he was quick to instil his warmth into her by drawing her into his arms. She came willingly, sliding her fingers beneath the coat that he wore and snuggling against his chest.

"You found me," Millie murmured, tipping her chin up to regard him with a mischievous glint in her Arctic eyes.

"I'll always be able to find you," he told her, dropping a kiss to the tip of her nose. He had been driven by the insurgent need to be by her side today particularly after the premonition flashed through his consciousness with a force that rendered him still and frozen amid a particularly bustling transferral of halcoons to their new territory within Ravensfield. Though the unerring images that stirred through his mind had lasted but a second, he had stood by dumbly as several of the small hound-like balls barraged against his knees in their misplaced panic, sending him sprawling amidst the brambles of the forest floor.

When he had recovered, astonished and dazed, he left with nary a word to Rogane, who had been assisting him corral the yelping little beasts, to seek his wife. Blayne was not prone to premonitions- of any kind- and he believed the surge of unfamiliar magic within him a residual aftereffect of Aëghan's administrations to his body two days prior. Later, as he weaved through the woodlands towards where he sensed Millie would be, he reflected on just how much the Dravolese had been retaining from him for so many years. Indeed, other than his obvious ability to change forms into a massive black-scaled serpent, Blayne had not realised he held the power that he had- and had been playing them all for fools all this time.

An icy breeze suddenly pummelled through their legs, despite their closeness, and blew a strand of ashen hair across his wife's eyes. Tucking it back behind her ear, his heart gave another squeeze as he brought forth the recollection of the images he'd witnessed, that had compelled her to seek her out immediately simply to be with her and revel in her company.

"You look... intense," Millie pointed out, cocking her head to the side curiously. She shifted slightly against him so that she could place a fingertip against the point of his chin. "Perhaps you need a respite from all the madness near the manor."

Since his recovery, he had spent more time outdoors as they began the arduous process of relocating, and sometimes outright convincing, creatures and beasts into new, safer, and welcomed territory. Millie had presided for a few hours but her presence had largely contributed to nothing and his wife was not one to stand idly by, so her and the Llaelleanoid had tended to matters within Ravensfield- matters that he would otherwise be compelled to oversee that was fitting as his new role. One of which was the imminent incarceration of her cousin and the magistrate who had taken him into custody for his pivotal role in the crimes against the family. Theo would await trial yet before his fate was ensured, though there was an overwhelming amount of liberal supporters in Millie's human circles willing to lend their voices to her prosecution. It had already been advised that the criminal would be pleading guilty to his misdeeds in hopes for lenient punishment if he were to truly convince his judge of his remorse for the error of his ways and that he believed he was simply acting out of what he perceived the wellbeing of his only remaining family- at the time.