A gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder, another hand taking the glass from her. “Sit with him,” Constance said softly. “Hold him. Let us both do this, together. I cannot bear to watch you do this alone. No, Matilda, I will not be a coward now.”
Working together, one weeping openly, one barely holding back tears, the two women managed to hoist Albion into a sitting position. Matilda sat beside him on the bed, her arm around him, not caring that the weight of him would numb the limb. For if he died, she would never feel anything again anyway.
“I just… let him drink it?” Constance asked, some of her confidence waning.
Matilda could not speak. With a slight nod, she tilted Albion’s head back, the way her father had once shown her, and put her hand around his throat. “Now,” she managed to croak. “In small sips.”
Constance obeyed, tilting the glass to Albion’s lips. The instinct to swallow was as natural as breathing, and Matilda hoped it had not abandoned him though he was unconscious. She rubbed his throat to help reignite the instinct, her heart soaring and falling as she watched his throat bob.
Soon enough, the contents of the glass were gone. Not a drop left.
“What do we do now?” Constance asked as pale as her son.
Matilda mustered a smile, tasting the salt of her tears. “We wait.”
“If he dies… I will not punish you for it,” Constance said, settling into the chair that Max had vacated. “He loves you, and you have shown him what love is—how could I punish you for that? I am… sorry, Matilda. I am sorry for my conduct, and I am sorry for accusing you. I can see with my own two eyes how wrong I was.”
He… loves me?How could she know that?
Matilda gulped, sliding her other arm around Albion, carefully observing his face for signs of life. “I forgive you,” she whispered.
* * *
“One day… I hope to wake… without a javelin lodged in… my skull,” a voice rasped, stirring Matilda from a shallow slumber.
Her eyes shot open, her heart soaring on wings of glorious hope. “Albion?” She jostled him a little. “Albion, are you awake?”
“Please… don’t shake me,” he croaked. “I’m… tender.”
“Constance, look!” Matilda’s gaze darted to the armchair where Constance should have been, but the Dowager was not there. And Matilda noticed, with some astonishment, that the older woman’s shawl was now around her own shoulders. An olive branch made of finely woven wool, perhaps.
“You’re calling… one another by your names now?” Albion tried to laugh, the sound transforming into a wince. “I must be dead. There’s… no possible way, otherwise.”
She nestled into him, holding him as tightly as she dared, considering he had collapsed the last time she hugged him. And as his arms encircled her, slowly and with much groaning, she let her tears fall afresh onto his chest. She let out all the relief and anxiety of the past day and drew in all the love she thought she was about to lose.
“It worked,” she murmured. “I cannot believe it worked.”
He pressed a kiss to her hair. “What did?”
“The antidote. My father’s book. It worked.”
“You cured me?”
She lifted her gaze to his. “I did promise you I would brew you a heart tonic,” she said. “This one was far more perilous and had a high chance of making you worse, but… here you are, alive and well. Mostly.”
“I love you,” he said, startling her. It was not the confession she had anticipated, but she would cherish it all the same.
“Well… I love you, too,” she replied, bursting into strange laughter.
He blinked slowly. “Areyouquite well?”
“Ask me tomorrow. I have not slept properly for a while.” Her laughter ebbed as she cradled her husband’s face and gazed across all of the scars, all of the flaws, all of the wondrous parts and pieces that made up the man she loved. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he said, smiling. “I should’ve told you sooner.”
She shook her head. “No, my love. This is… perfect timing.”
She dipped her head and pressed a trembling kiss to his lips. He hugged her closer and kissed her back, his mouth as warm and soft as she remembered. And though tears spilled down her cheeks, she could not have been happier. She had her husband back, she was loved, and the hope of a future had not been snatched away from her altogether.
