She was five steps away, her face pale until their gazes locked. Gradually, the color returned to her cheeks, like roses blooming in starlight. She stood, beautiful and proud in the gray-washed light; she seemed not of this earth, and Jack was like a shadow next to her. Serenity spread through him the longer he regarded her. Peace, like a gentle poison, quelled the anxious blood within him. He extended his hand to her, a quiet offering. He didn’t quite believe this was happening, not until Sidra and Frae relinquished her, and Adaira claimed his waiting hand with her own.

Her fingers were shockingly cold. A brush of winter, defying the sultry air and the heat of his skin.

She glanced up at the churning clouds above them, and Jack felt how she trembled. It eased his own shaking, and he tightened his hold on her, hoping it would steady them both. If we must drown, let us do so entwined.

Adaira’s gaze returned to him, as if she had heard his musings, and there her eyes remained, for she saw him at last. Her old menace. A slender smile danced on her lips, and he was relieved, recognizing that mirth within her. Despite the weight of the past few days, he could still coax it from her without a single word.

He acknowledged it then. She had just accomplished the sweetest revenge. Here he was, about to bind himself to her. To give his vow with a willing heart. And he marveled at her.

Torin was saying something. Jack didn’t hear a word as Adaira brushed her thumb over his knuckles.

“Shall I go first?” she whispered, and Jack nodded, doubting his voice.

Mirin brought forward a long strip of plaid, surrendering it to Torin. Jack felt his and Adaira’s family gather close around them in a loose circle as if they were embracing the two of them.

Torin began to wrap their hands with the strip of plaid, knotting it once as Adaira spoke her vow.

“I, Adaira Tamerlaine, hereby take you, Jack, to be my husband. I will comfort you in sadness; I will lift your head and be your strength when you are weak. I will sing with you when you are joyful. I will abide beside you and honor you for a year and a day, and thereafter should the spirits bless us.”

Jack’s thoughts whirled. Mirin had helped him memorize these vows last night, and yet his mind went utterly blank. Adaira’s grip on him eased as the silence rang. The mere envisioning of her walking away broke the dam that had welled within him. The words rushed forward like a song he had learned, long ago.