And after she gave him her gift, this he did.

When he lifted away, he shared, “I never held Liviana in my arms and shouted at our daughter to go to sleep.”

She stroked the skin at the back of his ears with both thumbs, murmuring, “You’ve lost so very much. It would break a weaker man.”

“Make no mistake, I am broken, Ellie.”

“You appear quite whole to me.”

“It’s an illusion.”

“Then you are a master illusionist.”

“Ellie—”

“Cass, a broken man does not let the world melt away when confronted with the beloved daughter he has not seen in some time. There was no one for miles when you first held her in your arms. A broken man would be lost to her. He would be lost to everybody.”

She paused, as if reflecting, before she continued to speak.

“I would say you were lost after your mother was gone, though more, it was about never really having a home or a family. And Liviana found you. In her, you had both. And you thought you were lost after Liviana was gone. But you haven’t been. Aelia’s had a hold on you while you’ve been drifting. You just need to find your feet again, and you’ll be fine.”

He was uncertain Aelia had a hold on him, that was a burden he refused to consider he forced his young daughter to bear.

But he was beginning to feel that Elena did.

And not simply literally.

To communicate a modicum of what this made him feel, he dipped to her, grazing her cheek with his until he found her ear with his lips.

“As I am a stranger in this land, it will be up to you to find someone to look after the girls while I take you somewhere in this sun-drenched haven where no one can hear how much you enjoy all the things I’m going to do to you.”

She trembled beneath him, and at the feel, he fought getting hard.

She also whispered, “I can manage that.”

“That’s good,” he muttered, kissed the skin below her ear and then rolled off her, pulling her to her side and wrapping both arms around her so he could fit her to his front. “Now go to sleep,” he ordered.

“As you wish, my prince.”

He closed his eyes. He heard hoots of owls. He felt Ellie’s soft warmth. Her steady breathing.

He also felt her living space all around them, which was not simple, nor sparse, or even small, but was filled with personality and colors, comfortable nooks and inviting furniture.

Last, he felt the night envelope them, here, in The Enchantments, where it was not just dark, but like a soft blanket holding the sun at bay so there could be rest.

And he opened his eyes when Dora yelled, “Ellie, can Aelia try riding a horse tomorrow?”

The team up.