Epilogue

Skadi

I heldmy hands out to the warmth of the flames, even if I didn"t particularly feel the cold. Erik shifted closer and put an arm around me. I shuffled closer and leaned my head against his shoulder, still a little in awe of how comfortable I felt around him, and how right it felt for us to be like this.

"You still haven"t pointed out the stars made from your father"s eyes," he said softly.

"Oh, I think I just got distracted," I said. "It"s those two." I pointed up at the sky to where they sparkled.

"I see them."

"They always feel like they shine brighter when I talk to them." I looked up. I cleared my throat. "Far, this is Erik." I gestured between the stars and the man beside me.

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Erik said, not making me feel in the slightest bit silly for talking to stars.

They twinkled in response, seeming to like the introduction.

"I like your daughter a lot," Erik said.

They twinkled again and I laughed. "Maybe he"ll have someone else to talk to now."

"I"ll have to see if I can find him in the sky when I"m touring."

"I"m sure he"d like that," I responded. I"d never shared my father"s stars with anyone before, but it felt right to do it now.

Erik rested his head on top of mine but neither of us said anything as we enjoyed the moment. The only sound was the crackling of the fire and the rush of the wind.

"You never told me what made you so certain that you wanted to come back to the mountain," I said after a few more minutes of silence, wondering if I really wanted to hear the answer.

"To be honest, I didn"t like leaving in the first place, but I think when I really realised it was when I started writing a song for you."

I blinked a couple of times. "You wrote a song for me?"

He nodded and moved slightly further down the bench to grab his guitar and I realised he intended to play for me. He tugged off his gloves and set them down on the bench.

"You"re going to freeze," I said.

"Then you"ll have to warm me up afterwards," he quipped, setting his guitar in place and running his fingers over the strings.

I wanted to protest more, especially with how cold it was out here, but I couldn"t. Not when the reality of what was happening was sinking in.

TheErik Nilsen had written a song for me. It wasn"t the first time bards had sung of my life, but this was different. Because he hadn"t written a song about something that happened to me, he wrote a song that came from his affection towards me.

Music filled the night and he closed his eyes, making me wonder just how many times he"d already practised this. "There"s snow falling outside the window, but I don"t feel the cold..." he sang.

Tears pricked at my eyes as he continued, each line making me feel more in touch with him and with the way he felt.

"Her eyes sparkle under the green sky, and I find myself knowing exactly why I lost my heart to her..."

As if called by his song, the sky glittered with the arrival of the Northern Lights, illuminating his face and making the moment even more magical.

He came to a stop and put his guitar down.

"That was beautiful," I whispered.

"So are you," he responded, shuffling closer on the bench so he could take me in his arms.

I cupped his cheek in my hand and drew him the rest of the way to me so I could press my lips against his.

We pulled apart and stared into one another"s eyes, the sky still shimmering above us and the echo of Erik"s song still resting in my heart.

I didn"t think I"d ever had such a perfect moment, and I planned on treasuring it for the rest of my life. And this time, I knew I wouldn"t be doing that alone.

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