"Lady Leonora, breakfast is ready," Anna's voice rang softly across the high-ceilinged dining hall.
"Thank you, Anna. We'll be down shortly."
Roland's footsteps pounded across the polished floor as he came bursting into the room. Then he stopped dead and stared. "Sister! What's the occasion? You're wearing a dress!"
Leonora sat by the window, where the morning sun glinted off her silver hair, and she tilted her head at him gracefully. "There isn't one. Can't I wear a dress in my own house?"
"No, it's not that. It's just been a long time since I've seen you in one, that's all."
Her lips curved faintly, though her eyes carried a distant weight. "Anyway, I'm going to see Father today."
"Why? You hate going there."
"No particular reason," she said calmly. "I'm just going to tell him I'm getting married."
Roland choked and spilled his juice all over the table. Anna rushed forward to dab frantically at the mess. "Sir Roland!"
"What did you just say?"
"You heard me. I'm getting married," Leonora said, and took a delicate sip of her tea.
He stared at her in stunned silence while the sunlight made a halo of her hair. "Sister, should I call the doctor? I don't think you're okay."
"What makes you think that? I'm perfectly fine. Actually, I've never felt better in my life."
"I'd take her word for it, Roboy," said a soft voice behind him.
Roland turned, and the sight of Youri coming down the stairs froze him where he stood. His brown hair fell over his green eyes, his coat draped carelessly over one shoulder. He moved with a quiet ease that made the whole room feel different.
"Oh, you finally came down, dear," Leonora said, and warmth crept into her voice. Youri leaned down toward her. Without the slightest hesitation she kissed him on the lips, soft and deliberate, with relief and defiance in it.
Roland blinked rapidly. "I'm dreaming," he said. "Holy shit. My imagination is out of control. My sister is so going to kill me when I tell her about this." He laughed nervously.
"I hate to ruin it, Roboy, but I think this is real," Youri said with a playful smirk. "I can throw a pancake at your face if you want proof." Anna turned on him with eyes like daggers, and he raised both hands in surrender at once. "I'm sorry, Miss Anna!"
"Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on?" Roland shouted.
"It's a long story, Roland," Leonora said, her voice firm but full of a quiet joy. "I'll tell you all of it soon. For now, let's just say that I was looking for this man for almost my entire life, and in the end, like always, he found me first."
Roland's lips trembled, and his eyes shone as laughter finally broke through his shock. "Should I pack my things?"
"What do you mean, moron? This is your house too!"
"Yeah, Roboy, don't worry," Youri said with a wink. "She'll always be your sister first."
Roland's eyes filled with tears. "Thank you, both of you."
The night before, Youri had sat in the passenger seat of Leonora's car with his reflection staring back at him from the window, fractured and distant. "I think that Dimitry guy hit you in the head too," he said. "Go home. You're in no shape to be running around chasing people."
Leonora's hands gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles went white. "That has nothing to do with this. I want you to come with me. I want to show you something."
"I told you to leave me alone. Please don't make this hard."
Her voice dropped, soft but unwavering. "I promise you, if you come with me this one time, then whatever happens next, I'll never bother you again."
Youri let out a long breath, and the weight of her words settled over him. "Alright. I hope you keep that promise."
The city graveyard lay under a thin veil of mist, and the gravestones threw long shadows across the ground in the moonlight. The air smelled of wet earth and old stone. When the car rolled to a stop and the hum of its engine faded into silence, they walked together down the gravel path. Their boots sounded sharp in the still night, the fog curling cold around their ankles.
"We're here," Leonora said.
Youri tilted his head. "Here? Why—"
"This way." She led him to a small gravestone carved with nothing but the letters EH and the word Thirty-six. A handful of dead flowers lay at its base, and the wind whispered through the carved letters.
Her voice cracked as she began to speak. "Eight years ago, a package came to my door. No name, no address. Just some old books I had almost forgotten about, and a handwritten letter. I recognized the books the moment I saw them — they were your favorites. Lord of Lame, I'm My Sword, and most of all Caspia. I never did get to return that one to you, but somehow you had a second copy. The letter was tucked inside the back cover. My hands shook when I opened it. I was so afraid of what you had written that I almost couldn't, but in the end I couldn't help myself." Her tears began to fall. "It said:
Dear Leonora, I hope this somehow finds you. I'm sending you my books because I'm starting a new chapter in my life. I know I couldn't say goodbye to you last time, and I hope you'll forgive me for that. It's been a long time since we last saw each other, but I have to say that the time we spent together in there was some of the happiest I have ever had. I have no regrets about my life except one: that I never got to see you again. Thank you for being my friend through those hard times. I will never forget you, I promise. So I'll say just one last thing. Live, Leonora. Live for both of us, since I couldn't. And thank you for teaching me how to love."
Her whole body was shaking. "I thought you were dead. I even buried you — whatever I had left of you. Why did you send me that letter?"
Youri's voice was thick, close to breaking. "The boy who sent you that letter is long gone, Leonora. He died to make room for a monster. Those were his last words to you, and you honored them. Thank you. He would be so happy. He really loved you — I know you know that. But please, honor his memory, and don't drown yourself in his misery."
Leonora wiped at her tears with the back of her hand. "So I finally find you, and you tell me you're dead? I'm sorry, but I can't accept that." Her fingers brushed his cheek with all the intensity of the years she had lost. "Youri, I am never going to let you go, no matter what you say or who you are now. So listen carefully. I, Leonora Kaelthorn, will be yours forever, in life and in death."
She kissed him, and for a fleeting moment the whole world seemed to hold its breath.
"You know I'm just a monster now," Youri whispered when she pulled back, and his voice was raw. "I destroy what other people try to build. What right do I have to love anyone?"
"I promise you," she said, her lips barely parting, "I will never let you become that monster again."
He closed his eyes, and for one heartbeat the steel around him cracked open. "Thank you, Leonora. From the bottom of my heart. You saved me after all."
Leonora laughed softly, with tears still shimmering in her eyes, and held his face in both of her hands. "Well, then," she said, "I guess we're even now."
The fog curled around them where they stood beside the little gravestone, two souls stitched back together at last by their old wounds.
"Let's go home," she whispered.
"Yeah," he said, and for once his voice was steady. "Let's go home."