For a while, we cuddle by the fire, but eventually, not even his body heat can keep me warm. “Shall we tidy up and retire for the night?”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea.”
Njål puts away the leftovers and washes the cookware while I do a quick lower-half wash. I save some warm water for him, then I don my dress amid chilly shivers. By the time he douses the fire and settles the animals for the night, I’ve got our bed laid in the wagon. He crawls in and maneuvers carefully because it’s a tight fit and he’s a large person. But horizontally, we nestle together beneath the blankets, a cozy space.
I settle into his arms, awash in utter bliss. “Our life will be marvelous, won’t it?”
Njål strokes my hair, sending a lovely thrill through me. His touch is infused with sensual reverence. “It already is. Before you came, I’d lost all hope. I had not even the slightest spark to keep me from despair. Nothing changed. I didn’t imagine it ever could.”
“And now?”
“I have a future, something I never dreamt possible. Because of you.”
I kiss him with all the sweetness in my soul, for I need to give him ten lifetimes worth of joy. Life isn’t always magical. Terrible things happen, and good people are tormented and cursed through no fault of their own, but sometimes, sometimes we make the right choices. Mine led me to Njål and profound happiness.
By surmounting our travails, we fight past the wall of thorns to the flower garden, a fairytale ending that we earned by our own efforts, not one granted by gods or fate.
For us, though, for us, this is the beginning, not the end.
Epilogue
Tales persist about Amarrah and Njål, legends of monsters vanquished and other curses broken. Some say that she was a sorceress, who sold small charms to earn their bread; others claim she was an eerily accurate fortune-teller. The pair lived simply, as wanderers on the road, though by all reports, they could have amassed power and wealth, positioned themselves as advisors to generals and kings. Multiple songs have been written about their exploits, and according to the Ballad of Bitterburn, they always kept a pair of goats in their retinue.
The accounts cannot agree whether she was dark or fair, but troubadours concur that she was exquisitely beautiful, like a perfect rose at the moment of its fullest bloom. Stories also state that Njål was always at her side, an immense man who oddly made few impressions on passersby. Onlookers noted his great protectiveness and intense devotion, but nothing of his physical appearance. Until the end of days, the two were inseparable and could be parted neither by calumny nor adversity.
Whatever is true of their fabled adventures, they certainly lived happily ever after.
Author’s Note
I’m so thrilled that you read Bitterburn and hope you’re eager for more in the Gothic Fairytales series. Bitterburn is the first book in a projected three-book series, as follows:
Bitterburn
Mirror, Mirror
Widow of Wildwood
This isn’t a series in the usual sense. Rather, the stories occur in the same pervasive world, linked by an object featured in the prior story. For example, in Mirror, Mirror, you find out what happens to that cursed looking glass.
Would you like to know when the next book will be available and/or keep up with exciting news? Visit my website at www.annaguirre.com/contact and sign up for my newsletter. Follow me on Instagram at instagram.com/ann_aguirre_author or “like” my Facebook fan page at facebook.com/ann.aguirre for exclusive content, contests, and fun swag.
You might also try my extensive backlist, if you love romance, science fiction, young adult, or urban fantasy. There’s an Aguirre book for every mood!
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