Page 32 of Half Agony, Half Hope

Her reply was a skeptical look. “That seems unnecessarily dramatic.”

“Trust me, it will be completely worth it.” He couldn’t keep the grin off of his face. Corvus had been working out the logistics of this for weeks, and he couldn’t believe it was finally happening.

With a sigh Pearl said, “I suppose I trust you enough to blindfold me and whisk me off to an undisclosed location, but know if I don’t come back, Prudence will murder you and everyone you’ve ever loved.”

“That I believe, but her revenge will be unnecessary as you will return to her with only tales of the best boyfriend England has ever seen.”

Pearl chuckled even as she rolled her eyes and allowed him to put on the blindfold. Taking Pearl in his arms, Corvus wrapped them in the red light of his magic and whisked them away. Kissing her gently on the cheek, Corvus took off the blindfold as he whispered in her ear. “Welcome to the Winterbourne Library, love.”

Corvus had picked his moment well. It was midday, and the sun was shining beautifully through the windows lighting the place up like a cathedral. He’d put a roaring fire in the hearth, and a table for two right in front of it with takeout from all of her favorite places. Pearl teased him for not being able to cook, but he could order takeout as well as anyone and had an excellent warming charm for keeping the food at just the right temperature. The two logistics that had taken the most work were getting his parents out of the house all day and making it so that Pearl could enter the house directly through the wards. It had taken hours of reading through the old warding literature on the manor to figure out where exactly to drip her blood with his to make it so someone who was not a Winterbourne or part of one of the old families would have that kind of access. But his parents had been even worse. They were both homebodies, and why wouldn’t they be since they employed some of the best cooks in Europe and owned a home the size of a small palace? There wasn’t much reason for them to leave for extended periods of time. Corvus had suggested several things to his mother that they could do today, until she’d unfortunately started getting suspicious. She’d asked, “Is this about the girl you’re seeing?” Corvus had stared at her mouth agape before answering much too quickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mother.” Cecilia had laughed. “Of course, darling, of course. I’ll take your father to our villa in Tuscany for the week and let you keep your secrets. Anyone who has caught your eye must be truly special.” Corvus had neither confirmed nor denied her statements, just thanked her for her assistance with his father. And seeing the look that came over Pearl’s face when she took in the library, Corvus felt that it had all been worth it. Tears actually came to her face, and she began wiping them away, embarrassed. “You know I read about this library when I was a kid? My sweet grandmother got me a book called Great Magical Libraries, and this was my favorite of all. There was a note in the book that no visitation was allowed, but the authors of the book had gotten the most gorgeous photo of the place - I would look at it and dream I’d get to see it one day.” Turning to Corvus, she kissed him slow and sweet, and he could taste the salt from her tears. Cupping his face in her hand, Pearl looked at him with shining eyes. “It’s even more beautiful than I imagined. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Corvus had expected her to love it, but he hadn’t expected her to be moved. She’d never even mentioned she knew it existed, much less that she wanted to see it. He felt even more pleased with himself. “Well, it’s all yours for the day. What do you want to see first?”

The look of glee that came over her face was as though Corvus had promised her every ounce of gold in the Winterbourne vaults. Would this woman never cease to amaze him? It was a day in his library she wanted - not his gold nor his influence nor his name.

“Will you be my guide, Corvus? Show me every nook and cranny.”

Corvus made a valiant effort to comply, although he was sure he wasn’t the most qualified. He showed her the best spot to hide in the whole library and a few books he’d added to the collection - mostly popular fiction titles. Even though she teased him saying, “I thought you didn’t do much leisure reading,” he was inordinately pleased when she asked what his favorite book was. He’d insisted she take it home so he could hear what she thought of it. Corvus showed her what he thought was the best place to read, and the hole in the wall he’d covered with a chair after he was shooting a bow and arrow in the house during his archery phase. During all of this, Pearl kept stopping him to point out titles she wanted to see, and he would put on golden gloves and pull them down for her. She’d stop and read for a while until she’d declare she was ready to continue. They’d been there for hours before her stomach finally began growling and he managed to drag her back to the food.

The entire time they were eating, Pearl kept observing the library and asking questions. “When was it built? Has it ever been cursebroken? Has it always been this size, or has it grown over the generations?” and so on. Corvus answered the questions to the best of his ability, and he promised to find the book on the history of the Winterbourne Library. At the end of the meal, he couldn’t help but ask if she agreed that he was the best boyfriend England had ever seen? And to his absolute delight, she replied without hesitation that he was the best boyfriend the world had ever seen.

Pearl pulled him back into the stacks, and Corvus assumed that she was going to begin looking at books again until she shoved him against one of the bookshelves and began to snog him senseless. An excellent turn of events in his estimation. Every time he kissed her, it felt like he needed to savor it. He didn’t have any idea when he’d kiss her for the last time, so he tried to kiss her every time like it might be the last time. Her fingers were tangled in his hair, and he was kissing down her throat trying to find the spot that made her sigh and melt against him when a thought managed to filter its way through his lust filled brain. Why should this be the last time? Why couldn’t he continue to feel this joy - this beautiful thing he had with Pearl? Pulling back suddenly, he looked at Pearl as though he were seeing her for the first time. It filled him with satisfaction how properly snogged she looked, and she gave him an inquisitive look before grabbing his lapels to pull him back into the kiss.

Covering her hands with his, Corvus groaned. “Wait. Wait. If you keep kissing me, I’m not going to be able to think much less speak. I…” he cleared his throat and continued. “I want you in my life.”

Laughing, Pearl gently pushed back the white-blond hair that had fallen over his forehead while he was kissing her. “I am in your life, Corvus.”

Corvus raised his eyes to the sky and heard Fred’s voice in his head. Come on, mate. You’re an intelligent, well-educated person. Tell this woman how you feel about her. Looking back into her open, smiling eyes, he tried again. “I want you in my life permanently. I want to tell my parents about you. I want them and everyone to know how I feel about you.”

Eyebrows raising, Pearl waited as though there was something else he needed to say before she spoke. “And how do you feel about me, Corvus?”

“I…” he stopped. Of course an American would go straight for the jugular and expect him to just share his feelings like it was easy.

“Maybe I should start? I told my mom about you that first day you accosted me in the cursebreaking classroom. ”

Affronted, Corvus scoffed. “I did not accost you.”

Pearl only laughed and continued. “I know y’all tend to be more reserved about sharing your emotions here, but you’ve shown me how you feel about me. I would like to be in your life permanently, too. We’re young, and we don’t have to rush, but I like knowing that’s where we’re headed because I love you, Corvus.”

It was such a simple statement, those three words, but he was sure if she hadn’t still been holding him by his lapels, he would have just floated away with the joy of it.

“I love you, too, Pearl. Even if I know you only love me because of the size of my library.” He loved it when he made her laugh. It was one of the best endorphin rushes he’d ever experienced in his life. And if he was very lucky, he’d get to keep doing it for the rest of his life.

“Well, darlin’, I guess the game is up! I knew I couldn’t pretend forever.” Her look turned wistful as she traced the outlines of his face with her finger. “I’m going to miss you over Christmas, you know? Isn’t that silly? I’ve only known you for a few months, and I’m going to miss not seeing you for a couple of weeks.”

Corvus picked her up in a bridal carry and sat in a nearby chair with her in his lap. “I could come with you.”

Scoffing as she snuggled in closer, Pearl said, “Sure. I’m sure you’d love to fly all the way to Texas to spend a wild two weeks with my family.”

“Why wouldn’t I? I’d get to be with you. I don’t care where we go. Do you want to go to Australia instead? How about Italy? The Amalfi Coast is gorgeous this time of year.”

Her laugh infused the space with the sound of her joy. “No. While I won’t close the door on any of those places in the future, I would love to take you home for Christmas. But you must prepare yourself to be absolutely overwhelmed by an enormous, nosy family who will hug you too much and give you more food than you could ever possibly eat.”

“That sounds marvelous to me. When do we leave?”

Pearl responded by grabbing his face and kissing him, and Corvus found that was perhaps his favorite answer to a question.

Corvus was loath to admit he’d never been on a plane before. It had never been necessary. He’d of course traveled internationally with his parents before, but their travels had always been through magical means - his parents wouldn’t be caught dead in something so deeply unmagical as an airplane. He actually considered dipping into his trust fund to finance someone to take them to her home magically, but he knew he couldn’t risk his parents finding out before he had a chance to tell them. Corvus had braced himself for a week before he told Pearl - sure that she would laugh at him and hold it over his head, but she walked him through every step of what to expect for their upcoming trip. Even offered to take him to the airport beforehand so he could get used to it. It was a continual surprise the way she gave away information so willingly. In his world, knowledge was power. Knowledge was expensive. In her world, knowledge was free and best shared with anyone who wanted it.