A Muse Her

Epilogue

One month later

The promenade of the palace was full again with people celebrating the coronation of the new king of Oost den Burg and welcomed the news that Prince Jorien decided to relinquish his title and leave Oost den Burg with his family to settle on a smaller territory island out of the public eye but under heavy military security.

This was, of course, Mateo's ruling to exile his brother and his step mother after Adrie countless documents Levi uncovered from his contacts in the small business conglomerate which revealed Anna knew all along what Arnaud Haro was planning for Jorien. Not only did she know of the plans, she confessed her family had ties with the Haros for decades and she was groomed to take Mateo's mother's place as Queen.

Mateo kept his word and provided Bas' family with a home in the countryside who were also kept under the watchful eyes of his private security team. Bas and Saskia remained under maximum security in the Koningstad prisons along with Haro's mercenaries who'd been captured trying to flee the city.

Bas continued to help Mateo and the guards with intel on Arnaud as long as he was able to see and speak to his family, but Saskia refused to speak a word to anyone besides the threat that her father would come for her.

It'd been a month and Arnaud Haro and his mighty conglomerate threatening to invade Oost den Burg had all but disappeared with no sign of him or anyone coming to rescue Saskia.

And through all of this, Maia had nearly completed the first draft of a Dagger of Serendipity. It was the fastest draft she'd ever written and while her time in Oost den Burg was rife with danger and intrigue, her muse never let her down and their story was bursting with love and magic. Everything felt right in the world, except for one thing.

"So, you're really going to do this with Mateo, huh?" Faye said, standing beside her as they watched the joyous ballroom full of Mateo's friends, his family and the noble men and women who were recently appointed by Mateo and his sisters.

"Yes, we're still taking things as slow as we can, but I love him," she said, smiling at him dancing with Eline. "And I want to be here."

"Alright, well you know you can always come live with me at my place if you need a break."

Maia raised an eyebrow. "Your place? You mean Mateo's ranch that you've commandeered for the foreseeable future?"

Faye let out a bark of laughter. "Yes. I actually really like it there." She shrugged. "The Butte has grown on me and the girls are happy to spend their summer there too," she said and her eyes lit up. "Not to talk business, but I got a call from Paramount before the party and they're greenlighting your series including the one you're about to finish."

Maia's heart thumped and her eyes grew wide. "You serious?"

"Yes and they've granted everything we asked for. I'm going to be a producer, you can write as much or as little for it and Sven won't be playing any part in these films."

"Faye!" Maia said, wrapping her arms around her sister. "This is amazing!"

"I know! This is dream come true shit!"

"It is," Maia said, pulling away from her. "And now that that deal is over the line, what have you been doing for yourself?"

Faye frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play with me," Maia scoffed, nodding to Willem standing in the corner by the bar like he was on duty but Mateo gave him the night off for a very specific person. "You haven't spoken one word to Willem since you've been here and I know for a fact you two have called each other every night since I've been here."