By the time Galen awoke, Serali had collected her horse and gone back to the tower. Though she sometimes watched him from afar as he went about his duties as part of the royal family, he didn't see her again until more than three years had passed. Three years is long enough for heartbreak to fade quite a bit. So when Prince Galen, second son of Valor D'Trevius, married a wild princess from the clans of the western horse nomads, much to the dismay of his mother and to the delight of the scandal mongers, Serali attended the wedding.

She didn't attempt to dress stunningly, she wore a simple dress and no jewelery. She didn't try to be seen with the prince as so many of the other nobles were. She merely watched. And when, after the first dance, Galen and his new bride split up as was traditional and danced with others in order to bring good luck, Serali came forward. Other girls clamored for Galen's attention, but once he glimpsed Serali he ignored them.

They spun around to the music, looking into each other's eyes and thinking about might have beens. At last Galen spoke.

"Can you forgive me?"

"What is there to forgive? Getting married is hardly a sin."

"I married her even though half my family and most of the nobles in the kingdom were against it. I should have done as much for you."

"No, you shouldn't have. She may be a scandal, but she will eventually be a political asset. And she's still not nearly as much scandal as I would have been! Not to mention the fact that she and you can have children, where I doubt we would have been able to. And I think you love her."

"I... I do. Three years ago I would have said I could never love again, but I love her so very much..."

Serali smiled. "That's all I needed to hear. I hope you will be happy with her, and I hope she appreciates what she's getting."

"What about you? Have you found that dashing young dragon?"

"No. I've been spending most of my time in the tower. I'm a journeyman twice over now. But I'll be leaving tomorrow to go find my own people, so perhaps I will. I only stayed to say goodbye to you."

Then the music was over. Serali curtsied and said, "Goodbye prince charming. I wish you and your princess well." She vanished into the crowd and was gone.

Galen took a step after her as if to call her back, but his bride came up out of the crowd so instead he took her arm and led her out to the next dance. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, and his heart lifted. Suddenly he was happier than he'd ever been. He had held onto that little thread of guilt about leaving Serali all this time, but Serali had forgiven him, had said there was nothing to forgive, and he finally was able to lay the past to rest. And as he spun his bride around on the floor, all of his might-have-beens were being swept away by the music, leaving him with only the happy present.