by K. A. M'Lady
Damon stood so abruptly that the chair crashed over as he cleared the table and shoved his guard out of the way, running through the door so fast that Rosalynn was completely amazed he even remembered how to move that quickly.
He ran through the bailey and into the stable, not waiting for a stable boy to assist. Reaching Fallon’s stall, he grabbed a bit and threw it over his horse’s head quickly, leading him out of the stables. Once outside, he mounted without a saddle, yelled at the guard to open the gates and thundered across the bridge, not waiting for any of his men to accompany him.
* * * * * *
Gabriella held her breath as she watched Damon thunder across the plain. She had moved heaven and earth to get here. She had left the US a month ago and it took her three and a half weeks of wandering the small towns of England near Blackmoor, praying to every God, Goddess, stick, rock, star and anything else in the universe that would listen to her to bring her and her son back to Damon.
Finally, two days ago after stopping for a short picnic near a small creek, she lay in the sun with her son for a short nap. When she woke, everything had changed. Her rental car was gone, the roadway a distant memory. Thank God she had her two bags with her of their clothes and the medicinal bag she had the forethought of packing.
She had taken as much of her cash that she could and bought gold and jewels that she could use to buy what she would need along the way to get her and her son to Damon. And now, watching Damon ride towards her in a frenzy, she knew it had all been worth it. Clutching her son tightly, she kicked her own mount into a gallop.
* * * * * *
Damon couldn’t breathe, he was so distraught with happiness. She was here. She’d come back to him. Somehow she had come back to him. Before their horses could even fully stop, he jumped from Fallon to the ground and pulled her into his arms, kissing her with every ounce of his being. Never wanting to let her go again. Unable to believe that she was real.
As he continued to kiss her senseless and her head began to spin, their son began to fuss in her arms. Reluctantly pulling back from him, Gabriella looked up into Damon’s beautiful silver gray eyes. “God, how I’ve missed you,” she said, tears flowing down her face.
“And I you, my love,” he told her, wiping her tears with his thumb.
Their son began to howl. Damon looked at her sheepishly and she smiled a bright, full smile. “Your son is quite the loud one, milord,” she told him, pulling back the blanket that swaddled the boy.
Damon looked down to see a huge child with a mop of pitch black hair and deep green eyes like his mother’s. His heart was instantly overfilled with love and admiration as he looked from his child to the woman he loved.
“Your son, milord, Michael Sebastian DeGracey, after my father,” she told him.
“And a better name there could not be,” he said, pulling them into his arms.
That night, a great feast was held at Blackmoor. All in attendance danced and drank and celebrated the marriage of their lord, Damon DeGracey, The Dragon of Blackmoor, to his lady, Gabriella.
And as toasts were made and Damon held high his son, he knew that happy endings truly were a reality.
K.A. M’Lady
K.A. M’Lady lives in the mid-west with her amazing husband and three wonderful children. She works, she writes, she believes– All things are possible with Faith, Love and Understanding. We all have gifts to offer the world–even the small things can bring joy to another’s heart.