Noelle stroked his shoulder. “I’m so sorry I put you through that. I didn’t mean to.”
“Why did you leave?”
Noelle wrestled with her answer. “I was afraid.”
She felt him stiffen. His hand fell still. “Of me … Because I’m a … savage.”
Noelle swallowed with an effort. “Not of you.” She frowned. “I don’t honestly think I ever was. I was afraid I’d love you and I wouldn’t matter to you. I was afraid that you would give me a child and then take back the only part of you that you’d shared … that I’d lose you twice.
“I know that’s the tradition your people have practiced for generations now, maybe centuries. But it didn’t used to be that way—before the cataclysm. Couldn’t … couldn’t we go back to some of the old customs? The ones more like our customs where parents stay together and rear the child?”
He was silent for several moments. “You’d want to do that? As harsh as conditions are on Aiper?”
“Well, there’s lots of room for improvement. I mean—it doesn’t actually have to be as uncomfortable as it is.”
He began to stroke her back. “What would you change?”
Noelle didn’t have to think it over. She’d been giving that a lot of thought. She immediately launched into her list.
Drak silenced her and redirected her thoughts a few minutes later by kissing her stupid. “I’ll consider it—all of it,” he said, satisfied when he’d silenced her. “No promises. My people aren’t going to be open to a lot of changes, especially radical changes from what they’re used to. They won’t take it well if we try to rush into anything new.”
Noelle sighed with impatience but nodded. “Ok.”
Drak captured her chin and tipped her head back so that she met his gaze. “I love you, star-child, and I am willing to do my best to take care of you and make you happy … but, when all is said and done, I am a barbarian. I cannot change what I am. I cannot be like the men of your village.”
“Thank god!” Noelle exclaimed.
Epilogue
Standing on the balcony that opened out into a special world of her own design, Noelle surveyed the newly completed—enormous—greenhouse with a sense of pride, enjoying the sense of being outside without having to endure the bitter cold. The original intention had been to build it as a freestanding structure, but then she’d considered how nice it would be to be able to enjoy the view from the suite she shared with Drak and she’d altered the plans. Instead, it was attached to the castle so that she—everyone actually—could enjoy the warmth and sunshine even in the dead of winter. It was lovely already and they’d barely begun the planting.
But she could easily envision it abundant with growing things—flowering fruit trees and colorful vegetables and even flowers.
She wasn’t naïve enough to think this was going to prevent the men from raiding. That practice may have arisen from the desperate need for desperate measures to insure survival, but it was too much a part of who they were, now, to expect that to stop anytime soon. Even if it was no longer completely necessary.
Still, it made her feel better that they wouldn’t be dependent on raiding for survival. She wanted better than that for her children. She wanted prosperity.
Almost as if the child growing in her womb heard her thoughts and believed she’d summoned it, her belly abruptly contracted and her water broke.
Noelle stared down in dismay at the water gushing out of her.
When she looked up again, searching for Drak, she saw him rushing toward her, white faced. “What is it?”
Fear abruptly clutched at her. It was her first and even if it was a natural process, it was new to her and scary because she’d never experienced it. “It’s time … I think.”
Drak transferred his focus to her belly, a horrified look on his face. “You’re sure? This time? I mean we’ve already headed to your colony on K’naiper five times in the past two weeks.”
Noelle glared at him. “I didn’t just piss on myself!” she snapped. “My water broke! That means ….” She broke off as the first true pain hit her, bending almost double.
Drak went into panic mode, scooping her up awkwardly and rushing toward the balcony door. “The ship! Get the ship ready! We are leaving!” he bellowed to the men below them working in the greenhouse. “Hold on, baby! You cannot have it here.”
The contraction eased off enough to allow her to glare at him, but he ignored it, crossing the room swiftly and then entering the passage that led to the ‘hanger’ where the ship was.
They’d almost made it to the bottom of the stairs when the men/crew Drak had summoned caught up with them and then passed them, racing to reach the ship first.
Despite the snide comment Drak had made Noelle was pleased to see they’d practiced the run enough that they were very orderly. By the time she and Drak reached the ship they were ready for takeoff.
They were halfway to K’naiper when Drak’s daughter popped her head out and screamed hello at the top of her lungs.
Drak passed out, hitting the deck hard enough his men burst through the cabin door to check on him. One look at the bloody mess on the bed was enough to send them in the opposite direction, however, and they were thoughtful enough to slam the door on the way out.
Drak found himself staring at the ceiling of the cabin when he woke up. Still slightly disoriented, he sat up and looked around.
Noelle was smiling at the bundle in her arms.
Feeling a jolt of disbelief and excitement, Drak got to his feet and moved to the bed to peer down at what Noelle was holding. “What is it?”
Noelle glared at him. “It’s a baby!” she snapped.
He blinked at her in dawning irritation. “Son?”
“Oh. No. It’s a daughter.”
“Oh,” Drak tried not to sound disappointed.
Noelle gave him an offended look. “You aren’t happy.”
Drak forced a grin. “I am! I am thrilled! My first daughter!”
Noelle looked down at her daughter lovingly. “Just you wait. She’ll have you wrapped around her little finger in no time at all.”
Drak had not thought Noelle was a witch and had the power to see into the future. But it transpired she was absolutely correct. The first time the baby looked up at him and smiled a toothless grin, he was thoroughly captivated.
The End.
Barbarian Prince Page 21
