The Petal of the Rose
Page 40
"Aye, well enough, Conqueror," Acasia answered.
"Thanks you, Acasia. You've done well. Have some of your men see that no harm befalls any of these people. We leave in two days time."
I opened a drawer at my desk and handed the man a bag of talants, then dismissed him. I leaned back in my chair and wondered what she looked like. The little child in me still ached for acceptance, but I knew the time for that had passed. Cyrene had a new family, and hopefully they helped her to forget the heartache the first had left her with. Hopefully her second daughter gave her what I could not.
I pushed my melancholy aside and rose. I put out the lamp and returned to the rooms Gabrielle and I shared. The news for my wife was good, though. I would tell Gabrielle somewhere along the way that her parents still lived. I would do everything in my power to find her sister.
It was odd, but I wasn't as sad as I expected to be, hearing of Cyrene and her new family. Perhaps now, being a wife and mother, I understood the woman a little bit more. With age come many things, understanding foremost among them. All I could hope was the long road home, which Gabrielle and I were about to embark down, would be one of happiness.
THE END
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Continued in the third tale of the Conqueror series
Time's Fell Hand