“He’ll be here soon, I’m sure.” Link grasps my hand, “Come on, we have to go now before they blow up the last of the generators.”
“But what about Sol?” Hesitating I look back.
“He’ll catch up, come on.” Link pulls me along in his wake and we run for the hole in the wall. We barely clear the gap when an explosion rocks the earth beneath our feet. We are thrown face first to the ground by the force. Dirt, bits of concrete and rumble shower down on us. Covering my head I cower. Two more explosions shake the ground and then it’s still. Coughing and sputtering I roll over and look back. Where the medical centre once was is now a large crater of brown earth.
“No! Sol!” Smoke drifts across the ground as I scramble to my feet. “Sol!” My panic turns to sorrow. “No.”
Link gets to his feet and wraps me in his arms. “I’m sorry, Ocean.”
“He went back. He went back for me, for that stupid necklace, because it meant so much to me.” A sob lodges in my throat. “It’s all my fault.”
Another explosion showers dirt down upon us. “Come on, it’s too dangerous to stand here.” Link forces me up the dirt incline. As we crest it Petie appears holding Danika’s hand. I gather him to me. “Thank God you’re all right.”
“I’m fine, Ocean.” He pulls away and points to the water. “Do you think they make crayons that color?”
Together we stand, hand in hand and look out over the massive expanse of blue I will never forget as long as I live. The sun is just beginning to peep above the horizon, tinting the aqua waves with bits of orange and yellow highlights. I’ve found true freedom at last, at a price. “I don’t think any color stick could compare to the real thing, Petie.”
Grandpa reaches out on the rope ladder to guide Petie’s descent and Danika looks to me. “Let’s go.”
With a sigh, I turn to make my way down the rope, my heart filled with both joy and sorrow. As I descend, I look back one last time at the rubble of Imram. A thick patch of smoke billows across the ground. Something moves and I pause. Looking closer, I make out a figure walking through the smoke and ash. It can’t be... can it? My heart races and then he’s there, no longer a ghost, but a fleshed figure.
“Sol?” I scramble back up the ladder. “Sol!”
Then we’re both running and end up in each other’s arms.
“I thought you were dead, Sol,” I weep into his filthy shirt.
“I got it.” He pushes me away and holds up my flower locket on the silver chain. “Freedom just wouldn’t seem right without it.” He places the pendant around my neck.
“Thank you. You’re incredible, you know that? As long as I have you, freedom will never be lacking anything.” Through my tears I grin at him.
“Thanks.” He smiles. “Ocean, now that we are free, will you marry me?”
“I’ve never wanted to marry anyone more than I want to marry you, Sol.”
When our lips touch I finally know what true freedom feels like. I pull back and look out over the ocean and the people standing on the shore. “Incredible,” is all I can say.
Chapter Forty-one
The boats have to make numerous treks across the bay to carry all the citizens of Imram who have decided to head west with us. A couple of hundred enforcers and their families have stayed behind in the ruins, setting up weak pockets of resistance while thousands of citizens have headed east, walking around what is left of the outer walls of the once great city. Standing on the west shores, all I can see is a pillar of smoke defining what used to be. I’m both sad and elated. It is hard to say goodbye to the life I’ve known, yet I am eager for my future to begin.
My mother approaches and puts her arm around my shoulders. “I’m proud of you, Ocean.”
Smiling, I answer without taking my eyes from Sol and Link who are side by side helping elderly people to the shore, “It wasn’t me, Ma, it was them, Link and Sol. And Danika, I can’t forget her, she kept me from putting the razor to my wrists. Without them there would have been no escape.”
“And without you they would not have fought.”
I can’t help laughing. “I was an emotional wreck.”
“And now?”
With a smile, I let my head rest against her shoulder. “And now I have this strange sense of calm. Even though I don’t know what the future holds for me, for us, I am content. I’m not sure I’ve ever been content before.”
Ma giggles. “It’s a great feeling isn’t it? It’s the way I always felt with your father. As long as I had him, I was complete.”
For the first time I see my ma as a woman, not just my mother. “Is that what love is all about?”
“I think so.”
I glance up at her serine face. “I haven’t told Sol I’m pregnant yet.”
“Why not?”
With a shrug I straighten. “There hasn’t been much time... and, well, I’m afraid.”
“Of what?”
“We’ve just found each other, I mean things have been... different since we escaped. What if we aren’t ready? What if he thinks the baby is the emperor’s?”
“He’ll know the truth.” Ma pats my hand. “A baby will bring you two together.”
“What if it pushes us further apart?”
Ma kisses my forehead as Petie skips up. “Then we will cross that bridge when we come to it, right?”
“I guess.”
Petie tugs at my hand. “Ocean, Rafel says he’s going to teach me how to fish.”
“Is that so?”
“Yup.” He nods with so much enthusiasm his spikes bounce.
My heart is so filled with love I can’t help but reach out and ruffle his spiky head of hair. “Just wait until you see Granddad’s ranch. Remember Mischief, my old pony I told you about? He’s still there.”
Petie’s eyes grow wide. “Will you teach me to ride him?”
I grin. “You bet.”
Sol and Link finish helping the rest of the survivors ashore and come to stand beside me. Sol squeezes my hand. “That is the last of those coming back to the ranch with us. Link figures maybe they can rebuild the town and settle there.”
Link nods. “We are going to split into two groups. We will go ahead with the first group to prepare your grandmother for the arrival of the rest of the slower ones.”
Spying Sasha, I wave her over. We have a tentative truce of sorts. “Sasha, why don’t you and Link take the lead?”
A pink flush tinges her cheeks and she glances at Link beneath lowered eyelids. “If he doesn’t mind the company...”
Completely unaware of Sasha’s feelings for him, he shrugs. “I don’t mind, come on.”
When he turns away Sasha mouths, “Thanks,” and then hurries after him.
Hand in hand with Sol. I chuckle.
Sol’s face wears a look of puzzlement. “What was that all about?”
“Sasha’s sweet on him.”
His jaw tightens. “What about you?”
I can’t help but sigh, males can be so dense sometimes. “Sol, I love you. Link and I are just friends.”
“I see.” The look in his eyes is pure relief and I almost laugh out loud.
Turning to my ma, I roll my eyes and she smiles at our unspoken understanding. “The sooner we get going, the sooner we will get to the big meadow, Ma. I can’t wait for you to see the wild horses.”
As we cross the sand and head out into the sea side meadow I pause to take in the sight of hundreds of people experiencing the world, some for the first time ever, and some for the first time in many years. Lines of blue and green clad men, women and children enter the grass land leaving silvery trails behind like the snails in my grandmother’s garden. The former citizens of Imram are leaving their mark on the land.
Sol squeezes my hand. “It’s quite the sight, huh?”
“It sure is. Where are they all going to go?”
“Anywhere they want.” He points out the rough looking men clad in clothing marking them as those who survived on the land
outside Imram’s walls. “They will show us the way to live out here. Your granddad says there are a couple of dozen communities that will take them in and some of the old abandoned towns will be rebuilt for them.”
My gaze settles on Danika laughing at something her mother says as they walk along. “Do you think they will make it?”
“We did, didn’t we?”
“I suppose.” Still something nags at me. Indirectly I’ve lead these people to what I claim is freedom, but what if I’ve lead them to slow starvation and death? Us concubines and enforcers who originally escaped have adapted and learned to prosper out here, but what of the older people and those like Petie who have never known anything but the hubs?
Taking my hand in his, Sol leads me forward.
“Sol?”
He smiles down at me. “Yes?”
Screwing my courage to the sticking point I draw him aside. “I have to tell you something.”
“You’re not going to tell me you are going back to rule Imram, are you?” he teases with a grin.
“No.” Taking a deep breath, I know I just have to blurt it out since I can’t think of any other way to tell him what I must. “I’m pregnant.”
For a long moment he stands there, staring at me in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, when I returned to the medical hub with Link I was informed by the emperor.” I hold my breath, afraid he will deny the child and put me from him.
Instead his huge grin breaks the tension. “I’m going to be a father?”
Giggling, I nod.
With a whoop, he lifts me into the air and twirls me around. “This is the best day of my life, Ocean.”
Putting my arms around his neck I correct him, “This is the first day of our lives together, Sol.”
“It’s incredible.”
Laughing I can’t help but agree. “It is, isn’t it?”
When our lips touch I’m filled with so much joy I can hardly breathe. All those times I felt I couldn’t go on, I couldn’t change my fate, all the heart ache and shame have been worth it. If I were to be struck dead at this moment, I would die happy and free. Freedom and Sol are all I’ve ever wanted. And it’s incredible.
The End
Also by Killarney Sheffield from Books We Love:
Corseting the Earl
Kidnapping the Duke
The Cracksman’s Kiss
To Love A Horseguard
Stand & Deliver Your Love
The Courtesan
Love’s Lies
Sprockets, Silk & Savages
Marie’s Second Chance
Young Adult
The Cowboy Capers: Book 1- Freedom
About the Author
Killarney Sheffield is an award winning romance author from the rustic Canadian prairies. She lives on a cattle ranch with her five kids. When she is not penning historical romantic adventures she fills her time with her thoroughbred stallion ‘Stamp de Gold’, whom she affectionately calls ‘Love Monkey’, and her herd of AQHA mares.
http://www.killarneysheffield.com
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The Emperor's Concubine Page 26
