Season of Glory
Page 34
“As I am, you,” I said, pulling him closer. “We might not be handfasted anymore, but I never want to be out of arm’s reach from you again.”
“Never,” he growled, and bent to capture my lips with his own. When our kiss ended, he looked down at me, admiring me. “You’re in the gown. Shall we take our vows this night?”
I smiled and gave him a sad grin. “You know as well as I do the right answer to that.”
He groaned, stroking my cheek. “Yes,” he said with an agonized sigh. “I do. But I shall be counting the days, Andriana of the Valley, until we celebrate the first full moon of Hoarfrost of our second decade.”
“As will I,” I said, smiling back at him. “But first …”
“Yes, yes,” he said, pulling me back into his arms and kissing my head. “Pacifica, right? My Rem won’t rest until every innocent is freed.”
EPILOGUE
ANDRIANA
Pacifica gave way soon after. Without the Council or Sethos, they couldn’t stand against the swelling forces of the Trading Union for long. And when the brothers offered to retake the throne, they were welcomed. Over the seasons that followed, many thronged to our cause. The Wall was taken down and new roads were built, binding the empire into one. One empire governed by Remnant princes, led by the Way. The factories and mines that held captive children were emptied, and people went to work in them for a fair wage. Emissaries were sent off to reach new lands with word of who now controlled our lands—twin brothers, sharing the throne in the West, honoring the One who had placed them there.
But while we often went to see our brothers, Asher, and Azarel in the West, Ronan and I mostly stayed in the Valley, where we staked out land and built cozy cottages in a new village that eventually housed each of the Ailith. Bellona became a lead hunter. Vidar became a blacksmith, but spent more time chasing the Aravander gunner-girl than at his anvil. Tressa and Killian set up a small hospital, while Ronan and I took to learning the ways of farming from Dagan. Over the next two Harvests, the Ailith set out together for a few weeks, each time called to reach a new land, to tell new people about the Way and the Maker. But we were always most content at home.
And on a perfectly still, clear Hoarfrost night, the sky alight with stars and a full moon making the snow around us glitter, Ronan and I exchanged our forever vows, surrounded by our friends and family, including grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins that we were just getting to know, finally reunited. But even with all that family around us—blood kin and Ailith kin—I had eyes for one man alone. And that man took me home that night and made me his, in ways we had longed for, season upon season.
I awoke the next morning and found his side of the bed cold. Frowning, I wrapped my blanket around my bare shoulders and padded out to the sitting room, where I found him watching the sunrise through the window. I sat down on his lap, and he nuzzled my neck, pushing aside my hair and wrapping his arms about me. I smiled and looked out with him, watching as the sun made the clouds change from purple to deep pink to a delicate rose. It was like watching the Maker at work, blessing our day, our lives, and our love.
And at last, my heart was at rest.
“What now?” Ronan whispered. “After all we’ve been through, all we’ve seen, all we’ve experienced, is this to be our lives now? Waking together, working together.” He shrugged. “It’s wonderful, but it’s all a bit … tame, isn’t it?”
“For now,” I said, turning to caress his face, the lines of a nose that had been broken a few times, the stubble on his chin. “Something tells me we’ll face other battles ahead. Who knows what next year’s Harvest shall bring? But for now, let’s just make the most of this season of peace, shall we?”
He nodded, a grin on his lips, and he moved in to kiss me. “I have to say … If this is peace,” he said, rising, lifting me in his arms, and carrying me out of the room, “I’m all for it.”
“As am I, Husband,” I said with a laugh. “As am I.”