Page 173 of Destiny of a King

This time when she kissed him, there was no goodbye hidden within it.

She was going home.

Epilogue

Sunlight filtered through the new leaves overhead as Dravic walked beside Adira through the forest.

Spring had changed to summer since he had found her in Driochmor and brought her home, and with each passing month, he had come to understand more of what his mother had tried to teach him as a child.

He noticed things now that he once would have walked past without a thought.

Adira stopped.

Dravic shook his head. “You will tire yourself and the bairn if you keep bending as much as you’ve been since entering the forest.”

She ignored him and carefully lowered herself beside a tiny sprout struggling through the forest floor.

“Adira,” he said again when she ignored him.

“I heard you,” she said sweetly.

“I know you heard me. That has made ignoring me much easier for you.”

She smiled and touched one finger gently to the small plant.

Dravic watched. He had seen her do this countless times now, yet it still fascinated him. The thin stem straightened beneath her touch. Its drooping leaves lifted, slowly at first, then strengthened until the small plant stood firmly on its own.

Adira removed her finger. She never gave it more than it needed. That was one of the first things she had learned about her power. She did not force life where it could not survive on its own. She simply gave what was weak enough strength to continue.

Adira went to push herself to stand and her husband’s arm was immediately around her waist, helping her easily to her feet.

She smiled and placed a delicate kiss on his lips.

“You think to distract me.”

“From what?” she asked all too innocently.

“From you spending endless time in the forest. You need rest.”

“I rested after breakfast,” she reminded.

“That was hours ago.”

“Just a bit more, then we will return to the castle,” Adira said and continued walking.

Dravic shook his head and followed her.

The years ahead would not be easy. He knew that. There would always be those who coveted what Adira possessed. Men who would seek her healing for themselves. Others who would fear it. And inevitably there would be those who believed controlling the woman who could defy death would give them power over life itself.

They would learn differently.

He would keep her safe. Though perhaps keep was no longer the right word. Adira had proven quite capable of keeping herself safe.

And Dravic was beginning to discover that magic was not as foreign to him as he had once believed. His mother’s blood ran through him. The Northland’s magic was different from Adira’s, quieter and bound to the earth, the seasons, the animals, the signs nature offered to those willing to notice them.

Things his mother had taught him as a child were returning little by little. With Adira’s guidance, he knew they would grow stronger.

He suddenly stopped.