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Epilogue

Melelea

The day of my wedding and Bride Chase, I feel like a maiden again. Like I’m young and new, without the burden of the past on my shoulders. I dress in the traditional garb of an orc bride, the leather tunic hugging my body and baring much of my skin. Back when I did the Bride Chase with Guruk, they had done away with the Mate Bond ceremony, so I never did one with him. It makes doing one with Wodred feel special, like something that is untainted by my memories, even though I’ve done a Bride Chase before. A proper beginning to my new future.

As I finish having my handmaidens dress me in my outfit, there is a knock at my door. My handmaiden, Lady Naiva, moves to open the door. A young orc guard I recognize as part of Adalind’s Gold Guard steps forward. “Queen Adalind to see the Lady Melelea.”

I smile at that. “Must we always stand on ceremony to see each other?” I ask as Adalind enters the room.

Adalind returns my smile with one of her own. Her stomach is starting to show more, over halfway through her pregnancy. “You know how my guards and your ladies love to show their respect. You need to get used to it.”

I go to embrace my daughter-in-law. “I sometimes miss when I was one of your ladies and could just see you whenever I wanted.”

“I miss that sometimes, too,” Adalind admits. “But we must act befitting our rank.”

I smile at her. Adalind is a stickler for protocol and respect. I suppose she has earned it. She suffered through many years of humiliation at the hands of her first husband. Adalind is one of the few people who can truly understand me in that way. But she has found her happiness with my son, just as I have found it with Wodred. The thought makes my smile deepen.

“Was there something that you were wanting?” I ask. “We need to leave soon to go to the Sacred Woods.”

The Sacred Woods are the forests that abut the north of Ilustan. They are under the protection of the Crown and are usually reserved for religious rites. To be allowed to do a Bride Chase there is an uncommon honor, but I know that Rognar is happy for me. He did not seem as surprised as I expected him to be when I told him that I was taking Wodred as my mate, but I know that he approves.

Adalind replies, “I merely wanted to see you before the ceremony. You look beautiful. Truly, Melelea.”

I accept her words with grace, even though I am still a little self-conscious of the scar on my shoulder, which is bared by the traditional outfit. It is more jagged than it was before, the edges torn by Grazrath's teeth when he fed from me. But I try to think of it the way that Wodred does; as a badge of honor that proclaims my survival of not one, but two desperate circumstances. I am a warrior in my own way, and I will fight for my future happiness.

“Thank you, daughter,” I say and watch as Adalind smiles. She loves when I call her daughter. “But I sense that you would not have come all the way to this wing of the castle only for that.”

Adalind looks a little abashed, “It’s just . . . I was thinking of Zera.”

There’s a twinge in my heart at the mention of our lost friend. I know that Adalind has mourned her even more than I have and is having trouble accepting her absence.

“What about Zera?” I ask.

“I was thinking . . . could you not try to commune with her with your runes? Or see if she is still alive with your gift? If there is the slightest chance she and Gunag are alive—”

“My gift was given to me by the gods,” I interrupt gently. “They do not allow me to spy on their realms with it. My runes are useless on that front. But, and I say this not to be unkind, you know as well as I that no one has ever returned from the Nether.”

“Grazrath escaped the Nether before,” argues Adalind.

“No mortal, then,” I amend, conceding her point. “Grazrath was not mortal the first time that he was summoned. That gives him powers that a human and an orc would not have. I’m sorry, Adalind, but, though it pains me as well, they are lost.”

Adalind closes her eyes, her grief apparent. By the time she opens them again, however, she has banished her feelings, projecting calm and even a small smile. “You are right, Melelea. Of course you are. I just had to check.”

“Zera was our friend,” I say with a sad smile of my own. “She will be missed.”

“I will speak to Rognar,” Adalind says, with more conviction in her voice. “We will erect a monument to her, in recognition of her sacrifice to rid our world of Grazrath. And perhaps one to Gunag as well.”

“An excellent idea,” I say. “But perhaps keep them separate. I doubt Zera would appreciate being memorialized with Gunag, even in death.”

That makes Adalind laugh, though it is tinged with sadness. Then she shakes her head, as if to clear it and say, “What am I doing? This is your happy day. I should not be bringing a spirit of mourning to cast a pall over the proceedings.”

“New beginnings often mean looking backward and contemplating those we have lost,” I reply. “I do not mind remembering my friend before marrying my mate. And I know why you had to ask.”

At that moment, there is another knock on the door. As Naiva answers it, I see an orc guard, wearing trainee colors. He makes the sign of respect.

“My Queen,” he says, “Lady Melelea. The sun is setting. Your escort is ready to take you to the Sacred Woods.”

Adalind smiles at the young orc. “Very well. You have delivered your message well.”