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Epilogue
Brandon
It was the next morning before things began to settle back down and get back to something approaching normal. Queen Rozamond had been hysterical to the point I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
Harrison and Lex had taken charge right away, and once the queen had been sent off to bed with her entourage in attendance and the priests fluttering around her, they arranged for the king’s body to be removed from the Great Hall. They laid him out on a broad, flat piece of wood in the chapel in front of the altar, and Lex and Asher set candles all around his body—to act as wards as well as to light the chapel. And they also put out a line of salt around the body as well. Just in case.
It had been a sad case of the dementia taking over his mind, or at least that was the story put out. It had made his magic chaotic and dangerous. He had sensed magic around Roxbury and me, not to mention Lex and Asher that night on the ship. He had sent the great wind to destroy it, but it hadn’t gone exactly as planned.
I still regretted the old man’s death. He hadn’t meant to do the things he’d done, and he’d been desperate to protect his son the only way he knew how. We were lucky he hadn’t destroyed us all that night.
All those men had lost their lives because the queen hadn’t asked for help in caring for her father, even though she’d known how bad he was getting. That’s why she’d taken him along with her on the ship. She didn’t trust anyone else to care for him, in case they discovered what he was capable of. Even now, she was trying to hide what had happened, begging Harrison to find a way to stop the rumors and the gossip people were already spreading.
As if he had the power to put a genie back in its bottle. He could issue a decree, but I knew it would do little good. The story was already out. He knew it too, so he just nodded and ignored what she had to say. Once again, I hated the fact that a good person like Harrison was tied to such a woman.
But I knew that King Alfrid hadn’t been mentally sound in a long, long time. I’d questioned Chandler as gently as I could after it was over and he’d calmed down, and finally some of the truth came out. His father had been slowly getting worse and worse. The healers had tried to give him sedatives and even potions to calm him, but nothing worked. He was obsessed with dark magic, even as he despised and feared it.
The father of Chandler’s baby turned out to be the priest, Kellman. They were in love, but even though the priests of Sudfarma took no holy vows and were permitted to marry, his father had forbidden it. The king was angry at the priest but had promised Chandler that once he was safely married—and I was safely dead—he could remarry Kellman, so long as they stayed far away in Morovia at my country estate. Even then, he had been obsessed with his image, just like his daughter was now. Since Chandler’s pregnancy was about to become obvious, he had been desperate to get settled and start making a home for his child, and so he’d asked me again to marry him.
He released me from my second vow to him and was making plans to marry Kellman as soon as possible. His sister would still be his Regent, since he was an omega, but at least he’d be able to marry the person he loved.
Speaking of which, I wondered where my own love had gotten to, and finally found him making plans for the two of us to leave as soon as possible and make our way to Gilead. He’d been busy that morning, arranging with Lexington to keep his horse in the stables, and finding a ship headed to a port on the southwestern tip of the Verian Empire, where they had agreed to stop by Gilead on the way—for a small fee, of course—and let him get his things. Then we’d get back onboard the ship and go to the Verian Empire. From there, we could make our way slowly overland back down to Crillia and eventually Morovia. It would make a nice honeymoon journey.
I had told Lex all about Grimora and Banshira, and he and Rory—especially Rory—had been concerned and promised to help them.
After that, I couldn’t think of another thing to do before we left on our journey.
There followed a passionate discussion of who would pay for it, but I prevailed. I had plenty of money, after all, and it was my turn to take care of him for a while.
“I don’t relish living off your money and on your estate, dearie,” Rox told me as he helped me pack my belongings. He’d arranged for a sea chest to be brought to us from the village, and we were both going to use it. We were near enough in size to wear the same clothes too, so we could easily share.
“Well, whether or not you ‘relish’ it, that’s where we’re going to live. You’ll just have to learn to like it.”
“Oh really? And what if I don’t?”
“You don’t have much choice I’m afraid. As you once told me about Gilead, I hope you’ll like it at my estate, because now that I have you again, I have no intentions of letting you go until I’m through with you. And I don’t think I’ll ever be through.”
I kissed him then to shut him up—a tactic that always worked—and I thought about how my cousins used to tell me it would never work out with another Alpha as my mate. We’d never be able to agree on anything, they’d said. And we’d always be fighting. They forgot to mention how much fun we’d have making up, however. And that was turning out to be the best part.
The End
