Page 35

EPILOGUE

Lodan stood outside their tent, watching the sun rise over the valley, bathing Myrdinia in gold. The flap rustled, and he turned. Kassandra walked out, and his heart thudded strangely, the way it always did every time he saw her. They were bondmates, true, but he didn’t think the reaction was because of that. He thought it was because she’d made his heart start beating again, and it always recognized her.

It beat for her.

Her hair was loose down her back, and she wore a silky gown. It hid the swelling of her stomach, which had become much more noticeable in the past couple of weeks. “Quail eggs again?” he asked, trying not to flinch.

All she’d wanted for days were quail eggs. Chicken eggs were unacceptable. Duck eggs a definite no. So he, Cian, and Xander hunted the woods for hours to find quail. Even in Myrdinia, where game was plentiful, finding quail wasn’t easy.

She shook her head. “No.” Her gaze was distant, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. It was the expression she got after having a vision.

He cursed. Over the past few months, she’d slept soundly without visions. “What did you see? I should have been with you.”

“I did see a vision.” Her gaze locked on his, and she smiled. “But this one was wonderful.”

He let out a long breath. “Truly?” He’d spent years in battle and never once prayed to the gods, but during their journey back to Myrdinia, they’d passed a small temple to Hypnos, the god of slumber, and he’d left an offering of wine and bread. He’d appealed to Hypnos for Kassandra to be able to sleep peacefully whenever she desired it. Until today, it had worked. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She joined him on the lip of the hill they camped on, fully facing the valley where his village once stood. Where it would soon stand again. “We were outside our home. It was a beautiful house made of stone and wood.” She pointed down at the valley’s eastern side, close to the river. “I think it was over there. It had to be, because those funny trees were near our house.” Kassandra liked the poplars that only grew in this area, calling them meat-on-a-stick trees, and they did look that way, with long bare trunks at the bottom.

He nodded. That was the exact place he was thinking about for their new home. “It’s a great spot.”

Her hand landed on her stomach. “You’re holding our son.”

His breath caught in his throat. “A boy?”

Her smile widened. “He looks exactly like you. Dark hair and golden eyes. I think he’s three or four years old.”

He put his hand on top of hers. The moment seemed to shimmer. A healthy son and a healthy Kassandra, both at his side years from now. There was nothing he wanted more.

“But I don’t understand something,” she said.

“What?”

“Why are we living in Myrdinia?”

“You don’t want to live here?”

She reached for him, pulling him closer. She’d become a cuddler, wanting him to touch her all the time. He wanted it, too. He was most content when her skin brushed his. “I know you wanted to rebuild, but I figured afterwards we’d end up in a palace where you ascend the throne and become king.”

“This is my home. Our home. I’ve sent messengers to all the city-state leaders, asking them to come to Myrdinia. To talk about how to rule together, to keep peace in Anatolia.”

Her mouth dropped open. “You aren’t going to be king?”

“I never wanted to be king. I never really saw past the final battle with the Sardi until you. Now all I want is a happy home where we can live in peace. Where our children can enjoy a free Anatolia. Where they can grow up knowing they’re loved.”

She hugged him fiercely for a brief moment, then relaxed, leaning into him. “I was worried about returning to palace life.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” During the time they spent with the Dorians opening new trade and forging an alliance, and then joining with the rest of his army to journey south, they’d spoken freely with one another, cementing their bond even further. He thought she’d gotten used to telling him everything in her mind.

“I know you’re the best thing for Anatolia, and I want to do whatever I can to help you. If that meant court life again, I’d do my best to like it.”

He sighed. “Do I need to punish you until you promise to always tell me what you feel? What you want?”

Her eyes lit up. “Can you?”

He hardened instantly. “We’ll be late for Cian and Xander’s bonding ceremony, and Cian will never forgive you.” Today, Xander and Cian would undergo the traditional ceremony along the ocean, about an hour’s walk away. The day would be spent feasting and dancing. A much-deserved day of relaxation for everyone.

Kassandra hadn’t wanted a bonding ceremony. She’d said that everyone saw them bond on the battlefield already.

He suspected it was also because she hated being in front of other people. The fact she was willing to return to palace life, where she’d face people daily, meant a lot to him. But he wouldn’t put her in that position.

She sighed. “Yes, I’d better get ready. I have to prepare my hair precisely how Cian wants it to be, or I’ll have to deal with him re-braiding it and fussing with it for hours.” But she didn’t leave his side. “There was something else in my vision.” She bit her lip, and he could feel her anxiety through their bond.

He tensed. “You said the dream was good.”

She nodded. She turned so their gazes met. Held. “You told me you loved me.” Kassandra put a hand to her chest. “I feel it through our bond, but you’ve never said it.” She looked away. “You said that part of you died, so I never expected?—”

He bent down and kissed her, intending to only whisper his lips across hers, but her arms slid around his neck, and he deepened it.

He would never get enough of this.

He pulled his face back a few inches. “I did say that. But that was before.” He placed her hand on his chest, the way he would during a bonding ceremony. He covered her hand with his. “Do you feel this?”

She nodded. “I feel it beating.”

“My heart is yours. You brought it back to life. Not just by giving me the poison antidote and using our bond to save me, but in another way.”

“What way?”

“My path had become war and vengeance. A part of me was dead, and I didn’t see anything but those two things. I would have willingly met death because I didn’t remember that life could be more. But the first moment I saw you, my heart woke up again. It knew you, and you changed my destiny. It let me make the right choice with the prophecy.” The warm breeze wafted over him, and the cobalt sky reflected in her eyes.

His heart felt too full for his body. “When I took what I thought was my last breath, I only thought of you. All the battles, all the turmoil, it was important, but in the end, all that mattered was getting to see you one last time. I didn’t want to live a short life with my name living on forever. I wanted to live as long as possible with you in my arms.”

He ran his thumb across her cheekbone. “As darkness took me to the underworld, I heard you say you loved me, and I turned back, away from the darkness.”

She wound her free arm around his waist and pressed closer. “It would have been darkness for me, too. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“The underworld wanted to keep me. I felt its hold. But when you bonded us, your love crashed over me. It fought against Hades itself.

“I had to return, because how could I leave you behind? You were my bondmate, and I needed a lifetime to cherish you. To dream with you. To hold our children and keep you tucked close to me as we sleep. The underworld couldn’t win, and it let me go.” He kissed her gently. “We didn’t have a proper bonding ceremony, but I should have said the bonding oath to you anyway. I’m going to say it now.”

Her eyes were shiny. “You’ve already said more than enough.”

No, he hadn’t. Not if it shook her to see him express his love in a vision. He wrapped his hand more firmly around hers. “My blade is yours, so I can keep you and our children safe. My breath is yours, so I can share my thoughts with you. And most of all, my heart is yours because, from the first moment we met, it belonged to you. Only you. I love you, Kassandra.”

Her eyes widened. “I love you, Vasick.”

He swept her up into his arms. “We’ll definitely be late now, and your hair will be a mess.”

She laughed, and he cradled her close. He held his entire world in his arms, and he wasn’t ever letting go.