Page 96 of The Dark Rises
Madoc, Rivan, and Cormal step forward, but I hold out my hand. “We don’t all need to go.”
“We’re family,” Madoc gently reminds me. “Right?”
With tears in my eye, I nod and reach for Madoc’s hand. “Family.” Sounds good to me. Cormal and Rivan both nod in agreement.
Madoc signals to General Beld to take the army to the palace.
Cormal quickly conjures a portal for us. When we get to The Abbey, we find Arden and her cadre pacing in the hall.
“Any news?” I ask, reaching out to clasp Arden’s hand.
She bites her lip. “Not yet. The wait is killing me.”
I see the worry in her eyes. And in Callyx’s. I’m sure it’s in mine, too. Solandis means a lot to all of us. She’s the mother some of us never had. An aunt. Friend. Princess. I smile when I hear the word in the same tone she uses.
The door opens, and Vargas sticks his head out. Surprised to see us all, he throws his arms out wide. “It’s a boy! Solandis is fantastic. A true warrior. She’s in there sitting up, declaring her love for him. Please, welcome our son.”
Jumping and crying, we all hug him and each other. Wiping tears from our faces, we clamor to see them both, and Vargas laughs, then pushes the door wide open.
Stepping into the room, we see Solandis smiling serenely at the bundle in her arms. She holds him out to Arden. “Meet the newest member of our family, Asher Kaius.”
With tears rolling down her cheeks, she greets the little boy, then passes him to me.
Eyes closed; the pink-cheeked little boy sleeps soundly in my arms. With his blue cap on, it’s hard to tell who he resembles, but it doesn’t matter. Fisk would be proud to see his lineage continue and get a big kick out of the boy having royal blood, too.
“He’s beautiful,” I murmur, passing him to Callyx.
Callyx stares in wonder at the tiny baby in his large arms. “He’s so small.”
Vargas and Solandis glance at each other and laugh. “He’ll grow. Give him time.”
The baby is passed from one person to another. Each of my men murmur a blessing for the child to carry with him in this world. Today was a good day. One filled with peace, life, and love. A day to cherish and a memory to pull out when times are dark.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
MERI
Sitting across from Ri´, I listen to her tell a story from their childhood when she had to stop Cormal from beating up the kid next door because he had shoved her. Laughingly telling us her other brothers had already hit the poor kid, but Cormal thought he deserved more.
“Cormal has always been a force of nature and the fiercest of protectors,” she declares with a smile.
I reach out for his hand as I agree with her. “Absolutely, although I would probably add some additional traits like bossy, always likes to be right, has to plan everything…” The rest of my words are muffled by his hand over my mouth.
She laughs, but there’s a hint of envy in her eyes. While Oryn and she have remained friends, the romance didn’t survive her transformation from quiet woman to fiery one. I have no doubt that when she’s ready, she’ll find someone who appreciates her wicked smart brain, boisterous laugh, and fierce nature.
Madoc and Rivan laugh at our antics. We usually try to spend at least a week here every month. The Underworld is my home as well as Cormal’s, and we enjoy showing them the wonders of it.
We traded in Cormal’s bachelor pad for something larger but retained the modern feel of it. Full of technology, it took Madoc a while to be comfortable here, but Rivan jokingly helped him acclimate. I smile at him. He makes all our lives easier with his easy-going nature and acceptance of almost anything.
It took Rivan and Aeris six weeks to tattoo the soldiers of the Federation. When presented with various runes, they chose the Dagaz rune because it signals change and transformation. The end of one path and the start of a new one. Two triangles interconnected and continuous. It felt like the perfect symbol to represent their new life. That was three months ago. So far, nobody has applied to come back, which, hopefully, means the plan is working.
Rivan’s relationship with Aeris never changed. She remained distant the entire time they worked together and didn’t even say goodbye when she left for Avalon. Nor did she introduce him to his niece. He’s more accepting of her response than I am. If I ever see her again, I’m likely to punch her in the nose. He reminds me she knew nothing of his life with Nyssa, or what he had to endure. She thinks he had it easy. He could have corrected her, but who can say one hardship is harder than another? Who knows what she had to endure with their father? Enough that she felt justified in killing him.
Cormal rubs a thumb across the back of my hand, and I smile at him. We’ve come a long way in such a short time. The relationship I used to pine for isn’t the one we have. Thank the goddess. Instead, it’s deeper and stronger than I ever imagined.
“The shop opens early tomorrow,” Ri´ says, getting up from the table. “Next time you’re in town, come by and see the new stock. I’ve got some fabulous things set aside for you.”
Her face lights up when she talks about her store. Her obsession with power and magic faded with her capture. She channels all that energy into finding the best clothes for her store. Even Evren shops there.
