Page 81 of The Tempest
Leaving Payne with a smile, Ming Tang went to help tend to Maude. In fact, several of the trainers went to help while Cruz and Creston were tasked with handling Declan’s body, which had been taken back to the chamber he’d shared with his brother at one time. With everyone moving to help Payne in his time of need, that left Payne better able to focus on his wife.
When Astria saw him heading toward her, she stood up from the chair and opened her arms to him. He held her tightly, sighing heavily as he drew comfort from her. So much comfort.
As if he’d been doing it his entire life.
There were no more words to be spoken. Life had changed for them and they had a future to face together. A bright future. Payne took Astria in hand, leading her out of the Black Cock, away from the chaos, away from the madness that had descended for a short time. Outside, they passed by Arnaldo’s headless body, which the birds were already starting to descend on.
But Astria didn’t care.
She, too, was looking ahead, not behind.
As Payne had once told her, their love would outlast the stars, and they were well on their way to that destiny. They’d weathered more than any couple should have to weather in their short marriage. It had only been a week since they’d been joined in matrimony, but in that week, they’d lived a lifetime.
And they still had a lifetime to go.
For the Black Church trainer known as The Tempest and the Portuguese princess once known as The Sea God, the possibilities of a wonderful life ahead were endless.
EPILOGUE
Four years later
It wasn’t raining,although the skies were threatening. On the surface of Lake Cocytus, something was about to happen.
A great sea battle was about to take place.
Sailing north on the lake, having just come from a small inlet where it had been moored, the vessel once known as theMother Mary, now rechristened theBloody Maude, was looking for a secondary ship hiding somewhere on the lake shore. It was a cog belonging to the Blackchurch Guild, more specifically commanded by Kristian, and it had six recruits on it who were at the end of their seafaring module of training.
This was to be their boarding test.
Commanding theBloody Maudewas none other than Pope Francis, the great pirate that ruled the waters around Scotland with several ships. Seventeen in total, including thirteen that had once belonged to the Titans of the Deep. That faction was all but gone now, having merged with Medusa’s Disciples, but it made for a large and imposing group of high-seas brigands.
One Francis commanded most ably. As his mother had once said:
There’s nothing more fearsome than a pirate named Pope Francis.
She’d been right.
About once a year, however, Francis broke away from his pirating life and came down to Blackchurch, to the ship that he’d given the guild for the their training, and helped with the seafaring module. It was all great fun and gave him a chance to see his brother, a man he loved dearly. Even now, Payne was on board along with his three-year-old son, Bowie.
And what a son he was.
Bowie Matheson, heir to the Lismore earldom, had been born a fighter. He’d come out of his mother feet-first, howling and grabbing at anything he could get his hands on. Payne had held his infant son that first night, tears of joy running down his face, wishing his mother could see the flame-haired infant.
Perhaps she was seeing him now.
Payne held his son tightly as the boy stood on the railing of the bow, yelling in delight as the wind rushed in his face. Francis, standing next to his brother and nephew, was full of joy at the boy’s reaction to being on the water.
“He’s a natural, Payne,” Francis said. “Look at him—he’s thrilled with this.”
Payne had a good grip on his child because the boy tended to be squirrely. “I know,” he said with a sigh. “I’m not entirely sure how I’m going tae explain this tae his mother. She wants the lad tae be a proper knight and return tae the Portuguese royal court.”
“Pah,” Francis said. “She’s not seen how happy he is on the water. This is what he was born tae do.”
“Then ye can tell her. And run when ye do.”
Francis laughed, seeing the bow of the ship that they were meant to encounter up ahead. These sea games could be great fun, but they could also be serious, especially with the recruitstrying to prove their mettle. There were only six this time, and about thirty men aboard theBloody Maude, so that was why Payne had agreed to bring Bowie along for the experience. Six men against thirty would be a short fight and Bowie would have the fun of a little jaunt on the lake.
Unless Astria found out.
