Epilogue
Thirteen years later...
T amaka smoothed the pale blue fur cloak on Dregu's shoulders once more, needing the comfort of touching him to remind herself how solid he was, how strong. He'd worn the cloak of orcish royalty for nine years now, since he'd hunted a snow ape at the age of seventeen and earned himself the honor, but when she looked at him, sometimes she still saw a child. He towered over her now, a full-grown warrior and a king, but when he smiled, she saw the mischievous, soft-hearted child he'd been in the sparkle of his eyes.
"We can stay," she said, perhaps for the hundredth time. "Just say the word."
"Go," he told her instead. "You've been promising Anslo this forever." His gaze darted sideways to where his little brother, Garek, was scrambling over the rocks at the riverside, eager to be on his way. Anslo was warning him to watch his step, but their younger son was as likely to listen as he was to sit still. "And Garek is going to run away on his own if you don't leave soon," Dregu laughed.
He probably would, the troublemaker. He'd inherited his father's wanderlust and was desperate to travel beyond the orcish kingdom for the first time. Anslo had been telling him stories of the shimmering ocean of the Pearl Coast, the golden sands of the Leykar Desert, the bone-white mountains of Citerra since he'd been in the womb, and now he wanted to see them all.
Still, Tamaka was terrified to leave. She had abdicated her throne half a year ago, passing the rule of the kingdom to Dregu, and she knew he was competent, but she had never left him before. Since he'd grown into manhood, he had helped to rule at her side. They had gone into battle side by side as the war with the elves dragged on. She knew she'd raised him to be an excellent king, but still...
He was her little boy. He always would be.
"I'll be fine, Mother," he whispered, wrapping a brawny arm around her shoulders and squeezing.
Perhaps he would, but she had lost so much. The fates had been kind to her, bringing her two loving husbands and two beautiful children, but they had taken from her again and again, as well. She was near fifty now, still not old, her hair barely greying, but the years, the war, the losses, had beaten her down, no matter how strong she tried to be. Only two years ago, she had lost Zoli, too. Her best friend had gone to the warriors' halls in the afterlife just like Vagar, like so many of her people.
She was tired.
As if he could read her mind, Dregu reassured her again. "You have given so much to this kingdom," he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You deserve to put yourself first, for once. You deserve to be happy, Mother. You deserve to go everywhere you've always dreamed of going with Anslo. Please, let me shoulder this burden. I'm ready."
Before she could lose herself to tears, Tamaka nodded sharply, stepping back and holding out her hand. He cocked his head in curiosity but took it.
"It is a pleasure to have raised a man like you," she told him, shaking his hand. His lips parted, his own eyes going suspiciously glassy, and he sniffed, wiping his eyes quickly.
"Likewise," he murmured, "to have been taught by a great king like you." He held her hand for a moment longer, then bowed.
Tamaka turned away and shouldered her traveling pack, pressing a hand to her mouth to hold in the sobs that threatened to spill forth. She could hear Dregu behind her hugging Garek and Anslo and wishing them well on their travels, demanding stories of every place they visited when they returned. She breathed deeply, calming her beating heart, and tightened the straps of her pack.
Strong fingers twined with hers, and she looked down, meeting Anslo's smile with one of her own. He leaned his shoulder against hers briefly, his eyes alight with the promise of adventure. He had wrinkles at the corners of his eyes now, years of good humor leaving laugh lines on him, but he was still as handsome as the day she'd first seen him across the tavern.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Garek raced past them down the river path with a loud whoop, frightening a flock of crows from the trees.
She laughed, nodding. Yes, she was. She was ready to shrug off the responsibilities she'd carried for so long and let him show her the world, as he'd always promised.
They turned and waved to Dregu, then followed their younger son. "I can't wait to swim with you in the Pearl Sea," Anslo told her with a wide grin. "To make love to you in the warmth of the night, under a desert moon."
Tamaka almost shivered in anticipation. "And will you sing me love ballads from the peaks of mountains, dive to bring me pearls from the reefs?" she teased.
"You have only to ask, my love," he murmured, lifting their joined hands and pressing a kiss to her fingers.
"Stop staring at each other like that and hurry up!" Garek demanded from far ahead at the bend in the road.
Anslo raised an eyebrow at her in amusement and she sighed. "Perhaps not as much lovemaking as I might wish," Tamaka muttered under her breath.
Her mate shrugged. "Again, you have only to ask," he assured her. "I'll find a way."
Tamaka bit back a smile as they entered the forest, sunlight filtering through the trees above them as the breeze swirled leaves across their path. She squeezed his hand and he squeezed hers back, and they walked side by side towards the future.