Epilogue
The baby was alive.
Jaki sat on the edge of the bed and stared at his son, swaddled in a bright yellow blanket. The baby squinted back and twitched his pointy ears in wonder as Jaki made a slight choked sound.
“Daddy, don’t cry.” Jacqueline, seated next to him, leaned on his arm and looked up with her ears slightly back.
“I’m not.” Jaki’s throat was tight, and his eyes watered as he gave her a smile.
They’d decided on names already. Lumi’s pregnancy had been mostly easy, so they hadn’t expected for the baby to come about a month early. Mary said it happened at times, and babies came in their own time. It could have been the stress of a rather recent event.
Fortunately, Armas seemed well despite being small. Lumi, sitting up against pillows, appeared half-asleep, and he smiled when Jaki looked over at him. Words weren’t needed as he leaned over to gently kiss Lumi’s lips.
“I should feed him again,” said Lumi. “And you should put her to bed.” Jacqueline slipped down and wandered over to Mary who was looking through her leather satchel.
“I know. I just don’t want to leave you right now. But you’re right.” Jaki glanced at their daughter who was watching Mary put things away.
They had said they wanted to keep Jacqueline’s schedule the same so she wouldn’t feel too jarred by the new arrival.
Lumi’s second pregnancy had been far different from his first. Jaki had doted on him the entire time. He hadn’t thought Lumi would even want another child for a long time. But he’d brought it up on his own.
It hadn’t taken long for him to conceive.
It was still almost unreal as he took their daughter to her rooms. They had a girl and a boy now. While he bathed Jacqueline, he asked her what she thought of the new arrival, and she shrugged. Maybe she didn’t understand he was staying and wasn’t some sort of visitor.
Elswere would have to be told in the morning since he’d gone to bed already.
To Jacqueline, he was Grandpa, and he preferred to never mention the past involving Lumi, who was content to also never speak of it.
They’d settled into a cordial relationship, and while Elswere didn’t exactly approve of Jaki and Lumi’s choice, he didn’t treat Jacqueline differently.
With Jaki and Lumi as Kings, and the court not invited back, they’d fallen into a peaceful routine at home. Lumi didn’t do much office work, although Jaki didn’t mind.
Iceland was united once more. Since Tivar had died, and the story of what happened spread, there hadn’t been a war. Jaki had taken the army out, split up at the border, and sent groups all over the west side to tell the people and lords that Iceland was one and under King Jaki and King Lumi.
He’d returned with no bloodshed, but not until one task had been finished.
Jaki had gone to the Castle at Lilling, headed upstairs to the bedroom where Lumi had been kept, and set it all alight. After setting fires on the lower floors and quickly retreating, he’d left it there to burn itself out, contained by the stone walls.
Lumi’s past prison was destroyed.
The land was blossoming with life once more. Fires lasted longer, crops were growing, and livestock were thriving. The hunting was better. There were still issues with the economy since the events of the past years wouldn’t go away overnight.
Still, the slow march toward the end had stopped.
As Jacqueline sat on a little stool in her bedroom, and Jaki crouched behind her to comb her hair, he felt a little rush of relief.
His husband and children were safe, and Jacqueline wouldn’t even remember the bad times.
His family would live as they should even if it wasn’t a typical family.
People whispered. Some said Jaki had married Lumi only because they had an oopsie baby. Others said Jacqueline wasn’t his, and how could he believe the man who’d once been the court’s pleasure slave? Of course, the pleasure slave had picked the best option out of the many who’d fucked him.
That one particularly angered him. Also, wasn’t it obvious his daughter was truly his? She looked just like him.
A few whispers said Lumi was Edur, thought dead but actually alive.
His appearance was too much of a coincidence, especially compared to Jaki.
He wondered if the servants at Lilling had started questioning the incident with him and his baby.
Perhaps later, they’d remembered his appearance and put two and two together.
Rumors had even started about Jaki himself, saying he was Reesing’s child, not Elswere’s.
He had to be. He and his new husband looked alike. Like brothers. They couldn’t possibly be first cousins, and Jaki looked more like Lumi than Elswere, who had folded-down ears.
Lumi said the best thing was to ignore the rumors going around, and if anyone ever brought up just how similar they were in looks, they could say they weren’t the only cat fairies with white coloring.
Let people think about what they wanted.
They would, no matter what they were told, and now that the lands weren’t dying, people would have the energy to gossip and wonder.
It didn’t matter. They had each other, and Iceland was saved.
Jaki plaited his daughter’s hair since she asked.
She liked the way it was wavy in the morning after a night in plaits.
Despite her rough start in life, she was strong and healthy.
Dressed in a nightgown with ribbons, she kicked her legs and fidgeted on the stool.
Jaki did his best, although plaiting wasn’t exactly his talent.
Once he’d done a passable job, and the ends were secured with ribbons, he told her to get in bed, and he’d read her story.
“Are you still sad?” she asked once she was tucked under blankets.
Jaki settled on the edge of the bed with one of her favorite storybooks. “No, I’m not sad. I’m very happy that we’ve given you a little brother.”
“Is Daddy still sad?”
She often called them both Daddy, which could make it a little confusing when she called for them, and they both thought to respond. “He was sad, but…”
Aisi’s body had been found.
Whoever had buried her had done it rather hastily. She’d still been dressed, and the grave hadn’t been as deep as one would expect. Her murderers hadn’t taken anything from the corpse either, so she still had a necklace with an inscription on the back.
To Aisi. My Moon. My Sun.
Lumi said the last time he saw her, she had been wearing a brown dress and the necklace, although he hadn’t thought much about it. Mother had often worn jewelry gifted from Father. Reesing had given it to her months before the war started.
“He was sad, but he’s feeling better,” said Jaki. Lumi had said it was a relief that Aisi could finally rest in the tomb by her husband and the real baby Tivar.
Someday, they could explain it better and why Lumi had been both sad and relieved. There were a lot of things they couldn’t explain to her about the past, especially Lumi’s past, which still affected him in the present and had left its scars.
She blinked at him. “Can we keep the baby?”
Jaki chuckled. “Yes, we can keep him.”
He read to her, and she was asleep in minutes. Even though it was late, she’d likely still be up at the crack of dawn. He’d get up with her so Lumi could try to get as much rest as possible. He’d have to ask Elswere if he could do some of the most basic office work for a couple of days.
Lumi wasn’t going to be running around a day after birth or doing all of the childcare by himself, that was for sure.
Jaki made sure the blankets were tucked around Jacqueline, kissed her forehead, and tapped out the crystal lantern. In the hallway, he leaned against her closed door and thought.
The letter said her body had been near the road and mentioned the hold.
Jaki had checked a map and estimated that Aisi had made it a couple of hours away from the home they’d been hiding in.
Tivar had said her horse had thrown her.
It was more likely the guards he’d sent with her had snapped her neck themselves and hastily buried her to get her out of the way.
What neither of them had been able to figure out in the past three weeks was who had originally found her. A letter had been sent to a lord, and he’d gone himself with guards to dig where the note said. The necklace had proved the identity.
It didn’t look like anyone had been digging or poking around the area recently. Perhaps an old guard of Tivar’s had been consumed with guilt and sent the letter anonymously.
He supposed it was one of those things they’d never know.
Since she’d been buried in the tomb last week, and a dove had brought a letter saying so, Lumi had finally broken down and wept. He’d wanted to be there to put her to rest. He couldn’t, being too heavily pregnant to make the trip. Even in a carriage, he would have been quite uncomfortable.
Perhaps stress from the guilt and old wounds revealed had sent him into labor early, despite Jaki doing his best to comfort and assure Lumi they’d visit her tomb in the future.
Thank Elira their son was all right.
***
Jaki lounged on his side in the remade bed and observed little Armas who was sleeping with his little belly full of milk. Just like Jacqueline, he had little white ears and a tiny, fluffy tail.
Lumi had told him he preferred being husband and Dad more than anything else, despite being coronated alongside his husband. No words seemed able to describe what he was to Jaki. Husband and Dad were so inadequate.
He smiled when Jaki looked up at him. Even tired and with his hair messed up, he was beautiful. People could say what they wanted. He’d never love anyone else like he did Lumi.
“Are you comfortable?” asked Jaki. “Do you need more pillows or anything?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Do you want something to eat now?”
“Maybe in a bit. I’m still not very hungry.” Lumi smiled at him. “When you put Jacqueline to bed, I was thinking this could be a thing to talk about.”
“Hm?”
“You said you still weren’t sure what to put in your letter to your Mother.
If you decide to write to her, you could say we’ve just had our second child.
If she’s interested in writing to you, I’m sure she’d love to hear about Jacqueline and how we’ve just had baby Armas.
I mean, she’ll eventually hear the news.
Everyone will know we’ve got a Crown Prince now.
I’m sure she’d like to hear it from you. ”
Lumi was right. Jaki had almost decided that he would finally write to the Mother he’d never known. Preti wouldn’t see it as a betrayal if she were alive, and while so many years had passed, it didn’t mean they couldn’t create a relationship.
But he hadn’t been able to figure out what to say to a woman he didn’t remember. Normally, he didn’t feel awkward speaking to new people. It wasn’t the same when the other had birthed him in secret.
Perhaps she’d like to hear about her grandchildren from him. It would break the ice, and if she wanted to write back, she could.
“I think I will,” Jaki finally said. He reached over to grasp Lumi’s hand. “For now, let’s just enjoy our family.”
March, 1660
“The lord said to give this to you. I suppose the writer wasn’t entirely sure if you were here, and that’s why it was sent to him. If you need to write back, you can use his doves.”
“But why?” If the lord would allow one of his people to borrow his doves, it had to be important. “Who sent it?”
“I don’t know,” said the guard. “I suppose your letter came with a note to him. I’m just saying what I was told.”
“All right. Thank you.”
Meela watched him leave the porch and get on his horse.
Without a backward glance, he rode away.
She pulled her shawl tighter about her and hurried inside the small home.
Her husband was away fishing with their son-in-law, and her daughter lived at her husband’s house with her in-laws and two daughters.
Meela was alone with a letter she couldn’t quite bear to open. All she could imagine was bad news of some sort.
If it was bad news, it was best to get it over with and find a way forward.
It was addressed to her, and when the writer said who they were, she had to sit in her rocking chair by the fire.
Jaki’s words were rather halting, like he was unsure of himself, although they smoothed out a bit. It had taken him a while to decide if he wanted to contact her. Elswere had never been told her name, but a midwife in Havaska had known.
He told her about Jacqueline. Like most people, Meela knew about the little Crown Princess, but she hadn’t heard of the second child just yet.
He’d been born in January, and despite coming early, he was perfectly well.
They’d named him Armas, and his husband, Lumi, had recovered well from the birth.
Jacqueline had grown used to the baby, and now, she found him rather enthralling.
Meela held it in until she came to the end of the letter where Jaki said she could write, and maybe one day, they could arrange to see each other. If she didn’t want to, she didn’t have to.
He’d signed his name and stamped it underneath.
The words blurred as she clutched the letter. Every day, she’d thought about her son. She’d been young and foolish when she’d had the short affair with Reesing, but she’d never regretted Jaki.
Her husband and daughter knew about Jaki, but that was it. She hadn’t even told her closest friends in town, and she figured she’d never see him again, and her only news of him would be what she heard in gossip.
She’d write back, and if he still wanted to, she’d go to see him and finally lay eyes on her grown son and the two children he’d had with his husband. She wiped her eyes and leaned back in the rocking chair to read the words of her son once more.