Epilogue #3
Rhys nodded, looking to Christopher at that point because he knew more about Addax and Essien’s background than Rhys did. But Christopher was busy pouring two measures of wine, handing them to the al-Kort brothers.
“Drink that,” he commanded softly.
Essien downed his without question, while Addax was a little slower. He lifted the cup to his lips but paused before drinking.
“Why must we drink this?” he asked.
Christopher motioned to it without answering and Addax reluctantly knocked it back. It was strong stuff and fire coursed down their throats, but it was a bracing jolt. Only when the cups were set aside did Christopher continue.
“Addax, I truly do not mean to draw this out, but I want you prepared,” he said. “You should be aware that the name of his neighbor’s wife is Adanya. Isn’t that your sister’s name?”
Essien’s features were full of shock as Addax simply stared at Christopher with no visible reaction. At least, not yet. It took several long moments for the question to sink in.
“Aye,” he finally said. “She was my younger sister.”
“And you have no knowledge of what happened to her?”
“Nay,” Addax said. “She was with my mother when we were separated. She was no older than my youngest child, who has not yet seen two years.”
Christopher went to them both, gripping Essien’s arm with a big hand while laying his other hand on Addax’s shoulder. It was a reassuring, fatherly gesture. When he spoke to them, it was quiet and gentle.
There was no easy way to tell them what he had to.
“Lads,” he finally said, “I think we have something of a miracle because Adanya came to France with her parents. Evidently, her mother’s father was the ruler of Alexandria, but when he was deposed, Adanya married Rhys’ neighbor and the entire family fled to France.
Rhys only knew Adanya’s mother’s name—he did not know her father’s name—so he returned to France after the tournament last year, at my request, and sought them out.
He told Adanya and her mother and father about you two, the Kitaran princes, and it seems that they know you.
Lads, we found your mother and father, hiding in plain sight in France. ”
With that, he nodded to Rhys, who quickly left the tent. As Addax stood there, dumbfounded, Essien pulled away. He wandered over to a corner of the tent, overwhelmed and bewildered. His hands were on his mouth, on his forehead, in his hair, and back again. His agitation and confusion were evident.
“That can’t be true,” Essien said. “It’s not true. Our father died. He died defending his legacy.”
Addax had his hand over his mouth as if to hold back the cry of disbelief. “My God,” he breathed. “And you know this for certain?”
Christopher nodded. “Your father is called the Kaara Ejadar,” he said gently. “The Dragon King.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“Adanya did. And so did you.”
That made Addax suck in his breath. He was trying so desperately to keep his composure, but it was slowly slipping away.
“Oh, God,” he finally said. “Never… I never dared to hope. I never dared to even think that my father could have escaped the carnage. We left him at Lankara. That is where he made his stand. God in heaven, are you telling me that he actually survived?”
Christopher could see how shaken he was.
How shaken they both were. He still had his hand on Addax’s shoulder.
“Aye,” he said hoarsely. “That is exactly what I am telling you. King Amare survived the onslaught of his brother, Prince Ekon. As he told me, he managed to escape by sea and make his way to Egypt, where he knew his wife would be, if she had survived. And she had.”
Addax had to turn away. Actually, he staggered away, heading to where Essien was standing. He put both hands on his brother’s shoulders, steadying himself, steadying Essien. His head was swimming with the news.
“Jesus,” he finally said. “I’ve never fainted in my life, but at this moment, I feel as if I’m close to it. I do not understand how any of this is possible. How is it possible?”
“Be strong, my son,” came a voice from the tent flap. “In the face of whatever this life will bring you, be strong, be honest, and be loyal to those you love. You promised me that you would. Now, I find you a great man in a land full of people who love you. You have both made me so very proud.”
Addax and Essien whirled to the sound of the voice only to be confronted by a vision they only believed they would see again when they entered heaven’s gates. If there had been any doubt in their mind that their father had actually survived, it was dashed to bits by the sight in the tent opening.
A vision, larger than life.
Amare, still as tall and strong, but with hair that was quite gray, was standing there, looking at his sons as if beholding a vision of angels.
There were no words for the love radiating from his eyes, from the pride and the joy that was bursting forth from his very manner.
Absolute elation was in everything about him.
He’d found his boys.
He was as surprised as they were.
Addax could see the gladness in his father’s expression. He tried to open his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He blinked and tears streamed down his cheeks.
Abba, he thought.
My abba.
“You said those same words to me as we fled for our lives those years ago,” he finally managed to say. “I listened to them. I obeyed them. But I never forgot who spoke them to me, Abba. You did.”
“I did,” Amare said, taking a step closer, looking over both men. “When I saw you last, you were both so small. Now… look at you. So strong and powerful. Essien, you’ve grown so tall. You are taller than I am.”
Hearing his father speak his name did something to Essien. That voice. He’d heard it in his dreams, but those dreams had faded. Hearing it again shook him to the bone. He turned his back on the man and burst into tears.
“I’ve spent my entire life not remembering you,” he wept, his hand over his mouth.
“It was too painful to do so. I’ve told Addax that I did not remember much from Lankara, but the truth is that I remembered enough.
I remembered the pain, the fear. It hurt too much to remember it all, so I did not.
You were gone, Abba. But now you’re not. You’re here.”
“I’m here,” Amare said, tears in his eyes.
“I’m here because I never gave up hope. I never stopped hoping that someday, we would find one another again.
I never stopped hoping and praying that wherever you were, you were happy and content.
That is all I ever asked of God—to protect you and keep you safe.
But I never gave up hope that, someday, I would see you both again.
I am here because of hope, Essien. Because people who knew you and loved you found me and brought me here.
God was working through them, my son. He knew how much I missed you both. ”
Addax couldn’t take it anymore. He went to his father and threw his arms around the man, and together they quietly wept with joy.
But Essien stood there, his back to them, weeping for reasons he didn’t understand.
It was a painful standoff, and Christopher went to Essien, putting his hand on the man’s shoulder.
“Es,” he whispered. “Go and greet your father.”
Essien couldn’t quite do it. “You are the only father I remember,” he said. “I am a man of two worlds—Kitara, where I was born; England, where I grew up. This is my home… isn’t it? Am I not English?”
“You are English,” Christopher said, his own eyes welling.
“You are a great and noble English lord. But you were born a prince of Kitara and you cannot forget that. You cannot ever forget where you came from. Turn around and face your father, the king. Let the man see his youngest son, the dosara beta. He has come a very long way to see you.”
Dosara beta. Second son. That’s what Essien was.
He had to be reminded of that because, as he’d said, he was a man of two worlds.
An English lord with non-English origins.
He wasn’t ashamed of that in the least, but as time passed, it had been simply easier to forget something he didn’t really remember.
Perhaps, now, it was time to remember.
Perhaps he needed to try.
“He is a ghost to me, my lord,” Essien said. “He is—”
“Es, listen,” Christopher said, interrupting.
“I gave you the opportunity to make something of your life, and you did. I could not be prouder of you if you were my own son. But Amare gave you life. He is your father. We both are. It is well and good that you should embrace us both as men who have raised you and consider yourself richer for it. Not many men can say they were raised by a legend as well as a king.”
Essien lifted his head, looking at Christopher, who forced a smile at him and nodded his head in silent encouragement.
Then he put both hands on Essien’s shoulders and turned him around to face his father about the time Kiya and Adanya entered through the tent flap.
Adanya had changed a great deal, but Kiya hadn’t.
She looked nearly the same. Addax went to his mother and sister, embracing them with more tears, as Essien faced Amare.
They looked at each other for a few moments before Amare spoke softly to him.
“Jab tak ham dubarah nihen malin ge,” he said. “Do you remember what that means?”
Essien did. He nodded, feeling the tears coming again. “Until we meet again,” he murmured.
Amare smiled tremulously. “Well?” he said. “Here we are, meeting again.”
“I thought you meant in another lifetime.”
“I meant in any lifetime. You are my son and I will never leave you.”