Epilogue
‘There,’ Tiberius said, adjusting the telescope. ‘Can you see Venus? It’s very bright.’
Standing beside him under the orange trees, on the grass of the orchard, his lioness peered through the high-powered telescope Tiberius had brought with him.
‘Oh, yes!’ she exclaimed in wonder. ‘You’re right. It’s amazingly bright.’
It was their little ritual—to come out here at night once a month, to look at the stars and remind themselves of the whole beautiful universe that they were only tiny parts of.
Plus, Tiberius simply liked astronomy, and had been pursuing it whenever he had a moment. Which was more often than he’d expected.
Being a king was hard work, as his father had said, but it was work that he shared with his lovely wife—and a burden shared was a burden halved.
He glanced down at the baby who slept peacefully in the crook of his arm. His gorgeous daughter and his heir, barely three weeks old and already proving to be a lioness, just like her mother.
He’d thought it wasn’t possible to love his wife and his country at the same time, but it was eminently possible. Just as it was possible for that love to grow to include his new daughter, and any more children they would have together.
And there would be more. He’d already decided.
Love expands , he thought, slipping his free arm around his wife, and holding her close.
Love was as infinite as the stars.