Epilogue #2
There were times when I thought Alaryk might still be haunted from the events of that defining night.
Sometimes when he looked at me, I knew he was lost in memory.
In the pained memory of finding me in the rain-drenched forest, mud caked over my body, Ryak looming over me, his fists bloodied and splattered.
Sometimes he had nightmares of it. Sometimes I did too.
I knew the guilt that still plagued him…because it mirrored my own. We might always feel it. But it had smoothed with a little time, and now it was only a mere ripple whenever the memory surfaced.
It would mark both of us forever. What Alaryk had done, what I had done. It was like two scars that branded us, that perfectly aligned themselves when we pressed against each other. Matching scars, matching regrets.
But our love was like the press of lips against those scars. An apology, a promise, a recognition, a forgiveness.
I dipped my head now, giving him a sweet kiss, my lips lingering.
“I am relieved to go back to Grym,” Alaryk admitted to me. “And I’m excited myself to show you the territory. To show you Harta, even.”
Though only on Samryn’s back, he added silently.
Tensions with Harta were still simmering in the background with the knowledge of the heartstones’ discovery in Dakkar.
They wanted a piece of the power. Much like the Dothikkar, the Hartans believed the Karag held too much power. I understood the paranoia, the fear.
But the Karaths were good leaders. As long as they were in power, they wouldn’t exploit or overstep. Regardless, the Elthika themselves were the gods of the land. They chose their representatives for the nation. They chose the Karaths.
It was not the Karag who held the power at all. It was the Elthika.
But with the heartstones’ magic dwindling from the land, there was unrest among their wild hordes, becoming more difficult to contain. It would be another decade before the heartstones would mature into usable energy.
I knew that Alaryk was worried what would happen until then. Elysom had called a meeting once the moon was full to discuss it. We’d barely be settled in Grym and Alaryk would have to leave again.
But that was his responsibility. His duty to his people, to his nation. I understood that.
Tensions with Dakkar and Harta were high and might always be.
The Heartstone Accords would continue, given the other terms in the agreement, but with even more vetting.
The Dothikkar was apparently furious over what had happened with his guardsmen here but knew that an outright war with the Karag was a death sentence.
His back was pressed into a corner, his control slipping over his kingdom…
and it was never more apparent than now.
I might never see my homeland again.
And that was a strange realization.
I was only thankful that my family had decided to come. To leave their lives, to venture into the unknown.
My mother still grieved her friends, her neighbors, her community.
Her life. All her life, she’d known one place, and now…
she might never see it again. But she’d told me that she would choose it all over again.
To come to Karak on the back of an Elthika, armed with nothing more than words from a stranger.
For me.
“You are my life,” she’d told me a few nights ago when we’d come over for the evening meal. “All of you. That’s all that matters. As long as we’re together.”
It had been Kiron’s idea for all of them to make their permanent residence in Grym as opposed to the Arsadia.
I would be in the capital city most of the year, after all.
At Alaryk’s side, where I longed to be. And instead of working at a hatchery, I would instead be working with the mature Elthika directly, which apparently kept the healers quite busy, my ability a welcome reprieve.
We would all be together. Though they wouldn’t live in the citadel with us, Alaryk had homes set up for my parents and Kiron separately, close to the bustling Market District.
My mother liked the excitement. She liked people, activity, and she was thrilled at the prospect of living close to all the noise.
The Arsadia was too quiet for her, though I thought my father preferred it.
She had already packed her meager belongings two days ago, eager to see Grym.
Alaryk had promised that she’d be able to raid the Market District at his expense to furnish her home, to replenish their left-behind clothes, her jewelry, her spices and cookware…
and I thought her eyes had glittered at the prospect.
She wasn’t used to getting whatever she desired.
My parents had lived modestly and worked hard all their lives.
But now…everything was different.
We were all different.
In our warm bed, I settled back into Alaryk’s arms, my cheek pressed to his bicep as I skimmed my hand across his abdomen.
Across the bond, I knew he felt my excitement, just as I could feel his relief. It would be a change, certainly, starting a new life in Grym…but it would be a welcome one. A fresh start for all of us.
For now, I relaxed against Alaryk, in the quiet of our home, listening to the steady beat of his heart, turning off my mind from anything but him.
“No matter what comes,” I whispered, feeling his fingers tracing across my skin, “this is exactly where I want to be.”
With him. My pillar to lean on, my strength.
In this beautiful world of our own making, where our love was…
Simple, he answered across the bond.