Epilogue
Phillip stood on the parapet at Haemesburgh and looked out over the countryside. He’d seen it in another incarnation, true, but found he liked the one he was looking at presently. No traffic honking, no mobile phones ringing, no wires carrying power.
Well, he had to admit that last bit would have been useful, but he would survive.
“I love the hills.”
He reached for his lady wife’s hand, then smiled at her. “My father will never die, so we’ll probably be looking at this forever.”
She smiled. “We won’t.”
He turned to look at her. “Did you peek at that very large book of genealogy kept in the most secure and secluded chamber Artane can boast?”
“No, but I had a look at a quickly scribbled list I was given by a certain blond guy who somehow managed to get himself alive all the way to adulthood.” She smiled. “That list only provided me with the names of the lords of Artane.”
“That’s useful enough,” he said. “What shall we name our first son?”
“Heather.”
His mouth fell open and she laughed.
“Just kidding. You come up with something appropriately masculine.”
He considered that for quite some time before he looked again at his bride. “Perhaps we should have brought a history book with us. So I don’t make a mistake.”
“Too dangerous. Besides, you won’t make any mistakes. You’ll do what you do, I’ll do what I do, and we’ll hope that we do the right things. And if something really veers off course, you have me.”
“I do, indeed.”
She smiled at him wistfully. “Is that enough?”
“How can you ask?”
“I just like to hear you make that list you make when I ask.”
He smiled, pulled her close, and whispered his list in her ear. It was a long list, all those reasons that he loved her and couldn’t live without her, but he made it gladly. She teased him that he did it out of a sense of chivalric duty. He countered that he did it out of love. He imagined they would still be discussing the precise reasons for it far into their future.
He kept his arm around her and leaned on the wall, watching the sun set and the stars come out. He watched them appear until he thought it might be time to seek out the warmth of the fire in the hall. He looked at Imogen, light of his life and love of his heart, and smiled.
She had stars in her eyes.
He imagined he did, too.