Epilogue
Rosomon
My belly flutters, and I press my hands gently against it. I’m not sure whether the flutters are nerves, or if they’re caused by what I’m nervous about.
Warmth and joy spread through me. I have no need to be nervous. My husbands are going to be happy at my news. I feel sure of it.
I pace across the main living area in our newly built home.
We built it not far from the rider camp, so we have a short distance to travel each day.
I couldn’t be more proud of the rider training program the four of us have created together.
I’m also proud and awed at the bravery of all of our riders.
Over the past four years, several of the male riders have gone on scouting missions to the Darkness.
Three riders are in the Darkness right now, including Cristiara, the first female rider to venture there.
The current group has been gone for five months now.
It’s likely that only five days have passed for them, but I worry.
I feel responsible, especially for Cristiara, since she was one of the very first riders I recruited and trained.
At a horrifically young age, Cristiara was enslaved as a Wife of Othrix, and she’d already served the klericks in that capacity for years, before the klericy took full control of the Light.
In spite of the abuse she’s suffered, Cristiara is fierce and resilient, and her strength quickly built over her first months at camp. Access to better quality food and more comfortable lodgings did a world of good for her—as did her freedom from being trapped in sexual slavery.
Cristiara’s never shared her full story with me, and she’s only hinted at why she was taken as a Wife of Othrix in the first place. I hope that’s she’s opened up to someone about her past.
The door to our house opens, and my belly’s fluttering starts up anew.
This time it’s definitely my nerves. I’ve spoken separately to each of my husbands about having children—they all want them, badly—but I didn’t tell any of them that I stopped drinking Courtesan’s Tea over four months ago.
Nor have I told them that I haven’t had my courses for the last three months.
That was harder to hide, but if any of them noticed my lack of bleeding, none has mentioned it.
I wanted to wait to share this news until I was certain, and when Surath and Xendus came here for the most recent Council of Sovereigns meeting, I had a long talk with her.
Surath’s first babe, my first niece, was born close to two years ago now, and my sister-by-marriage answered many questions for me, and assured me that now is a safe time to share my news with my husbands.
As they come into the house and kick off their heavy boots, the men are chatting amongst each other, but my mind is too busy to parse whatever it is they’re talking about.
“I’m in here,” I call out, and then take a seat on the large lounging chair Tynan had built to surprise me when we first moved into this home.
The lounge, facing the fireplace, is big enough for all four of us to stretch out together, and I lean against its plush back, right in the center. Right where I always sit.
The men greet me and cross the room quickly. Tynan’s the fastest and he dives onto the lounge, claiming one of the spots beside me. Saxon shakes his head, mostly in amusement. He gestures for Zogar to sit at my other side, before he plants himself cross-legged in front of me.
“I’ve got news,” I say, as soon as they’re settled. Now that I’ve decided to tell them, I can barely contain it.
“We’ve got news, too, my love.” Zogar’s voice sounds more serious than normal. And he almost always sounds serious.
“What’s wrong?” I look up at him, then toward the others.
“It’s about the riders who went to the Darkness.”
My body tightens with alarm. “Did Cristiara return? Is she hurt?”
“Let’s hear your news first.” Tynan plants a kiss against the top of my head, and his fingers tangle into my hair. He lifts some of my pink locks, which are once again naturally long, and presses them against his nose to inhale.
“I…” As many times as I’ve thought through this moment, I suddenly don’t know what to say. I’ve deceived them.
“It’s been a while since we’ve talked about children.” My mouth goes dry, and I suck on my cheeks for moisture. I’ve fully captured their attention now, all three of them have moved perceptibly toward me.
“I’m ready. I very much want a child.”
“Oh, my love.”
“Ma chérie.”
“My beautiful Rose.”
Each of them kisses me, caresses my face, or presses his forehead against mine.
“Shall we start trying right now?” Tynan’s hand slides between my legs.
Laughing, I lift it away. The fire crackles and snaps, as if it wants in on the action.
“Which one of us have you picked?” Zogar’s brow furrows, and his lips shift, making me nervous that he’s not going to like my answer.
“When we’ve talked about children, each of you claimed that you’ll love any babes I bear, no matter whose seed takes root.” I pause and make eye contact with each of them, seeking reassurance.
“But…” Nerves flutter inside me again, making me think the food in my stomach might rise, as it has some morns this past month. “Each of you has also, not-so-subtly—” I shake my head. “Each of you has also given me your reasons why children, fathered by you in particular, would be extra special.”
Saxon chuckles, Zogar frowns.
Tynan shrugs. “I’ve only stated the obvious. I’m the best looking and the youngest. Imagine how beautiful our babes will be.”
“It’s your choice, ma chérie,” Saxon says.
Zogar nods, and Tynan squeezes my thigh.
I drag in a long breath. “Just as I couldn’t choose only one husband—” I look between them “—I couldn’t choose just one of you to plant your seed.”
“So…” Tynan tips his head to the side.
“I stopped taking Courtesan’s Tea four months ago, and feel quite certain that I will have a child in less than six months.”
“I thought it took nine—” Tynan’s eyes widen. Then his gaze drops to my belly. “You’re already with child?”
Smiling, I nod, and then turn to look at the others. All three men are beaming, as if they could not have heard better news. Each of them lays a hand on my belly and reverently kisses me, carefully, as if their lips might hurt the precious cargo growing inside me.
“You don’t mind?” I turn my attention to each of them again. “I thought perhaps I should have discussed it with you before I stopped taking the tea.”
Saxon rises to his knees and cups my face in his hands, and my belly flutters for very different reasons as I drink in the sight of his handsome, rugged face, his thick golden and chestnut hair.
“Ma chérie. Having a child with you—as many as you desire—gives me unbounded happiness. But whether or not you bear any child is your choice. Not ours.”
He kisses me softly, and when he sits back, I look at the two men sitting at my sides, and they nod their agreement.
Tynan kisses my cheek and then says, “I wager it’s mine. As the youngest, I’m the most virile.”
A hard chuckle bursts out of Zogar. He takes my head in his huge hands and presses a soft kiss against my forehead. “I will love this child. I will be its father—one of its fathers—even if he or she comes out with a mane of golden hair, or a cocky smirk.”
Tynan laughs. “Or a dragon-sized cock.”
All the tension that’s been wound up inside me releases, and I laugh as I look between my three handsome husbands. And I drink in our perfect family of four, that’s soon to be five.
“How long until we can have sex again?” Tynan asks. “Seven months? Eight?” He looks as if he’s in pain.
“Women can have sex when they’re with child.” Saxon runs his hand over my leg.
Frowning, Zogar looks between the other two. “But we must take care.”
“I talked to Surath about this,” I tell them. “She said that she and Xendus…” I reconsider my words. “Let’s just say they did not hold back while she was carrying our niece.” My cheeks heat.
“Surath already knows?” The pain in Zogar’s eyes knocks me back.
I stroke the side of his face. “I only talked to her first, because I know so little about carrying a child. I wanted to talk to a woman—”
He smiles. “Don’t worry, my love. I understand.”
I touch each of their faces in turn, loving how I can see their reactions and the love in their eyes as my palm contacts their skin.
These past years have been the happiest of my life—by far—but at this moment I’m absolutely certain that my happiest years are yet to come.