Kingdom's Vice Series: A Voyage of Vengeance ( #2 2015)

Chapter Nineteen

Gweyntarr sits on the edge of the silken bed and her finger is the subject of little Garsef's curiosity again. She looks out to the shadowy figure of her husband, who stands on the balcony of ivory, his hands leaning against the stone pillars on either side, his stature forcibly upright. She slides off the bed and joins him at his side.

"Something troubles you," she says, sliding her arms around him. "Will you not tell me, my lord?"

He smiles and lets out a breathy laugh. "My dear, if there was anything amiss, you would be the first to know." He takes her hand and kisses it gently. "For so long I never thought I would be capable of this," he gestures to the city beyond, to their son who sleeps soundly in their bed.

"Love?" she asks him, her brow bent in pain as she tilts her chin up to meet his eyes. "Is that what you thought you could never have?"

He nods, "Yes. After all I have done, I am surprised you still stand beside me. I am the kind of man I would have wanted to be, but I did not get here without paying the price. Hard times have called for hard choices. I made them. I chose them. And I must pay for them again."

She digs her nails into the flesh of his arm and he recoils. "Yes, but at what cost?" she demands. "You have won me, body and soul. I am yours, now and forever. Is that not punishment enough?" she says playfully, but neither of them laugh. "She will forgive you, you know. Give her time. She has all of eternity to see you prove who you really are."

He sighs and resigns himself to her embrace. "You're right." He pulls her into his strong arms and kisses her. "I love you," he whispers against her hair.

"I love you, too." She replies without blinking, without anything hindering her words. "You should send them." She adds.

He frowns and pulls away to look at her. "Send what?"

"Those letters," she swallows, "the ones you keep locked away in the Silver Room. She may not reply to them right away, but at least it's a start. Relationships mend, Redermarke."

His jaw tightens, "Not all of them, I fear."

And then a sharp orange light breaks between them, shattering the stone, splintering the wood beneath their feet. Flames consume everything: the silk, the stone and wood. There is no sound save for the flames licking the earth and little Garsef's cries.