Epilogue
It was what was considered to be a lovely day on Tygeria. The wind blowing out of the south was cool against his skin, but though the day was overcast, as always, the sky was glowing with subdued light. Blake was wrapped in furs and sitting on what he called the patio overlooking the front lawn of the palace. He was watching Ryan doing his morning run, accompanied by Nicarr and Mikol. Nicarr, who was now fifteen cycles, though it hardly seemed possible to Blake, was giving the running a real effort, even though he said he wasn’t convinced of any benefit to be gained from it. He’d complained that he’d much rather be sparring with his friends, but Blake understood why he’d chosen to be here this morning. He’d hardly left Blake’s side since he’d returned and had made this excuse so he could stay close to him.
Nicarr, along with the rest of Blake’s family, knew Blake had taken to having his morning tea outside each morning, though this morning, Davos had tempted his appetite with hot chocolate he’d procured from some trader or other. It was delicious, and Blake was drinking it with some pastries the cook had made especially for him. Shaped like a croissant, they were filled with a jam called limberry, which wasn’t Blake’s favorite, though he didn’t have the heart to tell the cook. Instead he scraped the jam off and piled it all on one pastry, which Mikol quickly dispatched for him.
Mikol had gotten to be a big boy while they’d been gone, shooting up as tall than Blake, despite being only nine cycles. He took after his father, of course, and was going to be as big one day as Mikos, no doubt.
Since Davos was popular ruler, there had been general rejoicing once he and Blake had returned, and little difficulty in his resuming his rightful role as king. Mikos had done an admirable job of running his kingdom for him during their absence, but was happy and relieved, he’d said, for his father to take back his crown. Davos had been so impressed with all he’d done that he’d given Mikos even more responsibility, however, and he was glad for his help in managing the far-flung kingdom.
Much of the first days back home were lost to Blake. He had been ill for a time, and spent most of his days in bed, being cared for by the royal physicians. He had a bit of an emotional breakdown, the doctors said, and Davos had spent every moment he could by his side, just holding him.
The doctors gave him special supplements and Davos brought in food that he could manage to keep down, and finally the almost constant nausea was becoming only a memory, even though the heartache remained. The doctors and Davos still insisted he keep his feet up most days, but he was finally feeling stronger and looking forward to the remaining months until the new baby arrived.
The twins had been to see him, along with their husbands, and in Vannos’s case, their entourage and personal staff. Both he and Annar wanted to sit beside him, touching him from time to time as if to make sure he was really there. It hurt Blake and made him feel guilty for leaving them, adding to the stress he was feeling over Larz, so no matter how glad he was to see them, Mikos had finally gently suggested they come back to visit again after the baby was born.
As for Larz…Blake still had hope. The general consensus seemed to be that he and his crew had been kidnapped. They had waited impatiently for a ransom and though none had ever come, Mikos still believed he had been taken and was being held somewhere. No one was saying it might be slavers, but that thought was uppermost on people’s minds. Mikos stubbornly insisted that any slavers would be fools to take the son of King Davos without then asking for an exorbitant ransom. There was a mystery here that he had vowed to uncover, and he said he wouldn’t rest until he’d brought his brother home.
As for Blake, he still had hope. He had always believed that hope was a fragile thing—as fragile as a flower and needing just as much careful tending if you wanted it to grow and thrive. He could water it with his tears if he needed to, but he always had to give it the light of day. Hope was his near constant companion and always there, coming sometimes to save him when he was in the depths of despair and when he least expected it, but always, always when he needed it the most. Today had been one of those days.
Blake was watching an impromptu race between Ryan and the boys, smiling a little over Mikol’s false starts and attempts to cheat by tripping Nicarr, when Davos sat down beside him and took his hand.
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” he asked, leaning over to brush his lips over Blake’s.
“So much better. All this pampering is going to ruin me though, when I have to get up in the middle of the night to take care of a newborn.”
“We can hire nurses for that.”
“I know, but I prefer to do it myself.”
“I’ll help, then.”
Blake shot him a smile and patted his arm. “I know you mean well, but when Nicarr was a baby, you’d bring him back to bed with us and then you’d both fall asleep and the nipple would leak formula all over the bed. Then I’d have to get up and change the sheets at three in the morning, not to mention getting Nicarr settled back down in his bed.”
“Yes, but when you came back to bed…
“You took advantage of me in my weakened state.”
Davos smiled at him and shrugged. “Maybe.” Davos began to play with his hand, turning it over this way and that rubbing his fingers along Blake’s. “I’ve never apologized for what happened to us…to Larz.”
Blake pulled his hand away. “No…please. I can’t right now, Davos. I love you. I love you more than I ever thought possible. But I can’t talk about all this yet.”
Davos looked up at him, and for just a moment there was the briefest flash of very blue eyes, gone so quickly Blake knew he must have imagined it. “I love you too. I lost sight of just how much for a moment there. I’ll never forget it again. And I’ll never stop apologizing to you for what I did.”
Blinded by tears, Blake fumbled for Davos’s hand again and brought it to his lips to kiss. “I’m to blame too. I should never have helped Derrick behind your back that way. It was a betrayal and you had every right to be angry.”
“Angry, perhaps, but I tried deliberately to hurt you. And our boy is paying the price for my pride and stupidity.”
“Please, don’t…”
Davos looked away, but put his arm around Blake to draw him closer to him. Putting a finger under his chin, he brought Blake’s face up for a kiss. Blake kissed him back hard, his tongue forcing its way into Davos’s mouth, needing the connection. They kissed deeply, until Davos pulled his head away with a rough laugh. “If we continue, I’ll have to take you to our rooms in the middle of the day and scandalize all the servants.”
Blake gave him a tremulous smile. “It won’t be the first time.”
Davos shook his head and put him firmly away, though keeping tight hold of his hand. For a long moment, he stared at Ryan and the boys, but Blake suspected he wasn’t really seeing them. “I’m going to find him, Blake. I swear it. I want you to believe that.”
“I do,” he replied in a choked voice.
“And all you have to concentrate on is this baby and yourself, all right? I don’t want you worrying yourself sick anymore.”
Blake squeezed his hand. “And how are you doing since we got back? Do you have any memories of Tveir?”
“Yes, I remember it. It’s like something I dreamed, but I do remember. I have memories from that life too, all tangled up with mine. Not many, but a few. I know now why I’ve hated pirates so much all my life, and why I reacted so strongly to Rhaegar marrying our son. I admit, I still don’t like it much, but I do want Derrick to be happy. And the pirate apparently makes him happy.”
Blake laughed, and Davos turned toward the sound with a smile. “He really does, you know. And they’ve promised to come back for a long visit after the baby’s born. I miss them both.”
“I know. If you had it your way, you’d have all of them living here in the palace with their husbands and babies.”
“And what’s wrong with that?”
Davos gave him another indulgent smile. “Nothing at all if you want it. I just don’t think you’ll be able to convince their husbands.”
Blake made a face. “No, I haven’t had much luck with that. Stubborn asses, every one of them, though I do think Annar’s Lycan is the worst,” he muttered.
“I think Renard was very pleasant when he was here with Annar. He’s promised to help us find Larz, and he has really good connections all over the galaxy.”
“If he has such good connections, what has he been doing with them for the past four cycles?” Blake said, half under his breath. He smiled at Davos when he looked at him though and began unfolding himself from the chair. “I need to get up and move around a little.” He looked down at his baby bump and rubbed his hand over it affectionately. “I don’t want to get too fat.”
Davos pulled him into a hug, bending him back over his arm a little. “If you get any more beautiful, I won’t get any work done at all.”
“That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”
“Not bad at all. Come to think of it, I can’t think of anything I’d like better.”
The End
To be continued in Mate of the Tyger Prince 8
Larz’s story