Juliandra watched his lowered head. “It seems that I have done the same thing you did,” she said. “I have judgedyouon the decision you made to lie to me. It was less than noble and it hurt me. It hurtus. But now… Kevin, I cannot say that I agree with what you did, but I have come to understandwhyyou did it. I have spent the past several months listening to men who know you speak of you in such a way that their love and respect for you is abundantly clear. They speak of a noble, righteous, honest knight who would do anything to protect his brethren or those he loves. Through their eyes, I have come to know you a little better.”
He finally lifted his gaze to look at her. “Is that what you have come to tell me?”
She nodded. After a moment, she reached up to push his long hair out of his eyes, getting a better look at his face.
“I have come to tell you that I am sorry for our separation,” she said. “I am sorry I let you leave and think that I hated you.I have come to ask you to forgive me for being foolish enough to let this separation go on and on. We have a child who will be born soon and I want him to know his father.Iwant to know my husband. And I want to love him for the rest of my life, more than any woman has ever loved a man. To the sky and beyond.”
Those were the most beautiful words Kevin had ever heard. He could hardly believe it. “My God,” he said after a moment. “Is this real? Areyoureal?”
Juliandra nodded, gently touching his face. “I am,” she said, rising on her knees and kissing his sunburned cheek. “Very real. And so very sorry.”
As Kevin struggled with his shock, she cupped his bearded face and sang softly.
“My love gave me a ring ofgold;
In his eyes, I would never growold.
He pledged his troth, his lovedivine;
And in my heart, he would always bemine.”
Tears popped from his eyes at the sweet message of the song, not realizing it was the very first song she’d ever sang when she’d come to Wybren those months ago. For him, it was a song of true love, something he felt for her that would never die.
In his heart, she would always be his.
He threw his arms around her and pulled her into a crushing embrace as she broke down in tears. He held her so very tightly, hardly believing she was here, alive and well, in his arms. It was a moment he had dreamed of but never really thought would come.
But it was here.
Shewas here.
And his life was just beginning.
On a cold November night three months later, Juliandra delivered a healthy son after two of the longest days of Kevin’s life. His little boy, fat and screaming, was brought to him by Sheridan, who had attended the birth, and all Kevin could do was weep when he saw the babe who looked exactly like him. He was a shining, beautiful example of a love that nothing could kill, a love forged in fire and strengthened by a devotion that would never die.
A love that went to the sky and beyond.
Kevin de Lara had finally found his place in life.
The Lord of the Sky had found home.
*THE END*
