Page 206 of The Knucker King

Ashling chimed a giggle as he floated beside her. “Bramble and I are watching them tonight, are we not?”

She quirked her lip at him. “I think another reason why Trewoofe took them out, he is hoping that they will not wake when we sneak away.”

“And what will you two be doing?” Ashling gently teased.

“Stargazing,” Avice replied, ignoring the innuendo of the question.

Trewoofe heaved himself onto the summit with a large boar dangling from his mouth. Just like Avice, he had not aged a day since Mother Eostre’s kiss. Though, he was much larger, and magic pulsed from him with every heartbeat. He dropped the boar beside his wrestling children with a heavy thud. Crimson stained his fangs and snout. He wiped his muzzle and talons in the moss before turning to address Avice.

“Little witch,” he purred, pressing his snout to the top of her head. “I have missed you.”

“Lord…” She loved at how he clung to her. “It has only been half a day.”

“It does not matter, every moment I am not by your side is too long,” he chuffed, nuzzling where her neck swept into her shoulder. She kissed the soft spot between his nostrils as he shifted down to snuff at her belly. “Is our next youngling still giving you pains?”

Avice smiled at his tenderness as he stared down his muzzle in wonder at her. “They are determined to give me pains until they are born,” she admitted. “This pregnancy has not been as easy as Lowenna, and my feet hurt.”

“Then I will be your legs and carry you every moment until our third is born,” Trewoofe vowed.

He whipped his tongue out and slathered her swollen feet and legs with healing saliva. Avice let out a contented sigh as healing warmth spread through her. Her pearlescent scars and sigil twitched as his magic joined with hers, and her aches evaporated.

“You are too sweet to me.” She lowered her voice, hoping their children would not hear. “I am looking forward to stealing away with you tonight.”

“As am I,” he whispered. “The last time was…” He went cross-eyed looking down his muzzle at her bump. “Let us just say it has been far too long.”

“What has been far too long?” Lowenna asked, shoving Jory’s snout into the dirt before ambling over to her parents.

Avice smiled up at her daughter, so like her father when they stood next to one another. “Since your Tas and I have had a moment alone.”

Jory brushed the moss from his muzzle and joined his family. “Why do you need a moment alone?”

“So, I can kiss your mother shamelessly,” Trewoofe teased, nudging each of his children with his flank.

“Yuck!” Lowenna and Jory shouted together.

“And flirt with her and tell her how wonderful she is,” he taunted, bumping them with a roll of his coils.

The ground shook as her family chuckled. Avice’s heart had never felt so full as she leant on her soul-bound’s side.

“Your father and I enjoy the Moon and stars,” she chipped in, waddling over to her children and pressing kiss on each of their lowered scaley foreheads. “We first began our courtship on the full Moon of a Spring Equinox.”

Avice smiled at the memory. She had not had to dance to bless the woods and fields since all that time ago. With Eostre resting in Lamorna-in-Avalon for three quarters of a turn of seasons, they were already blessed with an abundance of fruits, vegetables, and herbs in perpetuity. There was no need to suffer to ensure no one starved, and she was infinitely grateful for that.

Which is tonight! Bramble whuffed excitedly.

“So, this is an anniversary,” Ashling added. “Your Mamm and Tas deserve a little time to themselves.”

Her children looked contrite, they had the upmost respect for her Wisp. “Yes, Uncle Ashling,” they chorused.

Avice cradled her pendant in her palm. “Excellent!” Her stomach growled, her cravings for roast boar doubling its protest. “Now, it is time for dinner and sleep for you two in the Underneath. Then your father and I will come above to celebrate the anniversary of our courtship.”

The family departed from above and returned to their nesting chamber below.

Later that night, Avice and Trewoofe remerged beneath a brilliant starry sky. The Moon was round, and the stars glittered more brightly than they had ever seen against the inky black.

Trewoofe had shifted into his human body, and Avice sat between his knees. She leant back against his chest, feeling the thrum of his strong heart match the pace of her own. Her King slipped his hands around her bump, resting them there, feeling the kick of their Knuckerling. He chuckled at a particularly big movement and pecked a kiss to her cheek.

“This one will be more trouble than the other two combined,” he chuckled before tilting his chin skyward. “The sky is beautiful tonight.”

Avice let out a contented sigh as she beheld the stars. “To think, this was behind that blizzard all those turns of seasons ago.”

“I was not paying much attention to the sky,” Trewoofe said. “I had a Goddess in my arms.”

She nudged him with her elbow. “Flirt.”

“Shamelessly so,” he agreed eagerly, lowering his lips to her ear. “But it is the truth,” he whispered, making her skin prickle. “You have made me the happiest Knucker that has and will ever live. With you, Lowenna, Jory, Bramble, Ashling, and our third, I am complete. And it is all because of you. You are a radiant beam, filling my days with light.”

Avice blinked back joyful tears. “I love you, my King.”

“And I love you, my little witch,” he purred.

Their lips found each other, and they kissed fervently under the Moonbeams.

Together they lived, and they were happy.