Epilogue

Five years later.

Ayya was sitting by the fire in the living room. The dinner was cooking, and she took the time to mend Temay’s dress she used to play outside. It always seemed to have a rip or a hole in it. Her four-year-old daughter was a whirlwind of energy and determination. She was determined to do anything her big brother did, never mind it was eight years between the two. Jason adored his little sister. Ayya had been worried he would feel set aside when she got pregnant. But he had loved his sister from the day she was born. Like his father, he was a natural protector and made sure Temay’s adventures were kept as safe as possible. To be honest, the dark-haired beauty with deep green eyes that was her daughter had all the men in their family wrapped around her little finger. Her father doted on her, Kopa spoiled her rotten, and Cetu would give her every single horse he owned if she asked. Tenac and Jason had taken Temay to the stables. It was time for her to learn how to ride on her own. She was practically raised in the saddle, so Ayya didn’t think it would be a difficult task. For Jason’s twelfth birthday, Ayya and Tenac had given him Alteon, Estrela’s first born, sired by Addon. As his parents, Alteon was a star and a copy of his sire. Today, Jason would be handing Niwil over to Temay. Ayya heard the front door opening and Jason came into the room, carrying his little sister on his shoulders. She was laughing from excitement. Tenac followed soon thereafter and walked up to her, bent down and kissed her. 

“Did you have a fun time?” Ayya asked. 

“Yes,” Temay shouted.

“Your daughter almost burst every eardrum in the lower part of the city when she found out Niwil would be hers,” Tenac told her. 

“My daughter, huh?” Ayya asked and put away her work. She stood up and walked over to her children. She placed a kiss on Jason’s hair. He was getting tall, she realised. And helped him put his sister down. She got a hug from Temay and then she took her brother’s hand and led him upstairs. She would probably enlist him to play with her dolls.

“We really have the best children,” Tenac said and embraced her from behind. 

“We do,” she agreed. 

“Any news when mom and Kopa get back?” he asked. 

“In two days is the latest we heard,” she told him. Tariana had been to visit Dermes to look at the newly constructed base for the aari. Ayya and Tenac had asked Jason if he wanted to go with her and Kopa, but he had turned them down. They had been back for a short stay two years back, when king Richard’s first child was baptised. It had been a nice stay. Anna had got to meet Temay. And Jason had the opportunity to see his old hometown. Zerden had been there when they arrived and for all official functions. But he stayed away on a personal level. Ayya felt like it was for the best. She had accepted that their friendship hadn’t survived. 

“Where did your mind go?” Tenac asked. 

“I slipped down memory lane,” she confessed. “Are you hungry?” she then asked.

“When you are cooking, I’m always hungry,” he said and kissed her shoulder. 

“Good, dinner is almost done.”

“I’ll set the table,” he offered and walked to the kitchen. One of the advantages of being the Lady’s apprentice was that she and Tariana could pick and choose who would travel when needed. When Temay was born, Tariana had done all the travelling. When Temay got older, Ayya had started to travel again and she and her brother could either stay with Bettina and Kopa or come with their parents. Ayya had a good life, and she knew it and was grateful for it. She joined Tenac in the kitchen and stirred the stew. 

“Jason asked if he could go to the clan when they come in a couple of weeks,” Tenac said. Ayya smiled. Jason loved spending time with the Che’hul. The summer after Temay was born, they had taken time off and stayed with the clan for two months as they moved across the plain. It was some of the best time in Ayya’s life. 

“Do you think we should send him with them over the summer?” she asked. 

“It’s not the worst idea. He is old enough and he could stay with Nontuf and Houama. They would like to have a child in their tent,” he said. Tenac’s cousin and his wife hadn’t been blessed with a child yet, and Ayya knew they both liked Jason. “Temay will miss him,” he told her.

“Yes, but it will only be for a month or two. We could ask Tregan’s parents if he would like to come as well. He is almost as good of a rider as Jason,” Ayya said. The two boys had stayed friends and spent most of their time together. 

“I like that idea,” Tenac agreed. 

“Hinat will come over tomorrow evening with Anney,” she told Tenac. Anney was Hinat’s and Terway’s daughter. She was two months younger than Temay. The two girls enjoyed playing together and Anney was almost as close to Jason as Temay was. 

“Will Firlea, Jontak and Jonte come over as well?” he asked. Firlea’s and Jontak’s son was almost nine months older than Temay.

“No, they are still visiting her family,” Ayya said.

“I thought they were getting back today?”

“No, next Wednesday,” she told him and gave him a kiss. 

“Right,” he agreed, sneaking a spoon into her stew and quickly moving away to blow on it before tasting. “Best curry in the city,” he said. Ayya smiled at him.

“Go get the shrimp and her obedient servant, or they will go hungry after you eat all the stew,” she joked. 

“As you wish, my lady,” he told her, did a little bow and then stole a kiss before leaving the kitchen to get the kids. 

Several hours later, both kids were sleeping, and the house was quiet. Tenac was reading some documents from work and Ayya had taken up Temay’s dress, mending again. When she was done, she looked at it and decided it would do for a while longer. She put it to the side and looked at her husband. She still sometimes was surprised by her right to call him that. He looked up from the document and caught her looking. He smiled at her. 

“Want to go and sit in the garden before we go to bed?” she asked. He stood up and reached out his hand to her. They sat down in the garden, on the bench that Tenac had made when they bought the house. The night sky wasn’t as impressive as when they were out on the plains, but it was good enough. 

“In a week it has been five years,” she told him and traced the outline of her mark on the back of his hand. “Any regrets?”

“Not a single one,” he told her and kissed her fingers. It still sent tingles all over her body when he kissed her. 

“Would you be ready to do it all over again?” 

“Get married? I’m pretty sure we only need to do it once,” he said. 

“No,” she told him and laughed. “It was a wonderful day, but once is good enough for me. I was thinking of another child.” Tenac looked at her and smiled.

“I would love another child. Jason and the shrimp could use a sibling. Is this your way of asking me if we should start trying for a third? After all the practice we have done, it’ll be a walk in the park,” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Ayya laughed and kissed him.

“I love your enthusiasm. But I think all our practice made us a little better than we thought. I’m already pregnant,” she told him. He looked at her for a moment with a blank expression. Then he jumped up from the bench and pulled her up as well. He twirled her around, laughing as he did. When he put her down, he kissed her hard and long. 

“I take it you’re excited about the news?” she panted as they drew apart. 

“That doesn’t describe half of what I’m feeling,” he told her and gently put his hand on her flat belly. “Thank you,” he said, looking her in the eyes. 

“This is just as much your doing as mine,” she told him and placed her hand on his cheek. 

“Not just for this. For everything. For being brave enough to let Kopa bring you here. For agreeing to let me be your teacher, for being my friend, for accepting my love and for creating our family with me. I never thought I would have this, and now I don’t know how I could live without it,” he told her. 

“Tenac,” was all she could say.

“I love you Ayya. I always have and I always will. And I love each of our children, all three of them.”

“I love you too, Tenac. I love you and I love the family we have. You and the children are everything to me. Thank you for being brave enough to take the step when I hesitated,” she said and pulled him into a kiss. When they were laying in bed, Tenac’s arms around her and her head on his chest so she could hear his steady heartbeat and breathing, Ayya took a moment to think of the young girl she once had been. That girl would never have believed she would end up so far from home, in the arms of her protector and best friend, with a growing family. Tenac moved in his sleep and he pulled her closer. Ayya smiled and placed a light kiss on his chest. Life was good.