Her smile grew as she put her hand on her belly. “He is fierce and fiery and keeps me up at night, punching me,” she said. “But he is strong, like his father. I knew of no other way to tell you of our son than to show you. I hope you are pleased.”
Kevin’s eyes filled with tears as he looked at her. “It is the greatest gift you could ever give me,” he said hoarsely. “I know that I am unworthy to be your husband, but I swear that I will take care of our son in any way you wish for me to. If… if you could find it within your heart to let me know the boy, and for him to know me, I would be forever in your debt.”
Juliandra’s smile faded and she took a few more steps until she was right in front of him. Then, she sank to her knees so that they were facing each other. Her knees were brushing up against his and he just sat there, looking at her, afraid to say a word. He was trying so hard to keep his composure but the tears in his eyes would not stop falling.
“Kevin,” Juliandra said softly. “I have had a good deal of time to think about everything that… happened and I want you to know something.”
He quickly wiped at his face. “Of course,” he said. “I am listening.”
She looked at him a moment before reaching out to take his hand. Once she touched him, something in Kevin snapped and a sob bubbled up, but he fought it. He held her hand tightly, unable to look at her, feeling as if he were on the verge of something that was about to shatter.
Juliandra squeezed his hand.
“I am coming to think that I have been in the wrong in all of this,” she finally said. “At first, I was confused… and hurt. I could not understand why you lied about my father the way you did. But the more time passed, the more angry and confused I became. Gareth would come by The Neath on occasion to make sure that all was well. One day, I cornered the man and demanded he tell me of the Kevin de Lara he knew. I kept him at The Neath for an entire day and night, asking him question after question, and do you know what he told me?”
Kevin shook his head slowly. “I would not know.”
“He told me that he had never known a braver or truer man,” she said quietly. “He told me that he had never known a man more dedicated to his men, concerned for them as most lords were not. Gareth explained to me why you had lied – to protect your men as you had always done, and you wanted to use me to do that. He also told me that Wybren was your first command.”
Kevin nodded faintly. “It was,” he said. “But I have told you that.”
She squeezed his hand again and he squeezed back, nearly breaking her fingers. “Gareth loves you a great deal,” she said. “Then I spoke to Cal. He has nothing but the greatest admiration for you even though he tells me that you stole me from him. He meant it in jest, of course, but his message was clear – his respect for you is limitless. I also spoke with your brother at length and even though he is your brother, and I knew he would only say great things about you, he was very honest with me. He told me that you have your faults. He told me that you can be stubborn, and righteous, and that you tend to judge men harshly who do not always behave in a noble fashion.”
Kevin was nodding to everything she was saying. “It is true,” he said, a lone tear dripping off his nose. “Did he tell you that we went for years not speaking to one another?”
“He did,” she said softly. “But he also told me why – because you were devastated at the decisions he’d made, decisions you felt harmed him.”
“That is true.”
Juliandra watched his lowered head. “It seems that I have done the same thing you did,” she said. “I have judged you on the decision you made to lie to me. It was less than noble and it hurt me. It hurt us. But now… Kevin, I cannot say that I agree with what you did, but I have come to understand why you 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. I want 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? Are you real?”
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 of gold;
In his eyes, I would never grow old.
He pledged his troth, his love divine;
And in my heart, he would always be mine.”
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.
She was 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 *
Kevin and Juliandra’s children
Garreg
Maxim
Savia
Gisela
Burke (after the brother Juliandra never saw again)
Lucian
Kathryn Le Veque Novels
Medieval Romance:
De Wolfe Pack Series:
Warwolfe
The Wolfe
Nighthawk
ShadowWolfe
DarkWolfe
A Joyous de Wolfe Christmas
BlackWolfe
Serpent
A Wolfe Among Dragons
Scorpion
StormWolfe
Dark Destroyer
The Lion of the North
Walls of Babylon
The Best Is Yet To Be
De Wolfe Pack Generations:
WolfeHeart