Teague shivered in the afternoon chill, watching the sun sink slowly beyond the horizon and boiling a set of sheets from their bed as he stood in the yard between the barn the cottage.<\/p>\n
They had a son<\/i>.<\/p>\n
His first cries still echoed in his ears, almost obliterating the sound of Kira\u2019s pain while she was in labor.\u00a0 He could still taste the sourness of his fear from that time, fear that was only abating now.<\/p>\n
Now, since she was safely tucked into the freshly-made bed, clean and secure, their son cradled in her arms.<\/p>\n
He wanted to join them so badly it hurt.<\/p>\n
But he lingered outside instead, staring at the western horizon, a frown creasing his brow, jaw tight, muscles taut.<\/p>\n
What in blazes is about to happen?\u00a0 I\u2019m wound too tightly for this to be leftover nerves from delivering my own son.<\/i>\u00a0 His fingers curled into fists, breath steaming in the chill as he exhaled slowly.\u00a0 He looked toward the cottage, thinking of Kira.\u00a0 She\u2019d known something was bothering him all day.\u00a0 He wished he could put his finger on it.<\/p>\n
Teague pulled the sheets out of the water and swapped it for fresh.\u00a0 He flexed his hands, itching for his sword for some inexplicable reason.\u00a0 It was leaned up against the bed-stand inside, easily within Kira\u2019s reach.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t thought he\u2019d need it out here.\u00a0 There hadn\u2019t been any sign of Dirae<\/i> or any other enemy of theirs since Neve and Cameron rode away.<\/p>\n
He missed her, his little sister, the last princess of Avalon, but he didn\u2019t regret letting them ride away\u2014not even when he\u2019d felt the pain in his leg and back so sharply that he\u2019d known something terrible had happened.<\/p>\n
Have faith, Teague.\u00a0 Have faith.<\/i>\u00a0 That\u2019s what Kira had said to him as she\u2019d held him, curled in their bed as fear-born tears had poured down his face.\u00a0 They\u2019ll be fine, just like we are. They\u2019ll be fine.<\/i><\/p>\n
It was one of the things he loved about her\u2014the fact that she would hold him when the fear came and not judge him for it.\u00a0 She was the only one he had now that he could do that with.<\/p>\n
Exiled or not, he was still a king\u2014even to his sister and his cousins.<\/p>\n
It should have been you, Seamus,<\/i> he thought as he poured the sheets back into the caldron.\u00a0 I was never meant for it.<\/i><\/p>\n
He checked the fire before turning away from the caldron, sure that the sheets would boil for a while now, and headed toward the cottage.\u00a0 In the distance, he heard a wolf call to another.\u00a0 They had been moving steadily south since winter had set in, but he wasn\u2019t worried.\u00a0 He\u2019d dealt with worse before.\u00a0 Far worse and far bigger in the days of old.<\/p>\n
But these aren\u2019t the days of old, are they?<\/i><\/p>\n
He ducked back into the cottage and shucked off his boots, heading back toward the bedroom.\u00a0 A fire crackled merrily on the grate and Kira was still snuggled in the bed under a thick quilt.\u00a0 She peeked up over the edge of it and smiled at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you going to stay in here for a while?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Teague nodded, taking off his coat and hanging it across the back of a chair.\u00a0 \u201cYeah,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going to stay in here a while.\u00a0 Cold out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you think it\u2019s going to snow again?\u201d she asked, shifting in the bed to sit up a little further.\u00a0 Their son stirred in the crook of her arm, then quieted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d <\/i>he\u2019d asked her.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are we going to name him?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cSeamus,\u201d<\/i> she\u2019d whispered back.\u00a0 \u201cFor your brother.\u00a0 Seamus Michael, for my father, too.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
His brother the healer and the healing archangel.\u00a0 It still made him smile.\u00a0 It made him dare to hope a little harder that they\u2019d win the war that was coming, the one they might watch from afar\u2014the one they might get sucked into.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe,\u201d Teague said as he sat down on the edge of the bed.\u00a0 He leaned in to brush his lips against hers, then to gently kiss their son.\u00a0 He already had a faint, fine spray of reddish-gold hair.\u00a0 Teague smiled.<\/p>\n
Kira reached up and stroked his cheek.\u00a0 \u201cAre you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor once, yes,\u201d Teague whispered, looking at her, spirit buoyed at least momentarily.\u00a0 \u201cFor the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the calm before the storm, isn\u2019t it?\u201d\u00a0 Kira asked softly.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all about to begin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teague eased beneath the covers with her and wrapped his arms around his little family.\u00a0 \u201cYes,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cBut not yet.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot quite yet, not now.\u00a0 We have right now and that\u2019s all I want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kira closed her eyes and rested her forehead against his neck.\u00a0 Whatever tomorrow or the next day brought, they would face it together\u2014the same way they had since the day they\u2019d met on a sun-dappled green in the middle of Chicago\u2019s concrete jungle.<\/p>\n
That was the way it was meant to be.\u00a0 In a world where nothing else was sure anymore, he knew that to be true.<\/p>\n
And it was enough and always would be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Teague shivered in the afternoon chill, watching the sun sink slowly beyond the horizon and boiling a set of sheets from their bed as he stood in the yard between the barn the cottage. They had a son. His first … Continue reading