lover of the tavern, the haughty king who had faced the captive guard and the captor priestess, the wild war-god of the battle—and now this boy, slim and fair and mysterious, with wind-cooled cheeks and a secret laughter behind his eyes—which was the real one? Or were they all Hildebrand? And would she ever know?
He touched her arm. 'We've won,' he whispered.
'Aye—won,' said Alfrid tiredly. 'Won what? The Temple is down, but so is the palace, and there's still riot and looting in the city.'
'It will pass. Victory was dearly bought, but now it is ours. And you, Alfrid, are ruler of Valkarion.'
'I—a heathen outlander?'
'After last night, the Household and the guards will follow you to hell and back. And the rest—'he smiled shyly—'will follow me, who follow you myself.'
'A big task. Too big, perhaps, for the daughter of an Aslakan peasant.' Alfrid smiled crookedly down at Hildebrand. 'Tis more for you, who are born a king. Best I continue my travels.'
'The king,' he said firmly, 'needs a queen. You have come to the end of your wandering, Alfrid.' He laughed, a clear beautiful sound in the quiet morning. 'You have no choice, my dear. The Sibyl grudgingly admits that the Fortieth Dynasty, 'daughters of the heathen,' will be among the greatest. But how can you have daughters without—'
Alfrid grinned. 'I surrender,' she said. 'Who am I to challenge the Fates?' Down in the street a hengist, escaped from her owner in the rioting, whinnied her greeting to the early sun.
THE END
Artwork by aelios imagery
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JEKKARA PRESS
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