I heard a rustle and glanced over to see Guret and the others gathering up the provisions and moving away to saddle the horses. I stood abruptly. “Let us walk for a moment.”
Joisan followed me into the place of the Guardians, until we could no longer see the fire. I needs must still move slowly, but the better part of my strength was returning. As we stepped through the archway, I glanced over to see the once-empty niche—it was almost impossible to believe that we were still in the same night as the battle. I paced on a few more steps, thinking.
“Kerovan!” Joisan grasped my arm, swinging me to face her, her eyes pleading now. “Tell me what you are thinking!”
For answer I touched her hand, feeling the roughness left by hard work, yet the fine bones beneath the skin. “I .im thinking that I love you very much, my lady,” I said simply. “And that I cannot wait to see our daughter. I cannot believe Gunnora has smiled upon us after so long.” Drawing her to me, I held her tightly, feeling a quiet joy rise up between us and overflow, spilling outward until I was sure even the ancient Kings could feel it.
When I finally released her, reluctantly, she touched my cheek. “It was the child, you know, that held the Power to open the Gate. We are going to be very busy, Kerovan. Raising an ordinary babe is taxing enough, but this one…” She shrugged, smiling. “Ah, well, we have never been over fond of boredom, either of us.”
I shook my head in wry agreement. “Still, I could wish tor a few less alarums and excursions,” I said. “When will it—she—
“Around the time of Midwinter Feast,” she told me. We will have to gather plenty of firewood.”
“Guret and I will have to block up the arches,” I said, then a memory struck me. “He knows, doesn’t he? He guessed?”
Joisan nodded.
I shook my head. “I should feel a fool, since I was so Mind,” I told her. “But I thought I was so different that I never let myself hope—”
“I know,” she said. “So you want to ask the lad to stay with us?”
“The Kioga need a home,” I said. “Now they can rove their mountains again without fear. The grazing in the valley is rich…”
She nodded thoughtfully. “Perhaps… there was a purpose to all this,” she whispered. “Remember that Obred said that when the Twins came to walk the earth, the Kioga would find a new land?”
“I remember,” I said. “And in a few days, when we have rested, we’ll ride south, the three of us, to tell them they can return to the mountains in safety.”
“And what of Sylvya?” she asked. “The valley is very precious to her also.”
“As Landisl’s only remaining blood-kin,” I said, “Kar Garudwyn may be more rightfully hers than it is mine.”
“Not so,” Sylvya trilled, and we turned to see her step through the archway. “The heritage of the Gryphon belongs to you, Kerovan, for it chooses its master or mistress. I would ask of you only the chance to work with you and your lady to restore the citadel, and my valley.”
“We shall all work together,” I said. “Joisan and I, you, Elys and Jervon, if they desire. There is room—Arvon is wide.”
13
Joisan
We rode together from The Setting Up of the Kings, Sylvya behind me on Arren, Elys on Nekia with Kerovan, and Jervon and Guret astride Vengi. As we picked our. way north, down the ancient mountain road, I looked to the east, whence we had come so long ago, to see the first flush of early dawn. So many dawns since our journey had begun… so many, and yet at this moment, all the world felt fresh and new, as though this were the first of them.
I looked longingly at a brooklet that ran beside the road for a space, thinking that the first thing I would do upon my return to Kar Garudwyn would be to find an isolated spot in the valley stream and bathe—or, perhaps we would find something to serve as a tub in one of the unexplored rooms of the citadel…
I heard a soft, sad breath from behind me and turned, to see Sylvya’s wide eyes fixed on the tiny rivulet of water. “What is it, sister?” I asked, concerned.
“The brook…” Pain overwhelmed her for a moment. “Only yesterday, or so it seems to me, I challenged my brother to step across that running water and he failed.”
I reached back to clasp her hand. “He is safe now, and at peace,” I told her. “Try to think of him thus… and remember that you saved the valley.”
She nodded, and I turned back to guide Arren, seeing the first touch of scarlet and orange lap over the mountain peaks, spilling down their granite bones in washes of glorious color. It would be a beautiful day—
I sat up suddenly, feeling a tiny stirring within me. It was the strangest sensation, one that I had heard described many times before but had never understood until I felt it for myself… a small quiver, as something within me wriggled and stretched and lived.
Our child … I looked ahead to my lord, seeing him talking with Elys as he expertly reined Nekia along the ancient roadway. For a moment I considered making the effort to mindshare this new happening, then I decided to wait until we were alone. There would be time, after all. Time for all tellings, and for many, many dawns…
The road ahead warmed and brightened, as the sun rose.