The Devastation (Unexpected Circumstances #7)(30)
Still, I could not completely regret how I had arrived where I was because…well, because I was here. Alexandra’s face was lit up with her smile as she made soft cooing noises and sang to our son, who looked up at me with his eyes wide and his mouth full of milk. With his tiny hand, he gripped at his mother’s breast and he sighed, completely content with his lot in life thus far.
I had to swallow and blink rapidly a few times to keep myself in check.
“It is strange,” I said to Alexandra as I reached out and stroked Branny’s tiny hand with my fingers, “how quickly we take to our children.”
“How could I not love him when he looks so much like his father?”
“I am sure it is your looks in him that make it obvious to me,” I told her. “It is as obvious as when I knew about you.”
“When did you know about me?” she asked. She turned her eyes from the babe to look at me over her shoulder. “I mean, when did you know that you…you loved me?”
“At the tournament in Sawyer,” I said without hesitation. “It was the first tournament you came to watch as my wife. When Sir Leland knocked me from my horse, and you were so upset…fawning over such a small wound. I was sitting on the bench near the entrance to the gardens, and you were in front of me, looking over my hand and worrying. I just looked down at you and I knew…I knew I loved you.”
Alexandra’s smile encompassed my heart as she wrapped her arm around my neck. She pressed her lips against mine, and I held her body close to me.
All the years I spent preparing for my role as leader of Silverhelm, I had thought of many things. I thought of my duty as the leader of my army, my loyalty to my family, lands, and people, as well as my responsibilities to govern those around me. It was strange that when growing up, I had never considered my role as husband and father. Perhaps I thought such things would simply not matter as much as my other duties, or perhaps I never watched carefully the relationship between Camden and Sunniva, but I knew now that there was nothing more important than the woman in my arms and the child who slept next to our bed.
It was my wife—her kindness, generosity, and loving nature—that saved my kingdom, not my sword. She showed me how caring for our people and treating them with respect was also part of my duty to Silverhelm. She was the one who taught me that every life—regardless of station—was important. She showed me how each and every subject was once like the babe she birthed for me—with a mother and father to raise the child, and then later a man or a woman with a family of their own. They had brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins—just as the nobles and royals did.
In the end, my people proved more important to me than any of the other royals and nobles with their own agendas and desires. Without them, I might not have this beautiful woman and healthy child in my castle. Without Alexandra, they would have had no one to speak for them and make sure their needs were met. I had let them down—used them for my own gain without considering them—and I knew I would never do that again. Like my own wife, son, and children to come, each and every one of the citizens of Silverhelm was my responsibility, and I would not disappoint them once more.
And that is when I truly understood my role as the King of Silverhelm.
Chapter 6 Epilogue –Lovingly Live
With my eyes closed, I felt the sun warm my face as I left the dense spring coverage of the forest surrounding Silverhelm Castle. The steady thuds of Romero’s hooves against the barren trail had lulled me into complacent thought, and I had not even realized I was at the edge of the woods. When I looked ahead, I could see through the trees the very top of the wall surrounding Silverhelm Castle. A moment later, a low bark alerted me to Amarra’s presence. She must have come from the field when she heard my approach.
Amarra followed Romero and me back to the stables and sat patiently scratching as I removed Romero’s saddle and placed him back in his stall with straw and a small sum of oats. There were few left, for the crops had not been good the previous year, and I decided to lower the tributes from farmers.
They had to feed their families first.
“You may not be in your prime any more, but you are still my trusted friend.” I patted the old stallion’s flank.
Romero shook his head and whinnied.
Amarra walked at my heel as we headed out of the practice field and toward the castle. Like Romero, Amarra was a little slower after this winter, and I wondered if her bones ached as Sunniva claimed hers did in the colder months. The dog certainly preferred being indoors over being outside in the dog run with the rest of the hunting pack. I noticed she now spurned the advances of the male dogs as well and wondered if I should start looking for another pup for breeding this summer.
Many people stopped and bowed their heads to me as we approached the Gathering Place right outside the walls and adjacent to the market. The area was designed completely by my wife and was a place where commoners and nobility alike could sit, work, and play together. There was a large open field for children to play, stone benches nearby where their parents could watch after them, and also fire pits to keep people warm and to use for cooking. The nobles of the court had frowned on the whole concept, but Alexandra did it anyway. Once the area was complete, the commoners came first, but the nobles quickly acquiesced because it was such a nice place to be. I had also thought Alexandra insane when she first mentioned it a year ago, but since then, it had proven a popular place for all families to bring their children. They all played together with little fuss, regardless of their station in life.