Different Worlds

Epilogue

DEVON'S POV

The celebration at King Neeros' castle after the battle had been won went on for days.  It seemed like nobody wanted to stop celebrating the victory.  The spell had been broken and the witch was dead.  The only person in a bit of a somber mood was Jarvis. He was, in his own way, grieving his beloved on last time.  He had lost her years ago when she had first turned, but now I guessed it was like losing her all over again.  And even though that witch had been responsible for the deaths of my parents, I found I couldn't blame him.  He had truly loved her.

King Neeros was finally out from under the spell, and he had returned to his former self.  I watched him over the table, enjoying himself with Daniel.  Those two had been catching up on a lot of lost time.  I had never seen the king behaving like he didn't have care in the world.  He had told us that even though he had been under Netiri's spell, he hadn't been unaware of how he was acting, and I think that's what had been killing him the most.  He could remember himself giving countless orders to have someone killed, and though he tried his hardest to stop himself, he just wasn't strong enough to go against the spell.  But he never stopped fighting. 

He was the one that cleared up who it was that had been aiding Evan during his time in the castle.  I remembered back to when he had finally faced everyone after the spell had been broken.  It was like we had all been looking at a completely different man.

"To clear away any confusion about who the sorcerer was that was helping Evan," he had said, his eyes studying all of us intently, "it was myself.  I was the one that was helping Evan connect mentally with Sienna."

I think that my jaw dropped as soon as he revealed this.

"But, but how?" Sienna managed to gasp out.  I think I was completely incapable of anything related to speech at this point. "I didn't know that you could do magic."

King Neeros let out a hearty chuckle at everyone's bewildered faces.  "It wouldn't be common knowledge," he replied, the laughter clearly sounding in his words.  "The only ones who knew I possessed some magic were Daniel and my parents.  Daniel was sworn to secrecy when he first found out centuries ago, and my parents are long dead.  Not even Netiri knew, which is probably the only reason why I was able to help in that small way."

"I still don't understand," Sienna managed, confusion still etched into her features.

"Because Netiri was unaware that I had the ability to command magic, she never included the prevention of my use of magic against her when she put me under her power.  The power that I could control was incredibly small in comparison to her's - which was why I could never get myself out from under her - but I had just enough to help Evan when he needed it.  Getting Evan to trust me to begin with was nearly impossible though," he mused, almost to himself.  "The amount of strength and willpower it took just to speak a few words to him of my own accord to show him I was on his side," he shook his head as he remembered.  "I had to push myself so hard that I ended up blacking out.  Luckily I had managed to get out enough for Evan to understand what was going on."

I had just stood there during all of this, not saying a word.  As much as I hated to admit it, Evan had helped us a great deal, and I supposed that I owed him an apology in my willingness to think him the bad guy.  I had gritted my teeth together as I thought this.  Apologies were one thing that I didn't do well.  On the other hand when the king told us everything, it really showed his character.  He really was a good king.

I glanced up with a warm smile as Sienna settled down beside me.  Reaching out, I pulled her onto my lap.  The threat was over, the battle had been won.  We were looking at a long reign of peace and happiness.  It was something that I hadn't thought I would see in my lifetime.

"How you feeling?"  I asked Sienna as she snuggled closer to me.

"Happy," she murmured.  I took her left hand and looked lovingly at the wedding band that was on her fourth finger.  We had been married the day after the spell had been broken, though it had still taken too long for my tastes.  I would have preferred to have been married as soon as the battle was over, but sometimes compromises just had to be made.

I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed the ring.  "Good.  I wouldn't accept anything less."

She started drawing circles with her finger over her stomach as she spoke.  "You know that little house where we will be living with Jacek?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think that there is anyway that we could expand it?"

I stopped what I was doing and looked up at her.  "Expand?" I repeated.  "Why would we need to?  There's two bedrooms there, one for Jacek, and you'll move into my bedroom with me."

Sienna let out a laugh. "What I meant was, we will be needing extra room in just under nine months."

I watched her continue to draw circles on her stomach as the realization of what was going on suddenly hit me.  I adjusted her so that I was looking straight into her eyes.

"Do you mean ...?"

Her smile spread, lighting up her entire face, and she nodded.  "We're going to have a baby."

I placed a hand over her flat stomach.  "How can you tell?  Isn't it too soon to know?"

"When I was able to crack the shield," she said softly, "and the power flooded into me, I knew then.  I could feel the life inside of me, Devon.  We're having a baby."

I didn't stop the grin that suddenly flashed onto my face.  Why the hell would I want to.

"We're having a baby," I said softly, and Sienna nodded her head.  She was practically glowing.  Standing up, I shouted it out, much to Sienna's embarrassement.  "We're having a baby!"

Cheers erupted throughout the room at my announcement, and I laughed as Sienna buried her already-red face in her hands.

"Congratulations, daddy!"  Bronson came over and gave me a hearty slap on the back before giving Sienna a kiss on the cheek.

"Congratulations."  I turned to see Evan standing there with Rochelle, looking a little unsure.  I was now or never, and I preferred to just get it over and done with.  Swallowing my pride, I held out my hand.  I guess I could admit when I was wrong - even if I didn't like it - and what Evan had done had definitely helped us in the final fight.

"Thanks, and ... I'm sorry for the way I acted," I said as he shook my hand. 

Evan shrugged good-naturedly.  "It's all good."

Relieved that that was out of the way, I suddenly noticed that he had a black eye.  "When did that happen?"  I asked.  "I know you didn't get that during the battle."

Evan cocked his head in the direction of his sister, and I looked over to see Rochelle glaring at him.  "I gave it to him," she admitted proudly.  "For not telling me what the hell he was doing!"

"Aah!"  I couldn't help snickering as they walked off arguing.

"Sienna."  Turning, I saw my grandfather embracing my wife.  "Congratulations to the pair of you."  He wiped a tear that was tempting to overflow from his eye as he looked at me.  "I can't believe your going to make me a great-grandfather."

"I'd say it was overdue," I grinned, earning myself a light slap from Sienna.  Holding out my arm, I gently pulled her back to me, and we turned to look at each other.  "Do you like big families?"  I asked.

"I wouldn't know," she answered with a smile.  "But I'd be willing to find out."

"That's all I needed to hear."  I bent my head, pulling her into a passionate kiss.  Everyone was safe, she was mine, and I was going to be a father.  Life couldn't get any better.