The Huntsman's Hope Book 4 (draft )

A new game begins

"Epilogue" by Ólafur Arnalds

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Karstien watched Yuri go with wet eyes. "Do we need to move her?" Karstien asked.

"No, my king. She is on an island that requires a month by a ship to reach. She is safe because Huntsmen can't sail. Their magic punishes them for leaving land." Shadz smirked as he answered. "He would die of sea-sickness before he ever reached it. The islands are also listed as uninhabited in all databases. They are just spots on a map in the middle of a great ocean on a sparsely populated world. He has dozens of worlds to pick from and could search for a thousand years and still not find her. Even if he managed to get to her island, her village doesn't exist on any map." Shadz was confident Daisy, or Fluer as she thought of herself now, would be safe for a very long time.

Asha was still looking after Yuri with a worried frown. "How did he know about his son?"

"Huntsmen's magic allows for the detection of pregnancy very early on," Shadz answered with a shrug. "Regis knew Rheema was pregnant the first week. It is the same for animals, he said that part of their magic existed so they didn't accidentally kill a pregnant female when hunting. Yuri probably knew when he went back with Karstien and I to rescue the Remnant."

Asha narrowed her eyes analyzing every moment. Shadz and Karstien were again struck by how like her mother she was. "No, I don't think so. He would have asked about it sooner if he knew. The dark magic residue in mom's system might have hidden it..."

She chewed her lip like her father had often done when working out a problem. "I felt his soul reach out for hers and hers reached back. They are still connected. It is a very thin connection, but it is still there. The fragment of her soul he carries means Uncle Yuri can still sense Mom. He said he could hear her singing. Aunt Serapha told me Uncle Yuri thought he was going crazy dreaming of mom singing in his sleep. What if it isn't a dream? Meara said Mom sings to the baby every night just like she did with all of us. His soul can feel hers; he is going to find her eventually."

Asha wasn't happy with the solution she and Shadz had come up with three decades ago to save her mother, but it was the best plan at the time. Now, a dozen years after Daisy awoke, Asha was even less certain. The magic wasn't as stable as she would like, if only there were a way to keep her mother's misery from killing her without erasing who she was, but in all her studies of the archives, the master healer had found no other solution.

Shadz put his arms around her, "We did the only thing we could at the time. It gave us a chance to try to find another solution. There wasn't one."

"I know," Asha said softly. She glanced over at Karstien. "I'm just worried. Uncle Yuri won't give up. He is just a willful as Mom, we need to keep an eye on him."

Karstien frowned but nodded. "I'll take care of it. Lord Yurieth of Yophriel won't be able to travel without us knowing where he goes and for how long."

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Yuri sat at the kitchen table of Abe and Serapha's rebuilt home, the design was very reminiscent of the Manor of Adamos in the City of the Kings. After Lord Tabot had died, Colby had given his father's estate to then Princess Allura, who had allowed many to use it over the years before giving it to Karstien's Aunt and Uncle as a gift. It had been damaged in one of the many attacks during the war and was torn down after. Yuri had drafted the plans Serapha wanted and it felt like home to all of them. There was also an unregistered portal between the Academy and the Manor. Regis, Rheema, Serapha, and Abe were staring at Yuri like he was mad.

Kalen jumped up and whooped! "I knew it! I! Knew! It!"

"So, she's alive?" Rheema sounded incredulous. "Lady Daisy is really alive?" Her voice caught in her chest as the sense of betrayal washed over her. Regis squeezed her hand.