Fabric of Fate

Epilogue

“Why is it taking so long?” Abrah paced up and down the hallway, wearing a rut in the stone floor. Everyone in the keep was tense. It had been two long days.

“Tara says these things take time,” Heroc assured his brother even as he cast a glance at the closed door. “Especially with the first one.”

“Enough of this.” Abrah slammed the bedroom door open and stalked inside just as a cry of pain shattered the silence. He hurried forward and fell to his knees beside the bed.

Audrey’s hair was plastered against her skull with sweat. Her face was pale and her lips were red from where she had bitten them.

“My love.” He took her hand and brought it to his lips.

“You should not be in here, my lord,” Tara scolded him. She didn’t take her eyes off Audrey and he could see her growing concern in the deep grooves around her eyes and mouth.

“This is the only place I can be. I will not leave you again,” Abrah promised.

“Nor will I.” Heroc went to her other side, picked up a damp cloth and patted it over Audrey’s forehead.

She closed her eyes and gave another cry.

“You are almost there, my lady. Do not push. Not yet.”

Audrey nodded and gritted her teeth. As he watched, Abrah watched her enlarged stomach ripple. His child was in there waiting to be born. It had been almost two days now. Two days of pain and waiting. Abrah had never felt so helpless in his life.

His gaze met Heroc’s and he knew his brother felt the same. Ever since the day he had married Audrey, their lives had changed for the better. All of their people adored her. She’d spent countless hours learning to weave and then she had proceeded to create new dyes for the wool and design patterns for the cloth they wove that was garnering attention from surrounding lords and especially their ladies. Their new cloth had enabled them to trade for a wider variety of goods, bringing prosperity to all who lived at Dannon Keep.

The day she had told them she was expecting a child had been the best of his life, second only to the day they’d wed. Nine months almost to the day of her arrival she had gone into labor.

“Now, my lady. Push!”

Audrey gripped his hand and squeezed it so tight she cut off the blood flow. He grimaced but held on. She gritted her teeth and grunted as she bore down.

“That’s it,” Tara praised when Audrey finally stopped. “Again. The baby is almost here.”

Audrey panted for breath, her strength waning. Abrah wished he could do this for her. All he could do was watch helplessly.

Tara had one hand low on Audrey’s belly. “Push.”

Audrey grunted and pushed again, every muscle in her body tensing as she gave it everything she had. She gave a tired cry and then another wail echoed in the room. “It’s a boy.” Tara laughed as a tear rolled down her cheek. She carefully eased the babe onto his mother’s stomach. “You have a son, my lord.”

Abrah leaned down and kissed his wife’s forehead. “Thank you, my love.”

She smiled at him. “Is he perfect? I want to see him.”

Heroc kissed her forehead, a huge smile splitting his face. “Ten fingers and ten toes. And everything else he needs.” He waggled his eyebrows, making her laugh.

Abrah watched as Tara cut the cord and did what was necessary for both mother and babe. Within minutes he was holding the bundled babe to his chest. His son’s hair was dark and would grow even darker as he grew older. For now it was a soft tuft on the top of his head.

His son. Their son. The boy belonged to all three of them.

He handed the babe to Heroc and his brother’s eyes filled with tears as he stared down at the infant. This was the beginning of a new life for all of them. There would be more children and plenty of hope for them all.

Their lives had been joined together by fate, by the fabric of the tapestry. And together they were weaving a new life.

“Let me have him,” Audrey demanded. Heroc put the babe into her arms and she smiled down at him before looking at the men standing on either side of her. “I love you. Both of you.” She stared down at her son again. “All of you.”

Abrah’s heart swelled with love for Audrey and the new addition to their family and knew his brother felt exactly the same way.