Raven’s Rise
Page 32
Rafe stepped up to her and slid an arm around her waist. “Pleased?”
Pleased? She was ecstatic, overjoyed, giddy, blessed. “When did you know?” she demanded.
“I suggested the possibility when I told the king how many boys I could offer to train at a time. If it was no great matter to change the location, why shouldn’t Henry be with his mother instead of a foster family? But the decision was the king’s.”
“This is the best gift I could receive,” she whispered. “Thank you. I only dared ask the king to look after his welfare. You fought to get him back to me.”
Rafe kissed her. “For you, I’ll do anything, love.”
“Why? What have I done to deserve a champion like you?” she asked.
“A few days before I met you, I could see my whole future in front of me. Fight after fight, all of them meaningless.”
“Meaningless?”
“I had no one to fight for. I wasn’t even fighting for myself. I was just…following a ritual, doing what I had done all my life. But when I saw you, I again had something to fight for.”
“And so you did. You defended me so many times.”
“But I didn’t just want to protect you—I wanted to be worthy of you. That’s why discovering my name meant so much.”
“I would have stayed with you no matter what your name was, Rafe.”
“Perhaps, but I never would have asked before I knew.”
“So it wasn’t my poverty? Or my illness?”
He put both arms around her, pulling her close. “Fortunes can be stolen. Health can fail. But nothing can take away your soul. And your soul is the most beautiful one I’ve ever known. You believed in me when no one else did. You gave me another chance when I’d lost all my chances. You even agreed to live your life with me. Angelet, you are worth fighting for.”
“Rafe, you don’t have to fight for me. You have already won my heart, all of it. And I trust you to keep it safe. Forever.”
“Forever.”
* * * *
From the Author
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Raven’s Rise. Please take a moment to leave a review. It helps independent readers like you find independent authors like me.
There is one Swordcross Knight whose story has yet to be told: Octavian de Levant.
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