Ace of Diamonds, The

by Nona Mae King

Epilogue

  “I told you it would work.” Sabin elbowed Setzer and laughed. “Too bad Umaro couldn’t come to the wedding, though. I really wanted to catch Locke’s explanation to both him and Celes as to why he was going to have to slow dance with the brute. It would’ve been a riot.”

  Setzer shook his head and took another glass of the best wine Figaro had to offer. “You have a sick sense of humor, my friend. You should be glad Edgar found it in his heart to forgive you for toying with his mind.”

  Sabin made a face. “Edgar’s on cloud nine, Setzer. He doesn’t care what I did just as long as he’s finally got a ring on her finger.”

  “And Celes is happy because she has her double wedding.”

  “And Locke is happy because she’s happy.” Sabin grimaced. “All this happiness is making me sick. need to get back out in the real world and hit something.”

  Setzer shook his head again with a chuckle. “I believe I’ll talk Locke into marrying you off as well. A steady woman would do wonders for your soul.”

  “What?” Sabin looked positively spooked. “You keep Locke away from me. I don’t need any of his matchmaking to mess up my life. I like it how it is.”

  “Very well, but the Fates often have--“

  ”Spare me,” Sabin cut in.

  “Isn’t this great?” Relm made her way up to the two men and gave them each a wide smile. “I love weddings. So many pictures to draw.”

  “Where’s your grandpa?” Sabin looked around the crowd, raising an eyebrow when Shadow was seen coming toward them. “Hello, Shadow. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “I’m here with Relm.”

  His voice was unemotional, as usual, but there was something different about his eyes. Sabin and Setzer both decided against a comment.

  “Yeah, he’s more fun than old fuddy-duddy. Besides, Shadow doesn’t talk all the time.” Relm made a face, and then she smiled wide again. “You should hear all the stories he tells at night, though. Much scarier than Grandpa’s. Of course, I’ve heard his about a jillion times already,” she said with another grimace.

  Setzer and Sabin shared a laugh, and Sabin could have sworn he heard a sound from Shadow’s direction.

  “Come on, Shadow,” Relm said suddenly with a tug on the ninja’s arm. “We’ve gotta find your doggie and give him some cake. I promised I would.”

  With that, Setzer and Sabin watched in amazement as Relm grabbed Shadow’s hand and led him away, cheerfully chatting up at him about the different things only a fellow pre-teen would have found interesting. Shadow took it in stride and continued to hold her hand.

  “So, where are the honeymooners bound?” Setzer asked nonchalant as his eyes surveyed the room. Where are you?

  “Don’t know. Edgar refused to say and Locke told me to get lost. I kind of got the impression they wanted it to be a secret; so we couldn’t pester them if the world went to pot.”

  Setzer heard a familiar laugh and searched the area. “How long are they going to ‘disappear’?”

  “Don’t know that either. Edgar just smiled, and I couldn’t even find Locke to ask. If I didn’t know my brother, I’d think they were going to camp as far away from civilization as possible.”

  Setzer spared a glance from his scrutiny of the room. “With Edgar being as dependent on the luxuries as he is? I highly doubt it.”

  Sabin nodded his agreement. “That’s exactly what I thought, but he didn’t admit to anything.”

  “Did you ask Terra? She’s always been hard-pressed to keep a secret,” Setzer reminded. “I think it’s something about her face that a person can read like a book.”

  Sabin smiled. “Yep. That would be Terra-- Say, she looked hot in that wedding dress, didn’t she?”

  Setzer chuckled. “Be careful of those thoughts, my friend. Edgar is liable to be a jealous husband with a gem such as she.”

  “Don’t be daft. I love Terra like a sister. He knows that.”

  “Perhaps your comment about wanting to marry her changed that.” Setzer caught sight of a bluish-black-haired beauty and raised his hand to attract her attention. She brought a finger to her forehead in a slight salute and a ‘come hither’ smile.

  Sabin made a face. “Stop it, Setzer. Edgar knows it was just a way for me to get him to wise-up.”

  Setzer changed his attention back to Sabin. “Then why didn’t he tell you where they were honeymooning?” Sabin remained silent as he took a drink of his spiced cider. Setzer chuckled. “I’ll leave you to your bachelorhood, my friend. Perhaps some unknowing dolt will start a fight with you?”

  And with that, Setzer purposefully made his way toward the tall woman in the corner with the bluish-black hair and sparkling eyes. She wrapped up her conversation with the group of men surrounding her, all the while watching Setzer approach with that same intense gaze he remembered from that day on his ship, after the performance, after the betrayal, before the explanation.

  Setzer wove his way through the crowd, finally arriving at a free space behind her. He placed a kiss on her throat near her ear as he whispered “Hello, songbird” against the skin.

  Maria’s lips lifted with a smile as she reached behind her for his hand, clasping it tightly. “I’m sorry, gentlemen, but I believe I’ve reserved this dance.”

  She pressed directly through the men, leading Setzer by the hand to the dance floor. Setzer obediently followed with a slight smirk and a shrug to the men. They glowered, but didn’t protest. Setzer chuckled and then changed his focus to the backside of Maria. And what a nice backside it is. Then they were in the center of the dance floor and she was turning toward him and stepping close within the circle of his waiting arms, her arms around him and under his jacket as her thumbs hooked themselves into the waist of his trousers.

  Maria looked up into his eyes with a pale blue gaze full of laughter and promise. “I saw you looking, dearest. Did you think I would miss the wedding of the century?”

  “No,” he said with a smile and a brief press of lips against cheek. His hands disappeared beneath the heavy fabric of her uniform coat and caressed her back through the silken blouse . “I knew, though, that the extra performances and the organization of the children’s theater would make it difficult to get away.”

  “Difficult, yes, but not impossible. The Impresario can handle these things as easily as I. And my performances? I have an understudy. She’s performing the last act,” she purred.

  Setzer’s smile was lopsided as his arms encircled her and pulled her closer. “Then we have the entire evening in which to play?”

  Maria nodded and then rested her cheek against his chest as her hands moved up to a gentle caress of his back. “I told the Impresario that I wouldn’t do another performance until I could spend some time with you. Lunch and dinner isn’t enough. I’ve missed you.”

  The ache in Setzer’s own heart rang with the truth of what she said. “I know,” he

  whispered against her hair, “but my presence off-stage at each performance has helped, hasn’t it, songbird?”

  Maria nodded again with a deep sigh. “Yes. It has.”

  Setzer took in a deep breath of her hair and essence, and his arms tightened slightly around her. “Shall I plan an excursion to the air, then? A picnic to Ebot’s Rock? A quiet getaway where-–“

  ”It doesn’t matter,” she said as she raised her eyes. “It’s enough that I’ll be there. That you love me and not a role I played.”

  He lifted a hand to her face and caressed her cheek and lips. To trace the pattern of her into him. The fit of her against him. The feel of her with him, near him, beside him. Her warmth. Her passion. Her gentleness. Her firmness. Her complete soul that drew out his own.

  “I do love you, Maria. Completely. No matter the role, I sense you beneath and know that it’s yet another aspect of the depth of your persona. My songbird. My lady of the evening. The haven for my ship.” Tears glistened and escaped and he kissed them away. “We share this card, songbird. This Ace of Dia
monds,” he whispered against her cheeks.

  Setzer lifted his head and raised a hand, making the motion of a snap. The card appeared and Maria looked over at it with twinkling eyes. He kissed the card and then tucked it inside the silken softness of her blouse, his touch lingering on its journey away. Then he lowered his head and his lips met hers, their mouths speaking together the existence of the future that had always wanted to be.

  The End

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  Other Books in the Terra saga

  Terra | Book One

  The Ace of Diamonds | Book Two

  Shadows of the Past | Book Three

  The Adventures of Youth

  Heart of the Veldt | Book Four

  About the Author | Nona Mae King

  Writing has been my passion since I was a child when I began creating skits and songs. My life would be empty without this call. There would be no purpose. No ending to guide my daily struggle. No story toward which to strive. Each day something beckons, and that--I know--is the waiting tale. One last happy ending.

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