When Baudwin came to, the first thing he noticed was the absence of pain. Worried that he'd lost the use of his legs completely, he sat up abruptly and pulled the covers off. His legs looked absolutely fine, and he could move them. Even the one the mage had shattered. His old injury made the other leg ache a little as he moved it, but no more than usual. He frowned and looked around the room, trying to orientate himself.

He was on the bed in his bedchamber. Alone. No one else in the room. Glancing at the window, he noted that it was daylight, so at least one night had passed. How had he been out this long? Getting out of bed, he pulled on his clothes before leaving the room in search of other living beings. He found Braithe and Aurelian as he entered the sitting room. They stood up when they saw him and the next moment his sister had her arms around his neck.

"I was so worried," she mumbled against his shirt. "You were asleep for so long."

Aurelian grinned at him. Both of them looked tired as if they'd not slept much during the night.

"In fairness," Aurelian said. "Rhiannon did say she made him sleep."

"She did?" Baudwin frowned. Speaking of... Where was his wife? He let his eyes sweep over the room, but she was nowhere in sight.

Braithe took a few steps back from him. "Yes. After you passed out, she gave you a sleeping draught. Said she didn't want you to suffer through the pain of being moved in your state. It would have been excruciating."

"Did she..." He hesitated, reaching down to touch his left leg, which was no longer broken. "Did she heal me?"

"She did. It took her some time, and definitely took a lot out of her, but she did." Braithe gave him another hug. "She's rather amazing, your wife."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "She is," he admitted. "Where is she?"

Aurelian nodded towards the closed door to her bedchamber. "Asleep. Saving you and then healing you used up a lot of energy. She was obviously shattered but refused to go to bed for several hours. Braithe only managed to send her off a couple of hours ago."

Baudwin put his hand on Aurelian's shoulder, noting the darkening eye on the other man's face and a cut on his lip. "I'm glad you made it away," he said solemnly. "A lot of good men didn't. Did anyone else escape?"

Shaking his head, his mouth set in a grim line, Aurelian placed his hand on top of Baudwin's. "They only spared me to send a message. Everyone else perished. Including every single one of the western lords." He let out a humourless laugh. "I suppose at least they won't trouble us anymore. We will have to find out if they all have heirs or if we need to step in."

"Have it done." Baudwin sighed. "And make sure their bodies are sent back to their families. Take care of our men too."

"Aye."

They stood in silence for a moment before Braithe nudged him. "Go," she said. "Go see your wife. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

Staring at the door, he found himself hesitating. He loved his wife. Had never stopped loving her. But she had lied about so much. He was coming to realise that some of it was to protect him, or the lives of innocent people, but he wished she had trusted him enough to tell him. He wouldn't have turned her away.

"Don't be a coward."

He gave Braithe an irritated look, but she only grinned back at him, her silver-grey eyes twinkling. Sighing, he walked across the floor and entered his wife's chambers. The room was dusky, the shutters closed, but a fire burning in the grate allowed him to make out the shape of Rhiannon sleeping in the bed. Despite the fire, she had the covers pulled up to her neck as if she was freezing. Lighting the oil lamp on her bedside table, he reached out and stroked the hair away from her face. In sleep, her face was relaxed and she looked younger and more innocent than she ever did while awake. Ever since he'd first met her, there had been a guarded look about her. A wall she had erected that no one was allowed to scale.

His fingers lingered at her temple, not quite ready to lose the skin on skin contact just yet. When she stirred, he stepped away, uncertain if he ought to let her sleep. It sounded like she had exhausted herself last night. The choice was taken from him a moment later when her eyes fluttered open and widened as she caught sight of him, illuminated by the fire in the grate.

"Baudwin!" She sat up, stroking her hair out of her face. "You're awake."

"As are you." If they were stating the obvious, he might as well join in.

She made a face before her gaze fell on his legs. "How are you feeling? Any discomfort?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd never have thought I'd broken it," he admitted, moving the left leg again just to ensure it hadn't suddenly changed. "Your healing abilities are amazing."

A shy smile graced her lips, then vanished as she recalled their shared past. "I only wish I could have helped you all those years ago."

He sat down at the edge of the bed, close to her, but not quite touching. "I know. The past is the past, and we can't change it. You didn't mean to hurt me, and circumstances didn't allow you to stay. I understand that. It was war."

Hands lying limply in her lap, she stared at him. "You... You forgive me?"

"I do." Smiling tenderly, he reached out and took her hands in his, raising them to his face and placing a kiss on the knuckles of each. "I love you, Rhiannon. Nothing will ever change that. Was I angry that you kept so many secrets? Yes. But mainly I was hurt that you didn't feel you could trust me."

"I thought I was keeping you safe."

"I know." He placed a kiss on the inside of her wrist. "In all honesty, I think what hurt the most was the knowledge that you married me because of the blackmail. I know that we were both pushed into this marriage because of your father's rebellion, but I think by the time we reached his castle I was already in love with you, anyway. But you would never have married me if it wasn't for the Son of Deva blackmailing you."

Rhiannon shook her head, a soft smile on her lips. "You fool," she mumbled. "It was never that I didn't want to marry you. I don't deserve you. I don't deserve happiness. Not after all the things I've done."

A surge of hope burned through his chest. Had the mage and Ailla been right? "You've tried to make up for your mistakes. It's all you can do. We all make mistakes. No one is perfect."

"You're everything that's well and good in the world." Pulling one of her hands from his grip, she cupped his cheek. "I've met no one as good as you. I could never deserve you."

He let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Rhiannon, I'm not perfect. Don't put me on a pedestal. I've made mistakes. Plenty of them. I'm a grouch. I was a coward for years, especially after first losing the use of my leg. My parents were treating our people terribly, and I should have stood up against them sooner. I allowed it to go on for far too long, too busy wallowing in my self-pity."

"But you did stand up to them," she said. "And from what I've seen, you're a great king. You care for your people."

Her words warmed him more than he wanted to admit, so he turned his head slightly to place a kiss in her palm. Not quite meeting her eyes, he mumbled against her skin, "So... are you sticking around?"

"We are married," she reminded him.

Pulling back slightly, he nodded. "We are, but I hope you know I would never insist on you staying if you didn't want to. After all, we married under exceptional circumstances."

"After my grand posturing to Son of Deva, I have to remain to ensure he doesn't try anything."

"Are you going to keep your promise to him? To tell no one about him?"

She made a face. "For now. I hope he will forget about us, thinking us no longer a threat. You don't remember what he looks like, and I no longer have his Godstone."

"That reminds me... Where is the Godstone?"

"It's safe," she promised, then met his gaze, her moss-green eyes solemn. "I don't want to keep secrets from you, so I will tell you if you truly wish to know, but you're safer if you don't."

Thinking about it, he realised that he didn't much care. He trusted her to know what was best, especially regarding magical artefacts. Magic was out of his realm of expertise.

"If you say it's safe, that's enough for me."

"Then, as long as you don't mind... I'll stick around."

She looked adorably uncertain, not a feeling she often displayed. In all honesty, he wasn't sure he wouldn't have followed her had she left. No matter what had happened between them, the lies and the deceit, he loved this woman. Would always love this woman.

Before he could say anything, she looked down at her hands, her brow furrowed in thought. "You know... I never felt at home anywhere."

He nodded, remembering her telling how she never felt at home with Lord Delen, or at Highglaive. It wasn't a feeling he could ever imagine, but it must be difficult. No matter how different he was to his parents, he had always felt a deep connection to his kingdom, to the vast fields and deep forests of Breoch. A responsibility and kinship to the people who shared this beautiful land with him. And he'd had his sister. The two of them had always been there for each other, their own staunchest supporters.

Rhiannon had never had any of that. She'd been alone, with no one in her corner. It was no wonder that a man like the Son of Deva could have wormed his way into her heart when she was younger. And even then, once she realised who he was, she had kept her calm and remained with him until she could steal the Godstone from him. Something which may prove essential to eventually beating him. Despite her mistakes, she might have provided the key to saving them all.

"I hope you will eventually feel at home here," he said earnestly. He truly hoped she would, that she would learn to love the kingdom the way he did.

"That's the thing..." She looked back up and the warmth in her eyes took his breath away. "I finally feel like I'm home. Not necessarily here. Not that I don't love the castle and your family... But I feel at home when I'm with you. You're my home, Baudwin. I love you."

"Rhiannon..." Unable to say anything more, he leaned forward and took her in his arms, and when their lips met, it was as if nothing else in the world mattered. It was only them. No lies. No deceit. Only them, and their love.

THE END

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Ps Please stick around for an Epilogue from Isobel's POV