Chapter 14
After that, the General started coming home more often.
He’d rest his head on my belly and whisper to the baby.
“You better not be causing your mama trouble in there.”
And I’d laugh.
Imagine-this battle-hardened man scolding a baby still in the womb.
Six months in, trouble came.
The Huns from the northern frontier started pushing into the border.
King Cassian ordered the General to lead a campaign against them.
He left that same night.
At first, he sent letters when he could.
Said things were under control and he’d be home soon.
But weeks turned into months.
Then the letters stopped.
Then one night, the pain hit me hard and fast.
Rosie called the midwife, and next thing I knew, I was in labor-early.
It was the longest night of my life.
But by sunrise, there he was.
My baby boy.
He had the General’s eyes, my face.
I passed out not long after.
When I woke, it was already the next day.
went to call for Rosie-and felt a hand holding mine.
looked up and tears rushed to my eyes.
You’re back…”
reached out to touch his face.
He was thinner. Darker from the sun. Exhausted.
‘I tried to come back sooner,” he said.
Things got messy.”
It’s okay,” I whispered.
You’re here now. Did you see the baby? It’s a boy. Looks just like you.”
He nodded, brushed hair from my face.
Eyes full of love and guilt
Chapter 14
His victory on the battlefield had been brutal.
But the King rewarded him greatly-naming him a second-rank noble, and me, a Lady of the Court.
We had three children in all.
Two boys, one girl.
The boys?
Strong like their father, sure-but they were all books and poetry, not swords and spears.
Drove the General up the wall.
“All these years of military blood, and it ends with bookworms?”
he’d grumble.
But our daughter?
From the moment she could walk, she was sneaking into the barracks,
swinging wooden swords and tagging along with the troops.
By sixteen, she was practically a cadet.
The General would yell,
This is not proper for a young lady!”
and I’d just smile,
‘Let them find their own way, love. It’s not ours to choose.”
rime passed.
I lived to see seventy-five, and our children all grew into themselves.
Careers, families, purpose.
And the General-he grew old beside me.
His hands trembled now. His back hunched.
But he still held mine like we were young.
Wait for me,” he whispered, “I’ll be right behind you.”
And I smiled.
Marrying you a second time was the best decision I ever made. I have no regrets. Just… happiness.”
And I closed my eyes.
He didn’t cry.
He knew we’d meet again soon.
Later, folks in the capital told stories-about a maid who took her mistress’s place in a ghost marriage,
only to become the General’s real wife.
A fairy tale with a strange twist.
The General made sure the tale spread.
Soun. It was in every tavern, even turned into picture books.
Red take our grandkids to hear the stories-interrupting the storyteller whenever they got it wrong.
He lived to eighty-five.
And when he finally crossed over, I was already waiting.
“Took you long enough, old man,” I teased him.
“Ive been waiting here forever.”
