Henry and the Dragon: Chapter Ten – The Finale

Thank you all so much for being part of this story. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your time and patience. 🙂  And now, we’ve come to the end. I hope you enjoy it.

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The dragon lay around Kai, snarling and showing fang. He placed a hand on her scales, relishing the warmth once again. When she’d left, his body temperature had dropped slowly, until he was afraid he might freeze to that spot. He couldn’t believe Henry was here! Perhaps it was all a fevered dream, but he couldn’t allow even this version of Henry come to harm.

“Mother, no. Don’t hurt Henry. He is the one I love.”

It was the first time he’d spoken aloud of his love. He hadn’t even told Henry yet. He wondered how he’d react. Would it be possible for Henry to return his love? Kai’s head felt woozy. He couldn’t recall ever being so weak. Damn Neron. Bad enough the bandits shot him, but to use poison on their arrows?

“Move out of the way!” Henry cried.

When he dropped down beside Kai and put a hand on him, Kai’s skin no longer froze. Now it burned, hotter than his mother’s fire. He was being consumed from the inside out. Torn apart, sundered. It was far more painful than the arrow had been.

“Going to die,” he whispered harshly. “Tell Henry—“

“Shut up! Just…remain quiet. Let me work. I have not traveled all this way, have not killed Neron, have not abandoned my family, to have you die on me. Do you understand?” He turned his head. “Dmitra, I need you.”

The little girl Kai had noticed rushed over and took a spot beside Henry.

“You must put your hands here and press hard, do you understand?”

She murmured something, and Henry must have taken it as agreement. A moment later, fire roared through Kai as the pain returned, like stinging nettles raked over raw skin.

“Mother!” he cried out.

“Milady, please don’t move. Kai is freezing, and I need you to warm him as much as you can,” Henry said to Mother.

Oh, Henry. His Henry. He faced a dragon, one of the mightiest of all, and he didn’t flinch. He took so much on faith, and he was the bravest person Kai knew. His hands were like magic as they—wait. This truly was Henry? How could that be? Mother had taken him leagues away. And he’d said he killed to find Kai.

“Henry? I—“

“Please, Kai. Don’t talk. I must concentrate.”

He rummaged through his bottles, pulling out stoppers, sniffing the contents, then discarding them.

“Why don’t I have my salve? I’m certain I packed more than this!”

His salve? “Henry, I—“

“Kai, I have to focus on what I’m—“

“No, you don’t understand. Your salve…. It’s… In my bag.”

Henry’s eyes widened. “Why do you have–? No never mind. It doesn’t matter. Where is your bag?”

Kai struggled to think of where he’d left his bag. He’d had it when Neron attacked him, and—no. “I lost it when they tried to kill me.”

“Nothing is ever easy,” Henry muttered. “I have to find that bag!”

Mother flicked a tail in the direction of the opening. A chuff rumbled from her, and Kai noticed Henry’s eyes flick in that direction.

“Dmitra, can you go grab that satchel?” Henry asked excitedly. “I’ll do this until you come back.”

Small hands were gone, and then the fire returned as Henry pressed his palms to Kai’s flesh. Kai sighed. He would gladly be consumed by the heat, if only Henry would never stop touching him.

“Here it is, Henry,” came a tiny voice.

“Who is this?” Kai asked.

“My daughter,” Henry said softly, hesitantly, as he pulled the stolen vials from Kai’s belongings. “’Tis a long story.”

“I look forward to hearing it. Hello daughter of Henry.”

She gave him the most dazzling smile, and Kai knew to his heart that this girl was special. She would become his daughter as well, he was certain. If only he would tell Henry of his feelings.

“Henry, I love you.”

“And I you, so please take what I’m about to say with that love in mind. Be still and be quiet.”

Kai grinned. “Yes, my love.”

As Henry ministered to the wound, he gave Dmitra several tasks, which she attended to without complaint. Mother, meanwhile, blew gentle breaths of fire onto the rocks that Kai lay on, heating his body. She’d been doing that since she snatched him from Neron. Kai had been unable to tell her that Henry could save him. In fact, he hadn’t spoken but two words to her. He wasn’t even sure she was real.

“They poisoned me,” he gasped out.

“Yes, I’m aware,” Henry replied. “I’m trying to flush it out of your body. I wish I could bloody well kill him again.”

“You truly killed Neron? I thought it was only my imagination.”

Henry reached into his pocket and withdrew Kai’s medallion, which he lay beside Kai’s head.

“He had what belonged to you. He kept me from my family for far too long based on a lie. He….he….”

Tears slid down Henry’s cheeks, but still he toiled. Dmitra leaned in and put her head to Henry’s arm. That seemed to give him the strength to continue.

“When I saw him with your medallion, I couldn’t understand the anger that poured into me. I knew only that he had touched something of yours. Made it impure, tainted. Every lie he told me, my father’s blade—“ Henry jerked his head around, then scrabbled over and retrieved his sword. “Father, I know you wouldn’t allow me to attack this dragon, because you knew she was Henry’s mother. Is that not so?”

The blade glowed a brilliant blue, bathing everyone in the purest of lights. Henry continued to surprise Kai, and he hoped they had forever to surprise and delight each other.

“I’ve applied salve to his wounds, but the poison still is within his body. I’m uncertain if my ointment will be enough.”

The sword flared so brightly, Kai had to avert his eyes, and he’d stared directly into dragon fire. What was this sword that Henry clutched in his hand?

“I fear this will hurt,” Henry said, a moment before he placed the blade over the wound. Like so many other times, Henry was right. The blade seared Kai’s skin—or so it felt—and he screamed. His mother roared, shaking the entire mountain. Still, Henry and Dmitra knelt by him, doing their best to soothe and comfort Kai. When Henry finally removed the blade, Kai sank back onto his mother’s side, exhausted.

“What did you do?” Kai asked.

“I did nothing. My father did. In truth, I know not what he did, only that it worked, and I am forever grateful to him.”

The brilliance of the blade dulled, leaving only a soft glow that cast shadows about the cave. Henry scrabbled to gather some clothing strewn about and handed it to Kai.

“I can barely move,” Kai said as he struggled to sit up.

“Then don’t. Lie there and rest.”

“There’s something I should tell you, Henry.”

A bushy eyebrow quirked up. “There are many things you must tell me. First and foremost, how is your mother a dragon?”

“That is one of the things I must tell you.” Kai pushed himself up, his muscles screaming with every movement. “Please, I beg you to not be afraid of me. I would never do you harm. You know this, yes?”

Henry grabbed Kai’s hand. “To my very soul.”

“Then know no matter what, I will guard and keep you.”

Kai tilted his head back and closed his eyes. Before, after Neron had him poisoned, Kai hadn’t the strength to protect himself. His mother heard his cry and raced to him, arriving in time to keep the bandits from taking everything and leaving Kai for dead. She lifted Kai in her claw, doing her best to keep him from being jostled too much, then launched herself skyward to find a place for Kai to rest and heal.

Only it didn’t help. He asked her to find Henry, but she refused to leave his side until he told her she had to, or he would die. Then she made several sojourns to find Henry, but each proved futile.

“I am not as you see before you, Henry. Well, that is not all I am. My people are ancient, but still very new. We are what humans will call a paradox. Neither one thing or another, but a melding of both.”

The stretch of bone and sinew had been too long in coming. Though Kai’s body protested, it also craved the blessed change. His arms grew thick with heavy muscle, his body following immediately afterward. When wings erupted from his back, he cried out, not in pain, but in utter bliss. It had been far too long since he’d done this, felt complete. Only lying with Henry had come close to this feeling. When the transformation was complete, Kai rose up, still dwarfed by his mother, to his true form.

“You’re…a dragon!” Henry cried out. “How is this possible?”

Kai reverted to a human form, then stumbled slightly, still dizzy from the toxins.

“That is a story that is older than time, and would take nearly as long to tell. I am a member of a species called the Hodac. We are dragons that can walk as man or soar as birds.”

Being this near dragons, Henry and Dmitra should be near wetting themselves, but instead they stood in awe as they took in the beautiful dragon his mother was. Her iridescent scales picked up even the slightest of lights, shimmering like a rainbow. It was her hues that Kai’s father so loved, it made him ask her to be their queen.

“Our majesty—my mother—bids you welcome.”

“Your mother is… So… You’re a prince?”

Kai bowed deeply. “Prince Kaithyn Dellamar at your service.”

Henry flushed, and it seemed that he was near collapse. Only Dmitra stood between him and the floor.

“What bothers you most, Henry? Is it the fact I am of the Hodac?”

Henry peered up, his eyes unfocused. “What? No. I have always loved the tales of dragons. I knew they could not possibly be the evil beings people claim.”

“No, we most certainly are not. Ours are scholars, healers, teachers. Good and noble people all. I am still vexed by what worries you most.”

Henry peeked down at Dmitra, then his gaze slid toward…oh.

“Because we have lain together?”

“You’re a prince!”

Kai reached for Henry, and stroked a thumb over his cheek. “And you are the most beautiful soul of any being I have ever seen. The first day we met, you did your best to save the Virbolg, not knowing if it would end your life. When its mother arrived, you did not demand I destroy it? No. Why?”

“All living things have a dignity about them. They have lives they do not wish ended. Why would I want to hurt them?”

“You are a rare human, Henry. So very rare. You are like a precious flower; one that must be cared for, tended to, and allowed to blossom fully.”

Those cheeks Kai loved pinked. “Why does your mother not take a human form? Is she unable?”

“Oh, she is quite capable. However, no one is allowed to see her in her nude state except my father. He’s rather…adamant about that.”

“Oh!” Henry grabbed his bag and removed Kai’s cloak, which he handed over. “Will this help?”

Kai couldn’t help but smile. “You are aware that cloak could have fed you and your family for the rest of your lives.”

That made Henry frown and pull the fabric closer to him. “I would never give up something that is precious to you.”

“Now ask yourself again why I love you. Neron only saw the cloak as riches, you hold it close as a remembrance.” Kai turned and held the cloak out as his mother transformed back into her human form. She was tall, radiant, and regal. He loved her more than he thought he could ever love another, until Henry.

She pulled the cloak around herself, then stepped out into view. She graced Henry with a smile, then held out a hand to Dmitra.

“It is a great pleasure to meet you, daughter of Henry.”

Dmitra smiled up at Henry even as she clutched his hand.

“And you, Henry, I owe a debt which can never be repaid. You have saved the life of my son.”

Kai groaned. “Mother, I am one of eight boys. And I’m adopted. We all are.”

“You are,” she admitted, “but that does not make our love, our bond, any less true. You are as precious to your father, as you are to me.”

Henry crossed an arm over his stomach and bowed. “The pleasure is mine, your majesty.”

She laughed at that, the sound not unlike chimes. “You may call me Arissa, Henry.”

“But…you’re a queen.”

“And my husband you will refer to as Harramir. We do not stand on ceremony, you see. At least not with our people. We are a family, and Harramir is like the father of us all.”

“This is all too much,” Henry said, shaking his head.

“Mother and Father take in the orphaned children of dragons who…” He glanced at his mother, uncertain if this was his tale to tell. She nodded. “We are explorers, Henry. We travel to many worlds, seeking knowledge. Places like your home? They are too violent. At one time, we visited often, but those visits came less frequently as the years went on and your people learned better ways to kill.”

“After this visit, I do not think we shall come to this time again,” Arissa said harshly. “I had no idea Kaithyn would be in such terrible danger. After we return home, the portal that leads to this era will be sealed permanently.”

Sealed? “Mother, no!”

“I have made up my mind, Kaithyn.”

He drew in a breath. “Then you must allow me to remain here. I won’t leave Henry. I can’t.”

She cocked her head. “What? Leave Henry? Why would you—? Oh, I see.” She smiled at Henry. “My apologies, Henry. I seem to have forgotten my manners for a moment. Henry, my people are explorers. We have a way to travel to many worlds, to seek out life and knowledge. When we discover something that is of singular beauty, we return home with it, and keep it for others to see, to learn, to grow. If there are many, then we may bring back several pairs to mate and populate.”

“You keep them in cages?” Henry asked, and Kai could feel his discomfort.

“What? No, not at all, child,” Mother said. “We have the ability to create environs that suit them perfectly. There are no boundaries to hold them, no people to hunt them. Each has a vast range they can travel, and if they do happen to reach the edge of it, they simply come back in on the other side. They are cared for, allowed to live out their lives in peace, and when the time comes, they are immortalized in their zone with a statue of light that our people may visit and learn about, even thousands of years later.”

There was so much confusion, and it was easy to read on Henry’s face. “Ours is a world of the future, Henry. Things that would seem as magic to you, are called science by us. Your people tell the stories of a dragon’s hoard. We do have our collections that we love, it’s true. They aren’t gold or jewels that we sleep upon, though. It’s knowledge that we pass down from generation to generation, so that even if people on other worlds have forgotten, we never will.”

 

 

Kai’s words made sense to Henry. How many creatures had disappeared, and never thought of again?

“We have as many as we could collect,” the Queen said. “Millions of years ago, creatures that will be called dinosaurs roamed your lands. A great cataclysm wiped them out, but we rescued some. They live in comfort, doing what comes naturally. Some are predators, others prey, but they also don’t have to worry about going extinct. Our people watch them very carefully, ensuring that none of them die out. Yes, we could go and collect others, but our people love the ones we have, and we want to keep them as long as they are alive.”

“I know it doesn’t sound like anything you’ve heard before,” Kai said, reaching for Henry and Dmitra’s hands. “It’s a very overly simplified way to explain it.”

“And you would return home?” Henry asked, his stomach fluttering at the thought.

“Mother, I cannot leave Henry here.”

“And you should not, Kaithyn. He’s obviously someone of great import to you, so you should bring him home.”

Henry stumbled back. “I’m to be part of your collection?” he asked, horrified.

“No, no, not at all,” the Queen said. “You would be Kaithyn’s mate. He who my son loves.” She gave a sad smile. “When he lay there, near death, he spoke of you. He said you were gentle, kind, and sweet. He told me how much he loves you, and how he couldn’t bear the thought of being separated. I will not allow my child to suffer. If you make him happy, then he must be with you. I would prefer it not to be here, but if that’s what he wishes, then—“

“No,” Henry blurted out. “Kai has already said he’s not fond of people, and I wouldn’t want him to suffer them…us. The problem is that I can’t leave my family. We’ve only just discovered each other again, and I can’t lose them. Dmitra needs to be around them, to learn and grow, to live among those who will love her.”

“Then your family should come with us as well,” the Queen said. “We will create an area that is to your liking. You can stay there, as you learn about our people. In time, we hope that you will integrate into our society, but if that isn’t the case, we will respect your choice and allow you to live and grow your own.”

“Do you really want to remain here, Henry? With odious people like Neron? And now that you say you’ve killed him, what will happen if you are found out?”

Henry hadn’t given that much thought. “I would be put to death, if I’m lucky. Otherwise, I would be thrown into the dungeon, and left there to rot.”

But to leave Innernook? To venture to another land? The thought excited Henry, but he wasn’t sure if Mother and Merry would agree. And how would he explain to them that dragons are real?

“They will understand, I promise you. And though it might take years, they will come to love our home, our people. Your family will flourish in a way they could not here.”

“Henry,” Dmitra whispered. “My mother said this would come to pass! She told me I would experience wonders no one had ever known.”

“Your mother possessed a gift?” Kai asked, his eyes kind and his smile luminous.

“She had the gift of sight,” Henry explained. “She knew I would rescue Dmitra, and that together we would find you. ’Twas she who told me where to look.”

“Then we are forever in her debt as well,” the Queen said. She reached for Henry’s hand, and took it in both of hers. “Henry, we must away from this place soon. Kaithyn needs to heal at home, where people will tend to him.”

“Why did you have my salve, Kai?”

He flushed. “Where I come from, we have nothing like this. I took it in hopes that our people, the doctors, would be able to duplicate it. You have made something ingenious, Henry, and it should be shared.”

And therein lay the problem. “If I leave here, I am abandoning the people who need my help. And now with Neron dead, they have no one who will care for them.”

The Queen sighed. “Henry, please don’t think me callous, but this time? It is coming to an end. Soon there will be a plague that sweeps through your lands, and millions of people will die. If you remain, you and your family may number among them.”

“But I might be able to stop it from happening!”

She gave a soft smile. “I wish that was possible, but it isn’t. It will be known as the Black Death, and it will lay waste to this country, as well as many others. By the time it has run its course, your people will be forever changed, but from this they will grow smarter, stronger. I’m afraid even your salve will not stem the tide. You see, we know what has already come to pass, and we have seen the future of your planet. There will be so many trials and tribulations. Wars, famine, disease will be constant companions. Through it all, though, they will triumph.”

“Henry, please. Return with us.” Kai grinned. “I will be able to take you places you’ve never imagined. Show you plants that don’t exist on Earth. Help you to create unguents that will help so many. In fact, we could travel to your Earth, but in the future, so you could see how things progressed. Think of the knowledge you could gain.”

And Henry did like knowing how things worked.

“I must return home to speak with my family,” he said at last. Then he turned to the Queen. “And we would be welcome?”

“Of course. I give you my word, your family would be adored by our people.”

He sighed. “But what will they do? My mother farms, and my sister’s husband is a smith. From what you say, your people will have no need of us.”

Kai slid a hand through Henry’s hair. “My love, smiths still exist hundreds of years into your future. He might need to learn new ways of doing things, but isn’t that part of growth?”

And it was. Henry hated to admit he was excited by this possibility. It would only come to pass if his family agreed, though.

“It will be a long ride. Could Dmitra say with you while I’m gone?”

The Queen laughed, and it was the warmest sound Henry had ever heard. “We shall take you there in an instant,” she promised. “Kaithyn, are you well enough to travel?”

“I am, Mother. As I said, Henry’s salve is truly a work of magic.”

“Focus on your home, Henry.”

She placed a hand on his head, the touch light. Then she grinned. “Henry, I meant your family’s home. I cannot transport us to Kaithyn, as he is already here.”

“You thought of me when she said to think of home?” Kai asked. Then he leaned in and gave Henry a peck on the lips. “I think of the same.”

A strange thrill slid slowly through Henry at the realization Kai thought of him as home too. He pushed that to the back of his mind, and thought of his mother and Merry. Of how much he loved them, of the years he’d missed out on, of seeing them again.

“Ah, there it is. I think you should close your eyes for a moment. Traveling this way is…not always easy the first time.”

Henry looked down at Dmitra, who had her eyes squeezed shut, and he did the same. One moment they were in the cave, and the next his stomach was somewhere else. Henry wasn’t sure where, but it certainly wasn’t where it should be.

“Are you well, Henry?” Kai asked, an arm over his shoulder.

“That’s how you travel?” Henry asked, feeling a tad green.

“It gets easier, believe me. My first time I threw up everywhere.”

“Threw up?”

Kai chuckled. “I expelled.”

That Henry understood. “What is threw up?”

“Like many things, language has evolved in the centuries. You’ll catch up in no time, I promise.”

The door opened, and Mother flew out of the house and into Henry’s arms. “Henry! I was so afraid. They… They found Neron’s body, and several others. They thought a dragon was there.”

“A dragon was there, Mother.” He stepped aside and with a sweeping gesture indicated his companions. “Mother, this is my daughter, Dmitra. Her mother left her in my care when she grew too ill to do it herself. And this is Prince Kaithyn , and his mother, Queen Arissa Dellamar.”

Mother dropped to one knee. “Your Majesties,” she whispered. She took the lady’s hand, and kissed it.

“Your mother is a true delight, Henry. Please, rise.”

When she did so, Mother was pale. “You’ve not come to take Henry, have you?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Henry replied. “May we go inside? Has Euric moved to the farm?”

“He has,” Mother answered, her voice shaky. “Henry, why are you traveling with a Queen?”

“Please gather everyone, so that we may talk. I will explain it all then.”

Mother went to ring the bell that Father had installed for her to summon them to dinner, and a few moments later, Merry and those who Henry could only assume were her family, came running.

“Mother? Who are these people?” Merry asked, her tone suspicious.

“They’re here for Henry,” Mother said, voice all but broken.

A burly man, thick with muscles, dark eyes, and a heavy beard stepped forward. “You’ll not have my kin,” he snarled, clamping a hand on Henry’s shoulder.

“Stop, please. Everyone must hear my story. Mother, have you food? Kai should eat something.”

“I’m fine, Henry.”

Henry narrowed his eyes, and Kai grinned.

“I could eat,” he said.

Mother ushered them all into the house, where she took her seat at the head of the table. Merry served a bowl of stew with bread to Kai and his mother.

“I’m sorry I haven’t anything more to offer, Your Majesties,” Mother said, her gaze never leaving Henry.

“What? Don’t be silly. You have invited us to your home. Given us succor in dire times. We are grateful for the bounty you’ve provided.”

“Someone must explain to me what is happening,” Merry snapped. “My brother already gave himself to a monster, and I won’t allow him to leave us again.”

Euric stood behind Merry, his hand on her shoulder. “Nor will I. Merry has told tale of the brother who gave himself away when he was naught but a wee lad. One who put his family before his own life. Henry has earned his freedom.”

Henry couldn’t explain the warmth that flooded through him.

“Please, we are not here to haul Henry to a dungeon. Far from it. I wish Henry to be my consort. I love him, and have no desire to see him in chains or dangling from the hangman’s rope. The truth of it is, Henry is not willing to leave his family, and I am more than happy to stay. My mother, however, has offered another alternative. She would like for all of you to come with us.”

Mother’s eyes narrowed. “Where is this kingdom of yours?”

“’Tis very far away, Mother.”

She shook her head. “I am too old to partake of such a journey.”

“It would take naught but a few moments,” the Queen said. “You would close your eyes, and the next moment, you would be in our kingdom. Your family would be welcome amongst our people. Henry is a skilled healer, and I have heard Euric is a smith of great renown. And then there is the mother who raised them to be strong, true friends. We could think of no better people to have living with us.”

The suspicion didn’t leave Mother’s eyes. “From whence do you hail?”

“Mother, there are things you need to know before you make any decisions. They will be unbelievable, akin to fantasy tales, but I guarantee you they are truth set in stone.”

So Henry started telling his story from the beginning. He told of Merry’s illness, of Neron’s cruelty, of learning to craft salves that he gave to people, of Neron’s jealousy, of meeting Kai, of Neron’s attack on Kai, of the dragon, of his journey to find Kai, of meeting and becoming Dmitra’s father, of finding Kai, and finally of the truth about Kai’s mother.

“Balderdash!” Euric snapped.

Kai stood. “I can prove it,” he said.

“’Tis a lie, and you have bewitched Henry!” Merry cried.

Mother, oddly enough, sat quietly and viewed the proceedings.

“He is a dragon!” Dmitra said. “I have seen it.”

“You toy with the mind of a child?”

“Please, follow me outside.”

Without waiting, he turned and strode out the door. Henry couldn’t help but notice the regal bearing Kai seemed to have. When they were all gathered outside, Kai stepped behind the house, Henry standing guard, and stripped off the cloths he wore. They weren’t much, but it was far better than him being nude in front of Henry’s mother.

The transformation came quickly, and Kai ducked his head near Henry, who, feeling bold, planted a kiss on the lovely scales.

“For luck,” he said.

When Henry called for the family to gather, they trooped toward the spot. When they found Kai, Merry and Euric screamed and grabbed their children. Mother, still, was oddly quiet.

“He won’t harm them,” the Queen said. “We would never harm a child.”

“B-B-But he’s a dragon!” Euric shouted.

“Not all dragons are bad,” Mother finally said.

“What? How can you say that?” Merry demanded. “Dragons are evil.”

“No!” Mother shouted. “’Tis not true, and I will not have you speak such of our guests.”

Her reaction surprised Henry. “Mother? What are you saying?”

She turned away, as if unable to look Henry in the eye. “When your father came home from the war, you know how he was. We thought he’d lost his mind on the battlefield. Only…late into the evenings, he would tell me tales of the one who saved his life. His company had been all but wiped out, and he feared he would die there as well. He said a shadow fell over the field, and he believed it to be death come to take them away. Only it lifted him up and carried him off, leaving him several leagues away from the fight. He told me it then transformed into a man, who tended to his wounds. He was good and kind, and treated your father well.”

“Why did I never hear of that?” Merry demanded.

“I thought… I believed it to be a figment of his imagination, but now?”

At his side, Henry’s sword glowed once more. He lifted it from the scabbard and held it aloft.

“That’s why you wouldn’t attack Kai’s mother,” Henry whispered.

The sword pulsed rapidly. Mother came closer. “I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you,” she said sadly.

In his mind, Henry heard his father’s booming laugh. “Father says it’s fine,” he told Mother. “He wouldn’t have believed it either, if it hadn’t happened to him.”

After that revelation, things calmed quickly. Kai returned to human form, dressed, and then joined with the family to discuss their future.

 

“Henry, my love, what are you doing?” Kai asked, then brushed a kiss over Henry’s neck. Even now, Henry trembled when Kai did that.

“I’m writing our story down,” he said. “I wanted Dmitra to have it for her remembrances after I pass.”

“You have many years remaining, you know.”

“No, I’m aware, but I had no idea what else to get her for her wedding.”

“It’s hard to believe you’ve been here for fifteen years,” Kai said, sliding his fingers through Henry’s mostly silver hair.

“For both of us. It seems like I blinked, and was suddenly an old man.”

“Hardly old,” Kai reminded him. “I do believe it was you who wore me out last night.”

“I’ll do it again tonight, if you’d like,” Henry teased, stroking a hand over Kai’s chest.

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure.”

He turned in his chair and regarded Kai. “I think…. No, I’m certain, this was meant to be. I cannot think of a place where I would have been happier, and my family discovered that they could find love amongst your—our—people.”

“As am I. I am so grateful for the day we met. It seemed that what was missing in my life, was now whole. You gave me so very much. A husband, a partner, someone who shared my passion for exploration. I cannot believe how lucky I was.”

He peered down at the pages Henry was working on and an exasperated look came over him.

“Why are you using a pen? Our computers would make it much easier on you.”

“Because this is a chronicle, and it seemed wrong to do it on that accursed machine of yours.”

Fifteen years, and the computer still perplexed Henry. Not that Kai hadn’t tried many times to explain it. Even Euric picked up its use faster than Henry.

“And I must ask, why did you stop with us gathering at the farm to discuss the future? What about our adventures in the ice caves? Or meeting the fairy people, or—”

Henry squeezed Kai’s hand and smiled. “I have to keep something to tell our grandchildren don’t I?” He grabbed Kai’s shirt and tugged him down, claiming his mouth. He wanted Kai to take him, here, now, so that he would always remember one truth.

Henry Cabot was right where he belonged.