“I think I’m gonna be sick again.”

He gave her a warm smile and stepped closer, holding both of her hands now. “You’ll be fine, Gwendolyn. Tell me how I can help.”

“Will you still be my friend, now that Greylen’s home?”

“’Tis something I fear as well,” he said honestly. “No doubt, I’ll miss the time we spend together.”

“So will I, Gavin,” Gwen whispered, looking down.

Gavin lifted her chin. “That night Greylen pulled you from the water…I pledged an oath to you, Gwen. I swore then my life for yours. And I’d do so willingly. Not because ’tis my duty, but because you’ve become a friend such that I’ve never known before. But my best friend comes home to you now. He’s the brother I always wished for, Gwen. He’s the man who will make all of your dreams come true.”

Gavin held her a moment longer, then stepped to her side as his eyes fixed on the distant rise. “Come, Gwen, ’tis time.”

“I can’t seem to move.”

“There’s nothing to fear.”

“That’s easy for you to say; you’re not the one wearing a wedding gown.”

Gavin smirked. “He’s very subtle.”

“Yes, quite,” she agreed dryly at his sarcasm. “I can’t go down there, Gavin,” she whispered, suddenly serious. “I can’t do this in front of everyone.”

He sighed as he brushed his fingers through his hair. “Very well then,” he conceded. “But stay by the window, you’ll not want to miss this.”

Chapter 14

My God, he was right.

It was one of the most magnificent sights of her life. A procession of such pageantry her breath caught at the display. Her hands splayed the window of their own accord, her heart beat so rapidly she feared it would burst.

Hundreds of soldiers filled the path, and they rode in perfect symmetry, their lines seemingly endless. A squire held a flag high in the air, and it danced in the soft, warm breeze, an ebony dragon emblazoned in its center.

The procession continued, until the last of their lines finally topped the crest. The crest high atop the slopes of Seagrave. The crest where one man remained.

He stayed there alone, like a true hero who chose to protect rather than be protected. His dark hair blew in the wind, his bronzed skin aglow beneath the rays of the setting sun. His name whispered from her lips as her forehead pressed to the glass, for even at such a distance, his presence was omnipotent.

That young man whose image she’d memorized above the fireplace in the library—that young man ready to conquer the world—was no more.

This man had already seen the world.