“Ten days? You’ve been here ten days?”
“All this planting took longer than we’d planned,” Spring said, “but your husband was adamant to keep us hidden and keep everything a secret until the garden was done.”
“If it weren’t for Tildy, we might still be working,” Autumn added. She nodded to the plainly dressed, gray-haired woman waiting off to one side with Krysti by her side. “She organized us like one of your husband’s generals.”
Khamsin wiped the tears from her eye and smiled at her nurse. “I wondered what was keeping her so busy this last week.” She waved Tildy over and pulled her into a hug. “I know I’ve never said it before, but I will say it now.” She pulled back so she could look directly into Tildy’s eyes. “Thank you,” she said earnestly. “Thank you for everything. If not for you, none of this would have been possible, and I never would have known such happiness.”
The woman who had raised her from birth gave a damp-eyed smile. “I’ve only ever wanted what was best for you, dearly.”
“I know. And I want you to know that I love you, Tildy. I always have. You’re the only mother I’ve ever known.” She hugged her nurse again, wiped away more tears, then laughed and pulled Krysti into a hug, too. “And you! No wonder you’ve been under my feet all week—you were helping them keep this all a secret—making sure I never got anywhere close to the Atrium or my sisters.”
The boy grinned hugely. “I did a good job of it, too, didn’t I?”
She laughed. “Clearly.”
Spring took her hands. “We want you to know, Storm, that whether any of us choose Merimydion or not, we are all resolved to be here when the babies are born.”
“We wouldn’t miss the birth of our first nieces or nephews for anything,” Autumn agreed. “And if the Calbernan doesn’t agree to those terms, then he won’t be getting a Season as a wife.” She sniffed and tossed her auburn curls.
“Not that that will be a problem,” Summer reassured Khamsin with a comforting smile. “From everything I’ve heard or read, Calbernans cherish their women. I’m sure the Sealord won’t mind a small delay to bring his new bride joy.” She gave her other two sisters a look of gentle reproof, which was as close to a scold as Summer had ever been able to manage.
“I’m sure he won’t,” Kham agreed. “He struck me as a good man, or I would never have given him a chance to come within a thousand leagues of any of you.” She flung her arms around her sisters. “Oh, I missed you all so much.”
With her beloved family around her, filled with more joy than she’d ever known, Khamsin looped an arm around Wynter’s waist and strolled through the remaining paths of her own Sky Garden.
“Well?” Wynter murmured, smiling. “What do you think?”
“It’s perfect. It’s everything I could ever have hoped for.” She stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. “You’re everything I could ever have hoped for.”
Arm in arm, they walked towards the very heart of the garden, where Wynter had placed a perfect replica of her mother’s carved wooden bench. A new, silver-gilt copy of Roland Triumphant lay on the wooden slats, waiting for her. Behind the bench, a young, gangly Snowfire tree had been planted in a mound of moss-covered soil. Healthy, strong, already flowering with its beautifully scented white summer blooms, the Snowfire would grow in the coming years and drape its branches like a veil around the bench, waiting for their children to sit beneath its fragrant blooms to read and dream of heroic battles and noble deeds of their ancestors, and imagine the day they, too, would earn the right to protect their kingdom and discover a love to last the ages.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
C. L. WILSON wrote her first story at age six, and though she took a number of long detours during her life, she never gave up her lifelong dream of being published. Many years, hundreds of false starts, and five completed novels later, she received “The Call” in October 2006 and sold her epic fantasy romance, Tairen Soul, at auction. Her debut novel spent two weeks on the USA Today bestseller list, and her subsequent novels have gone on to hit a variety of lists, including USA Today, New York Times, and Publishers Weekly.
When not writing, C. L. enjoys relaxing with her husband and three children in sunny Florida and daydreaming of a world where people exercise in their sleep and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is a fat-burning food.
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BY C. L. WILSON
THE WINTER KING
CROWN OF CRYSTAL FLAME
QUEEN OF SONG AND SOULS
KING OF SWORD AND SKY
LADY OF LIGHT AND SHADOWS
LORD OF THE FADING LANDS
COPYRIGHT
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE WINTER KING. Copyright © 2014 by C. L. Wilson All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition AUGUST 2014 ISBN: 9780062096661
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062018977
FIRST EDITION
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