Harvest of Dreams (The Gods' Dream Trilogy) (56 page)

She’d changed so much that she hardly recognized her former skeptical self. Now, Sadie cherished relationships with four Deities and knew her life was all the richer for the love and connection she previously hadn’t believed existed.

The figures winked out, leaving behind a peaceful hush that soon filled with excited voices. With the absence of the bright Deities, the room darkened as dusk dimmed the skylights.

Ontarem’s priests still knelt, the bodies displaying obvious shock. She imagined they would require a while to absorb the changes in their lives.
The love of the Gods and Goddesses will make a difference.

Speaking of love....

She searched for Thaddis and found him watching her with a tender smile. Her heartbeat quickened.

Her heart full of joy, Sadie raced over and threw herself into his arms. “You didn’t kill Pasinae!”

His arms tightened around her back. Thaddis swung her around until she was laughing and dizzy before setting her down.

She cupped his cheeks. “I’m so proud of you.” She pulled him close for a kiss that tingled warmth all the way to her toes.

Thaddis’s hands slid to her waist. “Sadie, you’ve been my salvation.”

Arching a brow, she touched her finger to his mouth and curled her lips in a smile. “Don’t let the Deities hear you say that.”

His gaze intense, Thaddis captured her finger and kissed the tip.

Overhead, a light brightened the room. Sadie and Thaddis glanced up. Through the windows, they could see the first moon rise, plump and gleaming orange.

“The harvest moon,” Thaddis murmured. “A rare blessing from the Deities.” Smiling, he framed Sadie’s face with a tender slide of his hands and bent to kiss her.

~ ~ ~

His heart lighter than he could ever remember, Thaddis held Sadie—his gift from the Goddess—in his arms. Because of her, he was a better man—a whole man. And, while he’d be a good king to his people, he’d be a better ruler of Ocean’s Glory with Sadie at his side. He didn’t deserve her, but if she let him, he’d spend the rest of his life making her happy.

From the corner of his eye, Thaddis saw Indaran and Jasmine, who linked elbows with Daria. The princess held hands with Khan. The royals moved toward him with respect and gratitude in their expressions.

Thaddis tucked away his thoughts of the future. Now wasn’t the time to talk to Sadie about their relationship. But soon, please the Gods and Goddesses, she’d agree to remain with him on Kimtair, or he might have to abdicate his throne to return with her to Earth.

Jasmine dropped Indaran’s hand to give Thaddis a hug. Going on tiptoe, she kissed his cheek.

Daria was next, with a kiss to his other cheek. “Peace between us, Thaddis,” she murmured.

A knot of tension between his shoulder blades eased. He glanced back and forth between the two women, his gaze lingering on Daria’s beautiful face. “Peace always.” Thaddis smiled. “I’m glad you’ve found a good man to love, Daria.”

Offering a hand, Khan stepped forward.

Thaddis grasped Khan’s forearm. “Sometime, I’d like to hear the tale of how Withea brought you to our world to rescue our beautiful princess from the evil King.” Thaddis grinned to show he wasn’t disparaging himself.

Khan nodded. “We will share stories,” he said with a flowing accent. Releasing Thaddis’s arm, the man stepped back, making way for Indaran.

Thaddis and Indaran stared at each other, emotion thick between them.

Indaran moved first, embracing Thaddis in a tight hug and thumping him on the back. They separated, but Indaran kept an arm on Thaddis’s shoulder.

“Forgive me,” Thaddis said, his voice husky.

Indaran shook his head. “It is I who should ask forgiveness. You only tried to rescue me after my own folly landed me in Ontarem’s clutches. But—” his tone edged with irony “—Yadarius told me He was at fault for not keeping a check on Ontarem. Let’s agree to leave the blame in His hands. After all, He’s a God. He can bear the burden.”

Thaddis gave a solemn nod. “We will always miss them…”

“Yes.” Indaran’s eyes gleamed with moisture.

Jasmine tucked herself under her husband’s arm, pressing against his side.

Indaran lowered his hand from Thaddis’s shoulder. He slipped an arm around his wife’s waist.

A tear trickled down Daria’s cheek. She took Indaran’s other hand.

Thaddis had a sudden idea. “We will set chroniclers to write down this tale so the momentous events which took place will never be forgotten. Your brothers, your father, will always be remembered.

Daria smiled through her tears. “We all must pass to the Halls of the Gods or Goddesses. To live on in history is a good thing.”

~ ~ ~

Two days later, Khan and Daria, Indaran and Jasmine, Thaddis and Sadie stood together at the stern of the ship transporting them and their soldiers to Ocean’s Glory. With the power of Withea and Guinheld filling the sails, and Yadarius controlling the ocean’s currents in their favor, they made good time, although no need existed for a mad dash across the ocean like before.

The land of Louat, no longer gray and ominous, rapidly receded into the distance. The setting sun arched brilliant pink and orange streaks across the purple sky and sparkled on the surface of the sea.

Around them sailed the rest of the Ocean’s Glory fleet, each ship carrying a number of refugees from Penutar. After two days of healing provided by the Gods and Goddesses to Ontarem’s depleted people, most were well enough to migrate to Drayleth and the Che-da-wah encampment. Pasinae, reunited with her family, had chosen to stay with her people. From Exonlah, many might later chose to enter the portal to Withea’s shrine and travel to one of the other countries. But for now, they would bask in the loving energy of Arvintor and learn to live a life of freedom.

Only the more adventurous of Penutar’s citizens sailed across the ocean with the returning fleet, among them the wife and child of Ontarem’s guard Landers, Freeish and Tashta. Landers had died to protect Jasmine, and she’d promised to care for his family. Although Tashta had nearly perished from Ontarem’s drain of her othersense, the child now scampered around the deck full of life, keeping her mother busy chasing after her.

Leaning over the stern railing, Sadie felt filled with contentment from the peace of the moment as well her othersense and heart bond with Thaddis, and, to a lesser extent, the accompanying four royals.

She turned from watching Louat to glance at the ship. With the wind filling the white sails, the snap and clink of the rigging, the uniformed soldiers walking the deck, today’s journey wasn’t unlike the one a few days earlier when they’d set out from Ocean’s Glory. Only now, she could enjoy the voyage, instead of feeling tight with fear from the danger they faced.

Near a side rail, Wenda held hands with her husband Min as the two carried on an animated conversation with Archpriestess Anza and Warrior-Priest Meleda. The joy of the reunited couple glowed in a nimbus around them. Watching Wenda run to Min’s arms when his ship had docked this morning had brought tears to Sadie’s eyes, and even now seeing the couple together made emotion well in her.

Thaddis shifted in the same direction as she did.

Sadie leaned her head against Thaddis’s shoulder, feeling relaxed in his company. The six of them had been so busy setting Ontarem’s decimated people to rights that they had no personal time—time to just
be
together. She’d barely had more than a brief conversation with Khan and Jasmine, exchanging information about where they each came from and how they’d ended up in Kimtair. At one point, Indaran had told Sadie he remembered her from the othersense dream. On another occasion, Daria expressed how relieved she was to see Thaddis return to the man she remembered admiring as a child.

Sadie glanced up at Thaddis and caught him watching her, a loving smile on his face. A frisson of energy tingled down her spine. Feeling a blush rise in her cheeks, she looked away for a moment to find her equilibrium. The connection she and Thaddis had forged continued to grow, even if they hadn’t had time for more than quick hugs and a few stolen kisses. But she hoped that situation soon would change.

Thaddis dropped an arm around her shoulders. “Look,” he murmured. He turned her back to the rail. Together, they watched the sun drop behind the sliver of land remaining on the horizon. As the sky darkened, the fat harvest moon rose from the opposite direction, shining orange beams across the water.

Sailors set out lanterns powered by lusters. Some of them climbed into the rigging, hanging more as they went until a multitude of lights dotted the vessel.

Indaran, standing with Jasmine encircled in his arms, grinned at Thaddis and Sadie. “Too bad there aren’t enough cabins on this ship. Min and Wenda can take one. And we…”

Jasmine elbowed her husband in the side, an obvious
be quiet
gesture.

Thaddis sent a pointed look at his friend’s midsection where Jasmine’s elbow had connected. “You chose wisely in a bride, Indaran. Although I can’t say Jasmine showed equally good sense in selecting
you
.”

Indaran gave his wife a squeeze. “Too late,” he said in a cheerful tone, showing his former good humor. “She’s joined to me now.”

Daria, standing with a hand around Khan’s arm, smiled and shook her head at her brother. “Sadie, you’d better think carefully before accepting Thaddis—”

Before Daria could finish, Thaddis swung Sadie into several waltz-like steps that put distance between them and the others. “I need to take you away from these four before they corrupt your mind against me.” With his arm around her waist, he whisked her down the deck and around the wheelhouse. By now, most people had gone below, so the area was empty.

Thaddis turned to face her and brought her hand to his lips. He curled his fingers around her hand to rest against his chest. “The last time we stood thus, we were in an othersense dream in the night garden at Ocean’s Glory. My heart was so conflicted—loving you, wanting you. Yet, I couldn’t take advantage of the romantic mood, knowing you’d repudiate me as soon as you learned my real identity.”

Sadie remembered the magic of that dream, the beauty of the silvery moonlight, her wish to be closer to Thaddis. “Perhaps we can recreate that memory for real—not just with our othersense.

“We can indeed.” His expression sobered. “I will always carry the pain of the acts I committed. But those souls who died, now reside in the Hall of Yadarius and I feel their love and forgiveness. Now I can stand before you…hold you…with my whole heart to offer.”

She smiled. “You aren’t the only one who is whole-hearted.”

He opened her hand and placed a kiss on her palm. “Will you stay here in Kimtair instead of returning to Earth? Will you marry me and be my queen?”

Sadie gazed up at him, seeing the wish in his eyes. Longing and happiness rose inside her. Visions of her life in America flickered across her mind, but now they seemed dim and faded.
No.
Her home was where Thaddis was, here on Kimtair—a world now so dear to her that Sadie knew she could never leave.

“I will,” she answered through a throat tight with emotion. “I pledge to do all in my power to be a good queen to your people.”

“
Our
people,” Thaddis gently corrected.

“Our people.”

He gathered Sadie in his arms and kissed her, then held her close.

She snuggled against Thaddis, feeling secure in his arms. Resting her head on his shoulder and staring up at the harvest moon, Sadie knew she’d truly come home.

THE END

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have many people to be thankful to for their help in writing Harvest of Dreams.

To Andre Norton, Grand Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy,

In thanks for introducing me to fantasy and science fiction stories and who’s series Witch World inspired The Gods’ Dream Trilogy.

Andre endorsed Sower of Dreams not long before she died,

and I’ll always be grateful.

To my editors:

Louella Nelson

Linda Carroll-Bradd

To my formatters:

Amy Atwell

Rob Preece

To my cousin and personal assistant:

Mindy Codner Freed

To Bill and Sandy Gelnaw for their expertise in sabre fighting.

To Noah Michael Levine bringing the audiobook to life, for the brainstorming help, and for keeping me sane through the final weeks of writing this book.

To all my readers:

Thanks for loving my stories!

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