Epilogue

 

Twelve years later

Lake waited in the wagon under the shade of the cypress tree. Even though the spring was warmer than most in the past, she pulled the dark shawl lower over her hair and kept her face toward the shadows.

For the hundredth time, she surveyed the vacant landscape and strained her hearing for sounds of danger, nothing, just the whisper of the wind through the trees and the slight swaying dance of the grass in the meadows. She allowed herself a small reassuring breath that lasted until the next time her head came up, gaze alert and assessing.

She hated being back on Earth. This was her first visit since she and Hudson had made their escape. She would’ve never returned, Hudson would’ve never let her, if her mission wasn't such an important one. As it was, it took everything she had to convince her husband that it was safer traveling as an old woman with her slave, rather than all three of them together.

Sure-footed steps sounded from behind, and she turned to watch her son walk up the path from the midwife’s humble home to their wagon.

Lake marveled at how much he had grown. It seemed just like yesterday that all four of them had made it safely through the portal and made their life among the Rebels. It had been a good decision. At times their life was rough, eking it out in the harsher climate of Dark Planet, but they’d been surrounded by people they loved and trusted—a good upbringing for a leader.

Rider had grown tall over the years and by the size of his hands and feet, he still had a few more inches to go. His coloring was dark like his father, but his personality was all hers—serious, cautious, devoted. Everything that would make him a good leader and everything that would make his life harder to live.

She sighed. There’d been a time when she’d wanted nothing but laughter and lightheartedness for her son. Now, she realized she needed a goal that she had a chance of actually attaining.

Rider swung himself up onto the seat beside her, but instead of taking the reins, he sat and stared out ahead over the small curving trail that led back to Portal City.

Most of the time, Lake's strength laid in her patience. It was unsettling to know that her son already surpassed her in this.

“Is it done?” Lake clasped and unclasped her hands as she waited for his answer.

“Yes,” he finally said.

Lake waited for more, but it seemed he discussed less and less with her the older he got.

“Did it hurt?”

His brown eyes shifted to hers then he shook his head. “No, Mom, it was fine. No big deal.”

Lake nodded, glad her son had been spared any additional pain. “Did she tell you what it meant? Do you understand what you need to do?”

Lake had only gotten the very basics from the old lady. Not nearly enough to satisfy her curiosity.

“She said that I had a huge responsibility. That I was to protect the person whose name was placed on my heart. That I should never cross out the name for another.”

Lake had thought as much, but didn’t like the idea that her son would play a part in the Prophesy.

“Would you like to see it?”

Lake had wanted to see the tattoo since he'd sat down beside her, but her son was almost a man and not required to show his mother his naked chest.

Rider stretched out the collar of his shirt and revealed the word written in old fashioned cloister letters. Dawn’s Knight.

Lake gasped.

“What?” Rider quickly covered himself.

“That's your name. I mean, I always thought Rider meant night, as in what followed the day, not as in a protector.”

“So then I don’t understand. Is this a person, an event, what does it mean?”

Lake gave him a small smile. “I guess it means you’re the dawn’s protector. You'll find out soon enough, and you'll know what to do when that time comes.”

Rider grabbed the reigns and they started down the road. He was quiet for a long time, and Lake began to relax. Maybe her son didn't have the whole weight of the Prophesy on his shoulders.

Rider stared straight ahead. “Do you think I can do it?”

Lake's heart skipped a beat.

“Do what, honey?”

“Protect the dawn. Save the world?”

Lake's heart sank like a poorly crafted boat with a hole in the middle of it, but then she studied her son—his strong, broad shoulders, the intelligence in his eyes, the goodness of his heart, and the loyalty in his soul. This was a good leader. He would be a good leader. The anxiety of what was before her son left her. He would have his trials and heartache, but the Prophesy had given him a partner, and Lake knew more than anyone, that with the right woman beside him, he would change the world.

Lake didn’t hesitate for a second before grabbing his hand, and with nothing but pride and love in her heart, she told him the truth. “Of that, I have no doubt.”

 

 

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