Chapter Sixteen: Uncertainty
Four Years Later
Dagonet sat idly on his black horse, one hand holding the reins loosely, the other crossed over the first. He surveyed the battlefield sadly, blood still wet on his sword. They had won the battle and the Woads had retreated to the trees, but now the bloody field was covered in the survivors searching the dead and the wounded.
Automatically his eyes scanned the Woad women, as he had always done since she had left him. He hadn't seen her since that night so many years ago, when he had watched her sleep in his arms, but somehow he knew she was still alive, somewhere out there.
It was more a certainty that he would know if she was dead rather than any proof that she lived, but it was enough for Dagonet. His eyes came to rest on a small child with dark brown hair running among the corpses, inspecting their faces.
"So sad that one so young should perform such a task," he thought as he watched the child.
The boy suddenly stopped beside the body of one dead Woad. His face showed some concern, but it was evident to Dagonet that even the child, who could not be much over four years old, was familiar with death.
The boy turned his head and called out across the sea of corpses. Dagonet's eyes wandered to see who would respond to his calls, and the next moment his heart almost stopped.
For it was her. He knew her from every dream he had ever had in the last four years: the blue-black hair, the graceful walk, and stunning blue eyes. She went slowly towards the boy and knelt beside the body, taking the child in her arms.
Dagonet slowly urged his horse forwards into a walk and approached her.
Adara knelt beside the body, tears in her eyes. She gathered her son in her arms, holding him tightly as if to remind herself of everything she still had.
She was suddenly aware of a presence just outside her vision and looked up sharply, to see him. She froze in shock as their eyes met, unable to believe what she was seeing. Slowly, she stood up, taking her son in her arms, and walked towards the man she could not believe existed.
Dagonet slid down from his horse and stood, uncertain. Adara stopped with three paces between them, and for a moment they just stood there. Then Dagonet's gaze dropped to the small boy she held in her arms and his eyes widened slightly.
Adara, noticing where his gaze fell, set her son on the floor, and whispered a few words in his ear. He glances uncertainly at Dagonet for a moment before running off towards the trees. Adara took another step towards Dagonet, shaking slightly.
"Is it you?" she asked, her voice scarcely above a whisper.
Dagonet said nothing, for the words caught in his throat, but he nodded slightly. They stood, immobile, as wave after wave of forgotten feelings crashed through them at the other's presence.
"The boy…" Dagonet finally managed to say.
"Lucan," Adara said, and Dagonet saw the trace of a smile on her lips as she thought fondly of her son. "He's almost four years old," she said irrelevantly.
Dagonet said nothing, unable to ask the question that burned in his throat. He looked down, unable to find the strength to ask about Lucan. Instead he searched for something to break the uncomfortable silence between them.
"Who…who is the man you were looking for?" he asked roughly.
Adara immediately winced in almost physical pain, and Dagonet instantly regretted asking the question. But the pain was not for the loss of the fallen as he thought, she was hurting because of who the man was.
"He…he was my husband," Adara whispered, her face flushing in shame as she looked down.
Dagonet's face immediately clouded over. He had waited four years for her, dreamt of her every night, looked for her on every battlefield, and she had got married? While he was suffering over his love for her, she had found another man and evidently loved him from the pain on her face.
"Dagonet!" Adara pleaded, seeing the film of ice come over his expression, cutting her off from him and hiding his heart. "Please, let me explain!"
"There's nothing for me to hear," he said expressionlessly, and turning away from her, swung up onto his horse.
"Dagonet!" he heard her final cry as he rode away. Shame burnt in him. He had loved her and now he looked like a fool. She had never loved him! She had just used him to escape, and then returned to her life, without ever sparing a thought for him. He was a fool for even imagining that she could feel for him what he felt for her.
Watching the only man she had ever loved ride away, Adara felt as if her world was breaking apart. She dropped to her knees, crying his name, but if he heard he showed no sign of it. Adara felt tears run down her face.
That was it. The one chance she had to make things right between the father of her child and herself, and she had ruined it. She would never see him again, and he would forever hate her for what was not her fault.
A/N – what do you think? Ooh the tension! Will they ever meet again? Tune in, same time, same place for the next exciting instalment! Just joking! Actually I'm gonna be away for a week or so, so you'll just have to learn to be patient. Are you any good at that? Let's hope so! And I'm in a well random mood so I'm gonna stop before I say something really weird and scare you off reviewing!