Epilogue

When he next awoke he was alone in the bed. Rurik sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he looked out the window. It was amazing, really. When he had died he had been in the Shiverpeaks and the last memory was of snow and pines. And pain. Who could forget that kind of pain as tons of rock and debris had crushed his legs? Now, he woke and again, there was snow and pine. Only this time he was warm, dry, and while he still felt like someone had dragged him head first through a slate roof, he was alive. He ached, but they were deep muscle aches and bone aches from lying too long in one position.

Rurik was also hungry on a scale that he could never remember being. Listening to his stomach growl, he got up and mutter, "Yes, I know, I know. You can be quiet about it though!"

The floor was warm, but the air was cold, so he wrapped the quilt around him and walked over to the trunk where he could see his clothing—his clothing! Ah, Selena must have saved it for him. Curiously he noted the punched hole much farther than he'd ever been able to pull the belt tight and the loose stitching by the neck as if someone had attempted to make his clothes for a much smaller person. He used his belt knife to cut those stitches and dressed himself. Sliding his boots on he sighed as he slid the leather and fur tunic over his head.

Upon opening the door, he could hear the argument brewing.

"My dear Lady, how do we know that that man you took to bed with you so quickly is actually Rurik and not some imposter that you intend to pass off to lay claim to the throne?" the voice sounded like Lord Darrin, but hadn't left all of them behind in Old Ascalon?

Selena's answer was stock in trade hers, even if the volume and strength was no longer the demure Rosa he remembered. "I don't want the throne! Hell, Rurik and I left Ascalon because there was nothing left! Be Queen of what? A wasteland? Don't be absurd!"

"All Lord Darrin is saying is that no one has seen Prince Rurik but for me, you and Mhenlo since you returned from the Fire Isles," that was definitely Duke Barradin, and Rurik stopped where he was on the stairs, instead trusting in his wife.

She obviously had a clearer understanding of what was going on so it was better if she handled it before he caused any complications by walking right into the middle of it. Then again, it was about him in the first place. "And you saw whom?" she asked plainly.

"Well, I saw Rurik. There was no doubting that," Barradin's tone was a bit flat. "I must admit I am curious on how he might have survived the injury that would have caused that."

For a moment there was silence, as it appeared that the normally vocal Darrin who always had something to say suddenly did not. Nervous laugh, from Darrin, could be heard, "How indeed," there was a pause, "My dear Lady… if it is not him I am sorry for your loss…"

"It is him!" he could hear the insistence in her voice. "A wife knows these things, even if all he's done is sleep since we found him. He is so exhausted by his ordeal. He's so gaunt…"

Barradin cleared his throat and Rurik decided he'd had enough of the argument as he walked down the stairs. "What is this about imposters?" he asked as he walked as regally as his shaky legs allowed to stand beside Selena, touching her back as he did so in unspoken support. "And how dare you harass my wife about this when it clearly should have been brought to me."

Both Darrin and Barradin bowed upon his entrance. Then, when the stood again, Darrin said, "Forgive me, my Prince."

Rurik laughed hollowly, "The last I remember I was being thrown out of Ascalon, being told by my father that I was no longer his Prince, no longer his son. No, by popular vote, I am Lord Rurik only."

Barradin and Darrin looked at each other and sighed. But before either could say anything, Grast came in, saw Rurik, bowed and announced, "His Royal Majesty, King Adelburn of Ascalon."

For a moment, Rurik paled and Selena stepped back. But, as Rurik was still behind her all she succeeded in doing was backing up into his chest. He put an arm around her and whispered, "Don't worry. Remember, the King likes you. And I will not let anything happen."

When Adelburn entered, everyone knelt, even Rurik and Selena. "Stand," Adelburn sounded tired. "Rurik."

"King Adelburn of Ascalon," said Rurik formally. "Welcome to Deldrimor, although I suppose that honor would be better suited to King Jalis Ironhammer."

"He welcomed me already. Lord Darrin, Duke Barradin, Warmaster, if you please? I would like to talk to my son and his wife privately," Adelburn did not have to say anything else as they left quickly.

Rurik, curiously, caught the roguish wink from Barradin before he left the house. Adelburn walked over the to the table, poured himself a glass of wine and then sat down. He motioned for them to do the same. Rurik was surprised when Selena bowed her head slightly and joined the King at her table. Rurik sat beside her, opposite his father, sitting with his back straight. He was unsure of the purpose of this visit. "Rurik… I am sorry," said Adelburn. "What I said in Rin was harsh—"

"It was that, your Majesty," said Rurik.

"Dammit, Rurik, you're not making this any easier on me," Adelburn pointed a finger at his son.

"My life has not been easy since the Searing," Rurik's voice was flat. "Now, your Majesty…"

"I take back what I said," Adelburn sighed. "After you left I realized what I had done and… I felt a horror when I found out that you'd already left Ascalon and were in the Shiverpeak. I sent messenger after messenger after you. None returned. We now know why. Then, a dove was sent to Kasha Blackblood and she told me that Eve had sent her grave news. In crossing the Shiverpeak you had been killed by the Stone Summit. But, you had also married, eloped even, a love that you met in Ascalon and took with you. She was bearing you a child and by the time the message reached us was months away from delivering me a grandchild."

"And then you decided to 'forgive' me," Rurik was vaguely sarcastic, but did so without being rude. "So that you could lay claim on my child because you feared leaving behind no heir."

"No! Oh, Rurik, what have I done to make you so suspicious? No, I… wanted you to come back, to take back my words the minute I heard that you left Ascalon," Adelburn leaned over the table towards his son. "The words were spoken in anger, as most stupid words are. And it was stupid. In the end you were right and I was wrong. After you left I ordered us to fall back as far south as we could, and eventually… the Charr stopped coming. We waited and waited for them to come after us, but all they wanted was the lands around the Northern Wall. We settled not too far from Thunderhead Keep and Marhan's Grotto. Then we learned that Lady Selena had led those you led through the Shiverpeak to a New Ascalon—as well as giving birth to your son—whom your mother adores by the way."

"My son?" Rurik's eyes went wide as he turned to Selena. "You knew about my father forgiving me?"

"I did, even as I feared he would force us back to Old Ascalon," answered Selena. "But we came to an agreement through Duke Barradin. When it became obvious that I had to travel with my father I sent Salamar to your mother so that he would know all his family."

"And a little darling the young prince is, as well," an older woman, one that walked with obviously regality, walked from a room to the side. "Hello, Rurik."

Rurik stood in shock, "Mother…"

"Rurik, sit down before you fall down. Selena was gracious enough to welcome us into her temporary home," the Queen smiled. "Now, about this so-called fight between you and your father…"

Rurik smiled as he caught the edge of the glare at Adelburn from his own mother. Adelburn pales slightly, coughed and smiled, "I am sure that Rurik and I will come to an agreement. After all, there is this New Ascalon…"

"Yes," drawled Rurik. "There is. Now, since we are all here I must ask something…"

At that moment Salamar started to cry and Selena got up, squeezed her husband's shoulder before taking two steps to Salamar's room. His hand holding her arm as he stood stopped her. "Wait," he said as he nodded to his father and mother. "I think perhaps it is my turn to get to know my son and help with him. Sit… you have done enough."

At that moment his own stomach growled and Farina said, "Perhaps Salamar is not the only one hungry?"

Rurik laughed shortly, "Well, if I had not been so distracted by family and old friends, I would have been looking for something in the kitchen, yes."

"My son should not have to rummage in a kitchen," harrumphed Adelburn. "He never did before."

"Yes, well, father, many things have changes since leaving Ascalon," admitted as Rurik backed out of the room and into the other room.

When he entered, Salamar stopped crying and regarded him with large brown eyes. "Hello there," he whispered as he smoothed Salamar's hair. "We haven't met yet, but I'm your father…"

Father.

It had a strange ring to it to be associated with him. He bent down, soothing his son as he picked him up, wrapping him in the blankets. One small hand grasped his nose. "Yeah, I can see we share that feature," he smiled and Salamar smiled up at him. "You have my eyes as well, but I can see your mother's resilience… her strength. Her hands, too, I wonder why that is."

A few minutes later he could smell food cooking and he could tell that so did Salamar. Rurik chuckled, "Hungry, son? Well… so is your father."

Two people stared out at the mountains from the look out at Beacon's Perch. Raistlin Majere, who had a good two days of sleep to recover from the Fire Islands, and Akara Nikhiora, who had been by his side until he had. "You know, there's still the Titan threat," she pointed out.

"Yes, there is," said Raistlin. "But they are more than well enough equipped to handle it. No, my duty on this backwater world is done. I have utterly defeated Fistandantilus—he will bother no one else—and I have fulfilled the favor owed by me to the Gods. You have proven that you are more than capable as a spell caster and can now stand as an equal in your home city. I wonder at that—what will you do now?"

"I dunno," she admitted. "What about you?"

"I do not know either," he sighed. "Perhaps explore what else is out there. I find it curious that my apprentice made an apt observation that there are other worlds to explore. I wonder what else we can find… that is… if you wish to join me?"

"And planet hop?" she said. "Sure, what the hell? Sounds like a lark."

Two seconds later nothing was there but swirling snow.

Siuil La Rune knelt at the alter to the Vision of Glint. Devona stood by just behind him. When the vaguely transparent Glint appeared, she said, "Greetings, Ascended Ones. As you well know, there is a Titan Threat to take care of…"
"... And as we all know from history, my Father, King Adelburn, was killed during the Titan Insurgence," the now elderly King Rurik sat at the table in the library, age gnarled knuckles guant and thin. "My wife lays on her death-bed. It will not be long before I too, follow them into the blissful sleep of death."

"Do you regret this?" asked the young historian as she continued to write the tale that Rurik was telling her, a first hand accounting of the Searing and the Flameseeker Prophecy being fulfilled.

"What? No, child," the old man smiled. "Heavens above, I've lived long enough. I'm nearly one hundred years old... or I would have been had Selena and I not soul-bonded," Rurik took a moment to gather his thoughts, "But the Soul Bonding binds us together in life, and it will do so in death. When she dies, so will I. And I can feel both our lives slipping away."

"What happened to Siuil La Rune and the others?"

Rurik smiled, a twinkle lighting in his wrinkled face, "Ah, that is a tale for another time..."

THE END