Epilogue
Rollo watched as Gisla burst into tears and he felt his heart leap to his throat. Perhaps he had miscalculated. Perhaps she had hated him all along.
"Gisla? Gisla, what is wrong?" He asked in fear and confusion.
She moved her hand to wipe her tears away so she could look him in the eye. "Nothing is wrong." She said tears still forming in her eyes, "Nothing is wrong or will ever be wrong again. It was you. It was always you."
She moved towards him and placed all the kinds of kisses she had upon his lips: the tender ones, the passionate ones, the childish ones, the lustful ones. She was in love with her husband, she had always been in love with her husband.
She pulled back from him and watched elation and wonder cover his face, "Have you always known?"
"No, but you made me see what my eyes could not."
Her words touched him and this time, it was he who kissed her. Fully, passionately, overwhelmingly. And once again they made love. No longer in the darkness, but in the light. And in that moment neither one had ever felt so complete or so wanted. In unity with a force larger than themselves. They were fit for each other. The ideal pair. The perfect match.
Many jaws dropped and heads turned as they strode arm and arm together into the feast hall. The Emperor himself went pale and his eyes darted around the room in search of some form of explanation. "Gisla what is all this?" He asked in uncertainty.
His daughter smiled back at him, and answered, "This is my way of showing all of Paris that I was mistaken. That I had misjudged. My husband is not a filthy heathen who wishes me harm. No, he is not that at all. And I wish for everyone far and wide to know that if he shows half as much love and devotion to Paris as he has shown to me then we will never have anything to fear again."
Rollo looked down at her and smiled, and then said to the crowd, "And this is my way of showing that I am far from displeased with my wife. For despite what you may think she has been with one man, and that is me. And I could never be displeased with such a good, pleasing, and perfect bride."
Her husband stepped into the bedroom in his nightshirt and a strange feeling flooded Gisla. It was such a foreign and yet familiar thing for him to do and Gisla understood that they were truly going to live as man and wife now.
Her mind suddenly flooded with all the harsh things she had once thought of him. How he was a violent savage, and little more than a dog. How could she have ever been so wrong?
And to make matters worse she had shared all of these nasty and unfair thoughts with him, intimately and in detail. And now here he was in her chambers smiling at her almost bashfully. Perhaps being married was new to him too. He seemed happy, but why? Should he not hate her for all the cruel things she had said to him? She had been vicious and he showed her only kindness in return.
She felt a stray tear run down her cheek as she realized that it was she who was the savage. He had wanted to love her like this from the beginning and she had only scorned him.
Rollo seemed to see her sadness and moved towards her. He took her in his arms and whispered, "I had always hoped that there would be less tears in the light. What troubles you?"
Gisla wiped at her eyes. She had not meant to cry. In many ways, she was so very happy. But she was still upset over how awful she had been to him. "Why did you do it," she asked.
He tilted his head in confusion, "Do what?"
"Come to me. Stay with me. You were always so kind."
"I did it because you are my wife."
Gisla was not satisfied with this simple answer, "No there must be more. Each night I openly scorned and mocked you. I called you a dog, a savage, and so much worse. How could you not hate me after all this?"
"I do not know, perhaps it was destiny."
She looked at him in disbelief. "You believe in destiny that strongly?"
"No, I fell in love with you that strongly."
The End
Author's Notes: It's finished! A special thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed. I honestly could not have done it without your support, comments, and criticism. In many ways this is as much your success as it is mine.
