The City of Light
"I knew death hadn't come for you," Tobias murmured in Luna's ear. Her body, once tense and drawn from the expansion of carrying two children was now supple and lax. It melted into his frame.
"Tobias," she murmured in his neck, looking up at him. "Your speech," she placed a slender finger on his mouth in wonderment. "Many things begin anew."
"I knew it," Tobias insisted. "Every day I kept watch outside the place where your body was kept. I knew you were gone from me, but I knew that you were not dead."
"And how could you have known that?" She was still staring at his lips, as if seeing them for the first time.
Tobias smiled. "I am of the wild, where dying is a part of life. You did not smell of death."
Luna laughed again, her eyes dancing. "And what did I smell like?"
"Like the earth," Tobias' hands circled her hips. "Like the earth after a summer rain."
Still laughing, Luna countered, "And what do I smell like now?"
Tobias didn't speak. Instead he kissed her softly. Her mouth was warm and sweet.
For a moment, Luna kept her eyes open. As a married woman she had known a man before, but she had never felt anything like this. Understanding Tobias to be worthy, she closed her eyes and allowed him to possess her, delicately at first and then with more force. They drew each other close. Her breasts were full and tender against his hard chest. Her aching nipples grazed the fabric of the cloth between them. The sensation caused her to break apart from the embrace, memories of birth flooding her mind. "The children?" her voice was anxious.
"Beautiful. Resilient. Healthy." Tobias reassured. "Everyone is healthy, Lincoln, everyone."
Luna was relieved, but she had to ask one more question, "And him?"
Tobias' face was sturdy: "He will never hurt you again. No one will."
Luna sighed and rested her head on Tobias' shoulder, peaceful.
"My trance saved me," he heard her say. "It took me far away from here and I had a vision."
"What does the future hold?"he enquired, kissing her brow.
Luna broke away again, looking at Tobias excitedly. "Not the future; the past. Tobias, I remember what happened to me when the mist came. The key to everything lies in the City of Light."
"And I will take you there," he promised. "As soon as you are strong enough and as soon as the twins are old enough. I have found the way."
She nodded, believing in him.
"Now there is something we must do," he quietly declared.
Bundling her in his cloak, Tobias took Luna to her children.