Committed (Betrothed 4)
Epilogue
Sofia
The sun had just set on the square of the bazaar, so the flames from the bonfires started to burn brightly. There was music coming from everywhere, followed by the sounds of clinking pots, camels moving around the area, and the occasional altercation.
My husband took me by the hand and guided me through the chaos.
My husband.
I could call him that again…and I would never take it for granted.
“You still know the way?”
He glanced down at me with a handsome smile on his face. “Baby, I know everything.”
I laughed then gave him a playful tickle on the side.
He didn’t react the way I would because his body was hard, with just muscle and skin.
He guided me around the fire dancers and cobras then took me down a separate alleyway that was much quieter than the rest of the bazaar. There was a pottery stand and a lone purple tent.
He pointed. “That’s it.”
When Hades had told me the story of the gypsy and the fortune she’d read, I believed it immediately. Throughout our entire relationship, I’d always felt like there was a swirling fog clouding my thoughts and restraining my true feelings. If that had never been there, I suspected I would’ve fallen in love with him on our first night in that hotel room.
But something had stopped me the entire time.
I distinctly remembered the day my heart started to ache with so much love that I thought it would burst. I went from simply respecting him to loving him a lifetime’s worth overnight. It sprang on me so quickly that my body couldn’t acclimate fast enough.
So, once I was in love…I was deeply in love.
I couldn’t imagine my life with anyone else. I couldn’t imagine taking another man as my husband. I was loyal and committed, even when I had no reason to be.
Because I always knew, deep down inside, that this man was my soul mate.
He stopped in front of the tent. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes.” I rose on my tiptoes and kissed him on the lips.
His arm nestled deeper into the curve of my back, and he placed his other hand on my small belly, where our second son was slowly growing inside me.
I pulled away first then strutted fearlessly into the tent. “I’m not scared of anything.”
He followed me inside.
A woman in a purple shawl sat there, covered in jewelry on her earlobes, on her neck, and her wrists. She was playing with a deck of cards, oblivious to the two of us. “I suspect this is the last time I will see you, Hades.” She grabbed all the cards and returned them to a neat stack then she lifted her chin to meet our gazes.
Hades stayed behind me. “I hope so.”
The gypsy turned to me. “How can I help you, Sofia?”
Did Hades tell her my name? “I want to know my fortune.” I took the seat across from her.
“Are you sure about that?” She glanced at my husband. “Because it can ruin lives…”
I shook my head. “I know we’re going to have a happy ending.”
She grabbed the cards again and only took the top half of the deck. She did some shuffling before she laid out the cards in front of me.
Hades stood behind my chair and placed his hands on the wooden frame.
After studying the cards for a while, she picked out two from the arrangement and pushed them toward me. “Are you sure?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Your boys will grow to be men. The women they marry will be daughters to you, not in blood, but in water. Your lifetime will be short, not in duration, but in speed. Happiness and bliss pass much more quickly than sorrow and despair, which you will have very little of. You will outlive your husband in old age, but by only two days…because you will die of a broken heart.”
Tears welled in my eyes because that was exactly what I wanted for the rest of my life, to live a long and happy life with the man I loved, and not to live long without him. I felt Hades place a hand on my shoulder and grip me gently.
The gypsy gathered the cards and returned them to the stack. “Are you satisfied with your fortune?”
My hand rested on his, and I looked up to see him staring down at me. “Yes.”