Her heart swells into a sea of wildflowers...
as bird songs and whispering leaves weave through the
spirited unravelling of a honeyed voice in an arc of a miraculous spring.
A faint smile touches Neva's lips as she reaches down to pluck another ripe strawberry from the raised garden bed.
"And as I neared him," Evara says, her cheerful voice carried over by the floral-scented breeze,
"he halted me with such caution, although his vaunted virility was his undoing.
"You should have seen his face as the hare hissed and sent him tumbling onto his arse."
A soft laugh escapes Neva as she brushes a thumb over the smooth red strawberry.
Then she brings it to her lips, a prayer of gratitude threading through her as she bites into it,
juicy sweetness bursting across her tongue.
Farther within the garden, Evara straightens.
"Then he was enraged, for I laughed and laughed until my stomach ached," Evara says between laughter,
tucking her hair behind her ear as the breeze swirls through the flowers.
Neva chuckles. Evara has been telling her about the rabbit they caught in a trap they had set in the forest during the early days of their marriage.
Her husband, unlike Evara the huntress, had never hunted before, and tried to take over the task himself like the man of the house.
Yet between the glee of Evara's presence and God's grace,
a subtle melancholy blooms inside Neva's heart as the beautiful, young woman smiles while cutting flowers for a vase,
setting them in a wicker basket overflowing with freshly gathered vegetables and herbs.
Neva plucks the last of ripe strawberry from the patch and drops it into her own wicker basket, already filled with red strawberries.
She lives wholly within this blessing,
yet she can't help but long for more... just a little more time with Evara.
"Are you finished?" Evara's voice comes as another presence stirs near Neva.
"Yes." Neva's gaze drifts toward Sky.
Sky let's out a yawn, fingers combing through her tousled sunflower blonde hair. "Good morning."
"A very good morning." Evara strolls through the flowers toward the cottage, balancing the wicker basket in the crook of her arm.
She smiles at Sky near the entrance before turning to Neva. "I must see to the bread."
Neva nods, steadying the gentle weight of the wicker basket against her middle.
"Aren't you telling them?" Sky asks, tucking her hands inside her hoodie pockets.
Neva pulls her gaze away from Evara's vanishing figure into the cottage. "I'm not."
Sky offers her a small smile. "They would believe you, you know."
"I do." Neva pauses. "But that is not what concerns me."
Sky nods, glancing toward the garden. "I understand."
Neva brushes her fingertips across the velvet petals of a coral rose.
"When do you think he'll arrive?"
"Soon enough," Sky says. "The last time I heard from them was near twilight."
"Did everything go well?" Neva asks.
"I don't know all the details," Sky says. "But it went as well as it could have."
Neva smiles gently. "Then, I'd better go help with breakfast."
Sky folds her arms, something deep, unknowable flickering in her light blue eyes.
"So this mission…
and your calling… are finally ending."
"In Miraeth, yes." Leaves whisper against the skirt of her dress as Neva walks through the garden. "But my calling has only begun."
"A way will be made when all the believers have gathered," Sky says quietly. "I can't say I fully grasp it."
She pauses. "But your faith… it's admirable."
Neva stops beside her, admiring Evara's garden yielding to the blooming spring in all its prismatic softness.
"You didn't believe before, did you?"
"Not really. But I've been reading the Bible," Sky says. "Jack lent it to me."
"All this strategy to defend and survive… it always felt unfair somehow.
Like a game of chess." Her voice softens. "And I never even had the King."
Sky let's out a quiet sigh.
"It's comforting to know that even the most damned can still find redemption."
"Christ came into this world, taught us how to endure it, and overcame it," Neva says.
"And left behind the manual for it all." Sky's voice lowers into quiet reflection.
Neva smiles at her. "I'm glad you found your way home."
Sky smiles back. "Thank you for making me part of this. It's been… eye-opening."
"Hey!" comes a bright, familiar voice. Ace.
Ace waves as he strolls through the narrow trodden road girdled by lush bushes and hanging trees,
with Neal walking just ahead of him.
"Please tell me I haven't welcomed fugitives into my home." Neal, the tall dark-haired hunter armed with a bow and arrows,
carries two poor wild geese hanging from a rope tied to their scrawny black feet.
"Actually, you did," Sky says, earning Ace a wary glance from Neal.
Ace lifts his hands innocently. "She's my girlfriend, sir."
All this radiance around her, and yet, Neva's soul lingers only within the haven of those warm eyes fixed on her, butterflies stirring in her belly as her husband smiles.
"Oh, what have you got there?" Evara asks from the cottage doorway.
"A set of geese and a pair of grown men," Neal jokes as he walks toward her. Evara laughs, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Hi, babe." Ace flashes a grin as he approaches them.
Sky gives him a narrowed look before facing Rhett. "Who did you assign the job to?"
"Jack and Hunter will go," Rhett says.
Neva searches him for wounds, relief loosening her chest when she finds none.
"The agency will know what to do," he adds as he steps in front of her.
And the next thing she feels is the warmth and protective solidity of him,
making her want to simply melt into him.
"How are you?" he murmurs into her hair, his arms tightening around her.
"I'm alright," she whispers.
"Do we know what's going on here?" Neal's tone is coated in dismay.
Neva blinks through the haze of a dream… living inside even a dreamier miracle.
A miracle surging in a defiant moment of a million hours past, and yet, here they are.
Rhett slowly pulls away before turning toward them.
"He's Rhett, my husband." Neva takes his hand in hers before she glances toward Ace. "And he's Ace, our friend."
Ace lowers his head in reverence.
"And meet Neal and Evara…" A lump tightens in Neva's throat, though she manages a small smile. "They're the ones the Lord wanted me to meet, for my Inaya."
Evara offers a smile and bows her head slightly.
"You let your pregnant wife travel alone to tend to sick children?''
A crease forms between Neal's brows. "What kind of husband are you?"
"Hush…" Evara murmurs, giving Neal a look.
Neva gently squeezes Rhett's hand as she feels him tense beside her.
"Believe me, he would have if he could," Neva says politely. "He just had something important to take care of first."
"Nothing could matter more than your family," Neal says, still visibly displeased.
"Anyhow, come join us for supper."
"Thank you, but we should leave," Rhett says, glancing at Neva.
"Rhean's alone at the camp."
Neva hesitates when Neal says, "That little girl's still recovering. Let her rest at least another day before traveling."
"We have enough chambers, though you may need to make do," Evara says. "Come inside. Supper shall be ready in a moment."
"Uh, I'd like to wash up a bit," Ace says.
"I will show you where the bathing room is," Evara says as Neal steps inside.
"You may borrow some of my husband's clothes if you do not mind."
"That'd be great," Ace replies.
"I'll take the antidote to the guys." Sky heads toward the entrance. "But after breakfast."
"Can I have some?" Ace asks, eyeing the fruits in Neva's wicker basket.
"Sure." Neva holds the basket toward him.
"Though you're supposed to wash them first."
Ace grabs a strawberry anyway. "Fresh from the garden hits different." He grins and takes a bite.
Neva turns toward Rhett as Ace heads inside.
"Come with me. You must be exhausted."
She barely takes a step before he catches her wrist.
"I don't understand any of this." A faint frown shadows his face.
"I know," she murmurs. "I'll explain everything."
His gaze softens on her.
She inhales quietly as he closes the distance between them, his forehead coming to rest against hers. "I couldn't thank God enough for keeping you safe."
"Thank you for trusting me," she murmurs. "For trusting Him through all of this."
He pulls her closer by the waist, his lips meeting hers in a soft kiss.
"Please… tell me we're done parting from each other." His breath warms her lips.
"I pray so," she whispers, yet, out of nowhere,
a numbing anxiety seeps through her.