Cake and JusticeConnor fell asleep in the rocking chair in the nursery. It was an old habit from when the kids were toddlers and he and Trang would fall asleep, exhausted, for quick naps in between feedings. Now she was gone, and he dreamed of better times.
He wasn't going to find them.
He blinked open his eyes, sleepily, only to find that he wasn't alone, but it wasn't his wife who had come back to visit him. Connor wiped the sleep out of his eyes with confusion. "Am I--asleep?"
The figure in the rocking chair beside him simply nodded. The rocking chair creaked like so many crickets, filling up the silence.
Connor: "Wait, don't I . . . I know you," he said suddenly. "You're that girl Tris invited to stay with us. I don't understand. Why are you here, and--old?"
In response, images filled his mind: the sudden knowledge of what he had taken, the red dragon bent on destruction. He fell to the floor.
Connor awoke in the morning, still safely in his rocking chair. Clearly, it was time to make some changes. He set about baking three cakes. Today was going to be an even bigger day than he had thought.
"Well kids, its time for me to be moving on--settling into retirement and all that," he announced suddenly as the kids crowded into the kitchen for breakfast. "Tris, the house is yours."
Connor celebrated his elder birthday and, while her siblings all eyed her askance, Tris turned to Samura.
Tris: "A bit of your work?" she asked, cocking a knowing eyebrow.
Samura just shoveled in another mouthful of cake.
Connor was, after all, a bit of a romantic. After making a new acquaintance at a party last week, he had thrown up a sudden wish to get married again.
So after sorting out some suitable elder clothes, he did just that.
Connor O'Reily left Bloodstone Manor and took up residence with his new wife in the old Prince family home.
Samura had her cake, and ate it, too.
