small child between them as they crossed the street. "When I am married, I will come back with my husband and liberate whoever is still working here. I shall offer you all jobs and we will eat peppermint tarts until our bellies ache."
Wendlyn had leaned over then and given her a hug. "Our Seren, ever thinking of us first." She'd squeezed her hard before she returned to her work. "You will have your husband. I know it. And he will be a fine man indeed."
"Aye," Marie had agreed. "Only the best for our Seren."
Only the best…
Seren opened her eyes to find herself sitting on the floor in Kerrigan's lap. He had his arms wrapped around her as he continued to rock her gently.
The voices of the past were silent now. All gone. They left a peculiar emptiness inside her. She felt the same and yet she didn't. She had more knowledge now. It was as if she were somehow connected to the universe around her. She could feel the force of it. The beauty. The power.
Her body trembling, she reached up to place her hand to Kerrigan's cheek. For once, his skin wasn't cold. It was almost a normal temperature. His whiskers scraped her palm as he opened his eyes to stare down at her.
Time seemed suspended as their gazes locked and held. There was nothing more hidden between them. She had glimpsed this man's heart and found it every bit as cold and merciless as he had claimed.
In his life, he'd known nothing but suffering as those around him used him for their own purposes. The insults of his past echoed in her head. They stung and they mocked.
And she learned that there were some scars that never healed. Some pain that time didn't dull.
Her poor Kerrigan…
Wanting to comfort him, she pulled his head down so that she could capture his lips with her own.
Kerrigan cupped her head in his palm as he opened his mouth to welcome her inside him. He'd had no idea of what sharing his powers with her would do to them.
Now he knew.
For the first time in his life, he'd seen another existence from the inside of it. He'd heard the gentle sound of her mother's voice. Had heard the laughter of the women she worked with. The acceptance. The love. It boggled him.
But more than that, it tore him asunder. Now he knew what he'd never known. He was privy to normality. To kindness and caring. No wonder his little mouse was so calm and gentle.
Pain seized him as he realized that such a life was forbidden to something like him. There would never be such decency in his world. No laughter or comfort. He'd made his decision long ago to be a demon lord and to live among others who were cruel like him.
His child, however, was another matter. He wouldn't allow it to be born in Camelot. Not with Morgen and her court there to corrupt and ruin him.
No matter what it took, he would see Seren and this child safe.
Somehow he would find a place for them so that she could live and give love to a part of him that he would never know. A part of him that he wouldn't see or hold. His child…
It was for the best.
Pulling back from their kiss, he offered her a smile. "You've been through much this day, my lady. You should rest."
Seren drew a deep breath as her fingers lingered on his mouth to toy with his lips. "I am tired, and at the same time, I'm not." She glanced up from his lips to those dark eyes that smoldered with his fire. She remembered now what they had looked like as she'd seen him before Morgen had entered his world. "Your eyes used to be blue."
"That was a long time ago."
Seren leaned back against his chest so that she could see him better. "Tomorrow we will stand together and we will fight Morgen."
He shook his head. "We can't. It will still take some time for you to get used to those powers inside you. There are times even now when mine get the better of me."
"Perhaps, but I feel so peaceful right now. At ease. It's as if I've always had my powers." She kissed his scarred knuckles and inhaled the warm scent of his skin.
Kerrigan wished he could make her understand the truth of what she was feeling. But to be honest, he was enjoying this moment with her.