Author's Note:
Thank you for joining me on the journey that is The Ostler's Boy. Thank you for all your comments, laughs, reads and reading lists. You all truly humble me.

✨🦢✨

Though this is the end of The Ostler's Boy, BOOK 1, the story continues in Of Swords and Horses, BOOK 2. (And then a Crown in Ash, BOOK 3).

If you liked this, I'd love for you to read my other work!

Birds & Bullets
Once Upon a Knight

Or check out my paperback and ebooks on Amazon:

The Miranda Rites Trilogy
The Holiday Affair

Again, thank you for such a gift as your readership.

Megan

• • •

There wasn't anything inherently illegal about changing his name. At least from what I'd uncovered. Which made the switch back to Willem Ólason, rather easy. What was difficult, was explaining to every person either of us had ever met that 'Cyrus Evergreen' was nothing more than a passing dream. I think it was shocking that I had brought home a man whose identity was not that of a secret Prince, but of an ostler's son, and in particular one that a few of the older servants recognized.

Sam took the news the best, if you could believe it. Though he had married Lady Agatha, the very week we split, and sired an heir immediately, I think in some way, he had been affected by the dismissal of our bond. In an excited, but drunken confession on his wedding night, he told Willem and I that he'd found comfort in the idea that this— this relationship he and I had abandoned— was torn apart by Fate. Not anything of his doing.

Softer, he'd said our love story had reinforced his own.

The same night, Elías was actually happy to give his consent to Willem when he asked him for my hand. Of course, I had not expected such a thing, and became aware of it when Eli informed me. Er— rather, confirmed that he should in fact grant the blessing. 

We married each other in the winter, which only felt appropriate for our roots, but in Chalke. In the chapel where we had first discovered each other— It was good luck, after all.

And my Willem continued to teach swordplay in both empires. He calibrated his efforts towards troubled youth, particularly but not exclusively to poor and troubled youth. With the help of Ser Elías and Ser Willoughby, we started 'Swords & Horses', a sort of community center, so to speak, and every year they demonstrated their skills in Town Centre during the holidays.

In his down time, Willem bred and sold race horses, and to no one's surprise, after devoting a significant amount of time to finding the right ostler for us, he worked beside the man just as much as ever.

I never built him that house near the castle, but we did purchase the old farmstead as a vacation home. For visits to Sam and Aggy's, as staying in the Palace felt less intimate for the way we spent our nights.

Back home, I had my mother's chamber fashioned into a nursery for our children. An unexpected result of that was how happy Elías was with the idea— the ability to be back in my mother's room, where he confessed he 'felt closest to God.'

Cyrus and I slept next to each other every night. We rarely had any real fights, just bickerments over the little things, like why we shouldn't introduce a pair of swans to our garden. 'Mean,' he'd said before caving.

He was unfortunately right, and we had to relocate them further out that season after an incident with Ser Willoughby.

"Willem Elías!" I called, reaching for, but falling short of my child's blonde curly locks.

They bounced just beyond my hand and he snickered, too amused with himself for a boy of five for having outrun his very round mother. I groaned, turning to my King. "I don't know where he gets that," I moaned. "Help me."

Willem smirked, "Come along, son," scooping him into his arms far easier than I could ever dare. As they laughed and played, spinning once around in a full circle, I basked in their shared luminance.

My sweetest; the younger of the two, appeared out from behind his father's leg, pleading with two, tiny, outstretched toddler arms, far into the sky. "Mommy. Up!" he whined.

"Oh, Sam," I sang. "I will lift you again soon, but for now... Let's race Daddy back to the castle. Hurry! While he's slow!"

And we did.

We took off, barreling towards the two ivory mares, but it was not long before I was caught. A dramatic reach and "Save yourself!" to Sam was enough to be left behind in the wake of both children. They tore past me, tumbling over each other and through the front door past poor Elías, who then, a devoted playmate, went after them in suit.

And my Sword, my brave, unwaveringly sharp husband, swallowed me further from behind. He rested his hands on my swollen womb, and whispered into my ear. "I hope this one's a girl."

"What? No! Why? Why would you wish that upon me?" I cried.

"She will be as fierce as her mother."

I cringed; a serious frown. "That's exactly the problem. I thought you loved me?"

He grinned, pressing a soft kiss to my waves, now worn freely upon my shoulders. "I do love you, Swan. That's why there must be more of you in this world."

I rolled my eyes, twisting to face his. "And I love you, Ser Willem, but I think you'll soon regret wishing for a Little Bird. She'll be a force to reckon with and if our boys are any indication, she'll be three fold my ability."

"Oh, and reckon we will," he told me. "As I'm sure you'll teach her all the ways to sway me, too. Won't you?"

"I can be bargained with," I teased. "For a price."

His hand came to my face, and as I leaned into its warmth. Willem pressed a kiss to my forehead, my cheek, muttering; "Always a catch." He moved to my lips and smiled, quite devilishly as he pulled away. "I'm not getting more birds."

"No," I snickered, shaking my head, and after a long, warm, and consuming moment of just looking into his eyes, I smiled. "I love you, Willem."

"And I love you, Swan."

• • •

• • •

If you liked the totally messed up darkness of The Ostler's Boy, check out:

The Miranda Rites: Night Shift

A paranormal romance following the POV of Miranda Walker, a homicide detective dead-set on finding her missing sister. Watch her discovery of Werwölfe, radical vampires and all things that go bump in the night.

Content advisory: sex, love triangle, tarot, death, substance abuse, crime and violence.

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Coming Soon!

The Ostler's Boy II
Of Swords and Horses

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