The Hill-King's Bride: an Allegory for the Modern Church

Closure

Knowing what the king intended, Maple shrugged. "I warned them that you would come, that they would pay for what they did, but they didn't listen and I was still kept here against my will even when I offered to make their apologies." Overcome by his nearness and by the fierce love in his eyes, Maple reached up to touch his cheek. "I have a few things to gather up. Do as the king must."

His hand dropped to her waist as Bryn pulled her close for a firm kiss that ended only with Cade's voice.

"That's my little lamb, Bryn!"

Laughing, the king released his beloved. Maple ran to Cade. "Da!" He bent to hug her, so she threw her arms around his neck.

With a sigh, Cade swept her up and turned her in a circle as he hugged her. "My girl!"

"Papa, I'm sorry!"

Cade set Maple down, then changed his mind and hugged her again. "Nope, none of that. Rowen- Ma explained. Come on, My Lamb."

Maple felt like a little girl, safe with her daddy. "Papa, I found the Broderick sword, and a bow I think might be from the cliff-dwellers."

Not to be excluded, Bowen dropped an arm around Maple's shoulders. "Show us then!" he urged. "And as soon as we get it emptied, we can burn that thing they called a cabin."

Rowen agreed as she approached, "but first, let us see where our lamb has been. She will have stories of Rhys."

Suddenly reminded that Rowen was Rhys' sister and still grieving his loss, not merely Maple's adopted mother, Maple led them to the cabin. They'd already been at work, she discovered. The chest sat outside the cabin, alongside the firewood and even the irons from the fireplace.

"I found his sword, Mama," she said as she opened the chest. "But it's buried under everything I wanted to bring home." Sheepishly, she closed the lid again.

"We didn't know what all you wanted, so we just took everything," Bowen explained. Maple grinned and hugged him in thanks. She had to release him quickly though, in order to follow Cade and Rowen inside the disintegrating cabin.

Rowen turned a small circle, taking in the cabin. "He did a good job on that fireplace," she murmured. "How hard it must have been for him not to have a forge!"

"His hand was crippled. He said it had been smashed by a boulder."

Cade's eyes filled with tears that he blinked back. "It was a hammer," he murmured, then straightened his back. "Let's get that chest outside further away from where it might catch fire. Bowen, grab the other end, yeah?" Wordlessly, Bowen followed him from the cabin.

Her attention taken by Cade's reaction to his wife's comment, Maple watched the two of them carry her chest. When she came back in, Rowen was seated on the cold hearth, working loose a stone. "Mama?"

"Your papa was a particular man, Maple. Every forge he built had the same feature- the same stone used to hide things behind. I know this because he learned it from our grandfather." Rowen worked at the stone, obviously having trouble freeing it from its place in the wall. "Anyway, if I'm wrong, you'll have this as memento before we burn the place, anyway," Rowen finished in a sheepish voice.

The stone worked free, so Rowen handed it to Maple before reaching inside the cavity. Her hand went in much farther than the original stone's depth. When she pulled free, there was a leather-wrapped bundle in her hand. Shaking, Rowen opened it. "Oh, Rhys! You rat!" Maple was startled by the outraged exclamation. "I always knew he was the one who stole this. He must have given it to Lily when you were conceived, Sweetheart."

She held up an ornate necklace that had been set with multiple precious gems. Rowen sighed as she stood up and fastened the necklace around Maple's neck. "They were wed in secret, almost a year before we started down toward the sea," Rowen explained. "I followed him once and caught them together and that's how I found out. He begged me to keep his secret because Lily was betrothed to another. We didn't speak much after I promised, but I know you were born just before we left. When we came back and camped at the spring where we were attacked, she was there already. I think when he hid this, he was hoping I'd find you one day. "