The worn string of beads she had been toying with fell from excited fingers.  The familiar act had helped to hold fear at bay, while she waited for rescue.  When days turned into months and those into a year, she’d never given up hope.  Continuing to trust in her bond.  She’d dreamed of this last night, as she had since she’d been taken from him.  Stolen from him, just before their wedding day.  This time, it was no dream. At last, he’d found her.  She stood, wanting to face whatever waited on the other side of that door on her feet.

The door swung open bringing glaring light into her dimly lit room.  The outline of a large male filled the doorway.  She blinked trying to adjust her eyes.  Not her uncle; he stood no taller than she. The man lowered his glowing hand and then she saw him.

His hair was longer than she remembered, hanging loose to his waist, black with a white streak in the center proclaiming him a powerful mage.  His face seemed harsher, paler too.  There were age lines at the corners of his beautiful blue eyes, though he was only two seasons older than she.  No hint of the smile she knew him capable of curved his lips, but his eyes were as she remembered and they blazed with fire.  For her, all for her.