Warriors of Poseidon 04 - Atlantis Unmasked

this time her voice held tsunamis and crashing destruction and the weight of ages. A goddess was a goddess, no matter how appealing. Grace made a mental note to never forget that.
     
    “I think I‟ll stay the way I am, if I might ask another boon, my lady,” Alexios said. “Will you offer your blessing on our union? I will promise to learn more of you, so that Grace and I may raise our children to know you.”
     
    Grace was speechless at Alexios‟s daring, but Diana merely tilted her head to one side, as if considering. Finally, she smiled. “I accept your request and bless your union, now and until the moon no longer crosses the sky. You will name your daughter Penarddun.”
     
    Grace felt like she was choking on the boulder that somehow had gotten lodged in her throat. “What? I mean, thank you, my lady, for your blessing. I will attempt to live up to it.”
     
    Alexios‟s mouth had fallen open but he snapped it shut, staring at Diana. “What daughter? We‟re going to have a daughter?”
     
    Atlantis Unmasked - Warriors of Poseidon 04
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    Diana gestured gracefully at the moon. “In about nine turns of the moon, if I remember these things correctly. You shall name her Penarddun, and she shall be blessed by the huntress moon.”
     
    “Pregnant? Are you saying I‟m pregnant?” Grace put her hands on her entirely flat stomach. “But . . . I . . . why Penarddun?” she asked stupidly, settling on the least important question of the hundreds whirling around in her mind.
     
    “A showdown between the gods is coming. Yet another Doom of the Gods, as the wheel of the world progresses inexorably onward.” Diana‟s face grew grim. “The ancient prophecy foretold that only a child who has blood from all races in his veins will save the world from the folly of the gods. Penarddun is to be part of that prophecy coming true, as shall the young prince, Aidan.”
     
    “But—”
     
    “Enough!” Diana raised her hands into the air and the moonlight bathed her in a whirling vortex of spinning, shimmering light. “This is all I can tell you for now. Go to Atlantis.
    Meet your new family. We will talk again, my daughter.”
     
    And then she was gone. Grace and Alexios just stared into the air, at the empty space where she‟d been, for a long while until Grace realized she was going to have to face him sometime.
     
    “So,” she began, at the same time he said, “So.
     
    They laughed, and then Alexios put his hand on her abdomen, a look of wonder on his face. “My child? You are truly to bear my child?”
     
    She nodded slowly. “So it appears, although I‟m probably going to need a pregnancy test or two before I believe it. Modern medicine meets ancient prophecy, oh, my.”
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    “Penarddun?” he said doubtfully. “It‟s a lovely name, but—”
     
    “Penny,” she said firmly. “We‟ll name her Penarddun, no way I‟m disagreeing with a goddess who happens to be my ancestress, but we‟ll call her Penny.”
     
    He smiled, and it was like the dawn sunshine breaking over the waves. “Penny. I like it.
    Only fitting since you and she will always be my fortune.”
     
    They kissed, standing on the beach where a goddess had just foretold their future, for a very long time. Then he raised his head and sketched a gesture in the air. A shimmering oval began to form, and Grace caught her breath.
     
    “Shall we take the diamond home where it belongs, mi amara ?”
     
    She wrapped her arms around her warrior—her love—and nodded. “Home, Alexios.
    Wherever you are will always be my home.”
     
    He kissed her again and then, together, they stepped through the portal and into Atlantis. As they passed through the magical doorway, she was certain that she heard her brother‟s voice, and she stumbled from the shock of it.
     
    “Well done, baby sister. Now you live. For me, for yourself, and for your baby. Well done.”
     
    If there were tears in her eyes when she first stepped foot on Atlantis, she thought it was only fitting. Now. Now she would live, with love, light, and laughter.
     
    Alexios smiled down at her, and together they and their unborn daughter took the first step into their future.
     
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    in the Warriors of Poseidon series
     
    ATLANTIS REDEEMED
     
    By Alyssa Day
     
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