Once Mahon had taken Nemone to her quarters and a healer had seen to her wounds, he had spent the rest of the day and all of that night holding vigil by her side. He'd nodded off a few times, only to wake up disoriented for a moment and worried for her well-being. He gave little thought to Marka's death, relieved Ethan had been up to the task. Gia had been by to see her daughter and had told him what had happened, but for now, his only thought and concern were for his Nemone.

When all was said and done, there wasn't much wrong with Nemone that time and gentle handling wouldn't heal. Gia had told him what had happened to put his lifemate on a stake in the first place - once Nemone was certain they had done all they could do to prepare for their rebellion, she had decided the only way to get the news out fast across the valley was to challenge Marka openly in front of the men and women. This she had done, and had been tackled by almost all of the woman's personal guard, resulting in a blow to the head that had bled profusely but not done much damage. It had been Marka's decision to stake her out to die in nothing but her underclothes; if the various militia had not arrived when they did, Gia was sure a third night in the cold air would have killed her daughter.

As it was, Nemone's injuries were minor; all she needed now was care to regain her strength. As that first night rolled into dawn, she stirred where she lay sleeping, her throat working to swallow as her eyes opened to find Mahon right there beside her. Her hand groped toward the cup set beside the bed, fumbling it badly enough that it fell with a loud clatter to the floor, disgorging the water it contained in a splash. If her throat hadn't been so dry, her curse would have been encouraging.

The clatter was loud enough to startle him from a dose, jerking his head up and searching his surroundings for the cause of the racket, relieved when he realized it had only been a glass of water that had fallen to the floor. Years of being a slave had made him jumpy, and it would take more than a few months before he learned to sleep soundly. "Nem?" he queried softly, assuming she must have been the one to knock the glass from the table, but that would mean she was awake finally.

She raised her head, giving him a look he was very familiar with, despite not having seen it for the past few months. "No, it was a ghost," she rasped awkwardly, frustrated with herself for not being able to pick up a glass fresh from sleep. She didn't ask if they'd won - it was blindingly obvious from the evidence that Marka was no longer in power.

"Good to see you haven't lost your sense of humor," he replied with a smirk as he retrieved the glass from the floor and refilled it with water. Once that was done, he moved over to the bed and helped ease her up so that she could take a sip. He didn't bother asking if she was thirsty, as that much seemed obvious. "Gia told me what happened."

Supported by his arm about her, she sat up to sip from the glass, only needing enough to wet her throat and make the use of her voice easier. That done, she pushed herself shakily up to sit upright, rather than leave herself lying down, meeting his eyes with only a shred of guilt for what her actions must have put him through. "It was the only way to get word out fast enough," she told him unapologetically. "We both knew she wouldn't kill me outright."

"It was a big gamble," he said, returning the glass to the table until she asked for more. "If we hadn't arrived in time, you would have died," he said, matter-of-factly, leaving no room for argument. What was done was done, and there was no undoing it. Thankfully, their plans hadn't turned into a disaster.

"But I knew you wouldn't die," she pointed out, not arguing the point. "I knew you'd live to look after our boy." A faint flicker of a smile touched her dry lips, proving she'd heard his sobs after he'd cut her down in the melee the day before. "Tell me about him?"

It had been perhaps the first time he'd wept in public since he'd been a boy, unashamed of the tears that came from the love he felt for her. He had not expected to return to find her on death?s door, another victim of Marka's cruelty, but she wasn't asking about that. She was asking about their son - the shining star of their lives. He smiled at the thought of him, so young and innocent, untouched by the cruelty of the valley. "He's beautiful, Nem." What else was there to say, other than that"

Nemone almost laughed at the lack of detail, reaching out to pull Mahon closer. For the first time in their lives, they didn't need to worry about anyone walking in on them, and she wasn't about to lose out on the freedom to be the woman in their relationship openly through force of habit. "Come here, hold me," she told him firmly. "And tell me about our son. Does he have a name" Who's been looking after him?"

He grunted in reply, thinking it might be better if she just rested and worried about getting better, but knowing better than to argue. "You need to remember that the men of the valley are free now," he teased, a small smirk on his face as she told him, rather than asked him. He did as she asked, however, easing down beside her to hold her very gently. "His name is Aedan. Your father ....Uther ....has been taking care of him. He and Han have been living with my sister at my family's farm," he explained, without going into too many details.

"What, so you don't want to hold me now I'm not forbidden fruit?" she countered his tease, her brows rising above her smile. Some things would never change, and the vague contention in their relationship was likely to be one of those things. His description of their son's home life, however, brightened her smile to an astonishing degree - he had never seen her smile encompass every part of her face and form like that before. "You've been with my father, my brother" And your sister" That's wonderful!"

"And you will be, too, once you're well enough to travel," he informed her, realizing with a frown that he hadn't given her much choice in the matter. "That is, if you want to." He wasn't really sure what she'd want to do now that the valley had been freed of Marka's rule. He couldn't imagine either of them wanting to stay in the valley, but there was going to be a lot of work that needed to be done there.

Despite the fact that they had not spoken about it, Nemone had thought a lot about what might happen if they were successful and she survived. She twisted to curl her arms about him, laying her head on his shoulder. "If Uther comes to the valley to be with Gia, then I'll go to Pax with you. I don't want to uproot our son if I can help it; he has too much to get used to as it is. Gods, what if he doesn't like me? I'm not really very ....maternal."

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, even as his big arms wrapped her deeper in his embrace. "You worry too much," he told her, touching a kiss to the tip of her nose. "The boy needs a mother - you, his real mother. Brona has her own life to live, and Uther ..." He chuckled again. "I'm afraid your father is even less maternal than you are," he teased, with a smirk she knew only too well, though there was far more mirth behind it now than there had ever been before.

There was no mention of his own parents, and for once, Nem was sensitive enough not to notice and point it out loudly. She sighed, the sound content, enjoying being in his arms as he held her. "I've missed you," she admitted quietly. "I was so scared you might not have survived the swamp."

"It would take more than a swamp to keep me from you," he told her, his gruff voice uncharacteristically soft in the quiet and dark of the night. Even a swamp full of mutants who'd kill anyone and anything that dared wander into their territory. "I missed you, too," he admitted just as quietly. "Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought of you."

"I didn't think I'd see you again," she confessed very softly. "I was so sure she would kill me for standing up to her so openly. And now it's over, and ....I don't know what to do with myself. I'm not captain of the guard any longer. I don't want to be. But I don't know how to be anything else, except naked in your bed."