Chapter 1579

They arrived at dawn, just as the dew clung thick to the moss and the golden mist hovered low between the trees. Three this time - two women and a man - emerging slowly, blinking as though they'd stepped from sleep directly into paradise. Their clothes were tattered. Their bodies lean from travel. But their eyes burned with the unmistakable glow of dreamers.

Jude was already there, waiting beneath the great tree that crowned the Gate. He didn't move, didn't speak. He only watched, calm and bare, his skin catching the morning light. Behind him, the others began to stir from their resting place, limbs stretching in lazy pleasure, kisses exchanged, whispers traded between tangled hair and warm skin.

Lucy rose first, silent beside him. Then Rose, brushing moss from her thighs as she approached. The others gathered like petals drawn to the same sun. They stood behind Jude, all twelve wives, quiet and radiant, as the newcomers stepped fully into the clearing.