The weeks went by and, while Alban lay in his chambers and gradually recovered from his injuries, Valerie helped her subjects to rebuild their town, as quickly and efficiently as they could manage. By sheer luck, Bargar had managed to overlook the newly-constructed school building, as well as the rows of flowers Valerie had just planted, and they still stood untouched. But the remainder of Rismark was in a sorry state and would require a lot of time and effort to repair. But Valerie had time, and lots of it, and she threw herself into the work that was required of her, finding that it helped her take her mind away from thinking of those who had lost their lives in the attack. The victims of the attack, however, also necessitated the addition of a new feature to Rismark: a cemetery.

But the great majority of the townsfolk had survived, and all of them knew that they had Valerie to thank for their survival. Any remaining doubts as to her ability to rule effectively over and protect her people were quickly vanishing. There were even talks of holding another feast in the castle to celebrate her victory over the enemy, but she ruled against it, at least for now. For her, the fact that she’d come so close to losing Alban, and her own life as well, was very sobering. She now knew that she wasn’t as invincible as she’d always believed she was.

Bargar’s body was buried in a distant field, unmarked and unmentioned, and his gigantic armour was taken to Rismark, where the town’s two blacksmiths were given the task of breaking it up into smaller pieces and refashioning it into all manner of useful articles and weapons. Whatever magic had once possessed it seemed to have disappeared. As for Shalmat, Valerie told no-one about her encounter with him in the cellar, with the exception of Alban. She also couldn’t bear looking at the stone statue he had been transformed into, so, one day, she took a large hammer she found nearby in the cellar and smashed it to bits. It was, after all, just a statue now.

A couple of months later, and Alban’s wounds had healed almost completely. He was lying on top of one of the immense pillows on Valerie’s bed, thankful to know that he’d be able to walk around outside again from tomorrow morning onwards. It was night-time now, and Valerie would soon be joining him in their bedchamber. They had slept apart from one another while he was still recovering, but he felt ready tonight to share her bed again. She soon entered the room, looking worn out after a hard day’s work, as she usually did. He beckoned her over, but she instead headed for one of the cupboards on the opposite side of the room. She unlocked a small drawer and took something out of it, then came over and sat down at the foot of the bed and looked down at her husband.

“Valerie? What’s wrong?” Alban asked, as he realized that she didn’t look in the mood for lovemaking. “Did something happen?”

“No, nothing happened…Alban, I have to show you something.”

She laid a giant-sized scroll of mouldy paper down on the pillow next to him. He looked at it with distaste, but, taking her hint, he unrolled it as best he could and looked at its contents. Then he looked up at her, puzzled.

“I don’t understand. What is this thing?”

“It’s the magic scroll he used…Shalmat, that is. He found it in the castle’s cellars somewhere. It’s what he used to become giant-sized, like me.”

“Shalmat…that evil wizard? The one you think was behind all of this? But…didn’t you say he’d somehow been turned to stone?”

“Yes, that’s right.” She pointed at the scroll and Alban now saw that there were two sentences written on it, though he couldn’t read either one of them.

“This is a spell that turns the reader into a giant,” she explained, pointing at the first sentence, “and this second passage is an incantation that turns objects to stone. It is supposed to be directed outwards, but Shalmat must have invoked it upon himself. He could read the letters of our language, Alban, but he didn’t know their meaning…so he just read the entire scroll, believing it was all one spell.”

“Then he…did it to himself?”

“Yes. He knew enough of the giants’ tongue to recognize the scroll itself, but not enough to know when to stop.”

Alban took another look at the ancient relic and sighed. He wondered how many other scrolls, such as this one, were hidden down there. Perhaps he and Valerie should have a look tomorrow, maybe get rid of a few of the things.

“So…now what?” he asked her. “What do we do with this thing?”

“That’s…well, that’s up to you, dearest.”

She looked at him in a funny way, then reached down and lifted him up carefully in her hand. She held him softly against her bosom and he relished in the feeling of warmth and tenderness. It had felt like ages since she’d last held him like this: she’d been too afraid of harming him while his wounds were not yet fully healed.

“Alban,” she said softly. “You have a choice to make. If you wish you can read the spell on the scroll…the first spell only, of course…and become a giant, like me. Then we can both be equals, you and me. We can have the same relationship as you’d have with a human woman.”

“You mean…if I read from that thing…I’ll become as big as you are?”

“Yes, my darling, you’ll be a giant too. In fact, since you’re a man and I’m, well, a woman, you’ll be even taller than me.”

“I…but…but I don’t know how to read those words on the scroll!”

“I’ll read them out for you first, my love, and you can just repeat them after me.”

She saw how uncertain he looked, so she tried to reassure him and added:

“Don’t worry, it won’t have any effect on me! I’m already a giant myself…in case you haven’t noticed!”

“Valerie…are…are you sure about this? Is this what you want me to do?”

His voice began to tremble and she quickly put him down on the pillow. He was frightened, she could tell. Perhaps it was the fear of ending up like Shalmat, locked into stone for an eternity – or perhaps it was the thought of becoming a giant that terrified him? She lay her head down next to him and looked at him with affection.

“Alban…my dearest Alban…what I want, is for you to be as happy as you could be with me, here. I don’t care what size you are, …I just want it to be what makes you the happiest, that’s all!”

He walked over to her face and pressed himself against her lips. They felt so soft and comfortable, and he couldn’t imagine ever not being able to feel their embrace again. He ran his hand across the skin of her cheek and she responded by pressing her lips more closely against him.

“I fell in love with a girl,” he whispered. “A girl who was taller than any tree, and who could hold me in the palm of her hand. I was no larger than her thumb…but she loved me as much as any woman had ever loved a man. That’s the girl I want to spend my life with.”

He kissed her upper lip, then continued:

“Valerie, being here with you, in your bed, like this…I can’t imagine ever being able to feel happier, than right here, right now. Every morning, when I look up at you as you rise from bed…so tall, so beautiful, so magnificent in every way…I just feel so safe and…and so gratified with you, my goddess…my gorgeous giantess. When you hold me between your fingers, or caress me with your lips, or let me lie between your perfect breasts, then I feel like I never want to leave or be anywhere else. And after all we’ve been through together, I can’t think of you in any other way. I want you to be my lover and protector and wife, as gigantic and as stunning as you are right now. Perhaps there was a time when I would’ve wished you to be the same size as I am, but now…no, I’m sorry, but you’re perfect as you are right now. So, if you want me to join you as a giant…well, that’ll have to be your choice, darling, not mine. I’ll do it for you, if you wish it, but not otherwise.”

Valerie lay silent for a moment, regarding her tiny partner with newfound amazement. She had expected him to jump at the chance of becoming a giant like her, having believed all along that he was secretly resentful of the fact that she was so much larger and stronger than him. But, now that she could see what his true feelings were, she was overjoyed.

“Oh, Alban, that’s wonderful!” she exclaimed. “No, of course I don’t want you to change just for me – you’re perfect to me like this too! Being a giant wouldn’t make me love you any more than I already do. Human or giant, what does it matter? There’s no difference to me, my dearest husband. You can stay as you are, and I promise to love you, cherish you and defend you from all dangers, as long as I live! As for this scroll…”

She took the crumbling piece of paper and held it to the flame of one of the candles on her bedside table. It flared up with a bluish flame for an instant, then fell from her fingers as nothing but a little pile of ashes. She leant in closer and blew them away.

“There!” she said, lying down beside Alban again. “Good riddance to that. Any magic that can be used for evil doesn’t deserve a place in Vandan.”

“Yes, I agree,” Alban replied. “So that’s that…looks like it’s just going to be you from now on, my dear…the last living giant on earth.”

“For now…”

“For now? What do you mean?”

Valerie smiled shyly and gave Alban a little caress with her fingertips.

“I’ve been waiting to tell you for weeks now, darling. Alban…we’re going to have a baby!”

Alban went suddenly stiff upon hearing the startling news.

“You mean…you’re pregnant?”

“Yes, I am!”

“And the baby…it’s…it’s going to be giant-sized?”

“Yes, it looks that way.”

“Then…so…look, are you sure the child is mine, then?”

Valerie suddenly looked cross, and gave him a flick with her finger, which sent him sliding across the pillow.

“Now who else’s child could it possibly be, hmm?” she said, upset at the accusation. “Do you think I’ve been seeing other men behind your back, is that it?”

“No! No, of course not!” Alban yelled. He stood back up and approached her, realizing how insulting his slip of the tongue was to her.

“I’m really sorry,” he continued. “I shouldn’t have said that…it just came out, that’s all. I know you’ve been faithful to me, Valerie, as I have been to you. It’s just…well, I’ve never really given the notion of having a child any thought. I mean, I’ve always wanted to be a father one day and raise children of my own…but, if the baby’s giant-sized…”

She saw how ashamed he looked and knew that it was a lot for him to take in. They were both still young and neither of them had much knowledge of the effort it takes to raise a child. But Valerie saw an opportunity for something good, something wonderful, to come out of this. She placed her hands on either side of Alban and folded them around him. His miniscule body fit in snugly between her palms.

“I forgive you, my love,” she said. “And I understand why you’re concerned. Raising a child is hard enough for any parent, and if that child is big enough to step on you or swallow you whole just by accident…yes, I can see why you’re so anxious. But I’m convinced that having a baby is the right thing to do.”

She squeezed him against her own body, before continuing:

“Alban, I’m a giant – the last one on earth, as you’ve said – and because of this, I can do so many things, things a normal-sized human cannot do, things that can help and defend Vandan and its people. If our children are born giant-sized too, that means that they will also be able to do those things. The race of giants could come back into this world, darling, through us – and, this time, they will not be remembered for their cruelty or their hatred of humans, but as humankind’s guardians and protectors, who’ll use their great strength and power to make this world safer and better for all those who live beside them. You don’t have to be worried about a thing, Alban…I’ll take it upon myself to raise our children, and I promise you, they’ll grow up learning to respect and care for humans. No son or daughter of ours will ever be like the giants of old, I swear it.”

“No…no, they won’t be. I believe you, Valerie. I know that no child could hope for a better, more devoted and more loving mother than you. And you won’t have to do it alone – I’ll be there for you, and for our child, all the time. We’ll make it work, somehow, and, one day, when this baby of ours is all grown up, and takes over from us as ruler of Vandan, he…or she…will make us proud.”

Valerie’s eyes were beginning to grow moist, but they were tears of happiness. She and Alban, against all odds, had found their place in the world, together. They had overcome great dangers and obstacles, and they would have to do so again, but they were determined to stick together through it all, as loving partners and…soon…as a family too.