Epilogue
Epilogue
Fenix
M usic and chatter filtered through the doorway of the inner halls of the Shadowrin Clan’s Castle, as would-be King Fernando del Fenix Shadowrin V burst through the doors in search of his would-be King’s Consort. However, now, under the command of their benevolent empress, they were royals, not rulers. Not that he would’ve wanted it any other way.
Fenix paused briefly to bow to the large portrait of his fathers. His egg-bearer was now in the land of Eternal Sunshine with the Goddess Solara, making him the sole ruler of the Shadowrin Clan. His steps were light, buoyed by his joyous mood despite the dark shadows under his eyes. Fenix turned each corner with renewed strength, sprinting when his bedroom appeared.
When he exploded inside, his breath hitched, and his eyes welled over into tears that burned away with his smoking breaths. Fenix’s coal-black eyes were shining with adoration, too.
On their wedding bed, Akhtar Axeland Shadowrin grinned up at his alpha, his sister Rikisha singing a lullaby to their newly hatched children, the Ballad of the Dragonborn. She was charming in her regal attire in shades of red and black of their clan’s insignia, and her brother’s matching milky skin gleamed in the moonlight. Their new pet wyrm, Soot, spun in circles around the two bobbing baby heads. The shapeshiftless creature would one day grow into the twin’s protector to ride, train, and guide as a fierce royal bodyguard, like a human’s horse in war.
If war returned to Lunaria. With the traitors rounded up and now beheaded, and the kindred lands reunited, war seemed so distant. Peace reigned, and Fenix hoped naively it would never return in the five hundred or more years it would take for his children to grow old and perish.
He shook his head. Perish the thought, Fenix thought, not wanting to think so far into the future of such immense sadness when his present was so wonderful and perfect.
“Cinna. Cinder,” Fenix sighed their names, whispering as if speaking a private yet fervent prayer.
The dragonborn were relatively few yet longed lived. There would be celebrations in their territory for months once the news spread. The twins were born from one egg, which had to be nurtured for five years and infused with magic from the egg-bearer and egg-seeder daily! Halfborns of a purebred and half-human at that. It was nothing short of miraculous that they lived.
“You look ravishing,” Fenix mused aloud as he brushed based Luna, who rolled his eyes after finishing his medical duties.
There was an unmistakable twinkle of wonder in Akhtar’s eyes despite his even temper on the surface, rolling his eyes at his husband’s antics. Soon, Erasma peaked it, holding back the other soldiers turned castle guards who also wanted a peek at the hatchlings.
“A beautiful brood! Bountiful, too,” she said with a toothy grin.
“Ravishing,” Fenix repeated as he approached his husband. Akhtar grinned at his mate with a mischievous glint in his icy blue eyes, sweat dripping from his forehead, tired yet triumphant.
“And you don’t look too bad yourself, my alpha, after staying up all night worrying. Get used to it. These two will be a lot of work, you know. They have fierce cries like you that’ll burst our eardrums one day. However, you are lucky, Fenix. I am more than willing to shoulder most of their rearing. You can barely boil an egg, even with magic. All you know is slashing your claws into other warriors. They need their more resourceful father to guide them.”
Fenix chuckled, keeping a morsel of decorum by not throwing himself onto the bed. He sat down and swooped his husband up, his clutch, his family. He was a very lucky alpha indeed. Akhtar released a full-throated laugh as his alpha reigned down kisses on his tired head. Then, Fenix tipped his chin upward and kissed him senselessly.
A cough signaled they’d gone too far, a pleasant smile on Luna’s face who toyed with a strand of curly black hair on his manservant’s hornless head. He was the human who protected Rikisha and saw no issue serving the Shadowrin Clan as he’d served the Gods once. Though everyone knew Luna and Ramón were much more than master and servant, they just ignored it. Rikisha, no longer wanting to disturb their love nest, slipped off the bed to avoid being swept up in the couple’s affection with a gorgeous grin.
“Cinder and Cinna,” Akhtar cooed at the petite babes, who flicked their tiny purple tails, sun-kissed skin gleaming under the flickering candlelight, white horns regal, blue eyes, and dark hair a perfect blend of their fathers’ features.
Fenix snuggled with his omega, shooing away Luna, Erasma, and even Rikisha to have private time with the pieces of his heart that beat outside his chest. The joining of opposing kindred forces had brought peace to the land and, most importantly, joined Fenix to his husband, omega, consort, and Akhtar to his fierce warrior, protector, and alpha.
Their wings of frost and flame shielded their children as they laughed, one pair tattered black and the other luminous white, sharing another lingering kiss, bound for eternity in mated bliss.