Alina’s Epilogue
“Iswear, this is the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” I groaned after licking my chocolate mousse cup clean. “Kinga, you’re a treasure.”
Our chef smiled and picked up the empty dishes. “You grow the best cacao in the world. It’s impossible to ruin it.”
“You’re too humble,” I said with a satisfied sigh. “I swear, you have some magical powers. Your desserts are to kill for.”
“Rugel likes it, too,” Voss said fondly, looking at our son, who had also licked his cup clean.
His entire face, his high chair, and a bit of his hair were all painted with chocolate. Now, he bashed his spoon on the small table, his short tail twitching behind his back.
Wanda and Lin had already eaten and were now with auntie Harshassa, picking a board game. The harrsh’ak, who was my friend, our nanny, and a family member at this point, insisted on her favorite card game while the kids whined for something else.
“I want to play the Hangman”s Race!” Lin said, pouting. Her faint scales shimmered over her skin, secondary eyelids covering her green eyes that had the same power as Voss’s.
All kids were taught from the earliest days about the burden and responsibility of their powerful sight. The secondary eyelids were grown in until adolescence and only became detachable when kids turned around nine or ten, but it was still important to teach them early.
Lin could already open hers. She killed flies and beetles for her pet vorhaxa when she was alone, but apart from that, the skill wasn’t very useful.
We led peaceful, luxurious lives in the heart of the jungle, accompanied by a few harrsh’ak friends, our staff, and the governess who gave lessons to the children. I loved my life and thanked for it every day.
It was perfect.
I got up, laughing at the sight of Rugel. “Dear gods! However will we wash this off?”
He grinned at me, showing off his four white, sharp milk teeth, and reached for me with chocolatey hands. I swept him out of his high chair with a laugh and squealed when he pressed his sticky hands to my cheeks.
“Naughty boy!” I laughed. “I think I’ll have to… lick you clean!”
I licked chocolate mousse off his chubby, scaly cheeks, and he laughed so hard, his entire body shook. Then, I got him in the bath while Voss and Harshassa played a game with the girls. After Rugel fell asleep in his bed, I sat by Wanda and Lin, stroking their hair while Voss read basilisk folk tales before bed.
Finally, we locked the door of our bedroom, the kids safe and asleep, another happy, full day behind us.
“Why don’t I fill my wife up so she can sleep well?” Voss murmured in my ear, undoing the buttons of my dress. “I promise not to make you scream.”
I smiled and pressed my face into the warm scales on his chest. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this,” I confessed. “I keep waiting but… It just gets better.”
He grinned, his sharp teeth flashing in the dark. “That’s because you are destined to be mine. And I am yours.”
“I love you,” I whispered when he tugged my dress off and pulled me to bed.
“I love you, too.”
THE END