Epilogue
Keir
“How are the eggs fairing in their new home?” Tabitha asked.
She was currently lounging in a cushioned chair, her feet raised and resting on my pillowed coffee table.
Pleasant sounds of contented happiness escaped her lips now and again as she sipped my tea.
Elvira hovered near the fireplace, eyes trained on the wyvern eggs within.
“I wish I knew. They seem content enough. Thalia said this is what they need to mature to the next level of their development.”
“The double fireplace is odd,” Elvira said. “I am still confused how this is possible, and in such a short time frame as well.”
Tabitha hummed her agreement. “Pixie magic is a wonder. I feel a fool for not considering this as a possibility.”
“I believe we all feel like fools,” I agreed as my eyes wandered my perfectly repaired quarters, a second, smaller fireplace neatly wedged beside the larger one that had always called my space home.
A home-and-hearth pixie—that was the magic Huxley stole.
It was the magic Martin had absorbed, transformed, and then released.
Home-and-hearth pixies didn’t just form protective barriers around that which they’d bonded with; they had dominion over the dwelling itself.
The structure they bonded with became a sentient, living thing, responding to the pixie’s desires, often before the bonded pixie said a word.
While none of us had the kind of bond with the barrier or compound that a home-and-hearth pixie would have had, the magic was responding in a similar fashion.
While I wasn’t certain, I imagined most, if not all, of the compound had been repaired.
The extra, smaller fireplace in my quarters was an addition the magic had decided on its own to deliver.
Tabitha lowered her teacup, head slightly cocked to the side. “It is odd, imagining that the magic is always listening, that it knows our needs before we do.”
I couldn’t disagree. “I understand. Thalia said the eggs need a constant temperature, that burning coals were best for their development.” I shook my head while gazing into the burning embers the eggs were now nestled within.
“The magic took it upon itself to provide the perfect environment while maintaining my comfort with the original fireplace.” It was nice but would definitely take some getting used to.
“Are there any new additions to your quarters?” I asked Tabitha.
“Oh, yes.” She pleasantly smiled. “I now have a courtyard that might rival Martin’s.
It is so lovely. The sunlight is a welcome presence.
I believe it will be good for Navarre as well.
He’s been sitting out there with Little Fang.
Since the area is enclosed, he can let the cat run around as she likes. ”
My chest eased, the tense pressure band constantly constricting it loosening its suffocating grip, if only a little. “How is Navarre doing after everything?”
Tabitha waved a dismissive hand in the air while Elvira let loose a quiet grunt. “Navarre still has difficulty distinguishing reality from the dead still surrounding him. That constant instability worked in his favor this time. Navarre wasn’t even certain something was truly wrong.”
Even so, I wasn’t envious of the poor necromancer’s plight.
“I hear Martin and Grayson are bonded once more.”
“And how did you hear this?” Either Elvira or Henry were a fair bet.
Tabitha winked. “I have my ways.” When her eyes strayed to Elvira, I had my answer.
Elvira’s grunt this time was a little louder. “They’ve barely stepped foot outside Martin’s rooms since.” She wrinkled her ghostly nose. “After I learned Martin was once more Grayson’s anchor, I have kept my distance. The sounds emanating from within are…quite amorous.”
“A very polite description, dear,” Tabitha praised. “I am pleased with that outcome. A little surprised but pleased nonetheless.”
“As am I.” I eased back into my own cushioned chair. My permanently tense shoulders couldn’t relax as they so desperately needed, but perhaps I could get a bit of a reprieve soon. Tabitha’s next questions raised my tension another notch.
“And how is Lazarus faring? Is he healing well?” Tabitha covered her smirking lips with her teacup as her lashes fluttered above.
I twisted, trying to find a more comfortable position.
“I’m uncertain. I haven’t heard anything, and Lazarus tunneled too deep for Henry to follow.
” Lazarus was a fire wyvern and needed intense heat to heal.
To do so, he’d burrowed deep within the ground, reaching warmer depths.
Now that I considered it, I wondered if Lazarus had actively dug his way down or if the magic surrounding us had accommodated and aided his descent.
Tabitha hummed again. “I hope all goes well. I have to say, I’ve grown somewhat fond of our reptilian friend.”
Wyvern weren’t exactly reptilian, but Tabitha knew that and she was simply attempting to goad me. She continued that verbal poking when she said, “He is very handsome. If I were a bit younger and—”
An instinctual growl filled my chest, slithering up my throat and emptying into the room before I could stop it. Tabitha’s knowing smirk was far from welcome. Her passing “interesting,” even less so.
“He’s only staying because of the eggs. He’s their uncle, and they’ll need wyvern direction.” I wasn’t sure why I was being so damn defensive. Tabitha hadn’t even suggested Lazarus was staying for any other reason.
“I cannot believe I was this foolish while alive,” Elvira said before dissipating and wandering off to parts unknown.
Tabitha’s light laughter filled the room. “While I do not know why Tenzen Huxley allowed me to live, I am pleased he did. The Magical Usage Council has suddenly become much more interesting. Much more interesting indeed.”
The devilish wink Tabitha sent my way should have annoyed me. Instead, it let loose a hive of bees, uncomfortably buzzing deep inside my belly. No longer able to look at my dear friend, my gaze traveled to the glowing embers, the beautiful wyvern eggs safely nestled within.
Once more, Tabitha wasn’t wrong. I’d found that true more often than not during our long years of friendship.
Wyvern young. I could only imagine what mischief they would get into when hatched and what I couldn’t imagine frightened me even more.
I had to admit, I was pleased Lazarus was sticking around. For the wyvern hatchlings.
Yes, it was good Lazarus would be here to guide their growth and development and to put out any proverbial and literal fires their futures held. Lazarus staying was good for the wyvern young. If I were inordinately pleased it was him and not some other wyvern… Well, that was neither here nor there.
Tabitha’s knowing smirk and sassy wink called me out on my silent bullshit. That’s what good friends were best at, after all. I had a sinking feeling Tabitha would be calling me out countless times in the future.
I sighed, long and deep. I had no idea what the future would truly hold, but at least now I was looking toward it instead of into the past. I wasn’t foolish enough to think there wouldn’t be more fallout from Huxley’s actions.
Undoubtedly, there would be. What there would also be was hope to balance out the grief of the past. Hope was a fragile thing, and I would need to find a way to nurture it the same way I would nurture the lives growing within the glowing embers cradling the wyvern eggs.
-End