Epilogue
Ekkire
We arrived at Haven after a slow, week-long hike I’d very much enjoyed.
It had taken a bit of convincing for the Haven naga to let us go by land, but Corin had agreed in the end.
It wasn’t as if they needed us at Haven, and Corin could communicate freely with Zathar.
Nobody had to worry about either of us during the trip.
Jasmine called it our first honeymoon, and she’d made me promise we’d plan our next trip as soon as we arrived.
Each night we slept in our tent together, and each night she let me seed her.
If she wasn’t already pregnant, she would be soon, but that wasn’t a thought either of us feared.
I welcomed it now, knowing I could have that much richness in my life.
The sleara were a constant source of laughter and company, too.
I did not mind going out of my way to hunt Sicty for Dove—her favorite snack—or to share my rationbars with Hunter and his secret sweet tooth.
I loved waking up last and discovering warm tea and a meal already waiting for me.
And I loved waking first, too, and being the one providing that for Jasmine.
We fit together seamlessly and had fallen into a rhythm that felt balanced.
We both preferred limited conversation as we walked, but Jasmine enjoyed sharing stories over the fire in the evenings.
She hunted our dinner as often as I did, and sometimes we got lazy and set snares instead.
Then there was the pile of sticks one of us always carried for Dove, but neither of us minded that, either.
“You think that was the last of the Thunder Rock hostility? They must have suffered heavy losses and quite a scare, don’t you think?
” Jasmine asked me as we turned into the pass that led to Ahoshago.
We were almost there, and I was sorry to see the end of this journey come into sight.
Though admittedly, I was also eager to see familiar faces and show off my mating sigils to Jasmine.
“Maybe,” I said. “The Queen will have lost status in the eyes of the others. Someone might even overthrow her and take the clan in a new direction. We don’t need to worry about anyone from Sun Fang, though,” I added with a smirk.
I was pretty sure we’d swing back their way first in a couple of weeks.
Jasmine would be delighted to check in on them, especially Mess, the boy she’d rescued.
We’d stick around to help with more of the rebuilding, and then perhaps I’d take her all the way to the wetlands of the Water Weaver clan and show her how the fabrics we traded were made.
“That’s good. I kind of liked it there. You think I can win the competition against Scrai next time?
” she mused aloud, her hand lifting to show me her bow.
I didn’t have a chance to answer, though I would have proudly said yes.
Voices started calling out to us from up ahead, and moments later Haven’s inhabitants came rushing down the hill to greet us.
A blonde female with many spots on her face hugged Jasmine so tightly that she started to protest she couldn’t breathe.
Zeidon quietly told me congratulations with a slap on the shoulder, and his ever-present companion, Srazz, nipped at my tail with a huff until I bent down and gave him a handful of Exar berries from my pouch.
“Oh my God!” was a common exclamation, shouted loudly and repeated multiple times.
I extracted myself from the tangle of humans, my eyes searching for Jasmine’s to check if she was okay in there.
Her grin was wide, her focus on the blonde female, so I assumed she was.
She was talking so fast, recounting what had happened, I could hardly keep up.
“Here,” Joxra said a moment later, shoving my trident in my face with a grin and a twinkle in his red eyes.
“I asked Krashe to fix it. I think it’s straight again.
” I fumbled as I took it from his hands, surprised to feel the familiar shaft again.
After the blast, it had been damaged and twisted, and though I’d wanted to keep it, it had become useless.
That had saddened me, but I’d considered it a small price to pay for saving Jasmine and the humans on the sky wreck from that blast.
Corin seemed to think it wouldn’t have damaged the ship very much, but the strange, fur-covered alien who was working with him to repair the vessel thought differently. They’d argued about it, but neither had offered to fix my trident. Joxra had, though; he’d thought of asking Krashe.
“Thank you, I owe you,” I said to him. He winked and said nothing, but I knew he’d come back for that favor eventually. The way he was looking at one of the new females in particular made me think it wouldn’t be long, either.
***
Jasmine
I hugged Jolene tightly, relieved to see her so happy and healthy.
She hugged back in turn, and then I was hugging all the girls I’d been on the ship with.
The ones under my protection then, who were eager to hear how I’d fared in the Serant wilds.
I was happy to see all of them, and found it easy to fall into my familiar, cheerful, outgoing persona.
It felt less fake, too, because now I had an escape when I needed to recharge.
The moment I’d had enough, I knew all I had to do was turn to Ekkire and say that I wanted to leave.
Everyone fawned over Dove, while Hunter played the tough guy and watched from afar or hung out on Ekkire’s shoulder with a hostile look on his tiny face. Jolene’s adoptive naga children quickly began bringing sticks and were soon playing fetch with my sleara.
Later that evening, as a feast was prepared in our honor, I had the chance to thank Vera for her helpful introductory lesson.
It made her blush and smile. Then Zathar approached, her mate, sitting down heavily next to me with his arms crossed over his wide, azure chest. “What am I supposed to do with you?” he said with a huff.
Fearing a lecture, I braced myself and discovered how quickly my mate responded when I felt uneasy.
He materialized out of nowhere and squared up next to me with a warning look on his face.
Zathar spared Ekkire a glance, and I was pretty sure the corner of his mouth tilted just the tiniest bit before he managed to hide it.
“I suppose if I’d given you hunter status like you wanted from the start, you would have actually obeyed my orders?
” he said. I shrugged, no promises. He looked at Ekkire, then back at me.
“I have been lectured by Kalani on the topic, as well as Vera herself.” He shrugged, but his smile for his mate was so warm it made me share a similar look with Ekkire.
“I’m going with Ekkire next week,” I said firmly. “Whether you think I should have hunter status or not. We’ll visit Haven, but home is where we’ll make it, right?” Ekkire nodded, his eyes locked on Haven’s leader. Something was silently communicated between them.
“In that case, I have a task for you,” Zathar grinned. “One that might require a whole lot of traveling, I’m afraid. And yes, hunter status. It’s earned, not given, and you’ve definitely earned it, human.” He slipped away a moment later while I sat, stunned and pleased.
“See, even Zathar knows you’re good,” Ekkire murmured, curling his arms around me from behind and hugging tight.
“He would be an idiot not to see it. Now come, I can only stand so much of these festivities. Let’s enjoy them while it lasts.
” He drew me with him to the edge of the fire, where Haven bachelors and aspirants were beating festive drums. Couples were dancing and laughing, even the single humans mingling with the naga and showing off moves.
I spotted Joxra lingering at the edge of the crowd just as Ekkire drew me into a slow dance.
His moody expression locked on a head of curly brown hair.
One of my ship girls, dancing with a human man, also from the ship.
Oh boy, that wasn’t good. Perhaps I should tell Zathar what I’d seen.
Then Dove flew past, briefly obscuring Joxra from sight.
She was followed by Hunter, and Haven’s pair of sleara, Buzz and Kiwi.
“She’s got them all eating out of her paw,” Ekkire remarked. “Clever little female. Now come, I intend to dance with you all night, my mate.” He lowered his head, his mouth brushing my ear. “I love you, but I’ll be even happier when it’s just us again.”
I laughed, tilting my head back to smile at him.
“So will I,” I agreed. “And I love you too. So much. But this is nice too.” It was nice.
I liked how much everyone welcomed us, how Zathar had come around, and how the hunters nodded respectfully, and how I was welcome at Jolene’s fire any time. All of it was good.