Epilogue
“How do deep-space jumps even work?” Lily asked.
“I could not explain it to you,” Khar said calmly. “I am not fully aware of the exact mechanism myself. We adapted the concept from the whale-continents of Thessra. Before that… we relied on a slower method.”
“And you are sure this is safe?”
“If I were not, I would not offer it to you, my queen.”
Lily hesitated, then slowly relented. She leaned forward and inhaled the faint, glittering powder resting in Khar’s palm. It lifted in a delicate golden mist, catching the light against his obsidian skin, almost hypnotic.
A few heartbeats passed.
When she opened her eyes again, gold shimmered faintly in her irises.
“Well…” she breathed. “This is… otherworldly.”
Khar chuckled softly, watching her with quiet intensity.
“Starsailors experience a high when exposed to even a trace of deep-space jump residue,” he explained. “The effects vary across species. I hope yours will be… compatible with mine.”
He leaned in and kissed her, slow and certain.
Lily did not quite respond. She remained suspended in the sensation, somewhere far away.
“Khar…” she murmured. “I just had the most wonderful feeling. Like I met my sister again.”
Khar drew back slightly, amused.
“It seems your experience differs from mine. Though your joy is always… pleasing.”
Lily blinked, still dazed.
“What does yours feel like?”
He considered for a moment.
“I feel as though I stand above the universe itself. As though I could conquer it. Fight it.” His gaze darkened slightly. “Or mate.”
Lily huffed a soft laugh.
“So… the same as always.”
“Always,” he said quietly, eyes locked on hers, “when I am with you.”
* * *
Does a story truly end when its heroes finally find their way to each other?
At times it does, but in other cases it is only the beginning.
Lily and Khar’s adventures in this vast, wild, boundless universe will stay with us for a long time yet.
What will become of Helios? Will the two opposing poles orbiting around Lily ever learn to get along, or will they repel each other until the end of time?
Will one unapologetic AI-turned-cyborg find a new obsession after his first one?
Will their work on the Vitromium come to a close as they cast themselves into the stars as wanderers… or will Vegrun’s damp tentacles make a triumphant return?
Is there a grand wedding shimmering on the horizon, preceded by a catastrophic bachelorette party? And will the bride actually say yes, or will she vanish faster than a faulty warp coil?
Will Lily ever meet her sister again, or has she left behind everything that tied her to Earth forever?
And will Khar’s brothers succeed in annoying him to death?
(This one is, of course, rhetorical. We all know the answer is yes. Effortlessly.)
And is everything ever so easy with a space government that is always… watching?
You will not have to wait long for what comes next. Fate has never been subtle, and another flower of Earth is about to discover that the stars demand both courage and appetite.
Thank you to every reader who ventured with me through the first chapter of Lily and Khar’s journey.
You are the true queens of the stars.
Keep scrolling — the first chapter of Book Two is waiting on the next page.