Epilogue

- Charlotte -

“So will you tell her she's a legend?”

Charlotte stroked a hank of hair out of her face. “Not until she's much older. And even then, I'll only tell her she was born on the Fire Planet. She'll have to connect the dots herself. Unless someone else tells her first.”

Harper looked behind her to make sure that Princess Anabe'lia was keeping up on her short legs. She hadn't been walking for long, but she was stubborn, and protested whenever Harper tried to pick her up. She had developed astoundingly fast. “Someone probably will. Did you really not know about that prophecy?”

“I didn't. I just wanted her life to start with a bang. You know, she doesn't belong anywhere. Not fully Earthling and not fully Acerex. So if she would be that unique anyway, I wanted her to be really special. I mean, your kids will be royals. Lily's kids will be the children of the Chief of Ytter and they'll probably be pretty smart. But as far as I knew, Elerea Blaze would only be that half breed girl with a weird alien pilot mom and some unknown father. I wanted more for her, more than I had when I was an FHK. I guess I succeeded a little better than I thought.”

“Yeah. Because now she's a mythical heroine. The girl born on the Fire Planet, whom the Ancient Prophecy says will go on to save the planet and vanquish their enemies once and for all. You really didn't know?”

Charlotte chuckled. “I really didn't. How would I? It's not like these people ever told me anything useful. I was totally floored when Cori'ax told me about it afterwards. Well, we'll see. I don't put that much stock in Acerex prophecies. Or any prophecies, for that matter. Vanquish enemies? Heck, I'll be happy if her terrible twos are manageable and she turns out to be an okay student. I mean, straight As is too much to ask, probably. I was never that bookish, and Cori'ax ... well, you can guess. But that's years away still- oh my dancing stars, I'm talking like a parent already.”

They walked along the shore of the island where Cori'ax had built their home. It was a pleasant place, with grasslands and meadows and stubby little trees with windswept trunks. The sounds of the waves from the ocean crashing against the outer side of it could always be heard as a distant roar.

“It was a pretty big risk you took,” Harper said quietly. “If Cori'ax hadn't realized where you were going ...”

Charlotte nodded. “As it turned out, it was an insane risk. Hey, if I'd known that exactly midway between one Fire and the next was the worst place to be, I'd have landed somewhere else. But the warriors kept that little piece of information to themselves. Nothing we saw there when we observed the planet from Gideo Station back in the day looked that bad, did it? But see, that dropship was armored and had withstood much worse things than the wildlife I ever saw on that planet the first time we were there. I didn't think it would be that bad. In fairness, at pretty much any other place it would have worked out fine. Only the lightning, the dragons and the Fire itself could harm that ship. And there aren't that many dragons.”

Harper checked on the little princess, who was happily trundling behind them.

She snaked her arm around Charlotte's and they walked on. “Well, it worked. Everyone knows about her now. If she decides to go the warrior route, nothing will stand in her way. She'll be welcomed with open arms wherever she goes.”

“It worked,” Charlotte agreed. “If she wants to fight for a living, I won't stop her. She'll make her own decisions. And now, she can.”

“Yeah. Did you know the tide is turning? Suddenly a lot of the Acerex tribes are inviting Earthlings to come see them and bring their tech and other things. Everyone was shocked when they heard about the conspiracy against us, and they want to show their support.”

“Cool. I guess some good came out of that. I'm impressed by Vrax'ton. He didn't punish anyone, just made sure everything was cleared up. Did you have a hand in that?”

Harper shrugged. “Hey, I'm married to the guy. We're a team. Maybe I gave him some advice and maybe he listened to some of it. But it was his own decision. Keep in mind that just a couple of years ago, he would have felt the same way as the conspirators did; aliens are bad. Many of the warriors still think that. I don't blame them. Until we came along less than two years ago, they were right.”

“Hopefully Cori'ax can do something about that.”

“He totally can. This all worked out pretty well. He understands them, and he is a famous warrior and a Chief of the Dirt. They listen to him. He has a lot of the credit for turning the tide, finally. Well, speak of the hero ...”

Cori'ax came towards them, carrying little Elerea Blaze in his strong arms. She was sleeping peacefully, as usual.

“Your Highness,” he said. “And your warrioress.” He winked to Charlotte, and she still felt butterflies in her stomach whenever he did that.

“Hey, none of that,” Harper protested. “Shit, that queen stuff gets on my nerves sometimes. Totally ruins my relationship with my friends. Just call me Harper, okay? Please? Unless it's a huge state dinner or something with lots of diplomats and things like that. Then you can call me 'that chubby chick'.”

Charlotte laughed. Harper was dealing with her royal status really well, and was staying firmly on the ground.

“Oh, I'll make sure we never go to one of those,” Cori'ax said and pinched Charlotte's butt. “We'll just send little Elerea. Get some time to ourselves while she's partying with the royals.”

Harper laughed. “That's so cute! In your dreams, loverboy. There won't be much time for intimacy when you have a baby. She'll make sure you won't touch each other for days sometimes. Take my word for it.”

“Looks like Princess Anabe'lia hasn't been all that successful in those efforts,” Charlotte said and pointed at Harper's stomach.

The queen nodded. “You know, you're the first to notice. Yep, just a couple of months along by now. I tell you, when those Acerex warriors get going, they don't let up. It's fine, too. I don't mind being pregnant at all. It's like Heming says, an Earth slash Acerex pregnancy is much easier on the mama. I don't know why. Hey, nobody even knew you were knocked up until you left the squad.”

“None of us had seen a pregnant woman before,” Cori'ax chuckled. “I thought she was just filling out very pleasantly.”

“And I didn't exactly go out of my way to show anything,” Charlotte said. “I'd say it's a forgivable thing.”

Princess Anabe'lia pretended to fall down and started crying.

“Looks like someone needs a nap,” Harper said and picked her daughter up. “Oh, did you hurt your knee, sweetie? No? You want to go back? Get a little snack, maybe? Yeah, guys, I'll just bring this super-majestic thing back to the house before the royal waterworks really start.”

Charlotte stroked the crying toddler's head, marveling at how much the child looked like both her mother and her father. But her eyes were a uniform hazel, not Elerea's one yellow and one dark brown. “Bye, Anabe'lia. See you soon.”

Harper carried her daughter away and Charlotte put her arm around her husband. “Looks like Elerea will have another friend to play with soon. Another prince or princess. Along with Zekax'ton and Anabe'lia. You think Zekax'ton will get spoiled as the only boy among them?”

Cori'ax laughed. “No son of Ravex'ton's will ever be spoiled, I can assure you. No, he will become a strong warrior like his father.”

“And this little darling will become a pilot like her mother?”

The yellow eyes glittered. “If that's what she wants. And only then. Her mother gave her the freedom to be anything.”

Charlotte stretched up on tiptoes and kissed her husband lightly on the lips. He had changed so much, it was hard to grasp. He was totally wonderful. “That's right. Just checking. You know what, warrior?”

“What, my Mahan?”

She looked into his yellow eyes. There was more life in them now, more joy, and he smiled much more than before. “I love you.”

His eyes went soft. “And I love you, my warrior.”

- - -

© Calista Skye 2017

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