Fifteen years later.

I stare out from my balcony and watch as he plays with the children we thought we’d never have. Living the life, we never expected to live. The children were a blessing nobody expected, and they’ve breathed a new sense of life back into the halls of the Palace since Sophie left on her travels. She’s currently in the Isles with Rose, learning the ways of their land, and from what I hear, she’s loving every second of it. I miss her dearly, but her heart has craved travel for most of her life, and I would never hold her back from that.

These days, since he abdicated, Kellan spends most of his time being a doting grandfather for Sophie and the boys. Twin boys. Almost unheard of in our world. Yet another surprise. All the things that made him a poor king, and a poor father, have made him the most amazing grandfather. He has learned patience and tolerance, he lets them get away with murder, but he’s also learnt how to love again, for to indulge in life. To have fun and not feel guilty for being happy, especially considering his last act as King before abdicating was sentencing my mother. The memory of her capture still haunts me, her sentencing more so. Her piercing scream as she was sentenced to life imprisonment in solitude in the Cold Lands, where Aleksandr is now King. It seems like a lifetime ago, but yet, it feels like yesterday all the same.

Apparently, my life is just made up of the unexpected. Always has been, and always will be I imagine.

I watch on as the boy’s crawl over their father, hearing them squeal with joy makes my heart sing. They didn’t just breath life back into the Palace, they breathed it back into me.

No one ever thought it possible to achieve the things Dante and I have. It feels like a long time since our bond was sealed, but I guess in the great scheme of it all, twenty years is nothing.

In that time, we have managed to break the divide, and bring schooling together, so that everyone learns the truth, together. They all learn to fight for each other, alongside one another. Fae. Humans. Wolves. The Fallen and the Vampyrs help to teach, to pass on the information from the old world. It’s not been an easy journey, and I have spent far too much of my youth sat in stuffy rooms arguing for hours and hours and hours. But we got there in the end. The new generation council have been a blessing. The Vampyrs still protect us but the world has changed, and it has moved forward. The species divide is a thing of past times. Of another world. Sure, there are still those who grumble about the glory of the past world, but they also see the merit in what I fought for.

I sacrificed so much because of their prejudices. For their unwillingness to see the world as it could be, rather than as it was. They said the Reborn has the power to change the world as they knew it. They all just thought I would destroy the world, rather than create something new. If only someone had thought differently before then maybe my life would have turned out differently.

“Mummy.” I look down and see Thomas running towards me on the ground below. “Will you come down and play. Pleaseeeeeeee.”

“Tommy, you might just be the most persuasive four-year-old I know,” I laugh.

His face lights up with such joy that it is impossible to hold onto the sadness that threatened to overwhelm me as it so often does. I stretch out my wings, and float down to my boys below. Jon squeals in the arms of his father as I touch down on the ground. They both love flying with me. I’m yet to see if they have wings, or if their Fae blood will win out.

“Hello, my love. Are you finished for the day?” Dante asks, pressing a kiss to my lips.

He might not have been that crazy, all-consuming love most girls dream of, but he is my constant and I love him more than life itself. He knows me. All of me. And our love grows more passionate by the day. He is my rock. My home, and I love him.

I will always owe him a debt of gratitude for the way he held me together after Xanders death. His love, faith and encouragement rebuilt the shattered mess that was my heart.

There is a part of me that will always belong to Xander but it grows smaller year on year.

I still hear from Kaden and Dimitri. They run the main security for our lands still, with Kaden leading the Fallen and the Vampyrs, while Dimitri liaises with the wolves. The Fae are mine.

While much has changed, somethings never will. I am glad I still see my friends, though seeing Kaden with Livvy for the first time was definitely not something I will ever forget. I’ve learnt in time to forgive her, but I doubt we will ever be the friends we once were to each other.

This might not have been the life I thought I’d have, but I have learnt to cherish it, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.