Himika

Fifteen More Years Later

The moment we heard the horns that indicated an approaching guest, we all fled the lunch table. From the balcony, I saw the imperial banners so far in the distance that they were just little red flutters.

“They’ll barely be here for lunch,” Remi said.

“I think I’m going to ride out to meet Rin this time,” I said.

“I’ll go with you,” Oszin said.

“Me too?” Remi asked.

“Of course,” I said. “Sorek, do you want to go?”

He immediately looked disinterested. “Nice try, Mom. No. I’ll enjoy the quiet while I’ve got it, before all those annoying girls invade.”

“Nice try about what?”

“I know you’re trying to set me up.”

Damn right I was going to play dumb. It was hard not to be a little bit disappointed that we hadn’t been able to matchmake among any of our children and Phoebe’s, thus sealing our alliances for good. In any past era we would have arranged a marriage, but I couldn’t bring myself to choose Sorek’s bride for him.

He narrowed his eyes at me and went back to the table, grabbing a book he’d left by his plate, and the remaining half a loaf of bread.

“You know, you weren’t the most charming company the last time you saw those ‘annoying’ girls either,” Seron said, as he went for the stairs.

“Oh, never mind him,” I said. “Let’s go.”

This was the very first time the entire Imperial family had made it to Irandal all at once. Usually someone was always busy and had to stay behind, but the wedding of Ora and Vorja happened to coincide with a particularly prosperous and easygoing summer in the sky lands, and Rin said they were all coming, including all the daughters.

Had Phoebe ever had daughters. We kept thinking that Remi would be a perfect match because unlike Sorek, who could be difficult, Remi adored all of her cousins. But from Rina’s birth onward, Phoebe had gotten pregnant five times in seven years. The first four were daughters. Finally, the fifth was a boy—and Rin’s child. Which meant that he was actually Remi’s true blood first cousin, and first cousins didn’t marry in Gaermon, so that was the end of our hopes for Remi to marry into the Imperial family, though I had no doubt she would find a good match somewhere when the time was right.

Now it was all on Sorek, and that meant there was no way he would consider any of them. He had a real stubborn streak that way.

Well, as Seron kept reminding me, I just had to let it go. They were young yet and they would all find their own way. Blah blah reasonable blah blah. I knew if I was twenty again, I’d feel the same way.

“Himika!” Rin shouted as soon as we were within shouting distance, and I could see they were getting held up by friendly dragon villagers. Before long, we were off our horses and embracing each other. We saw each other most years, and twice we had managed to all meet for a spring retreat in Gaermon, but it was never often enough.

“This is so exciting!” Phoebe said. “The first wedding! Hopefully we’ll be next. Rina has a boy she’s very serious about.”

“Somewhat serious,” Rina said, her eyes hooding. “I wouldn’t order the flowers yet.”

“Who is it?”

“He’s the heir to a shipping family! They’re sooo rich!”

“Stop saying it like that. You’re the empress,” Niko said.

“We have a huge feast planned, but we thought you wouldn’t get here until tomorrow!” I said.

“The roads are so well maintained these days,” Abel said, with a hint of pride.

“Remi’s gotten big,” Forrest said.

“She really shot up this year.”

“I’m almost as tall as Touta.” She held her hand up to his head. “It’s all the eyeballs I’ve eaten.”

Oszin looked pained. That was a familiar joke with those two but Gilbert looked like he wasn’t so sure about the feasts here.

“We should probably talk and ride,” Oszin said. “The rest of the family is eager to see you. Well, Sorek is hiding in his room, but…”

“We know all about that,” Phoebe said. “I don’t know how people have five teenagers when they don’t live in a palace…”

I hadn’t seen all the kids in a year and a half; they were at the age where they changed a lot, especially the younger ones. Rina had grown rather mature. She wore her hair in long black braids and didn’t talk much, but she seemed observant. You’d have to be careful of her if she wasn’t your friend, I thought.

Kit was Forrest’s daughter and she took the most after Phoebe. She was good with a sword and kept her hair short. She reminded me of Raia a bit, except she didn’t seem as flighty. Forrest had a serious side and so did she; a perfect blend of her parents. When she was younger, Phoebe used to write me how Forrest really didn’t want his daughter to learn to fight, and I wrote back and said the more he tried to keep her from doing it, the more she’d want to, so I felt a little like I had a hand in the fact that he backed off.

The last time I saw Abel’s daughter Sura, she was fifteen and very sulky. I’m not sure she said one word to me on that entire trip. But she had obviously gotten past that and was strikingly beautiful now. She had Abel’s rather mannered way of speaking and carrying herself but she didn’t seem quite as cold. I saw her laughing and talking to Rina.

Gilbert’s daughter Cecilia had inherited his blonde hair, so she stood out among her siblings, who were otherwise darker. She had always been very charming and friendly, and a little boy crazy even at thirteen, but now I noticed she had dark circles under her eyes and wasn’t quite as talkative as before. She’s fifteen now, so I guess she’s hit that age, I thought.

Cecilia and Rin’s son Raori were very close, just like their fathers, but Raori loved music and I saw a Gaermoni harp strapped to the back of his horse. He had always been a good kid with a mischievous sense of humor; he had grown the most strikingly, his voice sounding much older and the last trace of a baby face abruptly replaced by Rin’s cheekbones.

Goodness, do I feel old…

The visitors were greeted by the crystalline halls of Irandal decorated with loads of flowers and faux vines made from silver and gold dressing up columns and stairways, all to show off for the first royal wedding. By the time we made it inside, Aurek said the feast had been rushed into the ovens and would be ready in two hours.

“I can’t believe you two are actually getting married!” Phoebe hugged Ora and Vorja.

“Why not? I always said we would,” Ora said.

“It’s good to know what you want from such a young age,” Niko said.

“We did,” Vorja said. They’d been holding hands the whole time. When Ora got a little fidgety in her gown, Vorja always noticed and elbowed her. She might not enjoy the role of bride and princess with so many jewels and ribbons, but she really did look beautiful tonight, I thought, and I could hardly believe that poor little Vorja whom the mist dragons had left behind at our castle had grown into this…tall man. Ora wasn’t even five feet tall and Vorja towered over her, rather protectively, in a formal surcoat with a blessed sword at his side.

I caught Aurek quickly rubbing his face.

“Are you…crying?” Seron asked.

“No! I had something in my eye.”

“Like a tear?”

Aurek’s face forced its way into a frown instead.

“I’m going to cry at the wedding, I’m sure,” I said. “It’s sort of like if Seron was a girl and you two got married.” I was goading him a little and Seron gave me a look.

“I hope I don’t cry,” Ezeru said. “I don’t want my daughter to see me crying, but—”

You should cry at your daughter’s wedding, Peri signed.

“No,” he said. “Ora would laugh at me if I did.”

Screw that, Peri signed.

I snickered, but then I noticed Sorek and I had to quickly pretend I hadn’t. “Sorek is looking at Sura!” I whispered to Aurek. “She’s like twenty times more gorgeous than the last time we saw her…”

“What are you whispering about?” Phoebe asked, always one for gossip.

“How Ora and Vorja are perfect for each other,” Aurek said, always a better liar than I was.

“I thought you might have noticed Cecilia…”

“She looks a bit low,” I said. “Is everything—”

Gilbert came over now, whispering, “Did you tell them about Cecilia?”

“I was about to.”

“Oh no! What’s wrong?” I asked.

“We’re still feeling so much of this out ourselves,” Phoebe said. “It’s been so long since the Elders didn’t control things and the priestesses weren’t killed. But..she has sigils. The handmaidens sensed them, and Emi’s potential faded right after that. Emi is relieved, but Cecilia is in some shock.”

I looked for Emi, who had come to the dragon kingdom for the first time for this wedding. I could see that Raia and Merrick were sweet and protective with her. Emi and the other guardian, Lucas, were dancing. Raia had a little four-year-old boy of her own now, but Emi had no children. I wondered if she had been reluctant to conceive and pass on the priestess blood. She was laughing now, her feet flying to the peppy dragon flute and drum tune. The relief was obvious.

“I never thought my daughter would be the priestess,” Gilbert said.

“It could be anyone’s, couldn’t it?” Seron asked.

“I just figured—the other guys are stronger and I even lost my sigil for a time. I think Cecilia thought she was safe.”

“What happens now?” I asked.

Phoebe smiled in a way that was hard to read. “We’re not entirely sure, but evidence suggest that priestesses don’t stay priestesses forever. Our powers may start to fade and Cecilia will have to find her guardians and become the new priestess of the gate. I’m sure she’ll be up to the task, but it’s a heavy thing to find out at fifteen. She was dating and having a good time. Now her choices are gone. She has to wait for her guardians, and…well…I’ll never forget how I felt when I first saw what I’d be doing… It worked, but I had forgotten what a burden it seemed until the girls got older.”

“We’ve been so happy,” Gilbert said. “But…two of Emi’s guardians were…”

“Terrible.” I nodded. “And having four mates is something that comes easier with maturity.”

Forrest put a hand on Phoebe. “I told you…try not to worry. Cecilia will be kept from the guardians until her sigils awaken, and when that happens, she’ll have power over them. With Emi, that was never allowed to happen.”

“He’s been surprisingly relaxed about it,” Phoebe said, patting Forrest’s hand with a sigh.

“I didn’t want to be a guardian at all,” he said. “Now, I couldn’t imagine anything else. And if any of Cecilia’s guardians act like Rothair or Emory, we will all take care of that situation. We don’t need your magic to take care of business.”

“So true.” She nuzzled her face against his arm. Forrest might have been past his fiftieth birthday by now but the only mark of his age were the white hairs in his beard and the squint lines around his eyes. Then again, I think he might have always had those.

Across the room, Cecilia suddenly noticed us all clustering and Oszin grabbed us some wine glasses and we tried to look innocent of parental gossip.

We dined into the evening and then enjoyed some music from a few of the musicians of Aurek’s beloved royal orchestra, all of us sharing dances.

“Hmm, just think, one of the dragons present tonight could be a guardian to Cecilia,” Aurek said.

“Or more likely, they’re among the thousands and thousands of dragons who aren’t here…,” I said.

“Well, that’s not any fun to think about. What about Sorek and Sura? Has he asked her to dance yet?”

“No. Nooo. And we can’t intervene or we’ll ruin it. Damnit. He kept looking at her all through dinner, but he hasn’t spoken to her yet.”

“We need a conniving plan.”

“Yes! Like—well, you must have some ideas.”

“We could pay off a servant to spill something on her or trip her in his presence so that he has to offer his aid.”

“Ooh, but we should probably pay another servant to somehow lure her toward him first because they’ve been on opposite sides of the ballroom all evening.”

“That would be easy enough to do.”

“What are you two talking about?” Seron suddenly came up behind me so stealthily that I flinched.

“How…Ora and Vorja are perfect for each other,” I said.

“Uh-huh. You’d better be. Popular topic of conversation today.”

“For obvious reasons,” Aurek said. “What else would we talk about?”

“I don’t know, poisoning Sorek and Sura so they both rush off to vomit at the same time?”

“A little unappealing for my style, but not bad,” Aurek said.

“Seron…you don’t want Sorek and Sura to fall in love at Ora and Vorja’s wedding?”

“Not with help.”

“Damn,” Aurek said. “First we have to pay a servant to knock Seron out.”

“You can try.”

Even though Sorek didn’t even ask Sura to dance once, I couldn’t be too upset about the evening. In the morning, for the first time in history, a rock dragon princess would marry a mist dragon. Of course, Ora also had the blood of mist dragons, and humans, but on a symbolic level this was the union of unions and a huge crowd of dragons from all over the kingdom had gathered to pay their respects.

Mother of the bride. I could hardly believe it as I braided Ora’s hair myself.

“You do have my hair,” I said, pondering Kit’s short locks. Ora was a scrappy kid too but she had always kept her hair long and dare I say impractical, but I’d never been able to cut my hair either. Every painting of every Gaermoni princess was of a long-haired girl and I couldn’t imagine anything else. “And you’ve never cut yours either even though you’ve always fussed at having it combed. All your fathers have always liked to run their hands through mine…”

She blushed. “Vorja does too. And it makes me think of you. You’re always so pretty.”

Of course, we couldn’t change the world. Sometimes Ora had been teased for looking like Ezeru. She didn’t usually care, but it was hard on one’s wedding day, with so many eyes on her.

“This day is for you and Vorja,” I said. “We’re so proud of you. It seems like just yesterday that your father and I were teaching you two how to spar.”

I couldn’t even count how many hours I’d spent cultivating and gathering more of the flowers and herbs to make the tea that let Vorja sense what was around him, and he had learned to fight that way from the start. Our children had also enjoyed more freedom to roam the rocks and rivers and town that surrounded them, and Vorja seemed to have even keener senses than Aurek. He still wouldn’t be joining the army even if he wanted to, but I knew he could protect my girl. In the same way, Ora had grown up fighting and riding and doing all the things I was never able to do, and she had Ezeru’s power to shape rock.

After the wedding, Ora and Vorja were planning a trip around the kingdom to survey the mists and contact isolated rock dragons, of which we were still finding small tribes who had no idea there was a rock dragon king or how times had changed. They would be supported by a small band of scholars and soldiers, but were uniquely suited to the task themselves.

“I’m scared,” Ora said. “Now that it’s finally here.”

“Of what?”

“Leaving all of you. I was so excited that we’d be alone together at last, but now—”

I had been almost sure that Ora and Vorja must have already had sex, but now I wondered. “Have you ever—I mean—do you need to know anything about…the wedding night?”

She paused. “I think I know what to do.”

“Did you two actually wait like a proper princess?”

She paused again. “Mostly. All my friends told me everything years ago, though.”

“I suppose I know that already. Well…that’s probably a good answer. I mostly waited, too.”

“Really? With Touta? Even though you were a princess?”

“Yes…well, I didn’t want to marry Aurek at all. I’d never met him. Much less your daddy.”

She giggled and then she threw her arms around me. “I love you, Mama.”

“I love you too.” I swallowed back a whole lump of tears and then I had to wipe my eyes.

Oranu stood up, clad in a gown of the styles that had evolved in the dragon realm as new textiles became available. It was sleeveless, made of the finest Gaermoni silk, and clung to her curves until it fell into fluttering layers of skirts around her legs. Her grayish skin and long black hair were adorned with fine bands of silver and gold entwined and jewels of citrine and amethyst to honor her two crystal dragon fathers, and she had gold sandals on her feet. A wool cloak fell over her shoulders, for Vorja to lift away and reveal her to the court. She carried a knife at her waist, just as I had when I married. Petite as she was, she looked suddenly majestic and even imposing. She wasn’t quite the delicate princess I had been, it was true, but I wondered if someday, she might be a warrior queen.

For now, she was still just my girl, and still nervous.

She glanced at herself in the mirror. “Oh…”

“Stunning, huh? It’s not so bad to dress up sometimes.”

“Vorja can’t see me,” she said, in a hushed tone like it was the first time in her whole life she had ever thought about this.

“He’ll discover it all in detail tonight,” I said. “And he’ll enjoy it. Trust me.”

She nodded, and headed for the Hall of Rose and Ruby.

I went to take my seat with my mates. Strings swelled from the musicians. Aki and her mate led the party, carrying the string of wedding chimes traditional in Gaermoni weddings, followed by Remi and Cecilia with the wedding incense and then dragons of every element bearing symbolic gifts of crystal, gold, ice, flame, stone and a glass of contained mist. Vorja accepted all of the gifts and put them around the altar, symbolizing making a home for his bride. We hadn’t done all of this when we got married, but in Gaermoni weddings there were attendants and gifts and I wanted Ora’s marriage to have some human traditions as well.

The vows were the dragon vows, however, and I whispered along with them.

“I, Vorja, adopted son of King Aurekdel of Irandal, on this day vow, Princess Oranu ro Galliar, to guard you with my body unto death. From this day forward, I am the earth and you are the core, sheltered by me, knowing that I will never leave your side…”

“I, Oranu of Irandal, daughter of King Ezeru of the Rock Dragons and Queen Himika of Irandal, do accept your hand in marriage, your devotion and protection. As you shall guard me, I shall guard our children. But I’ll also protect you like you protect me,” she added.

Ezeru was staring straight ahead almost creepily as he tried not to cry. I had given up and taken out my handkerchief.

“Now, embrace hands over the hilt of Saramu, before the court…”

In another moment, they lifted their hands to show off the glowing symbol of a royal marriage magically bonded over the hilt of Saramu, and then Vorja grabbed her into his arms and kissed her.

The room filled with cheers of joy, a few happy tears, and rock dragons chittering excitedly, and then the violinists were nearly shoved aside for drummers for one of the wild dragon dances. Ezeru grabbed one of my hands, and Seron grabbed the other, and before I knew it I was dancing as the benches were shoved out of the way and a night of celebration began. Sorek and Sura never danced, but I did catch them talking, their body language nervous but happy.

All of our friends were here to celebrate with us, and for the first time in a while, I got a little too merry and drank a regretful amount. Even after I grew sleepy and slumped against Oszin, knowing he would be the least drunk of all my mates, I watched Phoebe’s mother and her man dancing slow in the corner. I watched Peri and Ijaru ganging up on Ijaru’s poor old dad having some argument about—I think—whether dragon food or human food tasted better. I watched Aurek and Seron talking and laughing over their own cups of wine like the old friends they were. I watched Ezeru clapping to the music while Nuru and Aki sang along; if a song didn’t have words that never stopped the rock dragons.

The whole hungover palace saw Ora and Vorja off in the morning, but my brother and his family stayed for another two weeks of every pleasure the dragon kingdom could offer.

“By the time those two get back, you might have a grandchild on the way,” Phoebe reminded me.

“Oh—dear! Am I old enough to be called ‘Grandma’?”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Seron said. “Dragons often live to see our great-great-grandchildren.”

“But I’m not a dragon.”

“You have a little crystal dragon magic in you. That’s enough.”

“What about Oszin?”

“My grandfather lived to be a hundred and one,” he said. “With all these healers around, my chances aren’t bad.”

“So this is really just the beginning,” I said, satisfied.

When it came time for Rin, Phoebe and the others to leave, Sorek came up to us. “I hate to bring this up last minute. I know you’ll be missing Ora. But…Uncle Rin invited me to Capamere to study in the great library there. He thought I might want to learn more about the sky world.”

“Rin, you’re taking Sorek away?”

Rin glanced at Sura and winked. “Just for a few months.”

“Yes! Do it! I’ll get all the attention!” Remi said.

“I suppose you’re old enough that we can’t force you to stay home,” Seron said. “That’s how you do it,” he told me, as the party waited a bit longer for Sorek to pack his bag.

“Our plan was better,” Aurek said.

Soon Sorek was saying goodbye to me too, and my heart broke a little for both the twins to leave at once, but six months later, we had another wedding to plan, and in the meantime, Remi certainly didn’t get all the attention.

No, twenty years, one war, three babies and everything else hadn’t tempered our passion. If anything, the bond between all of us had only grown stronger and deeper. We knew each other so well. They knew every inch of my skin as I knew theirs. They knew how to make me scream and how to make me beg and how to make me smile lazily.

And the children—sure, we had made mistakes here and there, navigating the complex relationships between all of us and the babies we had brought into this new world. But between the five of us, it seemed like someone always knew the right thing to do.

They were so loved. That was what mattered most.

As the court nursed their headaches and tried to get back to normal life after the wedding and imperial visit, we went back to our room, where the handmaidens had laid out a lunch of sandwiches and fruits. I had barely stuck a few berries in my mouth when Ezeru wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me back. “Lunch later. You’re mine first.” He lifted my skirt and two fingers stroked my sweet spot, without warning.

My skin went hot with an instant response.

“Then you’re mine second,” Oszin said.

“Well, Seron and I can have you together for the sake of time,” Aurek said.

I flushed, getting more than ready for Ezeru. “Oh my. What brought this on?”

“Well, we don’t have any meetings or anything tomorrow morning,” Seron said. “For once.”

“And we have been so busy with the wedding,” Aurek said. “There hasn’t been nearly enough time to pleasure our queen.”

“Do you need kulum mist?” Ezeru asked.

“No,” I said, vaguely insulted.

“Always such a hungry little queen under that demure demeanor,” Aurek said.

“If I am it’s because I have such tasty dishes put before me every day,” I said mischievously.

“But some day we will be old,” Seron said. “And time goes by so fast.”

Aurek groaned. “You never get any better at bedroom talk.”

“Well…it’s the wedding’s fault.”

“Someday we’ll be old, but definitely not today,” Ezeru said. “Or tomorrow, which is how long it might take me to tire.”

I was still blushing deeply and he moved right into to kiss me. In another moment, Oszin and Seron joined him, pulling me to bed, hands caressing me and spreading me and teasing me. I was so ready for more.

“Ohh…I am such a lucky woman,” I said. “If that prophecy had mentioned I’d be the happiest queen in the world I would never have complained.”

“The best fates are the ones you make for yourself,” Aurek said, and how true it was, as I succumbed to their touch.

Oh my. That was a saga. It’s going to take me some time to recover from saying goodbye to these characters. It could just go on and on. It probably wouldn’t make me much money to write more but I did leave a few questions open. Just in case. If I never write more, feel free to imagine for yourselves what happens to these kids. Make sure to join my or so you don’t miss release dates and bonus stories!

Want a free book? ! This romantic tale is a fan favorite in my Fairy Tale Heat series.

Thank you SO much for being with me for this story. It has been a dream to write a longer fantasy like this.

Now, I do need a change of pace, since that keeps the brain fresh. I’m finishing the Queen of the Sun Palace saga now with Prisoner of Dreams, then I’m going back into paranormal with the A Witch Among Warlocks series. (I haven’t forgotten Guarded by Wolves either.) If you want an early peek at A Witch Among Warlocks book 1, The Fairer Hex, keep reading!