The Dragon Queen (Death #4)

Epilogue

Talon

I looked at the map of the sea and tried to understand what my commander had just relayed to me.

“The currents have changed,” he said. “We’ve lost many ships at sea, and the fish have been swept off to other places. We can’t figure out what’s caused such an abrupt change in the sea patterns.”

I studied the map before I looked at him. “It’s a hurricane.”

“A hurricane?” he asked. “Because there’s not even a breeze. Not a cloud.”

“The sea knows things,” I said. “Things that have happened long ago. And things that have yet to come to pass. Tell all the port hands to bring the ships into the harbor. No one leaves this port for the next week. It’s hard to know when it’ll reach our shores.”

“Yes, Dragon King.” He nodded before he prepared to leave my chambers. “The Dragon Queen requests a word with you once you’re finished.”

“Why didn’t she just come in here?”

“She didn’t want to disturb you.”

I felt my annoyance grow. “Tell the Dragon Queen to walk her ass in here whenever she needs something— anything .”

He nodded then bowed.

I got back to work and waited for her to appear.

It was minutes later when she walked in. She opened the door—and then Lily ran inside. “Daddy!” She beelined right for the desk and ran around it, full of so much excitement and energy that I couldn’t remember a time, at any age, when I’d had such enthusiasm.

My heart melted at the sight of her, the way it did every time I looked at her, so grateful that I got to feel her beating heart every single day, that she knew life and love…and joy.

She immediately climbed into my lap and looked at the map on the desk. “What’s this?”

“It’s a map of the Southern Isles and the neighboring territories. The currents have changed, which means a hurricane is coming.”

“What’s a hurricane?”

“It’s a storm on the sea. It can cause powerful winds and big waves.”

“Should we be scared?”

“No, sweetheart. We’ll be fine.”

Calista approached the desk, moving at a slower pace than she used to because this pregnancy was harder on her than the first. She sat in one of the armchairs and rubbed her belly, and despite her fatigue, she smiled. “It’s been a long day.”

“Mommy and I worked in the rose garden.”

“That’s nice, sweetheart.” I kissed her on the forehead before she climbed back to the floor and ran back to her mother. “Mommy, are we going to make those cookies now?”

She chuckled. “I think it’s time for you to take a nap.”

Lily stuck out her tongue. “I’d rather eat a cookie.”

“I bet you would,” she said with another laugh.

I came around the desk, picked up Lily, and threw her over my shoulder.

She giggled and kicked her legs like she was swimming. “Daddy!”

“I’ll take her swimming at the waterfall. You rest.”

“Talon, you’re working?—”

“My priority is to you. And your priority is to grow that baby.” My hand moved to her distended stomach. “Rest for the day. I’ll see you at dinner.”

Lily and I swam together in the pool of the waterfall, the view of the ocean on the horizon, as beautiful as it was when Calista and I had looked at it six years ago. I’d taught Lily how to swim, but she still needed to practice to remain strong. We rarely went out on the ships, but I wanted her to be prepared in the event something happened.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, sweetheart?” She was a handful, a child so inquisitive about the world, about everything, who had more energy than I had in my prime. But no amount of exhaustion could dull how much I loved every moment with her, how much I appreciated her every single day. My bliss with Lily could never mask my pain for Lena, but it did help. I was grateful that I got to experience the joys of fatherhood—especially when I’d thought I would never be so lucky.

“Do you like being king?”

“I do.”

“Will you always be king?”

“No.”

“If you aren’t king, then who becomes king?”

“Your mother is queen, so she could continue to rule if she wishes. But if she doesn’t, it would go to you.”

“Even though I’m a girl?” she asked in surprise.

“That doesn’t matter, Lily.”

“I just thought it was something only for boys.”

“It’s for anyone.”

She swam to the opposite side of the bank before she swam back to me, holding on to one of my arms so she wouldn’t have to swim any longer. “What if the next baby is a boy? Would it go to him?”

“Only if you don’t want it. You’re the firstborn.”

“What if I don’t want to do it?”

“That’s okay too, sweetheart. But you have a lot of time before you have to decide. A lot of time.” I scooped her into my arms and held her close, pressing a kiss to her forehead, feeling her brown hair against my lips. I closed my eyes and treasured the moment, all the little moments, all the joys I’d thought I didn’t deserve.

Talon!

I’d been walking through the courtyard when I heard his voice, a frantic tone that I hadn’t heard in a long time. I came to a halt beside one of the olive trees, the splatter from the fruit permanent scars on the cobblestone. What is it, Khazmuda? Then I saw him in the blue sky, his black scales so distinct against the pastel colors it was impossible to miss him. I watched him soar to the courtyard, his powerful wings making him move quicker than the wind. Then he dropped down in front of me, making the foundation and the castle shake. They’re hatching!

Once the fear passed, an indescribable joy burst from my heart. “Now?”

Yes. We must hurry.

“I’ll fetch Calista.”

She’s already on the way.

Calista emerged from the castle, walking as fast as she could with her swollen belly, holding Lily’s hand.

Lily broke free of her grasp and ran to Khazmuda. “Khazmuda!” From the moment she was born, she had no fear for Khazmuda or any of the dragons. She loved him like he was the family dog. She sprinted into his leg and held on.

Khazmuda dropped his snout and gently rubbed her with his scales. Little one.

I grabbed Calista’s hand when she came close. “Are you sure you can do this?—”

“I’m not missing this!” She grabbed on to the wedges in the scales and hoisted herself up.

I stood beneath her to make sure she didn’t lose her grip and slid down.

I won’t let her fall.

Calista finally made it to the top, visibly uncomfortable and out of breath.

“Lily, you’re next.”

Like the climber she was, she climbed up Khazmuda’s side and sat behind her mother.

I came up in the rear then sat behind the two of them, locking my arm tight around Lily. “Hold on, Calista.”

“I am,” she said.

Khazmuda took off gently, moving to the edge of the cliff before he glided down rather than up, knowing Calista was fragile at the moment. He slowly rose in the sky then soared to his lush lands that neighbored the kingdom.

Lily was never as happy as she was on the back of a dragon. She raised her hands in the air to feel the wind against her fingertips, not the least bit scared like other kids her age would be. “Go faster, Khazmuda!”

“Do not go faster,” I said simply.

After a short flight, Khazmuda glided down to a cave opening in the mountainside, the place he and his mate, Shardnada, called home. He made a gentle landing and lowered his belly to the earth to make it easy for us to get down. After I helped Lily and Calista, we ran into the cave and saw the bonfire in the center, the nest of eggs close by to be warm.

Shardnada greeted Khazmuda with a rub of her snout before she looked down at the eggs.

The eggs sat there still, and for a moment, it seemed like nothing was happening. And then they started to shake slightly, tilt a little farther to one side before they went still again. The movements were subtle and gentle, but they became more pronounced, and then there was a crack in one of them.

“Daddy, it’s happening!”

“I can’t believe it.” I looked up at Khazmuda, who watched with unblinking eyes, a dragon about to become a father to his own hatchlings. I remembered how I’d felt when Lily was born, and it was the greatest joy.

Black scales were visible in the cracked egg, and a little head pushed hard to break the rest of the shell. He pushed and pushed, and then he came free, a little dragon with black scales like Khazmuda and orange eyes like his mother.

I turned to Khazmuda and watched him.

His joy couldn’t be expressed with his facial features, but a tear pooled in each eye, slowly growing to the size of a large diamond. My hatchling.

The little dragon broke out of the shell completely then lay on the ground for a moment, looking around at the world like he didn’t know what to make of it. He looked down at himself then spotted Khazmuda’s snout above his face. He seemed to instinctively know that was his father because he rose on his weak legs and moved toward Khazmuda.

Khazmuda rubbed his snout against the little dragon, being as gentle as possible so he wouldn’t knock him over. Shardnada did the same, gently stroking him with her snout, letting their hatchling smell them and form an attachment.

The other eggs continued to hatch, and one by one, they emerged, one with purple scales like its mother, and another that was a beautiful teal. One at a time, they joined their parents, receiving the same love as their first sibling.

Then Shardnada rubbed her snout against Khazmuda, and their eyes locked in a long stare, the pride and joy of two beings that had achieved their dream of becoming parents.

“They’re so cute,” Lily said. “Look how small they are.”

“They’re so precious,” Calista said. “Hard to believe that one day they’ll be ferocious dragons that can burn the world.”

The little black dragon left his parents and moved over to us, like he somehow knew that we were a part of his family even though we looked nothing like him. Instead of walking up to Calista or Lily, he came straight to me, looking into my eyes for several long seconds.

Khazmuda brought his snout close and grazed the little dragon slightly. Zehemoth, this is your guardian, Talon Rothschild, the Dragon King. And he will love you like his own hatchling for as long as he lives. Just as I love his hatchling as my own.

I extended my hand gently so he could smell my skin, could become acquainted with me with his senses. I could feel his mind, but it was very faint, like he needed more time to grow before he could speak.

He opened his mouth and took a breath, as if trying to breathe fire, but all that came out was a little puff of smoke.

I grinned. “You’ll get better at it.”

He rubbed his snout against my hand, like he liked the feel of my skin against his tender scales.

Khazmuda lifted his chin so his eyes could meet mine . This was my dream. For us to raise our hatchlings together, to grow together as a family, man and dragon, children and hatchlings. And it’s better than I ever imagined.

Khazmuda and I had always talked about the future, even though I’d known it would never come to pass because I was meant to spend forever in the underworld. It had killed me to listen to it, to picture him moving on with his life, having hatchlings I would never know.

But he’d saved me from that terrible fate.

My wife had saved me from that terrible fate.

And now, I had this moment—and would treasure it for all my days. “It really is.”