Alys closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then nodded. “I will fight. Until the child is born and I can fulfill my vow. I will not have my granddaughter believing that vows made from the Sea Throne can be broken.”
“Then may I share with you a little of what lives inside me, enough to push your Fade away for a while?”
Alys opened an eye. “Only if you call meNima, moa alanna.”
Gabriella beamed. “Nima,” she said, flooding Alys with such a rush of love that the older woman gave a choked exclamation of surprise.
“Glory to Numahao,” Alys gasped when Gabriella reined herself back in. “That is what you call a little?”
Gabriella blushed. “Sorry. I’m still not so good at controlling that.”
“Ono.” Alys reached out to pat her hand. “Ono,my daughter. Never be sorry for the magnificent blessings you possess. You are a gift from the goddess herself, an answer to the prayers we folk of the Isles have been making for over two thousand years.”
Epilogue
“Honestly, Dilys, I cannot imagine how yourlianamanaged all those years to fool everyone into thinking her such a mild-mannered, malleable young woman.” Alysaldria stood beside her son as the two of them watched Gabriella subdue a roomful of blustering nobles with the crisp, unyielding authority that was rapidly becoming her hallmark. “Those qualities are the furthest from her true self as any could be.”
Dilys’s chest swelled. There was no mistaking his mother’s admiration for his extraordinary, always-surprising wife. “She could have them eating from her hand if she wanted to, but I think she enjoys riling them up a little.”
“And letting them know who’s boss. Are you aware of all the Calbernan traditions she intends to change? Says she finds them disagreeable and won’t abide them under her reign.”
“Such as?”
“Such as the custom of sending young boys away from home for their warrior’s training. She believes they can be trained just as well without separating them from their families.”
Dilys arched a brow and glanced down at his mother. “You know you agree with that one,Nima.”
“I can hardly deny it, can I? And, you didn’t turn out too badly, even if I do say so myself.”
He grinned. “Not too badly.”
His mother laughed. More a soft chuckle than an outright laugh, but still a sound that warmed his heart. Though she had accepted Gabriella’s help in keeping her Fade at bay, Alys’s sorrow in the wake of her twin’s betrayal had become a heavy burden that rarely lifted. Gabriella and Dilys did everything in their power to ease that suffering and bring Alys joy, and though they never mentioned it to his mother, the two of them were hoping the birth of their daughter in the coming year would keep Alys’s Fade at bay even longer. Decades longer, if Gabriella had her way about it. Dilys had high hopes. His beloved was very good at getting her way.
“And she refuses to be coronated as Gabriella Coruscate,” Alys continued, “even though as a Siren-madeimlaniby the grace of the gods themselves, she is rightfullyDonimaof her own House.”
“I have told her that many times. I did, however, get her to agree to a compromise last night.”
“Oh?”
“Tey.Her biggest argument against becomingDonimaof her own House was you. You are her mother now, and she won’t give you up, not even in name.”
His mother’s eyes went soft. “She said that?”
“Mmm. I don’t blame her. You’re pretty wonderful, as mothers go.” He bent down to kiss his mother’s cheek. “Once I uncovered the root of her objections, I got her to agree to be coronated as Gabriella of House Merimydion-Coruscate. In personal and House matters, she will remain a daughter of House Merimydion, with you asDonima,but in matters of state she will act asMyerialandDonimaof House Coruscate. Since Merimydion means sea stars and Coruscate means radiant, she liked that our children will all be named radiant stars of the sea.”
“Merimydion-Coruscate. That does have rather a nice ring to it.”
“I thought so.”
A loud argument erupted from the gathered nobles. Gabriella silenced them with a few clipped words.
“What do you think that was about?”
Dilys smiled. “I think she just told them that she intends for the both of us to be coronated at the same time, that she has commissioned a throne for me to be installed beside hers, and that to the rest of Mystral, I shall be known as King Dilys Merimydion-Coruscate of Calberna.”
“Ah,” his mother said.
Within the Isles, the queen’s mate was always calledMyerialakua,the Calbernan word for king (well, actually it translated into something more like “mate of the queen” or “treasured mate”). But since the majority of theoulaniworld believed that a king ruled over everyone in his country, including his queen, theMyerialshad always made it clear to the outside world that the true power in Calberna rested solely with her queens.
