But before she can answer, Ra’Sa’s eyes trail behind, to where the Enduares congregate.
His mouth drops open, and he gasps.
“Pater,” he breathes, using the Enduar word for father.
An older Enduar, one brought out of the ocean, comes forward, pushing through the crowd with a woman on his arm. And then he hugs Ra’Sa.
My eyes track the movement, but it’s not just us who take in the joyful reunion. Instead of stopping the festivities, Velen’s song starts up once again.
I look at Teo, and then back at the humans. Liana has already joined us, as has a furious-looking Vann. Soon Svanna comes up, gazing at all the faces.
“Well, shit,” Vann murmurs.
Svanna hits his arm.
“Be useful for once in your life.” Then she raises her hand and points at a group of hunters hanging nearby. “Get another bear from storage!”
People begin to move around us, and a list unfolds in my mind. Clothing, homes, food, baths, everything.
The only calm in the storm is my mate.
I look at him, enjoying his tight jaw. My lips quirk up when I see the spectacles perched on his nose.
Without speaking, he reaches out for the baby. I give him to his arms, then straighten my dress.
“Are you ready?” he asks, finally looking down at me with those brilliant, blue eyes.
As the humans move past us, I take in the extent of some of their wounds and roll up my sleeves. This would be hard, but it is a good kind of hard.
If something like this had happened to me a year ago, I would’ve run from such a challenge.
But the cruel voices in my head are gone, banished by the light of the Enduares and my husband’s kind words.
It’s not the time to mourn what is lost; it’s time to thrive.
“More than ready.”
It’s time to get to work.
Epilogue
TEO
If there is one thing I know, it is that giant babies are heavier than Enduar babes.
Liana stands at my side, and the early morning light shines down on us with such gentle warmth. Towers of quartz surround us, ones that were used only weeks ago to play the deadly battle beat in the mines.
The last time I blessed a child, it was a sad occasion. A handful of us stood next to the ocean, trying to pretend that Sama was not nearly orphaned.
Now, a new orphan is nestled in my arms, one with skin the color of rose quartz and a Fuegorra in its chest.
The heir to the giant kingdom.
With no king, no royal family, and no slaves, their court is barely limping along. They do not know he is still alive and likely won’t for a long time.
Thousands are standing on this snowy beach. Many humans, and even many more of the stony faces from those left underwater for half a century. They all look on with thinly veiled curiosity and…hope.
“I think it’s time to start,” Liana says at my side. “The singing is nice, but I don’t think my coat is thick enough for this.”
