“Yes,” Killian answers. “Some of them are actually nice, unlike your old friend, the Desert God.”
“You know you actually love him,” I say, swatting him playfully on his chest.
“I will admit no such thing,” Killian huffs, but the smile he tries to hide betrays him.
“K’haram! Oh, we must see him at once. Blaise has been updating us from time to time about you all.”
“How are they?” I ask, bittersweet nostalgia coating my words.
We talk to Blaise almost every night in his dreams, but it’s not nearly enough.
If there’s one thing I miss about Imiryion with all my being, it’s them.
Blaise and Sariah.
I long to have them here with us, but the realm needs its rulers more than we need our reunion. For now, at least.
“Oh, you know, dealing with the growing pains of parenthood. Akaoree’s well in her teenage years now and she’s a handful,” Kahlya snickers.
“Imiryion’s a handful too,” Celine adds pensively. “Some days are better than others. But if anyone can uphold the peace down there, it would be the Vampire King and his Queen.”
Peace comes blood-soaked in Imiryion. We know that more intimately than anyone else.
The Manichean cycle never ends.
Only its players change faces.
“Come, let’s get you accommodated in your forever home before you meet everyone else,” Killian says, ushering the humans toward the sprawling borough of Eimirya.
Dusk is coloring the sky in muted purples and vibrant shades of orange bleeding into fiery reds, and I gather my legs under me on the wooden porch swing that sways gently with my movement. Our home has none of the decadent gothic riches of Sangeries or the gilded opulence of the Fae.
It’s breathtakingly beautiful to me in its simplicity.
A porch where I can watch the sunset every day, and the vast expanse of glittering stars splattered against the night sky.
A hearth that always provides warmth, a table always filled with food.
A bed that I share with the male who captured my heart and holds it in the palm of his hands with the utmost gentleness.
No, Eimiryia doesn’t need any of the material riches that abound in Imiryion to cover the ugliness and pain underneath.
Here we carry our treasures inside.
Tranquility.
Acceptance.
Love.
A lightness of heart and quietness of mind.
We are regarded as the rulers of this realm, but truly there’s no need for rules.
Here, all creatures are equal.
There are no petty squabbles, no jealousy or envy.
“A gold coin for your thoughts?”
