“Thank goodness. This is the wedding I wanted to help with. Doriano, you have waited a long time. You were three years early, and that caused an issue, but your kids look great, and this should help reset the balance for them as well.”
Doriano looked at her. “You look the same. You haven’t aged a day.”
“Of course not, I am matched, mated, and I live at the Crossroads, supported by the energy that drives this place. Feh. That doesn’t matter. We are here for you and Saruko.”
Doriano smiled and looked at her lover. “Yes, we are.”
He smiled and nodded. “Yes, we are.”
Melwiss raised her voice. “Since I started balancing fey with their mates, I constantly thought about this moment. Doriano was a friend when I was young, and when I learned that her union had been forbidden, I was heartbroken. And crazy, don’t forget crazy. But, I wanted to help her to this moment more than anything else in the world.”
She looked over at her daughter. “I am trying not to make this about me, but this couple has simply waited. Three years before the fey were allowed at the Crossroads, they met, fell in love, and had a daughter. That caused a ripple through the fey and mage communities, and that ripple reaches the shore today.”
The mage suddenly looked a lot less scatterbrained, and she smiled. “Doriano, one of my few friends, do you take Saruko to be your mate for the rest of your days, to share power, and join in power?”
Sireno felt more tears sliding down when her mom said, “I do.”
“Saruko, you have lived next to her back yard for over twenty years. You have watched your children grow up, made more of them, and guided them through the difficult life of being rejected by both sides of the family. You have stood strong with the criticism of your people and kept your children in touch with as much of their family who would meet them. You have been a friend, a lover, and a dad, and do you now want to be a husband?”
He looked around at them with his amethyst eyes, and he nodded. “I do.”
Melwiss held her hands out, palms up. “Take my hands and do what you have already done, give yourselves to each other and emerge as equals, balanced and free.”
Sireno leaned her head against Aeric’s shoulder as her mother’s magic emerged, and her father’s shadow danced with it. They twisted together above the couple, and then, they sank back into the triad while Melwiss sorted the magic equally.
Aeric whispered, “What is happening?”
“She’s getting taller.” Sireno chuckled. “Just like we did.”
She looked at her siblings, and a strange expression came over Tomsin. “What is going on, Siri?”
She looked up at her parents, and she felt herself growing in power and height. “We are getting the benefit of the balance.”
Aeric looked at her, and his eyes turned black. “What is going on?”
“My parents. Their link is changing their children to reflect the balance, and since our magic isn’t set yet, we are going along with it.” She chuckled. “Prepare to be the tallest in your family.”
The siblings reached out, and soon, they were all holding hands, connected as the magic that linked their parents ran through them, too.
When Melwiss finished, she looked over at Sireno, and her eyes widened. “Oops.”
Sireno looked down, and her hem was off the ground by a few inches. She looked to Aeric, and the pointed ears that he had avoided were now sticking out sideways with his tanned skin now being an even bronze from head to toe. His beautiful brown eyes were liquid black. She was going to miss those eyes.
He looked at her and blinked. “Your eyes are red, and your skin is silver.”
“Yeah, we went a little weird. Are you upset?”
He grinned. “Are you still my partner in life and everything else?”
“I am.”
He looped his arms around her hips and pulled her tight to him. “I take you as you are. Each and every day.”
She grinned. “Good. Now, let’s go freak out your family. I think they will be a little weirded out by the events.”
He laughed. “Only for a moment. They will be back on their feet in no time.”
She walked over and met the Markum family. Thanks to the boost she had just gotten, she was taller than everyone but Aeric.
His brother, Leo, asked, “Why did you marry a twit like him?”
She grinned. “He asked.”
Aeric shrugged. “More or less.”
She laughed. “And I said yes, more or less.”
His brother Tom pointed toward the dais. “What are they doing?”
Sireno didn’t need to look. “They are making out. They can do it for hours. Finally, they will be able to close the damned door.”
The laughter of the family that now extended her own was warming. With one union, she had reversed the tide of fortunes for the Mithas family, and now, their future was unlimited.
It was a pretty good result for one day, and as she looked at Aeric, she came to the conclusion that she was going to celebrate today for her lifetime.
Epilogue
She stood on the bridge, blocking the path. Her shadow flared on either side of her, mocking the sunset with its absolute darkness.
The little creature in the arms of the thief suddenly shifted into his full form.
She lashed out and clocked the quokka thief with her staff.
Aeric chuckled. “I had it under control, Siri.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “We are due at the family barbeque.”
“Oh, shit. Right. I will just drop this one off, and then, we can head to your parents’ place.”
She wrapped her arm around his waist. “I don’t trust you. Pick him up, and I will take you both to the guild.”
“Fine.” He grimaced and lifted the man who had been stealing and enslaving the few quokka shifters that there were. They had found the missing two a week earlier and had just been using Aeric’s cuteness as bait for the kidnapper. Today, he had snagged the small and frolicking creature, and tonight, he would meet with the guild for punishment. Trials were for humans.
Aeric wrapped his own arm around her waist. “It is getting harder and harder to get all the way around, love.”
She gave him a narrow-eyed look. “Keep chatting, cuddles.”
Sireno Mithas Markum raised her staff and slammed it down. They stood in the transport hall of the guild a moment later.
He took his burden to the check-in, and when the trafficker was hauled off in shackles and the bounty recorded, he returned to her. “You got the capture.”
She smiled. “Good. Keep sucking up, and you might end up in my good graces once again.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “I can but try.”
Sireno kissed him softly. “I like it when you try.”
While he kissed her back, she transported them to her family home where his family and hers were waiting.
The bright banners and cakes of all colours covered every table. Aeric whispered, “Surprise!”
She winced. “A baby shower?”
He patted her belly. “It’s for them. They will be here in a few weeks, and your father’s family wanted to throw you a shower. So, then, my family wanted to throw a shower, and your mother joined in, and here we are.”
She grumbled and walked forward, her shadow helping her balance. Chairs were thrust at her, and arms tried to help her, but eventually, she settled against the back of her favourite oak tree. The raised roots kept her off the ground, and the trunk supported her back. They rearranged things to suit her new position, she was settled with beverages and snacks, and the shower began.
After the presents were opened, her belly was patted by what felt like a thousand hands, and she had consumed enough fruit punch to float a warship, her sister helped her up and to the restroom.
Once Sireno had done what she had come to do and washed her hands, her sister helped her back out to t
he party. “What was said to Mom and Dad at the mage binding? You know, when they were forbidden to marry until you had found a mate.”
Sireno smiled. “They said to her—as any child you bear will be an unnatural creature with the hideous aspect of the underfey, there is little chance that it will be able to find a true mate. As a true mate is essential to lift the binding, you and your freakish lover are destined to remain apart.”
Limira’s eyes were wide. “You are fucking kidding me.”
“Nope. It is in the transcript. Mom let me read it when I was a teenager. She wasn’t pressuring me, but she had to answer the questions I had regarding the mage council and my being unable to find a tutor. She explained about the binding and how things worked, so I asked to see the documents, and she gave me the box. She apologized afterward. She had forgotten what was in there.”
Her sister snorted in realization. “Ah, so that is when you wanted to be addressed as the unnatural one began. I remember that.”
“All teenagers go through a phase.”
“And you are going to have three. You are exceptionally brave, sis.”
Sireno held her belly up with one hand as they walked back to her spot. The fey bowed low as she passed, and the shifters stared. Aeric’s family was happy about the pregnancy, but they didn’t understand how rare multiple births were in the fey community. It was fun to be seen in such different ways. For her parents, she was offering grandchildren and fulfilment of another family contract with the Kelmans. For the Markums, she was offering the first grandchildren and a reason for their son to remain closer to home. For the underfey, she was the stepping stone to more respect and power.
She chuckled and sat back, watching Aeric show his brothers his shadow control. Her parents were arm-in-arm, and her siblings were nearby but talking to cousins and other underfey.
It was a sweet memory for her when Aeric looked over at her with concern in his black eyes. His slow smile brought her the favourite way to be seen—as lover, wife, and partner. They were good together, and once she straightened out babysitters for the triplets, she was going to get back to work as quickly as she could.
There were bad guys out there who needed the indignity of having their asses handed to them by Sireno, prime of the quokka and master of shadows, lover of Aeric, prime of the quokka and master of shadow puppets.
Author’s Note
Well, this story began at the same time as the COVID-19 epidemic. I am quite sure that the two things aren’t related, but it did make this harder to focus on, as you can imagine.
When I next return to the Crossroads, we will finally get Tony and Teal’s story. Yup. Not kidding.
Thanks for reading,
Zenina Masters
About the Author
Viola Grace (aka Zenina Masters) is a Canadian sci-fi/paranormal romance writer with ambitions to keep writing for the rest of her life. She specializes in short stories because the thrill of discovery, of all those firsts, is what keeps her writing.
An artist who enjoys a story that catches you up, whirls you around, and sets you down with a smile on your face is all she endeavours to be. She prefers to leave the drama to those who are better suited to it; she always goes for the cheap laugh.
In real life, she is now engaged in beekeeping, and her adventures can be found on the YouTube channel, Mystery Bees Apiary. Just look for the cartoon kittens.
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