by Abella Ward
Realizing at last that her scheme had just imploded before her very eyes, Mara tried to flee, but the Blackwings didn’t allow her to get very far.
Kenner, however, decided he had waited much too long as it was, and ran to Teresa’s side. The crowd around them alternated between congratulating them and jeering at Mara, as she was taken away to wait for her trial in the cages, while the Elders attempted to call for some order, and failed miserably.
Only Elder Fanag looked happy at this unholy mess, smiling at Kenner and Teresa, and patting him on the back. “Well done, boy,” she praised him. “I knew you could do it.”
Kenner wisely decided not to remind the Elder that she was contradicting some of her earlier statements and, instead, put his arm around Teresa’s shoulders and nodded. “Thank you... but, if you’ll excuse us now, we’d rather like to go home.”
The old lady shooed them away, laughing all the while, and Kenner was glad they could get the hell out of there.
There were things he had to say to his Teresa, things he had to do to show her just how much he had missed her, and he could only feel free to indulge those needs in the privacy of their own house.
Chapter Eleven
After the initial drama, the rest of the process went far more smoothly and quickly.
Lady Esplyn was questioned some more, and when it became clear she was only Mara’s dupe and knew nothing of consequence to the Kinai, she was flown back to her home in Wallaria by Arul. And, since he was already going to the Skatian capital, the First Lieutenant of the Blackwing Squadron was also tasked with paying a visit to the Emperor with a large chest of presents from the Kinai craftsmen for some preemptive damage control.
The Council concluded that the instabilities in Mara’s character, which were obviously growing more and more prominent, were a result of a Joining that hadn’t gone exactly right, but had gone well enough for the cracks in it to only just now be starting to show. She was sentenced to death, but before the execution could be held, she hung herself in her own home, refusing to the end to bow down to anyone.
Kenner and Teresa spent the first ten days of their reunion giving the furniture in Kenner’s house a good workout, and no one had the heart to take it against them. After all, the Blackwings were perfectly capable of governing themselves for a while... and, besides, the people of Kinai kind of owed it to the pair to let them have some time to thoroughly consummate their passions, and then repeat the favor a few months later when they finally tied the knot.
This vigorous consummation resulted in a birth of a twin boy and girl in the spring of the following year, and as a present to the new parents, the Elders permanently lifted all the bans that governed Teresa’s life in Kinai, and she was granted permission to try for a Joining come winter.
At first, Teresa intended to decline the honor, fearing that the Joining would be unsuccessful and unwilling to risk making a widower and orphans out of her husband and children. But Kenner begged her to have as much faith in herself as he did in her, and so she left a human woman of the planet Earth, and returned a true Kinai, Joined to the core of her being with a majestic beast, its incredible power infusing every single molecule of her body. It took her months to master the use of it, but once she did to the satisfaction of the Squadron Commander and his lieutenants, she became the newest recruit of the Darkwings, finally finding her place amongst her new people.
And so, life went on. Our lovers tried to make the most of every moment they had, finding fulfillment in their family, in their work and in each other, making plans for the future while resolving the problems of the present.
But every so often, when their babies were tucked in their little beds, and the world was at peace under the cover of the starry night, our lovers took flight together, wing by wing, their hearts soaring, joined in a love so deep that it makes dragons sing...
*****
THE END
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