“I have struggled,” I remarked, “to keep my relationship with the gods. Through the loss of our women, my mother in particular. Through the loss of my wife, and my inability to go after her due to our lack of technology.”
“But the gods are not to blame for these things, sire,” she said, leaning forward and placing her hand on mine. “Allow me to remind you that Qi’Toraq, the God of Death, had to come for Ur’Tesh before she could bloom into the Goddess of the Moon. She was a young Qeteshi maiden, was she not? Full of promise. The loveliest in her village. Everyone thought she would bear great Qeteshi kings. Instead, she bedded Qi’Toraq, and when she did, she died, and in her death, she gave birth to the moon instead.”
“I am familiar with the tale.”
“Well, but do you not see?” she asked, withdrawing her hand. “We must give up everything in order for our true purpose to come through us. Just as you have, sire. You have lost all, but you still have much to gain.”
I grumbled my understanding and excused myself, leaving Anesh looking a little stunned or frustrated behind me. I could not decipher her look for I was too turned inward, too consumed with this notion that one must lose all in order to be what one must truly be. And so I did something that I had not done for quite some time. I walked through the blistering Winternight to the temple — the same temple where Lorelei and I had been married — and I knelt down at the altar of Te’Ovid. And I prayed.
I prayed for the wisdom to understand what lessons the All Father was trying to teach me; I prayed for my people, prayed for them not to die out in a generation; I prayed to return to the silent memory of the gods, to return home to this temple, if not literally then spiritually. But mostly I prayed for Lorelei’s safe return to her adopted home. I prayed and I prayed until I fell asleep with my forehead pressed to the stone floor of the Qulari temple.
***
The next morning, I awoke on the floor of the temple. Some gentle soul had draped a fur over me, but I had otherwise been left undisturbed, using my arm as a pillow. The strange thing was that it was the most rested I’d felt since Lorelei had left me. I sucked in deep gulps of air, like a drowning man, and pushed myself to sitting.
I peered up at the temple of the All Father, a totem with the many faces of Te’Ovid carved in Panyan wood, and smiled.
“Good morning, All Father,” I said aloud, my voice ringing off the great stone walls of the temple. A few candles glowed, freshly lit, and I know that the Qulari priests who called this temple home had been forced to step over me all morning. I chuckled wryly and folded the fur before rising to my feet to make my apologies to any of the Qulari who were nearby.
I searched through the space, from office to nave and down each pew, but there was no one there. The daystar was high in the sky, and it cast glittering colored light through the stained glass windows at the front of the temple, and yet there was no priest about his business. Strange, I thought, and pushed out of the temple and into the morning.
After my eyes adjusted to the glare of day, I saw why there was no one inside the temple — or another other building for that matter. All of the people of the village, the natural-born Qet and their Human or Europax companions, stood where the air was most open, their eyes trained at the sky.
For there, shooting out a tail of smoke as it went, was a shuttle, weaving its way across the sky.
I looked up as I began to walk toward the center of town, toward the Spire, and the shuttle flew lower and lower in the sky, growing in size as it made its way down. By the time it was level with the top of the Spire, I was running as fast as I could toward where I thought it would touch down.
And just as I reached the open courtyard between the market and the Spire, I saw it land and cut its engines. My people gathered around it with me, and there was much curious conversation about what we should do. Because it was clear that it was a Quarter Moon ship and we’d had problems with them before, of course.
But no sooner did it land and cut its engines did it start them back up again, and shoot blasts of hot air into the dirt between them. The heat made the air quiver and we all looked away, holding our hands up to our faces to shield ourselves from the dirt and debris from the space craft. It shot up into the atmosphere and headed off again, and we were left trying to understand it.
But there, several meters off, was my Lorelei, standing with a bag gripped in her fists. There were others with her: the Europax Tierney, and two aging humans, who glanced around, nervous and unsure. And then I saw her and my heart jumped slightly…Waelden’s Sara had returned to him.
Lorelei saw me and darted forward, so I could do nothing but run forward to meet her. We crashed headlong into each other and I swept her up into my arms, immediately overwhelmed by the solid, familiar feeling of her body against mine. I clung to her, and her to me, with her face tucked near my neck, her legs wrapped around my ribs, her arms squeezing me about the neck, and my hands beneath her bottom, holding her up.
She lifted her face and kissed me and I kissed her back, and she pulled away and smiled. I could see where there were tear streaks up and over the apples of her cheeks, and I felt the wetness of my own tears.
“You have come back to me,” I murmured, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair.
“I promised you I would,” she said. “And I have.” I rocked her gently from side to side, not willing to let her go, fearful this was all some sort of teasing apparition. But no, she was here, in my arms, and I was clinging to her like my life depended on it.
But eventually I had to set her down, and she turned, taking my hand in hers and led me back to where Tierney and the two other humans stood. I examined them. The male was very short and had hair growing from his lip. The woman was pretty, and I could see that she must have been Lorelei’s mother, as they shared a similar look, a similar spark.
“Calder Fev’rosk, these are my parents, Jack and Cora Vauss.” I reached out and gripped her father by the arm, then bowed low to her mother. “Mom, Dad, this is my husband, Calder.”
“It is an honor to meet you both,” I began, but her mother darted forward and hugged me, catching me quite off guard. I hugged her back, and when she pulled back I could see that she was weeping as well. An emotional day for all of us.
“Oh, Calder,” she said, and that was all.
I sniffled, clearing my mind of all sad things, and turned to face my people, who were gathered with similarly dubious expressions.
“Ladies and gentlemen, friends all,” I said loudly to the crowd, my voice booming across the market. I took Lorelei’s hand in mine and held them both aloft. “Your queen has returned!”
A cheer went up across the expanse of the village and I beamed, turning to see Lorelei smiling at my side.
“You must have a feast!” someone shouted from the crowd.
I grinned. “Oh, must I?”
“To welcome the queen home again!” another voice suggested.
I gave a wave of my hand. “Very well. It is the will of the people!”
Another cheer went up through the crowd and I turned to Lore and Tierney and her family. “Come,” I said, “we must get inside before we are positively mobbed.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: LORELEI VAUSS
And then, he was in my arms again, and it was as though I had never left. Better, in fact, with my parents there behind me, supporting this strange decision about which I had come to feel so fervently. I could barely let him go, couldn’t keep him out of my sight as we made our way into the Spire to prepare for the feast in my honor. Me. The Queen of Qetesh.
“Calder, my family has come here to stay,” I said, my hand in his as we walked.
“Wonderful!” he said. “It will be a pleasure to get to know your origins. I am certain they have a collection of wonderful stories that they will be eager to share with me.”
He gave me a mischievous smile and I could do nothing but roll my eyes. “I’m sure,” I said.
We led the small group of us through the Spire, and I smiled to see my parents drinking it all in. How grand it was, how anachronistic. How it was the only building here fitted with electricity. How it could go from cold, sleek lines, to carpets and plush cushions in bright colors, just around the turn of a corner.
“We will want our own domicile eventually,” my mom said, always thinking ahead. “Perhaps close to the Spire, so that we can take advantage of its, er…more modern amenities?”
“Of course,” Calder agreed. “We’ll build you something just to your specifications. But for now,” he said, pausing in front of a door not too far from where our quarters were, “you will have to make due with a guest room.”
“That will be just fine,” Dad said, and reached out to shake Calder’s hand. Calder wasn’t so accustomed to that gesture, but did the best he could. I giggled quietly.
“You’ll forgive us if we turn in for a bit?” he asked. “Just until supper. We’ve had quite a journey and could do with a bit of a lie down.”
“Certainly,” Calder said. “Make yourselves at home. Please. And we shall see you at the feast. I’ll send someone to escort you.”
“Thank you,” Mom said, pushing into the room and closing the door behind her and Dad.
Calder smiled as he turned back to me and Tierney. “So, Ms. Mafaren,” he said, “I did not expect to have you back with us so soon. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“I won’t be staying long, Your Highness,” she said. “I just need somewhere to stay for the night. And then I’ll be out of your hair. I promise.”
“You are welcome as long as you like. You’ll find your old room is yet unoccupied, and you are welcome to make use of it.”
“Thank you,” she said, dipping into a low curtsy. “I’ll go there now.”
“But we’ll see you at the feast?” he asked.
“If it pleases you, sire,” she said, and I grinned to see her being so obedient to him. She turned to look at me, then hugged me to her suddenly.
“Thank you,” she said, “for being so kind and understanding. And I really am sorry—”
“I know you didn’t mean for all these terrible things to happen, Tierney,” I said, hugging her back. “But we’ll get the others back. We will. I just know it.” She nodded as she drew away, her smile looking a bit forced before she turned on her heel to head down the hall to her room.
And then we were finally alone in the Spire, the King and Queen. The Qeteshi and the Human. Calder and Lorelei. We walked slowly, hand in hand, back to the grand master suite we had shared. But I found that I missed his quiet cottage more than the opulence of the Spire. For now, it didn’t matter. So long as we were together.
But there was still a bit of unfinished business between us, and I needed to find the words to tell him.
Calder opened the door, even as I placed a hand absently on my belly, a habit I’d taken up even though I was not yet starting to show. When he closed the door behind us, I was suddenly overtaken by the emotional intensity of everything we’d been through, and I thought I might burst into wracking sobs.
“Calder, I’m so sorry,” I said, and it was almost a plea. “I never should have left.”
“You did what you felt was necessary to help your friends,” he said, trying to smile, but I could see that our separation had rattled him as well.
“I don’t know what I thought I could do for them, but whatever it was — if anything — it’s done now.” I slipped my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. I hadn’t told him yet, but I was certain that he was wondering why my parents had accompanied me to Qetesh. Still, I couldn’t seem to find the words. It wasn’t something I could just come out at say.
Or was it?
“It’s done,” he said, “and you are home with me. For good.”
“For good.”
He hugged me close, but after a time he lifted a hand and tucked a finger under my chin to tilt my head back. He bent forward and kissed me then, his tongue probing the cavern of my mouth. Kissing him was the real homecoming, and I gave myself over to the sensation. But the sweetness of it turned desperate, as I felt his hands rove over the peaks and valleys of my curves. “Calder, I—”
“Hush, now,” he said, and pushed my jacket back over my shoulders until it fell to the floor. My shirt came up over my head next, but his fingers were too thick to undo the buttons of my jeans. I helped him, kicking off my boots as I went, smiling all the while. My panties were last, white and plain, and he reached forward to take their band in his fist and rip them clean off my body.
He pushed me back onto the bed and spread my legs so my sex was bared to him and he gazed down at it, running his fingertips lightly over the lips. When he pulled his hand away, his fingertips came away damp with my desires, and I knew I could not last long without the feeling of him filling me up.
He knelt down in front of me and wrapped his arms around my legs, tugging my bottom to the edge of the mattress. Then he bent forward and slipped his tongue between my nether lips, flicking my clitoris with the tip of his tongue. I moaned, gripping my breasts in my hands as he went to work on me. I squeezed my thighs against him and felt the hardness of his horns as they grated against my flesh with every movement.
He pulled away suddenly and stood up, tugging his tunic up over his head to reveal his perfect, beautiful chest, adorned as it was with a myriad of tattoos. He abandoned his breeches next, his cock already at full attention, and gripped his shaft in his fist as he came toward me. Positioning the head of his prick at my wet entrance, he thrust himself home with one long, insistent stroke. I cried out and he gripped me by the hips, fucking me with blissful abandon.
“Now,” he growled as he bucked his hips, “you are home.”
He bent over me and I ran my hands along his back, gripping his ass as he pressed himself as deeply as he could get inside of me. Our mouths found each other and we kissed, connected at two points, until finally he broke away and rolled over onto his back. I climbed astride him then, directing him back into me and setting down until I had taken his full length. I pressed my hands against his chest and rocked back and forth. He helped me along by gripping me by the hips.
“Calder,” I panted as I moved, feeling my orgasm building inside of me. I knew this would be quick, but not quite this quick. “Calder!” My orgasm erupted fast and strong, the muscles in my cunt clamping down around the intrusion of his cock, even as my entire body shuddered atop him. And it was my orgasm that sent him off as well, his body tensing as he thrust up and into me one last time, filling me with his seed as his fingers gripped the flesh on my hips.
We were breathing hard, our hearts beating in time to one another as I leaned forward and rested with my arms on his chest and my chin on my arms. He was still inside of me when I peered down into his face and began to speak. “Calder,” I murmured.
“Hmmm?”
“There’s something I want to tell you.”
“What it is, my lady?” he asked, his tone all sleepy and warm as our heart rates began to slow.
I smiled, brushing a few stray hairs away from my eyes, and said, “I’m pregnant.”
He lifted his head to look at me, searching my face for any sign of mischief. But I could only smile, and he could only reflect that smile back at me. “Oh, my darling,” he said, gently cupping my face in his hand. He rolled, and I rolled with him, until he was on top of me, kissing me, laughing, laughing, and kissing me. “My darling girl,” he said, over and over. “Thank the gods. What a life we’ve stumbled into.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “What a life.”
EPILOGUE
“Is the princess ready?” Calder asked, coming up behind me and sliding his arms around my waist. He leaned close and pressed his lips to my neck, a sensation that never failed to make me shiver.
“She’s not the princess yet, remember?” I teased, even as I beamed at my daughter where she slept in her basket. “Isn’t th
at the reason everyone’s coming today?”
“It will be the most glorious coronation they’ve ever seen. Simple but powerful, and full of promise.” Calder stepped around me to press a kiss to our daughter’s forehead. “It still seems unreal to me at times. You, a human, were able to bring a leader back to our world.”
“It wasn’t all my doing, the blood of all those women runs through her veins…thanks to you.” I stepped closer to Calder, aching for a real kiss, when the doors burst open.
“Where is she? Where’s my granddaughter? I have to see how the gown turned out!” my mother cried happily. She’d been itching to get her hands on the fine fabric that had been presented to our child before her birth, woven by the finest craftsmen and carried to the Spire with a lot of ceremony. Mom had insisted on making her coronation gown, lovingly stitching it all by hand after learning the history of Qulari’s royal traditions.
“Tradition dictates that Calder’s mother would have done this for her, if the woman had lived to see her born,” she’d said at the time. “Taking over this responsibility is the very least I can do to pay homage to the baby’s lineage.”
Calder had been moved to tears by Mom’s gesture, but I knew there was more to it than that. It was Mom’s way of keeping herself busy during the hardest pregnancy anyone could have imagined. It was no secret that all other pairings between species had only resulted in heartbreaking loss, but I was determined to do anything that was required of me—foul herbal brews, bed rest ‘til the bones in my back screamed to move, enduring endless incantations from elders who came to check on my progress nearly every hour—if it meant our child would live.
For his part, Dad had an equally difficult task, one that was just as meaningful to my new family as a coronation gown. He’d worked tirelessly from the Spire, entreating every friend and ally he could think of to intervene on our behalf.
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