by Aaron Crash
Steven was relaxing on his KillaCycle when he saw Hwedo come racing down from the sky. She landed in the parking lot, a dark purple dragon, smelling fresh, like a spring morning.
She shifted human, her frizzy curls wiggling as she transformed. Her short shorts and bikini top showed off her sexy dark skin, lightly sweating in the bright Wyoming sunlight. Autumn was taking its time coming to the Great Plains. Summer lingered.
Hwedo crunched across the gravel in her sandals. “I have decided what I want.”
He leaned on his bike in jeans and a Halestorm T-shirt, black, and somewhat frayed. He had his arms crossed. “And what do you want, Hwedo?”
She raised her chin. “You will marry me. I will become your best wife. I will keep you and your Escort safe. You shouldn’t say no because I am very powerful.”
He grinned at her.
She wasn’t kidding. Her dark eyes were deadly serious.
“Okay, Hwedo, we talked about this. I don’t have a best wife. You’re all equal, and if you try and act like that in front of the twins, they will shoot you. You get that, right?”
She walked up to him, got in his face, and then erupted into laughter. She hugged him, tried to kiss him, but had to stop because she was laughing too hard. “Mouse said to tease you like that. I love her. She is very fierce, though I will never understand why she doesn’t like to fight. She does bite though.” Hwedo ended her giggles with a snort.
Steven squeezed the Malian woman. “She does bite.” He eased her back. “Don’t you want an empire of your own? You could have one, you know. You’re very powerful.”
She looked at him thoughtfully. “I don’t want an empire. I want you.” She then cracked a smile. “And I am powerful. If I grow tired of you, I will seize your empire and rule this world and all the worlds.”
She sounded like Heridan in need of her chocolate Donettes.
“You might not want other worlds,” Steven said, thinking of the hellish world of the Creator Destructor and the worlds that Collidium had seeded. What would happen to them?
Most likely, their drama would continue to play out without the lost king’s interference. Good. Hopefully their stories would give them all joy. He knew he loved his own story, and he figured it would only get better and better.
At some point, he’d have a son. He remembered his dream when he’d slept on the deck outside the Taylor Kubla Khan Academy. It had been vivid, but it hadn’t told him who the mother would be.
Hwedo smacked his arm, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Why have you not proposed to me, Steven? You should say, ‘Beautiful Hwedo, it would be my great pleasure if you would do me the honor of being my wife.’” She gave him a dirty look.
He smiled. “Beautiful Hwedo, it would be my great pleasure if you would do me the honor of being my wife.”
She echoed his smile. “And to that, I say yes!”
She kissed him under the brilliant blue Wyoming sky, next to the gray cliffs and the green water of the reservoir below. He loved that lake, like he loved Wyoming, like he loved his family.
And his family was about to get a whole lot bigger.
Chapter Thirty
SUNDAY, AT MIDNIGHT, Steven, Quinnestri, and Tessa, using a mixture of Enchantrix and something the elf called Flesh magic, turned the plains east of the Infinity Ranch into a roofless temple, with pillars, a walkway of marble, and an altar.
Liam Strider stood on that altar, awash in yellow vestments.
Family and friends were clustered in pews facing him. A full moon shined down brightly from the sky above. There was some irony in that.
It was chilly, but not terribly so, and big flaming braziers found on the borders of the temple radiated both heat and light.
In the audience was the usual suspects: Bud with Denise and Fimi, who had started taking the tanaquil herb, working to get pregnant. Bud liked the work of trying, though he wasn’t too sure about the end results.
Tessa’s family was there: Mrs. Ross, a sleepy Jared, and Abigail with her fiancé, Peter. Abigail wasn’t too happy that once again, she was at a wedding and it wasn’t hers. Peter needed to get busy, though he should let his wife-to-be pick the cake.
Steven’s mother, Florence, was with the Rosses, and yet, she kept turning around, because standing in the back, smoking a cigar, was Joe Whipp. He kept a respectful distance from his ex-wife. And he wasn’t going to pretend he’d been around when they’d needed him. No, he knew he was lucky to be there, and he acted like it.
Strangely enough, Steven was glad to see his foster father. Hating Joe Whipp had taken up a fair amount of his mental energy, and now, that seemed pointless.
Steven had achieved more success than he’d ever dreamed possible. He could show the gambler a little mercy and understanding, though he knew he and Joe could never be close. Some choices had some major fucking consequences. Nonetheless, having Joe at the wedding felt right.
And Joe Whipp wasn’t the only father in attendance.
Rhakshor Khat, his son, and his wives sat with Aria near the back. The Indian woman had found a bit of forgiveness for her father and her brother. She seemed happy to be with her collection of mothers, her sisters, and their many cousins. Like with Steven, she would never be close to her birth family, but that was okay. Both Aria and Steven had found families of their own.
And there was Bob Wayne with Chazzie and Pru. The twins seemed generally happy that their father was there, and yet, it was also hard on them. Some families were easier to survive than others. The twins were okay, but Bob himself was uneasy. He’d done his bit of daddying, and it was clear he’d rather be anywhere else. He kept up a good front, did the smile and handshake thing, but he kept looking at his watch. He’d pull back the sleeve of his fringed jacket with a hand that was missing a pinkie. Wayne didn’t want them to try and fix his missing digits with FleshForge, not after what had happened with Spider Finger.
Steven wasn’t going to be a father like Wayne. Steven didn’t want his children to merely survive their family—he wanted them to thrive in it.
Steven stood at the back in the aisle, in a tuxedo he’d rented. He simply didn’t want to own a tux. Bud had laughed at him. Their consigliere wasn’t the only one.
On the altar, next to Liam, stood Steven’s wives to be. Heridan was in a black wedding gown, Nefri in a white one, and Hwedo wore a traditional Malian yellow wedding dress with a head covering. All three were heart-crushingly beautiful.
And with them? Skylar Blacke, Abby Free, and Michaela Montes. Dammit, they were going to have to find a new name to call the Three Widows because they wouldn’t be widows much longer. They would be Steven’s full-time wives.
The Three Queens were in the audience, all holding their sleeping children—Cooper, Emma, and Aubrey—in their arms. Adelaide, Isla, and Matilda were in their finest dresses. Cooper wore a little tuxedo. Even fast asleep, the little guy looked dapper.
Cooper jerked awake when Liam called out, “Who is the Dragonlord of this Primacy?”
“I am! Steven Drokharis!” Steven strode up the aisle.
He passed the new twelve Primes, the ones who now helped Aria rule the world. They were responsible for the behavior of the Dragonkind in each of their regions. The dragons couldn’t flaunt the rules of the humans. They all had to live together, and so they would be policed.
Chosen Ben Tozier waved at him. Chickadee Hamms, a big woman in a big sack of a dress, was crying already.
Ndelgo Baenhoover, from the Sub-Saharan Africa Primacy, nodded and smiled. There was a whole collection of Dragonsouls around, a few chosen vassals, and so many wives. The perimeter hotel was full to bursting, though many of the attendees would simply use Magica Porta to walk back to their own beds in their own Aeries spread across the globe.
Eve Downfyre and Imogene Summers, holding hands, smiled at Steven. As did all the women with them, which included some old familiar faces like Agatha Stipe, Hannah Cannon, and Sun Savage. They’d come up from what Mouse referred t
o as their lesbian paradise at the bottom of the world. Eve and Imogene might have a paradise in the Antarctic, but it was a bisexual one, because Steven made it a point to get down there often.
Oddly enough, Bernard “Buster” Lambkin stood with the Antarctica Dragonladies. Buster was at the wedding with his sweet, portly wife and a few aides.
Buster and Bud were doing a great job dealing with the aftermath of the Great Drokharis Reveal. Poor Bob Stains. He’d been the pawn of the wrong motherfucker, and that was a fact. Steven didn’t know the specifics of his dealings with Collidium, and in the end, he didn’t care.
Sabina said the worst was behind them—that included both the danger from their potential enemies as well as their struggles with Reggie and her chaotic baby ways. She was sleeping through the night, and her powerful song was getting softer. She was growing accustomed to the world.
Steven walked to the front of the audience. He stopped at the first step of the altar. He heard Blackfoot woof from somewhere, probably near Zoey. With Nefri on stage, the flying wolf would go to another member of his pack.
The six women had tears on their faces, and Steven cursed himself as his own tears fell. Damn, he shouldn’t be crying, and yet, his heart was full.
It had been a long road to get here for the widows, and they were there, missing two of their sisters, three if you considered Nikki Angel.
Liam gestured, and Skylar went first.
The older woman’s voice cracked when she spoke. “I am your everlasting earth.”
Steven swallowed and found his strength. “I will be the Animus that brings you to life.”
Abby Free smiled through her tears. “I am your nourished seed, neh?”
Steven nodded. “I will be your nourishment.”
Tears shined on Michaela Montes’s face. She clutched her rosary in her hand. “I am your verdant leaf.”
“I will be the divine sunlight that kisses you,” Steven said, altering the words in a way that would give Michaela so much joy.
Hwedo went next, looking proud, a bit arrogant, and yet so happy. She hadn’t cried a bit. “I am your leaping mind.”
“I will be there to catch you when you leap,” Steven said.
That was when the Malian woman lost it and started to weep.
“I am your strong fist,” Heridan said. She made a fist, shrouded in darkness, and she let her demonic side show, horns rising from inky hair.
Steven smiled at her show of power. Fucking Heridan. “And I will be your strength just as you will be mine.”
Nefri was set to go last, and yet, she stood there, in her white gown, lips trembling and tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked at him with such love in her eyes, such hope. Her mouth fell open, but she didn’t speak.
Come on, Steven thought. You can do this.
Tessa wasn’t so subtle. “Come on, Nefri! I believe in you!”
Blackfoot agreed, giving his mistress and the moon a good howl.
The Shadow Archer opened her mouth. And her voice cracked as she said, “I am. Your living soul.”
Steven had to pause to get control so his own voice wouldn’t waver. “And I will be your heart just as you will be mine.”
Nefri gave him the biggest smile on the Stair, and there wasn’t even the slightest bit of a smirk to it.
Liam nodded and raised his hands. “And so, the Dragonlord has found his wives. And they will all know love, service, sorrow, and joy, until the end of time, when the divine fire is consumed by the cold darkness.”
It was the end.
Quinnestri stood. “Wait. I would like to marry Steven. I am free from my people, our rituals, and our ways. Is this permissible?”
“Ugh, for the love of biscuits,” Mouse complained. “We’re never going to eat. I’m so hungry!”
“Shush!” from both Tessa and Zoey.
Quinn hurried up, in a gown, with a long, warm wrap around her neck.
Steven stood below the altar, wondering at the turn of events. She’d talked of byzantine rituals, but that had been when she’d embraced being a queen. She’d left that behind. She was free.
The elf queen ran up to him. She leaned in close. “Becoming a Dragonskin is not enough. I want to be the wife of a Dragonlord, for the rest of my days. I was afraid that I would lose myself in you. No, that will not happen. I am strong, just as all your wives are strong. Will you have me?” She looked into his eyes with such hope on her face.
He nodded and smiled warmly. Could his heart get any fuller? “Yes, Quinnie, you are a part of us now.”
She nodded back and hurried up the steps to stand with the six other women.
She turned and looked down at all the expectant eyes. Disrupting the wedding was a brave thing, an embarrassing thing, and yet the elf queen was there, humble and happy. She’d changed so much in the past weeks. She wasn’t the cold, distant monarch of another world. She was a warm soul, seeking connection and guidance as she moved from one phase of her life to the next.
“We ended with soul.” Mouse’s whisper could be heard above the murmuring. “So, do you go back to the water thing? Or that sand bit they left out? I was sand when I got married. It kinda pissed me off. I hate sand.”
“Don’t you dare. I do the Star Wars references,” Tessa insisted.
“Shush!” Zoey growled.
Quinnestri would know what to do. Steven had faith in her. She looked into his eyes. “I will be your wife.”
It was simple and to the point. He smiled, and he wasn’t going to just say, And I will be your husband.
He couldn’t. Mouse would give him too much shit, she and the twins, since Mouse was an honorary Wayne after all.
Steven gazed into the eyes of the elf queen. The audience, the world, fell away. “You will be my wife, and I will be the Animus in your days, the Morta in your nights, and there will be no Void, for we will fill our hearts will love.”
Quinnestri raised her hands to her face and covered her mouth, and tears fell, so many tears.
Liam was smart enough to know that the ceremony was over. “And so, the Dragonlord has found his wives. And they will all know love, service, sorrow, and joy, until the end of time, when the divine fire is consumed by the cold darkness.”
“Not even then,” Steven said. “Because there’s no darkness we can’t destroy.”
Simple gold rings appeared on the fingers of the seven women. Steven’s own ring glowed, and he felt the spirits of the seven women mingle with his own. He rushed up the steps and then he was lost in the seven women, his new wives, his old lovers, his dearest friends.
Kisses were shared, the feasting went on all night, stories were told, songs were sung, and of course, everyone helped get the kids to bed and sleeping. Zoey loved that part.
Before she left, the bear girl kissed Steven’s cheek. “I’m glad you’re home. I hope you don’t have any more adventures for a long, long time.”
Around dawn, most of the guests had left, and the sun was rising in the east. It was time for the farewell party.
The night temple, their creation, was still there, though they had planned to return the land to the sagebrush. Steven thought they might consider making it a permanent fixture. They could clear out the seats and use it to train. And he wanted to always remember his second wedding. He’d have more, that was certain, a third, a fourth, a fifth. His family had plenty of love to share.
He stood on the marble in front of spinning flames, a portal connecting Alpha Gaia to another version of Earth, one that had an India, jungles, and a lack of dragons.
Steven stood with Aria and her father. Her brother, Godha, the Magician Moka Bhaag, and the rest of Rhakshor Khat’s vassals and wives had already left for their new world.
Rhakshor put his hands together in front of his chest. “You saved my life, Steven Drokharis. You knew I was not your friend, and still, you stopped Collidium from slaying me. I thank you.”
Steven did the namaste sign in return. “And I thank you for forgiving
your daughter. For forgiving us both.”
Rhakshor nodded. “Yes, it seems I wanted to increase my power. Well, I have my own world to rule. I will be kind to the humans there as you are kind to my daughter.” He addressed Aria directly. “It seems you have married well.”
“I have, Father,” Aria said.
The Indian dragon smiled, but only a bit. “Then we have nothing more to say. Goodbye, Daughter. Goodbye, Mr. Drokharis.”
Then Rhakshor Khat left, and Steven was glad.
Aria slipped her hand into his. “While he is my father, I am very relieved to see him leave. I really thought we might have to kill him.”
Steven agreed. “I hope I never have to slay another dragon, ever again.”
Aria laughed and pushed her body against his. “Poor Tessa, you know how she loves to slay.”
“Who needs to slay dragons when you have StellarFlight?” he asked. He imagined himself and Tessa taking trips to Jupiter, or maybe they’d use a Magica Porta spell to get to Saturn, and they could fly to Titan. He’d had a cup of coffee there with Bob Wayne. Both Wayne and Joe Whipp had left the night before to return to their rambling ways.
Aria walked on to the Great Room while Steven stopped off at the pool. Chazzie and Pru were lying on lounge chairs, passing a bottle of their hooch back and forth. The early morning wasn’t warm, at all, and yet, the twins were there, in bikinis, like it was three o’clock in the afternoon on a Tuesday, in August. Both wore sunglasses. And both were more than a little drunk.
Steven sat down. “What are you two talking about?”
Chazzie lowered her sunglasses. “Steven, you’re so fucking hot. Isn’t he hot, Pru? I want him to fuck me, right here, with everyone watching.”
“You certainly aren’t getting any less slutty, Chazzie,” Pru slurred.
Chazzie got weepy. “The wedding was so beautiful. And when Quinnestri went up? I legit cried.”
“Having Daddy around was weird though. He was a trooper. And I guess he did the best he could.” Pru also lowered her sunglasses. “Sex, Steven, you know sex? I love it with you. You know that, right?”
