Total pages in book: 161
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 162269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 811(@200wpm)___ 649(@250wpm)___ 541(@300wpm)
One, two, five, three dozen, the whales rising up and crashing back into the sea, sharing the lament, the dolphins joining them, bursting from the waves and arcing back in, in a watery dance of grief.
But even with the spectacle, the humming did not stop.
As the people of the sea and the sea beasts shared their sorrow.
Even in victory, their king proclaimed that day forever to be the Day of Great Mourning for all who were taken from Airen, Wodell, the Nadirii, and on their own shores. For the gnomes, the pixies, the sprites, the Zees and the Mystics who were lost in the fight.
And for a man named Tedrey.
It was not only Aramus, but Cassius, Elena, True and Mars who proclaimed in their lands that day would be a day never forgotten.
There would never be a time, for centuries, millennia, when the day Triton rose again and was reunited with his Medusa, that day where so much was lost to cement what had been gained, when mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, teachers and storytellers did not share the tale behind why there was a Day of Great Mourning.
Why, on that day, no one in any land of Triton toiled.
Why, on that day, all remembered the ones who were lost.
Or their own lost mothers.
Or fathers.
Aunts.
And uncles.
Brothers.
Or sisters.
Friends.
And lovers.
And onward from that horrible, victorious day, the people of Mar-el were glad to welcome the people of Airen. Of Firenze. Of Wodell. The Nadirii. The Zees. The charmed folk. Even the Go’Doan.
All of them, welcome to their shores.
For they all had fought as one.
They all had died as one.
And now they all lived as one.
Different countries.
Different borders.
Different gods.
Different cultures.
But brothers and sisters.
All.
155
The Epilogue
Faunus
The Cod’s Eye Chippy, Nautilus
MAR-EL
The tables outside the place that smelt heavy were rickety, the chairs as well.
Thus, when Faunus sat in one with his hand curled around his curious meal, he did not think the thing could bear his weight.
He didn’t care.
The food was wrapped in naught but parchment, which was odd.
He didn’t care about that either.
The outside of the fish was crunchy, the inside flaky, and the chipped, fried potatoes that were seasoned with salt and vinegar that came with it were interesting.
He didn’t taste a thing.
When they were all done, as one, they stood and wandered to a bench by the sea.
Faunus sat.
Saturn sat close to him.
And Moira climbed in Faunus’s lap, lifted her legs to Saturn’s, and rested her head on Faunus’s shoulder.
The breeze blew her hair against his nose and lips.
It was very soft and smelled of roses and the sea.
“How lucky are we?” she whispered.
Faunus did not understand, nor appreciate, the question.
“To be loved like that. To be loved…” her breath hitched, and she had to force out a husky, “like that?” to finish.
He wrapped his arms around her and bent his head, shoving his face in her neck.
His shoulders heaved.
He felt Saturn’s hand wrap around the back of his neck.
And his Moira…
His stellina…
She did what she was very good at doing.
She held on tight.
Lorenz Chronis
Manor of the Captain of the Trusted, Fire City
FIRENZE
After he told her, Nyx burst out the back door.
And he followed.
She dashed to the side of their home.
“Mia gazella,” he called.
She stopped, practically immersed in the honeysuckle that grew so plentifully there, her back to him, and his chest burned, his heart squeezed, for her loss.
And for his.
“It is my fault,” he said thickly. “I should not have let him spy. I should have kept him safe. I should not have listened to him. You were right. I was wrong. I should have kept our friend in our home. Under our roof. Safe under my protection.”
She whirled, one hand going to her slightly rounded belly.
“It is not your fault,” she hissed.
He moved direct to her.
She lifted both hands to his face.
And he smelled honeysuckle against her skin.
Her cheeks were wet, her eyes swimming.
“He would do what he would do. You know our Teddy,” she reminded him.
He did.
“Mio amore,” he said hoarsely.
“I just wish…wish…” She swallowed visibly painfully and finished on a whisper, “The last time he saw me…” She shook her head. “I just wish I could have said goodbye.”
Lorenz pulled his wife into his arms.
She sobbed into his chest.
And he put his cheek to the top of her head as he felt the wet fall from his eyes.
A breeze blew through the bright pink and yellow and cream blooms behind her, their scent enveloping the couple in its embrace.
And their Teddy said goodbye.
Queen Elena
Port of Nautilus, Nautilus
MAR-EL
I looked to the ship, then back to my sister.
“All right, well, I just want to be on record stating I don’t want you to go. And that’s not a jealousy thing, seeing as, if you two best this situation and Chu wrests control from his evil cousin who killed his brother to take his throne and now rules with tyranny, then he marries you, you’ll be a queen like me. But because you go to fight his evil, tyrannical cousin.”