* * * *
A few weeks later
The throne room of the palace was filled to the brim with shifters of all species. Camden had never seen such a gathering in his life, and had never expected to do so either. Draechenburg was truly making an important step today, one which many would likely question and doubt.
“What’s this all about, Camden?” his sire asked by his side. “Why were we invited here?”
The entire Isaiat family had gathered at the meeting, with the exception of Camden’s mother, who had stayed behind in Patala to watch Ender and Endra. For a few moments, Camden allowed himself the luxury of scanning all of their faces, particularly those of Arlen and Krysta. They would never know that, had the course of history been different, they might not even be alive now.
“I wish I could tell you,” he replied. “Just be a little patient. I promise it’s not anything bad.”
He probably wouldn’t have gotten away with just that, but the imperial consuls finally emerged in front of the gathering. As always, they were accompanied by their respective mates. Rachen and Phoenix followed behind them, and seeing the entire group made Camden wish he could be by his own mate’s side.
“I’m on my way,” Sage said through their bond. “This is too important for us to miss sharing it.”
Indeed, Sage showed up mere seconds later. The famous Koepke family was with him, seeming very uncomfortable and casting dubious looks Phoenix’s way. They were the same avian family who was believed to be involved in the ploy against Phoenix. However, instead of attacking them, the draechen had chosen a different strategy, one Camden desperately hoped would work.
As members of the second caste, Camden and his family were higher up in the shifter hierarchy that the avians. In spite of it—or maybe for that exact reason—Camden had taken it up on himself to handle diplomatic relationships with them. Usually, the imperial consorts had similar duties, but today, they had to stand by their mates, so Camden had a more complicated job.
“This is very exciting, isn’t it?” he asked the Koepke.
“I’m not yet sure if I should believe in the draechen,” Hector Koepke replied, “but we did come here to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
“We came here because we fucked up,” his brother, Ulysses, replied. “If there’s a chance to make amends, I think all of us are looking forward to it.”
Their sister, Portia, smiled at Camden. “In other words, yes, it is very exciting.”
Their incipient conversation was stopped when the imperial consuls finally started to speak. “First of all, welcome to Draechenburg,” Hareem said. “I know you’re all wondering why we summoned you here. You’re looking around and seeing so many people, different from yourself. Perhaps you’re hoping that the Directive will finally be abolished. Well, it won’t.”
Murmurs started all around the room. To Camden’s left, a group of werewolves stirred uneasily. They were all Graham’s acquaintances or members of his pack, who’d come here in response to Graham contacting them. Graham’s brother, Stuart, had led over a dozen wolves here, and Monroe Lovington, Taryn’s brother, had come as well. Now, all of them seemed like they regretted having stepped on draechen soil.
The feline shifters who’d arrived shortly after the werewolves didn’t look too happy either. All of them were snarling, well, all except Philip Strange, who seemed to be staring at the group of assembled benandanti. The Connors family hovered at the edge of the room, obviously still uncomfortable with their position here, even if the imperial consuls had treated them quite well and actually had a pardon in mind.
Next to Camden, his family, as well as the Koepke, were already tensing. Other shifters had begun to pull away. The magical creatures were clustering around Eanera Myrthylar and the Ivenian king, also seeming very wary. But it seemed that the draechen had expected that, or maybe even counted on it.
“Most if not all the people here loathe the Directive, likely for a good reason,” Hareem continued. “It can be considered an obsolete law that weighs down on all of us. However, one cannot argue that the paranormal world needs the Directive.”
“Then why did we come here anyway?” Monroe Lovington asked. “Was this all some sort of trick?”
Monroe’s elf mate, Jude, pressed a hand to his shoulder, and Monroe seemed to settle down. The werewolf was apparently still wary of draechen, and more so because he had a lot to lose.
“Not at all,” Karein said. “Without prolonging things any further, we’ll go ahead and say that our suggestion is to change this law. It can stop being the Directive of the Shifter Castes and become merely the Shifter Directive. It is the caste system that is poisonous for us.”
“I don’t understand,” Ulysses Koepke said. “The caste system was the whole point for the Directive.”
“That’s true,” Kael answered. “At the time, it probably seemed like the right thing to do. But Talrasar and I never wanted that, and I think that we’ve reached a point in which clinging to the past would just destroy our future.”
The throne room erupted in countless questions. Both shifters and magical creatures wanted to know exactly how such a thing would work, what the draechen’s involvement would be, and if it was truly possible.
For his part, Camden just leaned against Sage and absently caressed his stomach. He had been afraid once, afraid to have hatchlings with Sage in a world that looked down on hybrid children. But that world was disappearing.
Phoenix had tried to do this with magic, but it simply didn’t work that way. Therefore, Camden and his family had to take matters in his own hands. They had to learn to forgive and understand. Most importantly, they all had to love.
Camden looked at the imperial consuls, who stood there with Sari, Talrasar, and Taryn next to them. He looked at Rachen and Phoenix, waiting hand in hand next to Karein. He spotted Graham and Caelyn, hovering close to Caelyn’s family. With the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Monroe and Jude, who seemed to be trying to process what the imperial consuls had said.
Meanwhile, Philip Strange was already making his way through the crowd and heading toward Raleigh Connors. Watching the panther-shifter pass, Camden smiled. There were already bonds of love spanning all throughout the paranormal world, and more appearing every day. The imperial consuls had made the first step. Camden knew how hard it had been for them, but they had learned from their mistakes and experiences. Because of that, one day, when Camden’s children were all grown up, they wouldn’t have to endure the same problems he and Sage had been through. Today, after so much sacrifice, they were all starting over and rebuilding their world from the ashes.
* * * *
That night, Eanera left the throne room of the Draechenburg with Selbrian and went onto the cliffside. It was pretty cold, but that was all right. She had a lot to think about, and the chilly air cleared her head.
Selbrian came behind her and hugged her waist. Eanera jumped lightly. Being able to touch Selbrian whenever she wanted to was still novel to her, and she had yet to grow fully accustomed to it. But Selbrian was finally a free man. At first, Queen Onyerre had protested breaking their union, and really, that would have made it all a difficult and painful process, more so because Eanera couldn’t really get involved. In the end, though, Onyerre had agreed to it, admitting that she had allowed the Ancient Horror to use her body, and as such, had endangered not only the throne and Selbrian, but also her own children.
For her part, Eanera had stepped down as High Priestess. She couldn’t in good conscience occupy that position, when her heart took her in an entirely different direction. She could serve Jenarra without officially being part of the clergy. She knew that now. Jenarra had shown her the truth, through the same vision that had told her who the next leader of the Jenarran priesthood would be.
The future held so many things, some painful, some beautiful. Eanera had been given a mere glimpse of it, but it had made her so happy to know that slowly, their family would grow and give others th
e chance to love like they did. Sari, her beautiful baby, was at the center of it all. But then again, so was Phoenix.
“Do you think he knows about it?” Selbrian asked, as if guessing her thoughts. They might not have mated yet, but he’d always had a knack for catching onto her moods.
Eanera shook her head. “It’s too soon. Talrasar and Sari will be able to tell in a few weeks, but until then, the last thing Phoenix will be thinking about is potential hatchlings.”
“Those children will be quite the handful,” Selbrian commented. “Half-phoenix, half-fire dragon.”
Eanera just smiled and looked out into the distance, admiring the night sky. Sometimes, she thought that the stars were the souls of children waiting to be born. If that was the case, which one would be her grandson? What about her grandson’s mate?
The weight of the jeweled box in her pocket should have bothered her, but it didn’t. She knew now that the day would come when it would be needed again. Until then, she would be here, watching and waiting.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A native Romanian, Scarlet was born in 1986 and grew up an avid fan of Karl May and Jules Verne, reading fantasy stories and adventure. Later, when she was out of fantasy stories to read, she delved into her mother’s collection of books and, of course, stumbled onto romance. As a writer though, Scarlet Hyacinth was born one sunny summer day, when a dear friend of hers—the same friend who introduced her to GLBT fiction—proposed they start writing a story of their own. As it turns out, the two friends never did finish that particular story, but Scarlet discovered she had a knack for writing and ended up starting to write individually. And so, between working on her dissertation, studying for exams, and reading yaoi manga, she started writing the Kaldor Saga. Along the way, Scarlet met a lot of wonderful people who supported her, and in the end, she found her story a home and, in the process, fulfilled a beautiful dream.
For all titles by Scarlet Hyacinth, please visit
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Hyacinth, Scarlet - From the Ashes [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 7] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) Page 30