Empress Stephanie closed her eyes for a few minutes, thinking or praying, then opened her eyes and said, “Today, we see the peaceful transfer of power. This is not something that is normal for humans. We typically fight or scramble over a crown. I hope this means we are getting it right.”
“My nephew, Landon, is a wonderful young man. He is honest, competent, passionate, and capable of providing the leadership our people need as we face changes and an unknown future. He also demonstrated his excellent decision-making skills by choosing a wonderful woman to be his wife.”
“Today, I name Lord Landon Wilson-Jackson as my successor. From this day forward, he will be our leader. We will all, each of us, owe him our allegiance.”
She stood, and everyone else stood. “Landon, please step forward.”
He walked up to the base of the stairs.
Stephanie walked down and stood beside him. She was facing the people, he was facing the throne. Only Edric and Kare were now above them. Edric walked down and stood behind Stephanie and said, “Your Majesty, I remove your crown and the symbol of your leadership.” He then reached out and raised the crown above her head. Feeling this, she walked over and stood beside Solon, Jeffrey and Heather.
Edric then stepped in front of Landon, and said, “My Lord, please turn and face the chamber.”
Landon turned and could now see the thousands of people here for the ceremony.
Then Kare said, “My Lords, Ladies, and all those assembled and all the people of the Empire. We are gathered here for a singular purpose. That purpose is to bestow upon Landon Wilson-Jackson the title of Emperor of the Known Universe. What this means, is that from this moment, we, all the people of our two galaxies, owe him our allegiance, fealty, and service. He is to be our liege, our champion, our guiding light through the times ahead.”
She turned to Landon, and said, “Landon Wilson-Jackson, do you take this oath freely and without reservation?”
He said, “I do.”
“Do you promise to protect and defend the people of the Empire?”
“I do.”
“Do you promise to give all you have for the benefit of the people of this realm?”
“I do.”
“Do you promise all of this, and swear you are telling the truth, so help you God?”
“I do.”
Edric raised the crown higher, then he slowly settled it upon his head, and then stepped back. Kare then said, “Long live Emperor Landon the First of the Known Universe!”
“Long live the Emperor!”
60.354.17 - Epilogue
It wasn’t very long after the transfer of power to Landon was complete before Stephanie and Solon returned to Xena and entered rejuvenation. They wanted to be the same age biologically to begin their life together. Now they would start out as biological twenty-five-year-olds and have a life expectancy of seven hundred and fifty years.
Stephanie and Solon got married under Promise, in the rainbow forest. Less than a year later they had their first child, a beautiful young boy they named Robert, and the following year a beautiful young girl, named Angela. Heather also had another baby during this time, so they could celebrate as young mothers together.
They all decided to settle down on Xena and raise their kids. They talked about the next step and decided that once the children were older, maybe they would take their families and travel to the Triangulum Galaxy, a mere two hundred and seventy-three million lightyears away. This would be a mass-migration of the Wilson Family. Not everyone would go, of course, keeping control of the current known galaxies, galactic bank, JW Enterprises, etc. with family in place.
But for now, the world of The Wilson Family was complete, as everyone had finally found the one thing they wanted to experience in this life; love, family, friends, closeness, and hope for the future.
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