Epilogue

Epilogue

Finn was quietly named king of the Greengiles early the next morning by official decree. Only the newly appointed ministers of the Greengile council were in attendance, along with the Isatolia king. Finn’s mate, Prince Jazdon, and a few loyal friends, like Vargla, Merlon and Meridous were there, of course, and afterward, there was a feast to celebrate the occasion. A larger celebration for everyone was being planned for the coming week, when Finn would have his coronation ceremony.

The disgraced Daltor’s body had already been removed from the palace and cremated, with his ashes taken far out to sea and scattered over the waves. King Reykur had advised that he have no grave, in case some loyal, though misguided followers might make it into a shrine in his memory.

Jazdon scoffed at the comment. “I doubt he had any loyal followers. Once the true story gets out, the Greengile will be shocked and probably despise him.”

“What exactly did happen?” Vargla asked, leaning back in his chair.  “Merlon tried to explain, but I got lost in all the details.”

Finn smiled at him. “It’s an awful story—and I’m trying not to think about the people in it being my parents. My poor mother…”

Jazdon reached for his hand and squeezed. It was so out of character for him that Finn gave him a surprised glance.

“What? I’m just trying to support you. Isn’t that what you say you want me to do all the time?” He looked over at Vargla. “‘Blah, blah, be nicer. Blah, blah, don’t be so mean….’” He glanced over at Finn. “You’re a terrible nag.”

Finn punched his arm, laughing. “I am not. And I’m ignoring both of you.”

Merlon scooted his chair closer. “Tell me then, so I can get the details straight for when I record them later. How did you find all this out anyway?”

“Anola told me. I went to see her after Jazdon got through with her to make sure he hadn’t injured her too badly.”

Jazdon snorted beside him, but Finn ignored him. “Anyway, she told me the whole story. The shortest version is that my mother, Princess Freya had an affair with a soldier named Magnus. His mother was Isatolia, and she mated with a Greengile. He considered himself Greengile because of his father and that’s why the Isatolia don’t know about him when I searched for his name.”

“This is supposed to be the short version?” Jazdon asked.

“Shut up. Anyway, Magnus became a soldier for the Greengile king, my grandfather, and that’s when he met my mother.”

“I’ve seen her picture, and she was beautiful.”

Finn smiled at Merlon. “Yes, that’s how I remember her, though I was really young when she passed away.”

“Anyway…”Jaz said, urging him to get on with it.

“You’re so impatient,” Finn replied. “I’m getting to it. The man I thought of as my father, Jarl Johansen, became friendly with them both after Johansen came to the Greengiles as an architect to help remodel the castle in Greenland. Then Daltor killed my grandfather to take his throne and went after Freya to kill her and her unborn child—namely me. But Magnus found out his plan and he was stabbed to death on Daltor’s orders. Freya ran away with the help of Johansen. Later he married her to give her cover and help her. She died after a while, and he kept me with him and raised me as his own. He was a wonderful person.”

Jazdon casually put an arm around his shoulders. Finn knew he was giving him comfort, though he didn’t like to admit it and look soft in front of the others. “Anyway, that’s basically it. They eventually went to America, where Johansen was from and tried to make a life for themselves. The man I thought of as my dad died before he could tell me who he really was and what had happened to my mother.”

“But how did you wind up coming to Iceland?” Vargla asked.

“Daltor and his people, who had never stopped looking for us, found my dad’s obituary in one of their searches and tracked me down. They paid my old boyfriend, Jeremy to help get me here. I’d like to think he didn’t know the real reason for that. Anyway, Daltor also made promises to the Parsmitt and the foxes to enlist their help too. It was just coincidence that Jazdon was in the right place at the right time to save me.”

Jazdon puffed out his chest a little. “And I always will be.”

Finn hoped he didn’t catch him rolling his eyes at Merlon, who laughed behind his hand.

“Anyway, you know the rest of the story. Now I get to live the rest of my life here with Jazdon, and I’ll be the king of the Greengile dragons. It’s like something out of a storybook.”

Vargla laughed. “Yeah, if the story has murders and kidnappings and a lot of blood and guts.”

“Which are the best kind of stories,” Jazdon said, toasting his friend.

“Just so long as I get my happy ending, I’ll be satisfied,” Finn said.

“Don’t worry,” Jaz replied, leaning toward him. “I can guarantee a lot of happy endings in your future. Starting tonight.”

The End