Epilogue

E ver since Cameron had been found, the Fire Dragon Clan had started celebrating a new holiday completely—the anniversary of when mages had been found. When Gregori told Salem this, his mate just quirked an eyebrow at him and said something along the lines of, We were always here, you just didn't know .

Which was true, but to the dragons, the mages hadn't been part of their world anymore. It had been a devastating loss. Cameron bursting out onto the scene and ripping the blinders off people's eyes had done the world a favor. No one disagreed on that point. So to them, it was worth celebrating.

Rodrigo had quickly joined in on this celebration. Probably in part because of Ha Na, but he was just as enthusiastic about the anniversary celebration as everyone else. Hence why the Ice Dragon and Fire Dragon Clans got together to celebrate. So far, the fire dragons had hosted the event, but there'd been talk about the ice dragons taking turns every other hosting.

Gregori was over the moon to go this year. Not only to show off his mate—because let's face it, with Salem there was a lot to show off—but because it was one hell of a party. He'd gotten to be good friends with the fire dragons over the whole Jaeggi debacle. He liked seeing those friends and catching up.

There was another, unspoken goal with this trip, though. Salem was still studying under Amaru and Sora, but in the past three months, he'd caught up very, very quickly. In fact, Sora had already cleared him to treat a number of ailments and do several basic surgeries. Salem had performed them all on a dummy Amaru had made up for practice. He'd done so flawlessly and could give you a full lecture on why he'd used the spells, potions, etc. that he'd used. He fully understood what he was doing.

He'd been so excited upon getting a stamp of approval from Sora, he'd been like a giddy child. Gregori may have taken twenty or thirty pictures of his expression. Salem had been cute, okay; he couldn't help himself.

They arrived at the castle late in the evening, having started the journey very early in the morning. Gregori wanted to introduce Salem to people, take a shower, and dress up for the party, so getting in the day before said party had been critical. Upon arrival, they had been shown a room and immediately crashed. It wasn't until the next morning he'd been able to introduce Salem to people and show him around the castle, which he'd done extensively until it was time to get ready.

Salem explored their room in the castle, looking about with his eyebrows rising. "Damn. Never thought I'd be in a German castle. It's truly beautiful."

"It is." Gregori had always thought so too, but he could see Salem really liked the place. "Do I need to build a castle?"

Without looking his way, Salem pointed a stern finger in his direction. "No."

"Why won't you let me spoil you?"

"Because you go overboard."

How dare he. Salem was entirely correct, of course, but how dare he be so observant and figure Gregori out.

Just for that, he dragged Salem into the shower. Not as if sex had ever worked in Gregori getting his way, but it was really, really fun to try.

ANYWAY. That was how they ended up losing about two hours of time, which meant they had to scramble to get ready for the party. King Alric and Cameron had requested they come meet them ten minutes before the party officially started.

Somehow, they managed to get into tuxes and looking presentable—well, Salem looked edible, Gregori was presentable in his opinion—and out the door just on time. Gregori knew where to go, having been around in this castle for months at a stretch, so he led the way to the small waiting room behind the big ballroom.

Baldewin stood just outside the door, and as they approached, he gave a wave. "Perfect timing, Gregori."

"I do try." He slowed to a stop and clasped arms with the dragon. "How are you, man?"

"I can't be any better." He beamed the brightest smile Gregori had ever seen him have. "We got our number, we're in the queue now."

With all the dragons finding mates, the list of who wanted kids was ever growing. But there were only so many incubators and only so much magic that could be poured into it. Now, people had to apply for a position in line and wait. No one really grumbled about it. Frankly, after five hundred years of waiting, a year or two seemed like nothing more than a passing breeze.

Gregori and Salem had already talked kids—and agreed on at least two—but Salem had begged to wait for five years first. He wanted to be thoroughly caught up with his training before bringing a kid into the chaos of their lives. Which was completely fair. Gregori suspected it was also because of Salem's paranoia. What if their child was born but there was an injury, or complications? Salem wanted to be able to immediately fix it. Personally, Gregori felt the same way about it.

"When do you start?" Salem asked.

"Next fall. Which is rather soon, really. Tori's already making this whole list of things to get done. For all that he hesitated about this idea at first, he's gung-ho now. Anyway, I won't keep you. Come in."

Salem looked a little nervous at the idea of meeting the king and consort, but he gamely pulled on a professional smile and followed Gregori in. Gregori didn't expect the nerves to last. King Alric and Consort Cameron were very personable, charming men. They weren't stuffy on formalities, either. Salem's nerves wouldn't last five seconds.

Baldewin ushered them in, stopping just inside the doorway to announce, "Gregori and Doctor Valerii, sire."

Call Gregori besotted, but he got this little happy zing whenever he heard Salem called Valerii.

King Alric rose to greet them, scooping up his daughter in his left hand as he moved. Wait, wasn't that the same arm injured in the war? My god, had Sora fixed him to the point he didn't think anything of carting a baby around with his bad arm? Wow.

The king looked quite dashing in a dark red velvet suit, his hair slicked back with mousse. His little girl was dressed to match in a frilly red velvet dress with golden ribbons twined about her head in high contrast to her rich, dark hair. You could see the influence of Cameron's DNA in the shape of her eyes, but she was very much Alric's child in looks. A truly beautiful little girl.

Consort Cameron rose with them, coming forward with his hand outstretched and a smile stretched from ear to ear. He was in a dark red suit as well—although not velvet—coordinating with his family, and the color looked very good on him.

"Gregori. Thank you for coming in early. I promise we'll have a better talk after this, I just wanted you to meet my daughter first. Her bedtime is not to be messed with. She gets super grumpy past eight thirty. Doctor Valerii, I'm Cameron. I'm delighted to meet you."

Salem shook hands with him, his stiffness thawing already. "And I, you."

King Alric also shook hands with him, a gentle smile on his face. "You are very welcome, Doctor Valerii. I hope you understand why we wanted to meet you in person."

"Of course," Salem assured him. "Sora explained the situation to me. I'm happy to be your pediatrician, truly, and don't take this the wrong way, but I hope you won't have to call on me."

King Alric's expression turned rueful. "So do I. But I know better than to hope for the best and not plan for the worst. In any case, this is our daughter, Zara."

"Princess Zara, a pleasure."

At fourteen months, she didn't talk much yet, but she seemed to like Salem for some reason. She stretched out both hands to him in a clear bid to be held. Salem took her without pause, settling her in his arms and looking at her with just as much curiosity.

The two kings had been nervous about having so many children with so few doctors on hand. Salem fit the bill nicely, as he could now treat the uncommon ailments a child could suffer. Sora would be able to handle the run-of-the-mill illnesses without a problem, but he'd admitted that Salem's experience with pediatric surgery put him above Sora's skills in pediatrics. Which was why Amaru had to take over teaching Salem at a certain point. Right now, Salem was on call for both clans.

Zara looked Salem over, as if trying to figure out where this new man had come from and if she could twist him around her little finger. Salem let her study him for a full minute before pulling a face, which got her giggling.

"Oh good, she likes you." Cameron put a hand over his heart while blowing out a relieved breath. "This child is picky with people. There's maybe a half dozen who she allows to pick her up. I think we're in stranger danger phase."

"Probably," Salem agreed. "She's at the right age for it. Don't worry, it won't last, it never does. Sora did a diagnostic of her yesterday and shared the results with me, so I have a fully updated chart on her. Rest assured, we're keeping a close eye on her."

First-time parents. Gregori didn't blame them for being cautious.

Another door into the room opened and Gunter stuck his head in. "It's time."

"That's our cue." Salem handed Zara back to King Alric, who took her easily.

Gregori and Salem couldn't leave through the same door Gunter had just used, as it led into the ballroom. Gregori led Salem back out a different way, looped down the hallway and around to the main doors, and then entered through there. It was perfect timing, as King Alric, Cameron, and Zara were stepping out onto the raised dais at the front of the ballroom.

The room was already crowded with people. All the different clans had chosen to come to this celebration, and it made for quite the array. Just from this viewpoint, Gregori saw Nikki in a stunningly sleek red dress, Warin and North near the buffet table, Cassie—who looked six months pregnant, at least, and when did that happen?!—plus Karl, Ranulf, and oh! There was Thiago and Evora. Everyone seemed to have gotten ready and made it on time.

He couldn't wait to talk to everyone and catch up. It had been months since he'd seen them, after all.

King Alric raised a hand to gain everyone's attention, still perfectly comfortable making a speech with his daughter on his hip.

"Everyone, thank you for coming. Tonight is the first celebration where we have every clan represented here."

Holy shit, really? No wonder the room was packed!

"All of you traveled a great distance to be here, and I truly appreciate it. I'll let you get to the festivities in a moment, but first, I want to propose something. For many centuries, we lived in a period of darkness. We kept referring to the war as if it was the only time marker we had. As if time stopped then for us. But since we found Cameron"—he shot his spouse a warm smile, getting one in return—"many wonderful things have happened. We reconnected with the Sodalicium. We were able to revive the Sousa and Lightning Clans. Whole families of mages came out of hiding. We, ourselves, came out of hiding and properly into the world once more. Friends, I do not think it right to keep referring to the Dragon War as if it's our time marker. Let us leave the tragedy properly in the past. Let us step fully into this present and embrace our future, as it is so much brighter.

"This is my proposition to you. I would like to refer to our new beginning as the Age of Mages. What say you?"

A raucous roar tore through the room, many punching the air in support. Gregori was right there with them. Hell yeah! Alric was right, that was exactly what this was now. The Age of Mages. An age of hope and growth, while shedding the pain of the past.

King Alric beamed and punched the air himself. "Then the Age of Mages it shall be. Celebrate with me!"

Another roar crashed through the room like a tidal wave. A few mages even set off fireworks that boomed against the tall, vaulted ceiling. Gregori wasn't sure if it was planned, but it made him laugh. Salem clapped right along, caught up in the euphoria. Gregori looked down at his happy face and fell in love all over again. Because of this man at his side, he wasn't alone. He had a whole future to look forward to. Including children, which he never thought would happen. King Alric was right; this was an era of hope and prosperity.

It was time for them to soar.