34. Epilogue

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Tabitha

One year later…

"Do you have to dress like that?" I ask Dahlia as she walks into the dining room for breakfast.

She stops, holds her arms out wide and spins. The gold dress sparkles in the light, the gems on the crown on her head shimmering too. I'm not sure how she can hold her arms up with the amount of jewelry on them, but somehow, she manages.

"When you have more money than you know what to do with, you splurge."

"On ridiculous gems, gold, and clothing?"

She smiles as she takes a seat beside me at the table.

"Luparia enjoyed it."

"Luparia thought you were doing it in gest!"

She's referring to the night we invited her over for dinner and came clean about the entire thing. Surprised doesn't begin to cover how she felt. After she got over her initial shock, she started to turn pink and gush about how honored she was and asked if she could use this as a way to promote her business. I happily obliged. She's come by a few times since then, just to check in. She approves of the way I'm handling my Dravens. I couldn't thank her enough for suggesting them.

"How long does it take you to put all that on?" I ask as she reaches for a biscuit.

"Who's keeping track?" She shrugs, breaking off a piece to pop into her mouth.

I shake my head, reaching for my tea. To say Dahlia has been taking advantage of all being best friends of the queen has to offer is an understatement. She's been utterly ridiculous.

"I heard you made a new friend last night," I say, changing the subject.

"From whom?"

"The woman screaming your name from your bedroom last night."

Dahlia smirks, but quickly wipes it from her face, pretending not to be proud of her sexual abilities. I don't know firsthand, but living with her over the last year has taught me a lot. Doesn't matter if they're male or female, she has them screaming her name before the night is through.

"Were you spying again?"

"There is no again. I don't spy. Your room is on the way to the kitchen, and I enjoy midnight snacks."

"So do I," she says with a grin. "In the form of a dripping wet pu—"

"No!" I say, holding up a hand. "Just no. I don't talk about that with you, and I'd appreciate if you did the same."

"Well, I'd appreciate if you got more on my level, Tabitha. There is nothing wrong with talking about sex."

"Good morning."

We both look over our shoulders to see Skylar walking in. Her hair is mussed, eyes full of sleep, and—

My eyes widen at the bright red mark on her neck. I whip my gaze back to Dahlia who smirks but avoids my glare.

"Good morning, Skylar," she coos, batting her lashes.

Skylar's cheeks blaze pink, and that's all I need to know the truth of what's going on here. Not that I care. They're adults and are allowed to do what they want. They both live here with me, in our new castle. Which is much smaller than the last one. There is no way anyone is getting lost in this one, and there certainly are no dungeons here.

The townspeople helped build a jail, and that is the only thing holding people against their will in this realm, and only if they deserve to be there.

It was a lot of work to clean up the old castle, but when I let my people know I would be hiring as many of them as I could to rebuild, they were eager to help.

Our relationship is budding, the residents and me. It's still in the baby stages, and though I know it will take a long time to fully blossom, we are on the right path. A year is hardly any time to build trust with everyone. But I get smiles instead of frowns most days when I walk outside. People hand me flowers instead of throwing tomatoes. Of course, it helps that I am out there, with them, getting to know them and offering help with that they need. How else will I gain their trust? Killing my father wasn't enough. Any evil person could have done that for the sole purpose of taking over for themselves. Which is what I did, but with good intentions, not bad ones.

From what I can tell, they took the news of my mother's death well. No one had seen her in such a long time that there had already been whispers about this being the case. Of course, there were people saying I kept this news to myself for my own gain, but there will always be people saying negative things, and I try hard not to listen to them.

"What are your plans for the day?" Dahlia asks, looking at her nails.

"Me and the guys are going to the orphanage."

"Volunteering again?" Dahlia asks with a raised brow before taking the last bite of her biscuit and reaching for another. How she stays so thin only eating breads and sweets, I'll never know.

"No, we are thinking of adopting."

She begins to choke, patting her chest and reaching for my tea to help clear her throat. I watch her with a smile the entire time, not an inch of me moving to help. Skylar watches on with terror in her eyes, wondering if she should do anything, but she doesn't move either.

She's such a sweet girl. Meek and shy. I'm not sure how Dahlia doesn't scare her half to death with how loud and outspoken she is, but they do say opposites attract…

"You what?" she gasps, frowning at my tea like it's offended her.

"Adopting, Dahlia. If you don't like the idea of living with children, feel free to move out."

"And give up all this?" she asks, gesturing around. "I think not."

"Aunt Dahlia does have a nice ring to it."

She scoffs, shaking her head. "Makes me sound old."

I get up and pat her on the shoulder. "If the shoe fits." I walk off, holding back my smile as she sputters out incoherent words.

The orphanage is one of the biggest buildings we have in Demtra, outside of the castle, hospital, and school. Like all of our public facilities, it is well-maintained and clean. I've made sure all the necessary repairs were done and people were hired to ensure its stability. Helping people support their families by getting jobs is important.

My guys and I walk up the stone steps and go through the large wooden front door.

"My queen," Galiel says as I walk in, sweeping her blonde hair away from her face. It's a wild mess of curls that I find adorable. She works the front desk and is used to coming in since we have been volunteering here once a week for the last few months. "Here again so soon?"

"We have different business today," I say, smiling at the feel of my three men standing behind me.

"Oh? Is there something I can help you with?" Her brow furrows as if she's concerned. Like we are here with bad news.

"Yes, actually. We'd like to be considered as adoptive parents."

"Oh, my—That is wonderful!" Her demeanor changes quickly, and her somber mood turns excited. She gets to her feet, pulling papers from different drawers. "You know, if it were up to me, I'd hand them over to you, but of course, we still have rules to follow. Not all the children are from Demtra, and the Protectors monitor things like this."

"It's no trouble, Galiel. Don't treat us any differently than you would anyone else."

She gives me a kind smile and slides the stacked papers toward me with a pen.

"They will all need to be filled out."

The four of us take a seat in the waiting room across from the desk that is vacant, other than us. Theodas reaches for some to help, but I only have one pen, so Kozzanth gets up to get him another.

I'm surprised none of them have spoken since being here, and I wonder if it's nerves. They all agreed they wanted to do this, but I have a feeling now that we are actually here, they are nervous.

They will be the only Dravens with legal custody of children. Of course, plenty of Dravens look after children. Some are hired as full-time guards for children, but none of them have children of their own.

This is the beginning of the changes we want to see. First, it's them ruling beside me. Now, it's them having children. Soon, who knows what else they will have?

We rule the realm together, side by side, and we want to do it as a family. United. Show our people what is important. And to us, family is important. My Dravens have learned what that means to them, and they are sure it's the right move for all of us.

When the paperwork is complete, the four of us get up to bring it back to Galiel. She looks over each page carefully to make sure I didn't miss anything, then she looks up at me with a smile.

"Do you have anyone in mind?" she asks softly.

Typically, at this point, she would call someone to bring us in the back and meet the children. But we've been volunteering here for the last few months and have gotten to know a few of the children. Of course, there are so many, and I'd love to take them all home, but there is one who stands out to us. One we've all said just feels right. Perhaps one day there will be more, but right now, there is only one for us.

"Yes, actually. We'd like to be considered for Voren."

"Voren?" she asks, unable to hide her surprise.

I only smile in return.

Voren is half demon and half human. A rarity. The chances of a demon impregnating a human is… astronomical. But it happened. Though there is demon blood in him, I feel his kindness. I know he only wants to do good. And I think I can help him with that. This is something I think we can bond over, and I want to show him the right way.

He'd gotten close to Kozzanth. They've spoken many times and have already formed a bond. Voren opened up to Koz, letting him know he felt he would be here forever because no one would ever want to take a demon home. And unfortunately, that is likely the truth. He's already nine, and children are usually adopted before that age here in this realm. Demons are rarely good, and they rarely live anywhere else but hell. He's lucky he wasn't sent there.

"Can we see him while we are here?" Kozzanth asks.

"Certainly," Galiel says, clearly still shocked. "You know the way?"

"We do," Theodas says, giving her a smile.

"I'll get this paperwork processed while you visit with him, and hopefully will have an answer for you when you return."

I don't need to wait for her to give me an answer. Of course, the answer will be yes. What will the people think if the queen is denied the child she wants? It won't happen. But I won't throw my weight around to make it so. I expect to be treated like everyone else.

As we make our way upstairs, I can't help but feel pure happiness. It's soul deep.

I am finally home. I have my realm. I am gaining the trust of my people. And now I am gaining the family I have always wanted. My mother would be proud. She'd be so happy for me and what I am building.

I can only hope she is somewhere in heaven, watching down on me with a smile. And that maybe one day, my family will be welcome there, and we can all be together again.