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Cherished.

Desired.

He pulls back just enough to look into my eyes, searching.

“Tell me,” he rasps. “Do you want me again?”

I bite my lip, smiling. “Yes.”

The answering heat in his gaze makes my toes curl and my breath catch.

He grins, sharp and wicked, and growls, “Good. Because you are mine, little queen. And I intend to make you remember it—all day.”

I laugh breathlessly as he swoops down to claim my mouth again, and as the suns rise higher over Tajss, we lose ourselves in each other once more.

EPILOGUE - RANI

QUEEN RANI

Twin suns blaze high over Tajss, their red and gold light spilling across a sky so wide it swallows thought.

I stand atop a ridge of dark stone, overlooking the gathering below. Our people, Human, Zmaj, and Urr’ki, move like streams converging at the base of the rise. Tents of every shape ripple in the hot breeze, their patchwork colors fluttering like banners of a new era.

Children’s laughter carries through the air, sharp and bright, like chimes. Zmaj and Urr’ki warriors trade goods. Artisans weave shelters from salvaged cloth and bone. They are ready, ready for what comes next.

Hope, once a distant dream, now roots deep in my chest like something sacred.

My mate stands at my side—my Al’fa, my equal, my strength.

His clawed hand brushes mine, careful as ever. He says nothing—but he doesn’t need to. His presence is a solid, reassuring weight, as constant as the suns overhead. I drink in the sight of him. Proud, fierce, and utterlymine.

His wings catch the sunlight, a shimmer of scarlet and bronze. His jaw is set in a firm line I know so well, but there’s a lightness in him now. A peace that mirrors the one blooming in me.

“We did this,” he says quietly, his voice a low rumble that vibrates straight through my bones.

“No,” I murmur back, my lips curving into a soft smile. “Theydid this. We just showed them it was possible.”

He hums, unconvinced, but there’s pride in his gaze as he looks across the people gathered below us. Rosalind joins us with a nod. She doesn’t need to speak—I see it in her eyes. She knows. There is no hiding the love my Al’fa and I share.

I step forward, feeling the rough heat of the rock beneath my boots. I lift my hand, and silence ripples through the gathering like a wave meeting shore. Thousands of eyes turn towards me. Towardsus.

My heart pounds, but it’s not with fear. It’s excitement. It’s purpose.

I speak—my voice clear and strong—carried on the desert wind.

“We survived the Paluga. We fought long and hard—and we have earned our place beneath the twin suns once more.”

Murmurs ripple through the crowd, agreement, pride, and hope.

I continue. “No longer Zmaj alone. No longer Urr’ki alone. No longer Humans alone. We are strongertogether.”

The Al’fa steps forward, and his voice booms beside mine, a perfect echo of my words

“We are all Tajss’s children—her blood, her breath, her future.”

A roar rises from the crowd. Zmaj bellow, Urr’ki chant, and Human cheer, blending into one voice, one heartbeat.

My Al’fa turns to me, lowering his head in a silent offering. The gesture strikes something wordless in me—a depth beyond language. He was once a commander, a king unto himself. Now he standswithme, not above me, not ahead of me, but beside me.