Page 103 of Theoden

“Vampires of my kingdom, you have proven that you are powerful as we are victorious in this war. Queen Amara would no doubt be licking her wounds now. I have already sent my gratitude to Dragon King Evander, thanking him for his assistance. What makes a kingdom powerful is its alliances,” Ara said as he grinned from ear-to-ear.

“We love you, my King,” a vampire called out from the crowd, to the applause of all in attendance.

I was clapping as well, because I did love Ara.

“And I love all of my children,” Ara said. “Our victory was not without loss, unfortunately. Tonight, we will mourn as well as celebrate what we have. Go home and rest, for the sun will be rising soon. Tomorrow night, we must go through the streets, enthralling the humans and making them forget what they saw. Our secrecy must remain intact.”

“Yes, King Ara,” the crowd said.

“You are dismissed,” Ara said.

In the back of the crowd, I could see Marco with his arm around the boy as if he wanted to keep him. Perhaps, I would if only to give Marco an ass to fuck and the boy a master until he was ready to be on his own. Again, I was exhausted and only chatted briefly with my brothers before I took Marco and Rashad home. Karim was curious about my son and was impressed with the stories Father had told him about Marco’s fighting abilities. Nolan was the only one who didn’t have any questions about his new nephew, and I was fine with that, as I didn’t want to speak with him anyway.

Now that I was home, I climbed into my bed while Marco lay beside me. I gave Rashad a room next door, and again, I held my brand-new son close to my chest, my heart, as we slept.