Secrets in Smoke by Ashe Moon
Epilogue
The ceremony endedup being a celebration banquet—for my retirement as captain, for Castelle’s promotion, and for the promotions of Jennifer Comrand and several other officers who were a part of the group that’d first responded to the delfun fire. Thankfully, the weather had cleared to grey skies and no rain, with a steady wind that was a far cry from what’d blown through the day before. We’d set up tables on the training field for all the Watch to sit and eat at, and Rainor had constructed a makeshift outdoor kitchen where he, Grayson, Michael, and a few other volunteers cooked over an open fire.
“Saving these,” Rainor told me, setting aside a box of carrots. “A peace offering for Blackeye. I’ll win him over someday.”
Altair was surrounded by a group of young officers who were ecstatic to get a chance to speak to a member of the fire flight, and they all nodded and laughed in unison as he told what was apparently the most entertaining story they’d ever heard. Delos stayed on the outskirts of the party, content to supervise Dalia as she sprinted around the field.
I found Castelle outside of the party, standing at the edge of the target range. I picked up a rock from the ground, bounced it in my palm, and hurled it. With a dull thud, it bounced off the center of the target board.
“I’m proud of you, you know?” she said. “I think…you finally accomplished what you set out to.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a grin. “Thanks, Castelle. I think you’re right. I guess I just needed the catalyst. I was waiting for him to come. I didn’t know it until it happened. But Rainor made everything perfectly clear for me. It’s amazing how fast it was. Hey, maybe it’ll be your turn, soon.”
It was a rare event to see Castelle laugh so hard. “No, no. Not me.” She picked up a rock, aimed, and threw. It sailed past the target. “Well, Vice-Captain, I think we have a lot of work to do.”
“Yeah, we do.”
Then Rainor rang the dinner bell, and we walked back together. Everyone filled their plates from the buffet of food: wild boar brisket, grilled fish, roasted vegetable skewers, and a rich sauce that Michael had devised himself to pour over it all. I sat down next to Rainor with the rest of the flight on my right, and everyone ate and enjoyed themselves.
I was halfway through my plate, about to stuff another fork of succulent boar into my mouth, when I felt the world spin. My stomach lurched.
“Oh, fuck,” I muttered.
“What is it?” Rainor asked with his mouth full.
“I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
I bounded away with my hand clapped over my mouth and ran for the door. I managed to make it back into the building, but the bathroom was out of the question. I grabbed a nearby garbage bin and let everything go. It was awful—and the nausea didn’t stop. The thought of food made me retch, and all I could do was slump against the wall with the bin next to me. The station was empty and silent except for the sound of my sickness.
Rainor found me, and he was followed by Grayson.
“Are you alright?” he asked, and when he put his hand on my shoulder, I turned to the bin and spewed again.
“Oh, yeah. I’m perfectly wonderful. How does it look?”
“Shit,” Rainor muttered, rubbing my back. “I hope it’s not the food. Otherwise, it’s going to get very interesting here soon.”
“It’s not the food,” I muttered. “Don’t ask me how I know, but it’s not the food. This is something else.”
Grayson kneeled in front of me and took my hand. “I think I might know what it is,” he said with an odd smile.
I immediately felt all the blood rush out of my face. “Oh… oh, no. No, no, no.” I turned and greeted the bin once again.
“It is what tends to happen after you have sex,” he said.
Rainor stumbled backward. “Wait, wait. What?”
“I’m pregnant,” I muttered in shock.
Then, Rainor’s booming laughter echoed through the hall. He grabbed me and picked me up, squeezing his arms around my waist. I was too shocked to protest, too ill to do anything but let him swing me around like a ragdoll.
“That means,” Grayson said, “we’ve got another half-dragon on the way. Rainor… we still don’t know how the hell a human gives birth to a dragon. There must be someone who knows. Right?”
Rainor set me down, and the three of us stared blankly at each other.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I guess we’ll have to find someone.”
When the shock faded, I was left with nothing but happiness. I’d never thought I’d have a child of my own, never even wanted one--but life seemed to change as fast as a fire in a lightning storm, and here I was at the start of something brand new. And I was eager to face it all.
