Barbarian King’s Mate by Ivy Sparks
Epilogue
Daphne
“Spread your arms,”Nissaya told me.
I laughed as she draped decorations over me. “Am I a Christmas tree or something?”
She frowned. “What’s a Christmas tree?”
I had to snicker. “It’s a tree you adorn with decorations and lights and trinkets.”
She made a face. “This is no laughing matter. According to Kavian custom, the clan King can only rise to power on one of two nights of the year. It’s a momentous occasion.”
“So you keep telling me.” I tried to pick up the garment she was tying around my middle. “What is this thing, anyway?”
“It’s a ceremonial ascension robe. It’s been handed down in our family for seventeen generations. You should feel honored to wear it.”
“Oh, I’m honored, all right. At least I don’t have to wear that.” I nodded across the room at Tennar, who was dressing Garath.
As if several layers of kimonos and robes, drapes, and sashes weren’t enough, Tennar buckled heavy copper armor around Garath’s body. Garath’s expression remained stoic.
“Most of us have never seen an ascension,” Tennar told me. “It’s an event most of us wait for all our lives.”
“Yeah. I got that. Can we get this over with? My feet are killing me.”
“Sit down if you want to,” Nissaya told me. “Garath won’t be ready for a while, and this robe is the only thing you have to wear—except for the crown, that is.”
“Great.” I eased onto the bed and rubbed my swollen stomach. The skin around my sides got very sore these days, even though I wasn’t that big yet.
I was never sure if my symptoms of pregnancy were normal, considering our child would be a hybrid, but my life in Caverncall had turned into one extended lab experiment with me as the subject. Mine might’ve been the first ever Kavian-human baby in history, which would mean that there was no such thing as normal… Kind of like the rest of my life.
I couldn’t wait to see our baby, and though Garath tried to keep a serious demeanor around the village now that he was King, in private, he was as excited as a child.
Nissaya sat down next to me and offered me some ubos cakes. “Eat some of these. We can’t have you falling over during the ceremony.”
I munched a cake while I watched Tennar add a bunch of ornaments to Garath’s armor. “What can you tell me about the ceremony? Promise me it doesn’t involve any more ritual mating or anything like that.”
All three of them laughed at me, even though I hadn’t been joking. “There won’t be any of that,” Nissaya replied. “Sometimes the King has to fight any challengers for the right to ascend the throne, but that won’t happen tonight. No one challenges Garath since the battle. Not even Zixor dares to speak against him.”
“He better not,” Tennar snarled. “Narrock ordered Garath in front of us all to take command of the hunting party. Garath was the one who alerted us that Caverncall was in danger. He’s the only reason we got back in time.”
“You’re as responsible for Garath’s authority as anyone, Daphne,” Nissaya added. “As long as he has you at his side, everyone knows he’ll make a good King. Everyone knows he has a resource that no one else does. No one wants to squander that by offering a challenge. Everyone is thrilled that you’ll be our new Queen.”
My heart swelled at this.
“Anyway,” Nissaya went on, “you won’t be the first non-Kavian Queen in our history. We’ve had two others.”
“Really?” I exclaimed. “Who were they?”
“That’s only a myth,” Tennar cut in. “No one knows if they really existed, or if it’s just a story.”
“It could have been true,” Nissaya remarked. “Either way, it isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. Father was an outlier for not accepting outsiders. When we lived on Kavius, the Kavians had a reputation as one of the most welcoming and inclusive cultures around.”
“Maybe things will return to the old ways now that a new King is rising,” Tennar suggested, nudging Garath. Garath remained quiet, but found a moment to sneak a smile my way. Tennar backed away to examine Garath’s garbs. “Perfect. You look like a King. More than usual, anyway.”
Garath straightened his armor. “I’m ready. We can go as soon as you finish eating, Daphne.”
I put away my food and got to my feet again. Standing and walking was getting more challenging these days, but I wouldn’t hold up the ascension ritual. If the rest of the village had been waiting sixty years for this, I didn’t want to make them wait any longer.
Garath held out his hand to me, and I took it gratefully. He glided out of the house and I felt my spirits lift. Instead of dragging my feet and hobbling like the very pregnant woman I was, I straightened up and carried myself with dignity.
Outside, countless candles lit up the catwalks and gangways leading to the court. Kavians lined the ramps and staircases. Their eyes shone with pleasure when Garath appeared.
He definitely had a pacifying effect on his people. Conflicts seemed to resolve themselves as soon as he came near. Everyone treated him with excruciating deference, and they made an even greater effort to be nice to me.
We migrated between them toward the court building. People packed it to bursting. They squashed each other next to the walls, making room for Garath and me to walk to the platform at the other end. The throne stood empty. It looked strange. It loomed over me with unspoken meaning.
Garath stopped me at the foot of the platform. He turned toward me, and I experienced a sudden surge of adrenaline as memories of the mating ritual flooded my mind. We were standing in the same spot as we were in the ritual.
The next minute, he turned the rest of the way to face the crowd. The ancient shaman came out of the shadows and walked around us in a circle, waving incense. That rasping voice chanted strange words from behind the mask so no one could see his face underneath.
Everyone watched in breathless silence as the shaman halted behind Garath and raised something over his head. The shaman placed a crown of twisted metal upon Garath, then went back to circling and chanting.
The shaman waved a few billows of incense at me as he passed. What was he saying about me? Again, my ear translator didn’t know his ancient language. On his next pass, he bent over and waved it at my stomach. Now it was clear: He was blessing the baby along with us.
He halted again, this time behind me. I waited in breathless anticipation. Everyone in the hall stared at me as he set another crown on my head. It weighed more than I expected, but instead of pressing me down, it made me stand up straighter. I had to throw out my chest and draw myself erect to support it. It made me feel taller—more regal somehow.
The shaman returned in front of us. He surrounded us in another cloud of incense, then retreated into the crowd with the rest. What were we supposed to do now?
Garath squeezed my hand and turned around. He escorted me to the platform and climbed up to the throne. There was only one throne and only one place to sit. He turned around in front of it and faced his people. No one moved. No one challenged his right to sit in that chair. No one so much as breathed.
Very slowly, with deliberate care and without once taking his eyes off the crowd, he lowered himself into the seat. He laid his hands on the arms. Even sitting down, he seemed bigger, taller, and impossibly powerful. He was more than a clan leader. He became a true King.
I stood at his side. That was my rightful place. I didn’t belong anywhere else. Love and pride overflowed my heart when I looked out at the sea of faces—my people.
At the very back of the hall, I saw two people I had never seen before. No, that was wrong. I had seen the man before. It was Narrock, Garath’s father. A tall Kavian woman stood at his side and held his hand. Somehow I knew she was Queen Vassa, Garath’s mother.
They smiled at me and Garath. Their eyes glistened with pride and pleasure at seeing us standing in their place.
No one noticed them until the hall doors flew open and a bunch of people entered carrying platters of food and flagons of drink. The crowd surged to get out of their way, and the vision evaporated. Had Vassa and Narrock really been there, or did I just imagine it? Could the shaman’s incense have had such an effect on me?
I glanced down at Garath to see if he noticed anything, and found him gazing up at me with shining eyes. He took my hand and squeezed it, nodding once. He saw them! He must have.
The attendants passed out food and drink to everyone. The hall disintegrated into a giant party, with the clan laughing, singing, congratulating each other, and having a great time. Out on the walkways and platforms, people danced and celebrated the ascension of the new King.
The candlelight flickered in the night. Someone set up a table in front of the throne and brought me a chair to sit on next to Garath. They laid out food for us, but I couldn’t get over the vision I’d seen. Narrock didn’t approve of me until right before his death, and I never even met Vassa. So part of me had been wondering if I would ever be good enough.
Now they appeared to me at the moment of their son’s triumph. They approved. They were proud—of both of us. This moment—this moment marked my ascension too. I wasn’t an outsider anymore. I wasn’t even a scientist. I was their Queen, Garath’s Queen. If I could do right by them, I would ask for nothing more.
The End
* * *
Check out Ivy’s other series! They won’t release me until I breed with the alien beast… But will our mating transform me entirely, inside and out?
Tap or click here to read today! »
Want more of Garath and Daphne? Subscribe to Ivy’s newsletter to get a free exclusive bonus scene!
Tap or click here to get your FREE chapter! »
