Hesparia's Tears (24 page)

Epilogue

Jessa lay on the bed, tired no doubt and pale but utterly delighted. In her arms lay twin babies. One girl and one boy. Both with the berry deep skin of native Hesparians, but with her green eyes and red hair.

His heart was full of hope and joy.

Since her arrival, she’d worked tirelessly to settle the earth women on Hesparia, acting as an intermediary, counsellor and even, in some cases pseudo older sister. It hadn’t been easy for anyone but she’d handled herself with grace at all times, Galan had told her.

The citizens of Hesparia had been overjoyed when they had announced the impending arrival of the children not long after landing and now the streets were decorated with bunting, as the entire planet celebrated the birth of the twins. The men had wept, but this time with happiness, to know that the genetic anomaly which had so nearly brought their planet to its knees would be arrested and overcome.

She looked up at him and his heart swelled. “So, I did okay, right?”

He grinned, as if unable to contain his reactions. In fact she knew he didn’t even attempt to mitigate them. “You know you did well.” She laughed at his words and winced as her body protested slightly. He smiled and sat down on the bed next to her and she handed him his son.

“Here take him. He’s just fed and will go to sleep soon. Actually, take your daughter as well for a moment.” He watched as she rose slowly then lifted the light wrap. She slipped it over her sleeping gown then cinched it lightly around her waist. “I’ll take her now.”

She beckoned him with her head. “What do you want?”

She laughed. “Well not that!” She laughed happily and moved to the window. “Open the shutters.”

For an instant confusion filled him. He cradled his newly born son but nevertheless flicked them open. She lifted their daughter. “This is your home, Gelina. Say hello to Hesparia.”

Now he understood, raising his son, facing him towards the town laid out below their window. “This is your home, Peter. Say hello to Hesparia.”

She looked back and Galan smiled at her just as the door opened. His father, white haired but still tall and proud joined them. His pale eyes glowed with happiness as he touched each babe with a soft finger. Her daughter yawned and turned towards the touch.

“I bring news.” Galan’s father spoke quietly.

Galan waited, knowing he meant the results of the genetic tests that had been run on the babies in their arms, her heart stuttering in her chest. “And?”

“The genetic abnormality does not exist in the babes. They are free of the taint.”

Jessa grinned broadly and the ache that had grown in his chest on seeing his children for the first time abated. Their children would live a normal lifespan and her daughter…
their
daughter would be able to grow and marry. To bear children. As it was always meant to be. A glance at Galan showed his elation at this knowledge.

“My daughter, you have done very well indeed.” A warm wave of pride filled Galan as he reflected on the positive relationship she and his father had formed.

“And you, my son, have a fine and good woman.”

Jessa blushed slightly but Galan looked out of the window, remembering the actions of the people. Every time they saw her they smiled and waved. No query was too big or too small. And every day she saw another aspect in the transformation of their dying culture. It had a new vibrancy as men smiled and laughed.

In the next few days her father would arrive from Earth with the diplomats who had come to take up their positions on Hesparia, the Hesparians having left some months before. Sadly her mother could not and would not set aside her bias but she banished that thought, focusing on the positive. Her father would meet his grandchildren. Children that would grow and flourish under the many suns of Hesparia.

As if there wasn’t enough to celebrate, Seth and Danni would be making their commitments before their king tomorrow, the first of many that had been scheduled as men and women found their bonded partners.

But right now, all he could focus on was his own small family. And the knowledge that they would be happy, knowing Hesparia’s season of tears had passed.

Also available from Total-E-Bound Publishing:

The Blood Bride

Imogene Nix

Excerpt

Chapter One

Hope hauled the last heavy box up the stairs of the manor house, occasionally catching glimpses of the way her midnight black hair shone in the sunlight, when she passed the window in the living room of her apartment. “Thank heavens this is the last one,” she muttered to herself, sliding the box down to rest on the floor, before straightening and rubbing the nagging ache in her back. She could have had help, all she needed to do was ask, but now that she was an adult she needed to stand on her own two feet, she reminded herself.

Straightening up, she looked around at the mass of boxes waiting for her to delve into. “Well, gone away and back again. Where do I start first?”

The phone trilled and she started for an instant, before extending her hand to the receiver on the shelf beside her. “Hope.”

“Miss Hope, do you require any help? Lisi is wondering if you require her assistance.” The muffled voice of one of her guardians flowed out of the earpiece. She had forgotten that living at the manor meant the goldfish bowl lifestyle she had tried her best to escape at college. Not that she’d had much opportunity to live a free lifestyle. She’d been lodged with a guardian family within the college grounds. Even then, her personal team of five guards had shadowed her every move—to classes, shopping and even to the hairdresser’s.

They hadn’t escaped her notice, the looks some of her classmates had thrown her way. Longing for the lifestyle they’d thought she enjoyed. Little did they know, Hope would happily have swapped, a lot of the time. Downtime had existed within a carefully vetted group of companions, each from houses of similar status. The cloying atmosphere she hated, but, nonetheless, she had submitted to her parents’ will. Only a few times had she sought to do activities that they would have deemed inappropriate, but her conscience had always kicked in, and she had derived no enjoyment from the guilty feelings that had overcome her.

“No thanks, Jeffrey. I have all the boxes up here and I am going to take my time going through everything.” How could she explain that she needed a freedom that had been denied? That this small and almost insignificant rebellion was one she embraced? But she couldn’t. It wasn’t fair to Jeffrey to share that.

“Fine, Miss Hope. Oh, and I am supposed to remind you, the new Master has requested your presence in his library after sundown.”

She nodded, knowing it was expected that she would take her oath of fealty. “Oh. Right. I’ll be down for sunset.” She laid down the receiver.
It’s one thing to owe your continued safety to a vampire nest Master, but quite another to be at his beck and call all the time, just as her parents had been.
Her temper spiked momentarily. The emotion coiled through her then she shuddered, pushing away the negative thought, while absently reaching for the boxes she needed to stack, store or unpack. The rough exterior of some of them brushed against her hands. For now, she had time. Lots of time.

Ripping the tape off the first box, she then started to root through it, unwrapping reminders of her slightly more free college life, formulating arguments to put to her parents, knowing that the dice were stacked against her. Her life had been mapped out since her birth, but perhaps she could find a way around some of the roadblocks. At least she hoped so. With that thought, she set to work.

* * * *

He stretched in the bed, feeling the cool sheets around his body, savouring the experience of knowing he could rise when he wanted to. Luxuriating as he came to full awareness of his surroundings. His bed. His home. His nest. A feeling of exultation swept through him. One he had experienced several times in the last six months since he had become Master.

Xavier had only recently been transferred to this nest, after Cyrus had been called to ascend to a seat on the Council with his predecessor Cressida, the most senior of the vampires on the Council.

A new Master had been required for the nest, a situation arising from the ascension of Cressida who had saved the child Hope from the rogues. The death of another of the Council meant that Cyrus had answered a call to accept a seat. It was an almost unheard of event for a nest to have two new Masters in under a hundred years, but Xavier had accepted his unexpected promotion. Not that he would take it for granted—no, he worked beside his vampires as required, so they knew he would ensure their safety while they ensured his.

The household he had taken over was well run, and he had no fears for his financial status, even though they had lost the manor and many assets during the dark days of clearing the rogues who had attacked the house. Indeed, he had been with Cyrus the night he had ascended and had seen the great strides Cyrus had made during his Mastership.

He swiped a hand over his stubbled face and a voice to his left said quietly, “Master, refreshments for you.” A crystal goblet appeared in a white hand at the edge of his vision. He accepted it with a grunt, the ruby red liquid inside calling to him on a primal level. Blood wine. Sustenance that would ease the clawing hunger he always felt on awakening.

His teeth extended and his mouth opened. The first drop touched his tongue and a frisson moved through him, the ecstasy of drinking flowing into his body. He took his time, savouring the flavours.

Young.

Full bodied.

Tart aftertaste. The wine, the only human sustenance he could now enjoy. Food was relegated to a memory of things long past.

He closed his eyes as the last drop flowed, and breathed deep. Yes, a Master could very quickly become accustomed to this lifestyle, but not now and not today. He needed to meet this Hope, the one who had turned their entire world upside down. James had told him little about his daughter, save that she would need to remain within the house, protected from the world. That someday she would assume the mantle of leading the house from within, while her brother oversaw the legal and financial affairs of the nest.

He pushed the bed covers away, unconcerned about nudity as he padded to the bathroom. He might be a vampire, but he still bathed and shaved, a thought that made him chuckle. Even after all these years, when vampires had made their entry into the human world, humans outside nests thought vampires had no need for those daily rituals.

He moved through his ablutions. She would be waiting for him, but he would present himself to her in his most urbane incarnation. She would take her oath of fealty, then he would meet with his advisers, James and David leading the human contingent.

No need to rush her
, he reminded himself. After all, he was the Master now. He stopped and thought. This was not the attitude to take. After all, he might be the Master, but each and every human in the nest had a place and value. He remonstrated with himself, giving a shake of his head, then hurried through his dressing, pulling on white shirt, suit and tie.

Finally dressed and ready, he left his suite, making his way up the stairs and through the secure door, where he continued to the library. His sanctum, and now office.

In the corridor stood his second, Javed. His origins were Arabic, though, as with most of the vampires he knew, they never discussed the lives they had led as humans before they became vampires. They were gone and past. He waited, looking easy, but no one knew better than Xavier that this belied the soul of a warrior. His friend and most trusted ally would be carrying a range of weaponry. He scanned the room, watching every movement around him, assessing and looking for weaknesses. He also acted as an information conduit where necessary. Tonight, Xavier needed to know the status of the newest to take her oath, the daughter of the house whom neither of them had met.

“What is her status?” He looked closely at his second in charge and only confidante.

“She is concerned and upset. Her parents have continued the line that she is to assume the status her mother holds. The staff have intimated she is unsettled and angry at the obvious restrictions placed upon her. Apparently after the freer life she experienced whilst away, she is finding the strictures difficult to accept.” Javed watched him, waiting for the words of his leader, and Xavier felt the weight of responsibility settle again.

The nod he gave was quick. He would be adding to the strictures that she found so stifling. Something felt wrong about the situation, yet he had accepted the comments of his
Yeux Secondes
in the matter. Then he dismissed his concerns and considered the day ahead. The sound of steps filled his mind and he moved towards the room beyond, knowing that the chandeliers would gleam in the dark and the white tiles beneath his feet would reflect the glow of light as directed by Verity.

The doors opened and he entered the room, only to stop just beyond the threshold as he saw a woman. Her scent, clean and soft, filled his mind. Beautiful, willowy, he noted while she gracefully moved before the bookcases, her long-nailed fingers sliding over the spines of the books that she perused, and for a moment pleasure invaded his mind, thoughts of those fingers trailing over his body arousing him. Long black hair, graceful neck and hips that flared slightly. She wasn’t angular, just perfectly proportioned.

His mouth dried, even as his gums ached and his body tightened in response. Then she turned around.

The sound of opening doors caught her attention. Hope had been looking through the titles on the bookshelves, running a finger along the spines, and feeling the reassurance of old leather beneath her touch, all the while taking in the scents of wood and lemon-infused beeswax, old paper and remembered cigar smoke. Memories of this room filled her mind. The hours spent poring over the titles she knew were housed here. Titles such as
The Booke of Vampyre
and
The Bloode Promise
resided next to
The Diary of Anne Frank
and
Dune,
and she could tell that the collection had expanded once again.