CHAPTER FOURTEEN
After the Storm
The city healed faster than anyone expected.
Within three days of the Leviathan's defeat, the harbor district was already being rebuilt. Broken windows were replaced, damaged docks repaired, overturned carts righted and restocked. The people of Coastal City, it turned out, were nothing if not resilient.
The official story was that a minor sea monster had emerged during the festival—a rare but not unheard-of occurrence—and had been driven off by the combined efforts of the adventurer's guild. No mention was made of ancient horrors or fairy queens or the binding that had nearly failed.
"It's cleaner this way," Helena had said when she'd visited their home to thank them. "People don't need to know how close they came. It would only cause panic."
"And the guild gets the credit," Orion had observed.
"The guild gets the credit," she'd agreed without shame. "But you get the reward. And our eternal gratitude."
The reward had been substantial—fifty gold, plus a permanent stipend for their service to the city. More money than Orion had ever seen in one place. Nera had immediately started planning all the things they could buy, then gotten distracted by a butterfly outside the window, then returned to planning with renewed enthusiasm.
Some things, at least, hadn't changed.
* * *
Vex and Denna visited on the fourth day.
They found Orion in the garden, watching Nera tend to her plants. She was pixie-sized, fluttering between flowers and having what appeared to be a serious conversation with a bumblebee.
"So," Vex said, settling onto a bench. "A queen."
"Apparently."
"The queen of all fairies."
"So she tells me."
"And you didn't know."
"I had suspicions. But no, I didn't know for certain until she transformed into a being of pure divine power and announced it to the entire city."
Vex was quiet for a moment. Then: "I knew it."
"You knew what?"
"That day in Silverbrook! When I saw her as a human! I knew something was wrong!"
"You thought she was a shapeshifter."
"Which she is!"
"You thought she was suspicious."
"Which she was!" Vex was grinning now. "Everyone said I was crazy. Everyone said I was seeing things. But I was right. I was right the whole time."
"You were right about the wrong thing for the wrong reasons."
"Still counts!"
Denna, who had been watching Nera with an unreadable expression, finally spoke. "Does this change anything? Between you two?"
Orion considered the question. "I don't know. It's still... new. She's still her. But she's also..."
"A literal queen."
"Yes. That." He watched his wife laugh at something the bumblebee had apparently communicated. "I don't know what that means for us. For our future. There's apparently a whole fairy realm that might want her back."
"And you?"
"I'm a human with a strange power I don't fully understand, married to divine royalty, who just helped seal away an ancient horror." Orion shrugged. "I'm adapting."
"That's very calm of you."
"I had a lot of time to think while I was unconscious."
Nera noticed their visitors and flew over, landing on Orion's shoulder. "Vex! Denna! You came! I made cookies! Well, I tried to make cookies. Orion had to finish them. But they're still my cookies in spirit!"
"Spirit cookies," Vex said. "My favorite."
"You're making fun of me."
"A little."
"That's fair." She darted inside to fetch the cookies, returning with a plate that was frankly too large for her to carry but which she managed through sheer determination.
They sat in the garden as the afternoon wore on, eating questionable cookies and talking about everything except the battle. Vex recounted his plans to finally achieve Platinum rank. Denna mentioned she was considering taking on a student. Nera chattered about her garden and her plans for the house and a book she'd started reading (about a dragon detective, which she still found confusing).
It was normal. Wonderfully, peacefully normal.
And when their friends finally left, Orion found himself hoping there would be many more afternoons like this one.
* * *
That night, Orion and Nera sat on their back step, watching the stars emerge over the ocean.
"We should talk," Nera said quietly. "Really talk. About everything."
"Okay."
"Where do you want me to start?"
"The beginning, I suppose. How did you become queen?"
Nera was quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Then she began.
"I was born in the Eternal Court, thousands of years ago. Fairy royalty isn't inherited—it's earned. We compete, we prove ourselves, we demonstrate our power and wisdom until the realm itself chooses who will rule." She looked out at the sea. "I won. I became queen. And for a long time, I was happy. Or I thought I was."
"What changed?"
"Everything. Nothing." She laughed softly. "I realized that being queen meant being apart. Above everyone, responsible for everyone, but never truly with anyone. I had subjects, advisors, worshippers. I didn't have friends. I didn't have..."
"Love?"
"Not the kind that matters. Not the kind where someone sees you—really sees you—and chooses to stay anyway."
"So you left."
"So I left. I shed my crown, my power, my responsibilities. I made myself small—literally—and wandered. I wanted to experience the world the way mortals did. To find the joy in simple things."
"And then you found me."
"Dying in a forest with a hole in your chest and a wish on your lips." She turned to look at him, her eyes bright. "You asked for someone to share your life with. And there I was. The most powerful being for a thousand miles, and I fell for a bleeding human who just wanted not to be alone."
"You saved me."
"We saved each other." She reached up to touch his face, her tiny hand warm against his cheek. "You showed me what it meant to be loved for myself, not for my power or my position. You treated me like a person when most people could barely see me at all."
"You were very small. And very loud."
"I was adorable."
"That too."
They sat in comfortable silence for a while. The waves crashed against the cliffs below. The stars wheeled overhead.
"What happens now?" Orion finally asked. "With your kingdom? Your people? This Commander Seraphel who's been searching for you?"
"Ah. You know about her?"
"Nera, you announced yourself to an entire city. Everyone knows about you now. Including, presumably, anyone who was looking."
She winced. "That's... going to complicate things."
"Probably."
"Seraphel is loyal. Too loyal. She's been searching for me since I left because she thinks it's her duty." Nera sighed. "I'll have to talk to her. Explain. Make her understand that I'm not coming back."
"And if she doesn't accept that?"
"Then we deal with it. Together." She met his eyes. "I'm not going back to being queen. Not ever. I found something better. Something real. And I'm not giving that up for a crown I never wanted."
"The fairy realm might disagree."
"The fairy realm can manage without me. They have for three years. They'll figure it out."
Orion wasn't entirely convinced it would be that simple. Ancient fairy kingdoms didn't just let their rulers walk away without consequence. But that was a problem for another day.
"Okay," he said. "Together."
"Together," she agreed. "Always."
She climbed up to sit on his shoulder, leaning against his neck. They watched the stars until the moon rose, silver and full, painting the world in shades of light and shadow.
"I love you," she said.
"I know."
"Say it back."
"I love you too."
"Better."
* * *
A week after the festival, a letter arrived at the guild.
Della brought it to them personally, her expression carefully neutral. "This came through the official channels. From Silverbrook."
Orion took the envelope. The handwriting was cramped and enthusiastic, covering every available inch of paper.
Dear Mister Orion and Miss Nera,
I heard what happened! Everyone's talking about it! A sea monster attacked Coastal City and you fought it and won! With magic! And light! And apparently Miss Nera turned into something amazing and you used your mysterious powers that I always knew you had!
I've been practicing every day like you said. My sword forms are getting better. Mira says I'm 'less of a disaster than expected,' which I think is a compliment. I completed my twentieth quest last week! Bronze rank still, but the guild master says I might be ready for Silver soon!
I miss you both. Silverbrook isn't the same without you. But I understand why you had to go, and I'm glad you're doing amazing things. When I'm strong enough, I'm going to come visit. Maybe you can teach me more then?
Your friend (whether you like it or not),
Pip
"Pip," Nera said, reading over his shoulder. Her voice was soft. "They're doing well."
"They are." Orion folded the letter carefully. "They want to visit."
"We should let them. When things settle down."
"If things settle down."
"Optimism, Orion. Try it sometime."
"I'm married to a fairy queen who just helped me fight an ancient sea monster. My optimism is fully engaged."
Nera laughed—bright and clear, the laugh that could light up a room, the laugh that had made him fall in love with her in the first place.
"Fair point."
They wrote back to Pip that afternoon. They told them about the festival (an edited version), about their new home, about the city that had somehow become theirs. They promised that yes, Pip could visit, and yes, Orion would teach them more, and yes, they were proud of how far the young fox had come.
It felt good. Normal. Like they were just two adventurers settling into a new life, keeping in touch with old friends.
The fact that one of them was an ancient fairy queen and the other had undefined reality-warping powers was, apparently, just another detail.
* * *
The seasons would turn. The city would rebuild. New adventures would come—new quests, new challenges, new complications.
Somewhere in the fairy realm, Commander Seraphel would learn of her queen's revelation. She would have to make a choice about what to do with that knowledge.
Somewhere in Silverbrook, Pip would continue training, growing stronger, dreaming of the day they'd see their mentor again.
Somewhere deep beneath the earth, the Leviathan slept, bound by new chains forged from an impossible love.
But for now, in a small house on the cliffs above Coastal City, Orion and Nera simply lived.
They took quests when they needed money. They explored the city when they didn't. They bickered over Nera's attempts at cooking and Orion's reluctance to socialize. They made friends they hadn't expected and enemies they could handle.
They were happy.
Not perfectly happy—life was never perfect. But real happy. The kind of happy that came from waking up next to someone you loved and knowing, despite everything, that you'd chosen right.
"Hey," Nera said one morning, sitting on his chest as the dawn light filtered through the curtains.
"Hey," Orion replied, still half asleep.
"Thanks for not freaking out. About the queen thing."
"Thanks for not freaking out about the unknown powers thing."
"We're both pretty weird, huh?"
"The weirdest."
"I like that about us."
"Me too."
She leaned down and kissed his nose. "Breakfast?"
"If you're not cooking."
"Rude but fair."
"That's our whole relationship."
"Rude but fair?"
"No silly, Weird but wonderful."
She laughed, and he smiled, and outside their window, the sun rose over Coastal City, painting the world in gold.
The journey of the fairy queen was far from over.
But this chapter, at least, had ended well.
* * *
Far to the east, Commander Seraphel stood at the edge of the Greenveil Forest, staring at a message scroll that had arrived by fairy post.
Her queen had been found. More than found—her queen had revealed herself to an entire mortal city, transforming into her true form to battle an ancient monster alongside her human husband.
Her human husband.
Seraphel had served the fairy crown for millennia. She had never questioned her duty. She had never hesitated.
But now, reading about her queen's choice—to fight alongside a mortal, to protect a human city, to live a life that had nothing to do with the Eternal Court—Seraphel found herself uncertain for the first time in her very long existence.
What was her duty now?
To drag her queen back to a crown she'd abandoned?
Or to protect the happiness she'd found?
Seraphel looked west, toward the distant coast where her queen had made her home.
She had decisions to make.
And for the first time in her immortal life, she wasn't sure what the right choice was.
But she would figure it out. Somehow.
She always did.
— End of Chapter Fourteen —
End of the Festival Arc