Page 142 of A Rising Hope

“Yes, and she—” The Destroyer stopped mid sentence as he saw me. His wide smile was replaced with a hateful frown, one that I matched. The small child he carried in his arms pulled his ear, giggling each time the ear flopped back. “Priya.”

“Gideon.” I forced my tone to be as cordial as the situation allowed, which wasn’t very cordial.

“Have you finally decided to accept my wife’s invitation to join us this year?”

“No, I have no desire to ever share a meal with the bunch of you. I have come to see only Freckles.” I clenched my teeth. He scanned me up and down, contemplating, as he took a deep breath.

“Finnleah? Love? Yourfriendis here to see you,” he called for her.

“Coming!” Her voice sounded so upbeat and so at ease, it was almost unrecognizable after so many years. My heart froze as if it too was listening to her rushing steps. “Priya! What a surprise! I am so glad you made it!” Her eyes widened with excitement matching her cheesiest grin. She leaned in for a hug, but I took a step back. My brows furrowed as I eyed her terriblydomesticated outfit. “Oh yes, sorry!” She chuckled, wiping her hands on a small apron she wore right above her rounded belly.

“I’ll leave you two to it.” Gideon gave a threatening glance to me, before landing a gentle kiss on her head and returning to the room of males wresting the babies and cooking.

“So do all Empresses dress like hags or is ours just poor?” I snarked at her as she twirled in her oddly constructed outfit.

“A present from Aurelia,” she laughed. “I think it’s rather cute. Look.” She raised her arms, showing off the different lengths of lace sewed to the seam of her sleeves, making it look like the wings of some magical creature. “Ouch.” She winced, glaring at her stomach. “I swear this child cannot sit still, even for a second.”

“Another one? Is this like your tenth child?” I assessed her, not hiding the disapproving look on my face. “Do you two not have anything else to do? What does he take you for? A breeding mare?” I scoffed.

“First of all, it’s only the fourth. And while I appreciate your concern, the only breeding mare in this relationship is Gideon.” Her eyes flashed with a wicked smile. “I mean, once you have that fiery dick, it’s hard to go without it. So fucking good. It’s an addiction. I am not even afraid to admit it.” She laughed, her face illuminated with such joy that even the dark, brooding anger in me stumbled, blinded by the purest delight emitting from her.

I scrutinized the golden statue of an elf, an eyesore as tall as the trees standing out in her lush gardens.

“Odd choice of décor.”

“My Elf King uncle insisted.” She smirked, her eyes wrinkled in the corners. “He is still trying to get me to sell him a dragon. But look at those two cuties.” Finn peeked at the monstrous creatures resting in the meadows.

“That’s not the word I’d use, but sure.”

“Hey, no burning your sister’s hair!” Zora’s command echoed through the valley.

“If you are going to smoke him, do it without witnesses,” Ioanna added, using a fiery rope to pull two children apart from another brawl.

“Please tell me those children are not all yours.” I glared at the group of younglings racing each other.

“No, most are the Ten’s. Those two are mine.” She pointed at the taller boy leading the group of children and at the freckled girl chasing after him, about to tackle him.

Finn watched them with a soft smile on her lips, one I had never seen before. She looked at them with complete awe and adoration.

And I looked at her, realizing that while I hadn’t changed, she had. Entirely. There she was, a woman. A mother. A queen. An empress.

She noticed my lingering pause, turning to look at me.

“You’ve come to say goodbye, haven’t you?” Her emerald eyes pierced mine, her voice somber.

“Yes.”

“I always wondered when this day would come. When Esnox would become too calm, too small. When the craving of chaos and blood would take you far away from me.”

“Somehow even the lowlifes have honor now.” I frowned with an unfamiliar churning feeling in my heart at her saddened voice.

“Where are you going to go?”

“I hired a ship, probably will travel somewhere far south, get a nice tan, murder someone new. Beatrice is going to come with me, too.”

“Shit!” a male voice sounded through an open kitchen window. The smell of burning food reached our noses a moment later.

“Look!” An angelic young woman yanked the door wide open, running towards me with a small box in her hand. “Finn! Look at this!” she squealed. “They spin! And it has the Orian stones too! Oh—” Her demeanor immediately changed, noticing my presence. Her silver eyes scanned me up and down, not even remotely afraid. “Hello,” she said, lacking the note of her previous excitement.

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