Roses and Thorns

Epilogue- Aftermath

None of us can sleep that night.

Instead, the Stocked Pantry provides thrown together miscellaneous breads in strange shapes and everyone sits in the center of the Glade, watching the plants rustle in the wind and mulling over the night in peace.
"I think we've learned a valuable lesson. When we're mates, we're going to adopt." Anassa lies across Lark, who thankfully has his wings folded at his side.

"Mates? Us?" Lark acts shocked, though his worried expression shifts slightly as this, a tugging smile playing at his mouth. His tail swishes once, as if to say maybe in the softest way possible.

"You know you like me." Anassa teases.
"Hardly know you." Lark scoffs, tail still swinging wildly.

"Then we have an excuse to speak more! Ah, you just keep making this better."

"You be nice to him." Nimbus pounce tackles her from the side, knocking her off Lark. "I mean, he is the best male in the Glade, and you do get the best third-cousin-in-law in the world as an added bonus, but you have to live up to that-"

"You're third cousins?" Anassa squints, adjusting her glasses like doing so will somehow improve her vision when she's only using a metal frame with no glass component.

"Thought that was obvious." Nimbus flexes her wings, "Why'd you think we both have these?"

Not far off, Ivy and Rye pass out drinks, which Duncan, Llore, Eris, and Hirina eagerly consume, among others. It's the type of night that necessitates heavy drinking. The lucky couple rub noses, and upon looking up Ivy waves back to me, losing focus and dropping her bowls, which Rye catches in mid air with a lucky telepathy save.

Tammory sits with North, who is watching the stars with a distant scowl, while Eris argues with Missel over who knows what. Blitz speaks with Anue, eagerly translating Morgan at his side. Shea has entered the Glade in the middle of the pandemonium and stretches out, sitting on top of the Pantry like she owns it.

It's an uneasy aftermath, and everything has an almost unreal feel to it, but all we can do now is spend the night together. I watch as the crowds of my town mix and mingle, and I stare pointedly at the caved-in old infirmary, or at least where it used to be. I suppose it must have finally fallen in.

I can see my future there. If I squinted I could visualize the brand new house, built in the style of the wretched old cottage on the other side of the river.

I'm interrupted from my daydreams by familiar breath and the swish of fur against my own. Sirius is still close by my side. My promise from just earlier that day still rings in my head, and the threat of following through looms over us both. "I don't want to let go." he murmurs.

He sounds like Asha. Like Calliope.

"You really are my Lira, aren't you?" I ask, voice as pained as his.

"You're not going to bear my spontaneously combusting child, resulting in a series of deaths and tragedies that will forever shake this town, now are you?"

"I don't plan on it."

"Then you're not my Lira. Since I'm incapable of childbirth, I can't be yours either. Looks like we're both good." There's my Sirius. He smirks, knowing how hard he's making this on me, and adds, "You're going to do great things, Rose."

"I want to."

"Me too."

I shake my head. "You know, if you did want to live up to your title, you have a lot of freeloading to make up for. I happen to know a Canira who can teach anyone how to hunt, even someone hopeless as I am, so magic or not, it might be a good next step for you."

"You think they'll let me stay?" he asks, incredulous.

"With me at your defense, they'd be hard-pressed not to. The Glade has a tradition of taking in strays."

"Now see, this is some tradition I can get behind. Much cozier than murder."

"You're the worst."
"And you like it."

We walk through the crowd of Glade inhabitants, eventually settling next to Asha and Ace. I wasn't quite aware of how long we'd been out, the adrenaline still coursing through our veins from the night before, but the sky has turned from that deep, cosmic blue to more of a purple, and as we watch it continues to shift.

"Asha." Ace says, holding her close, "Whatever happens next, promise no matter what happens, you won't forget me."

Asha shakes her head. "Never ever."

"As if she could." Sirius says. "Don't count us out so quickly. I get the feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other from now on."

"Wrap it up, you three. She'll be here soon." I say.

"We're not ready." Ace says, holding her closer.

"We never will be," Asha replies. "I guess we'll just have to see what comes next. " She buries herself in his fur, falling against his side. "You should come with me!"

Ace hesitates, looking back at the crowd, and sighs. "Maybe I'll come on-and-off. Rose could come too, now and again. Pursue that career as a detective."

"And leave this?" I ask. "I can't think of anything more exciting than just being here, and besides, I've cemented myself as a pillar of the community now. No going back."

"I'm sold," Sirius admits.

The sun begins to come up over the horizon, dying the sky in a new rainbow for the ages, and sheds light on every bit of green, every hue on all of our coats. Sirius stands next to me without a muzzle. Asha searches the woods for her new destiny. My sister stands besides Rye, content. The whole Glade is fresh with nervous energy and the promise of sleep and new stories, a tomorrow without the weight of the murder over our heads.

Today, everything changes, and yet, in this moment, I am sure that some things never will.