The Savages

Epilogue

The throne room of Newheart Castle was completely ruined.

The walls, floors, and pillars had all taken heavy damage during the fight, almost crumbling to pieces at the slightest touch. The worst damage was to the rear of the extravagant building, which looked like it'd been torn to shreds by a giant's hands — ancient tapestries were torn down from where they once hung proudly in vivid colour, reduced to little more than a pile of blood-soaked rags, and the entire back wall was gone. A massive hole had been punched through the concrete, with debris covering almost every square inch of the synthetic red and gold carpet. The bodies of the Risen and beta clones had been cleaned up earlier that morning, transported to the furthest edge of Nesery by Slate's men, where they were then cremated and buried. It was better than they deserved, but the Prince was a noble man, respecting all lives that were lost during their conflict with David Anderson, no matter which side they fought on.

Teemu drew in a great sigh, closing his eyes. Behind the comfort and security of his lids, a pair of glowing golden irises gazed back at him, scorching his corneas. He snapped them open hastily, relieved to find it was only a trick of his mind. He was still by himself, perched on the top step outside the front of the castle. None of his brothers were in sight, and though he normally would have been worrying about their whereabouts, he felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Having himself for his own company provided him with essential thinking time, which he urgently needed. He tried to process the events from the previous night, delving deeper and deeper into what their meanings could possibly be. But no matter how long he spent churning through them, like a blender chopping and tearing apart different fragments, his head was still heavily clouded. Perhaps the worst part of the last twenty-four hours was finding out he and the Demon King were brothers, bound together by Rick Savage's DNA. Yet it made no sense. Rick was born in 1962. Maddox had become king in 1900, sixty-two years before Teemu's original had come into existence.

Unless Maddox was the original, and Rick was merely another clone. He didn't know which to believe.

Then there was the part of heading home to Earth. So much time had passed already on Unai that when he inevitably returned with his brothers, he felt he wouldn't know what to do, or how to fit back in amongst the humans. For the past month, demons, betas, fantastical creatures and ancient conflicts had been the only things he knew. The idea of leaving Unai, and leaving Slate, his nephew, pulled at his heart strings just the tiniest bit.

Nephew.

The prince of Nesery was his nephew.

Not just any prince, but a demon prince. A demon prince who, one day, would rule over Nesery with honour and integrity, like his father did.

It sounded like the start of a bad joke.

Never once in his life had he spared a thought as to what having a conventional family would feel like; what it was supposed to be like. To have a real family, with parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and all the rest of it was something no clone, including himself, had ever been given the chance to know. But to find out his long-lost brother fathered a child opened up infinite possibilities for the clone world. Maybe, one day, Teemu could become a father himself, and make the child a worthy heir of the Savage family.

"You're thinking too hard again, T," a playful voice jested at the back of his conscience. "If you keep going, you'll only make yourself feel more horrible than you already do."

Teemu looked up at Gary, feeling his heart pang at the mere sight of his injured human brother.

Dry blood crusted some of his auburn ringlets, and his eyes were perilously hollow. His face was weary, the fair skin stretched tightly over bone, emphasising his cheekbones. Even a little battered and ruffled, he was still an inspiration to Teemu, and an important part of the family.