Dior laughed watching the children run between the tidy rows of garden beds chasing the cabbage butterflies that seemed to flock in swarms where-ever they planted their vegetable gardens.
The gardeners considered the white winged insects a menace, and would shoo them away, but the children loved them as much as they loved the fairies that also seemed to be attracted to the greenery.
The fairies, the gardeners encouraged as they helped tend the plants.
Etienne slung his arm around Dior’s waist and leaned his head against his shoulder. “It is good,” he declared. Dior lifted his arm and pulled the griffin tightly to him. “Isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Dior agreed, his voice hoarse, catching on the emotion. “Yes, it is good.”
He had never imagined that the roof of their building would be used this way, but with so many of the floors filled with family now, and one of the other triads of gargoyles choosing to stay in order to court a cousin of Charon’s, it had made sense to grow their own food – although the werewolves had the farmlands producing again, with the help of the coven.
In the month since the battle, much had changed in the city. Many of the services had been restored, all buildings had access to power and water, and the roads were again busy with trucks and cars.
A large percentage of the city population had chosen to leave, repopulating the farmland around it, preferring to pursue a simpler, more rural life now that the Winged Hellions no longer menaced them.
A week after the battle, Alatar and Cael had, as promised, opened portals at two locations, and the number of prisoners of war that had been waiting with their families, immigrating back into the Forbidden Realm, had been amazing.
The population of Nephilim in the city was enough now that it no longer caused fear to see a winged person in the sky, it was accepted as ordinary.
The immigrants had advised that the games had been suspended as a result of the chaos resulting from the attack.
Before the Nephilim games, the world had been at war with itself, the humans striking against the vampires in fear, and the vampires and Other world retaliating. Now human and Other were united, as one people. There were no glamours in use, no hiding, no secrets.
“It is good,” Dior repeated watching Blaise’s bright almost-white hair being gripped by a child born aloft on his shoulders, the little one’s wings flaring as the goat danced beneath him, both gargoyle and child’s laughter loud and bright.
Charon and Verity were with Charon’s mother, watching the construction of a pergola. Verity had been able to improve Lieke’s health considerably, using her healing ability to repair the damages caused by the toxin the Nephilim had encountered during the games.
She could not repair Javan’s eye, but she had taken him to see a surgeon at the hospital who believed that he could improve the functionality of his injured hand through surgery once the hospitals were fully functional again.
“Come,” Dior called out to the family working on the rooftop. “It must be time for Elior’s announcement.”
The vampires had been working on getting the TV stations back into operation, and the TV had been showing rainbow hues and playing recorded music for the last twenty-four hours, with notification that an announcement was coming with a clock slowly ticking down.
They crowded around the couches and looked expectantly to the screen. Etienne adjusted the volume, to ensure that all could hear what Elior had to say.
Blaise, Charon and two cousins threaded through them handing out glasses of champagne, chilled now that the refrigerator was working again, as the clock moved toward zero.
The screen flashed, and Elior and his mates stood before a backdrop of the city, the handsome vampire king smiling widely. “Good afternoon,” he said, his voice silken and confident and his sharpened teeth openly bared by his grin. “It is a pleasure to be addressing you all again.
“During our times of struggle, I stated that together we are stronger, together we will survive, Other and human united. I am proud to declare that thanks to your efforts, we have won, we have fought our way through to peace.
“But our world has expanded, and now there is human, Other and the Nephilim amongst our population, and I thank you all for welcoming these enemies-turned-allies back into our realm with open arms and hearts.
“In the recent portals to allow immigration into our world from the Nephilim realm, an ambassador of the Nephilim joined us. We have been in discussions since and both realms have signed a peace treaty. We will continue to allow immigration from their realm into this one, and in return they will allow the Nephilim of this realm to pass freely into and out of theirs.
“It will take time for our hearts to heal from our losses, and to build trust with those who were once our enemies, but the first steps have been taken by both sides, and I strongly believe that together we can work towards a bright and peaceful future as a united people.
“Thank you all for your efforts over the last few months, thank you for being strong and brave and courageous, for helping your neighbours and supporting each other. Let’s continue this momentum and together we can build a better future for us all.”
“May the future be bright and peaceful,” Dior raised his glass to the screen. “And filled with family.”