Chapter 79: Epilogue

*25 years later*

The girl was prettier than most he had ever laid eyes on. The teenage boy grinned dazedly at her beauty as she leaned against a wall in the castle courtyard.

“Well? You said you would show me your archery skills,” she said in that crisp, classy way of hers.

Raising a brow, she ran gentle fingers over her long, blonde hair, looking half mockingly at the boy she secretly liked back.

“Ah, of c-course, my Princess,” he stuttered nervously. With clumsy hands, he rushed to reach for the arrows on his back. “J-just a moment, my Princess!”

Princess Amira started to smile, but then a sudden bright flash at the corner of her eye startled her.

Before she could push him out of harm’s way, the sharp, white flash of magic hit the poor boy right on the butt!

“Ow!” he yelped, leaping up and clutching his butt in his hands as his bow and arrows fell to the ground. “My buttocks!” he cried. “My buttocks are on fire!”

Flustered and apologetic, Amira huffed angrily, turning her gaze up to the great castle buildings around them.

As she’d expected, she immediately spotted the culprit, looking remorselessly down at her with eyes that were exactly like hers.

“Father!” she whined.

The King of Cassius gave his daughter a tight smile. “Amira, sweetheart, tell that boy to get the hell out of my sight before I send something bigger than a bit of thunder.”

The kid with the burning butt froze at the sound of the King’s voice from above him. He was dead. He was absolutely roast meat!

“Father, don’t be mean to my friend!” Amira said. “Most of them already can’t come over because they’re afraid of you.”

Rogan narrowed his eyes, putting his hands into his pockets as he looked down at his seventeen-year-old from his library balcony. “They don’t come over because you’ve got a nasty temper yourself! Hey, you there!”

The boy whimpered, turning around and hunching over into a bow. “F-f-forgive me, my King!”

Rogan sighed and rolled his eyes. “Get lost!”

The boy hunched over even more, looking like a tortoise from Rogan’s point of view. “Yes, my King! Long l-live the King of C-c-cassius!”

Still whimpering in fear he spun back around to face Amira. “My Princess, goodbye forever!”

He tried to dash off, but she grabbed his arm stubbornly. “No! You can’t leave, we have to do target practice together!”

The poor boy squeezed his eyes shut in fear. Why wouldn’t she let him leave?! She was going to get him killed. “I’m so sorry, your Highness, some other ti—”

Another flash of white appeared.

“Yow!” yelped the boy, grabbing his buttocks once more.

Amira gasped, looking up at Rogan. “Father!!”

Rogan shook his head. “That wasn’t me.”

Frowning in confusion, the Princess lowered her gaze to side of the courtyard and growled in anger. “Reagan!”

Her older brother and the prince of Cassius calmly lowered his magic wielding hand and smiled sweetly at her as he approached. “Last time I checked, Amira, her Majesty the Queen was hosting the archery competition by the stables. Not here in the shadows.”

Gritting her teeth, the Princess looked up at their father. “Your Majesty, I request permission to murder the Prince.”

“Denied,” Rogan said easily. “Well done, son. Next time double the power in the magic.”

Reagan grinned up at his father. “Noted, Father.”

Amira hissed and, raising her hands at her sides with magic, she shot out two shiny blades at her brother. When they barely reached him and fell harmlessly at his feet, she got even more furious.

“What was that?!” asked her brother, throwing his head back with laughter.

Rogan nodded at her execution. It had been done right, but there hadn’t been enough power to back it up. “Three hours practice, Amira,” he said. “Go.”

Huffing out a breath of defeat, she stomped away. “I’m gonna tell Mom!”

Reagan scoffed at her cuteness. “Cry baby.”

His gaze returned to the shivering boy in the yard and an amused smile curved his lips. Running a hand through his long, black hair, he glanced up at his father. “Your Majesty, what shall I do with this criminal?”

The King leaned over on the balcony, the wind raking through his thick locks of blonde hair as a sharp glint of malice sparked in his churning dark eyes. “What else, Reagan? Turn him into mincemeat for the dogs and grind his bones into powder to season it.”

Rogan heard doors suddenly open somewhere in the library behind him and cleared his throat. “I mean… just let him off with a warning so the poor kid can go home, his wealthy father needs an heir.”

The footsteps behind him were drawing closer so he quickly leaned over the balcony to fiercely whisper. “Grind him to *mincemeat* !”

Soft hands wrapped around his arm. “Reagan, send that young man home immediately. Without a scratch, sweetheart.”

Reagan smiled sheepishly up at the Queen of Cassius. “Yes, Mother.”

Rogan watched their son lead the boy away until they were out of sight and then cleared his throat.

When he looked at his Queen, he found her watching him with laughter and accusation shining in her eyes, although her curved mouth held it back.

“Rogan, you weren’t, by any chance, trying to have that boy grinded into mince—”

“Of course not, Maia,” Rogan denied incredulously. “I’m offended. How could say such a thing about me?”

Her chest shook with laughter as she shook her head at him, damp curls of hair caressing her glowing face. “You’re incorrigible, my love.”

A smirk curved Rogan’s mouth and he turned to face her, circling her waist with his hands as he brought her body against his. “Am I? And you’re sexy as hell.”

She scoffed out a laugh. “You’re very cheesy, for a King, your Majesty.”

Rogan inhaled the scent of her skin with a content sigh. “You smell good. Had fun showering without me?”

Maia shook her head, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. “No, it wasn’t even half as fun.”

“That’s what you get for showering without me.”

She rolled her eyes to the heavens. “Yeah, well, you were too busy bothering my darling daughter and menacing that nice boy she was with.”

Rogan scowled. “Nice, my ass.”

“Your ass is quite nice,” she agreed.

He chuckled darkly, making a swarm of butterflies invade her stomach. “Oh, yeah? Why don’t you join me in the shower so you can take a closer look at it?”

Maia’s cheeks went red as she giggled. “Rogan, behave. I cannot, I’m joining Amira and Arya at tonight’s festival in Geminor.”

He scoffed. “First, you were hosting Reagan’s little archery competition and now you’re going with Amira to a festival. Those dratted kids, how dare they steal you from me?”

Maia threw her head back with laughter at the purely adorable pout swelling his lips. She stood on her toes and pressed a long kiss to his lips, leaving Rogan’s hunger raging when she pulled away. “First of all,” said Maia, smiling. “Those dratted kids take after you.”

“Amira, perhaps, Reagan is just like you, an angel through and through.”

“Either way,” continued Maia. “Those dratted kids are yours and, secondly, *nobody* in the universe could ever steal me from you.”

Her words made him smile so warmly it nearly lit a fire in Maia’s heart. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

Nodding back, he kissed her, deeply and intensely, leaving Maia breathless with want.

When he finally pulled away, hovering his mouth over hers, her cheeks were rosy and her lips plump. “You know, Maia, if we cannot shower, I think we might have time to do something else before you leave for Geminor.”

Her cheeky smile widened when he started to guide her backwards and into the room. “I think you’re right, Rogan.”

It was all the confirmation he needed. With her laughter filling the room and drawing the biggest smile on his face, he lifted her into his arms, wrapping her legs around him as he carried her away.

To Rogan, it meant more than everything he had. It meant more than his throne, his life and his powers.

It meant more than anything else in the world that he could call Maia his and that, without a doubt, he would always and forever be hers.

*The End♥*