Chapter 217 - Home

Chapter 217 - Home
Rhiannan POV

FaeNet was chaos.

Beautiful, glorious fucking chaos. I sat curled into the ridiculous mountain of pillows that had permanently taken over my chambers and stared at the glowing screens floating around me.

#AurealisDream

Number one worldwide. Not just in our kingdom.
Worldwide. Every realm. Every major FaeNet channel.
Every species that had figured out how to operate a communication crystal without accidentally summoning something. Aurealis was everywhere.
Tribute reels. Reaction videos. People crying. People cheering. Memes. So many fucking memes.

Someone had edited my face onto an enormous golden dragon with the words:

SHE DIDN'T TAKE THE THRONE. SHE BUILT A WHOLE FUCKING COUNTRY.

I saved that one. For historical purposes. Obviously.
Then Sasha materialized in front of me looking unbearably smug. “RuneCam engagement has exceeded projections by four hundred and seventeen percent.”

“Meaning?”

“Everyone is obsessed with us.”

I grinned. “Fuck yeah.”

Her eyes flashed. “Initiating RuneCam Tour.”

“Oh shit.”

Sasha's voice immediately broadcast across FaeNet.
“Let's show the world what divinity built.”

RuneCams lifted from discreet towers across the kingdom. Hundreds of tiny enchanted cameras rose into the evening sky, celestial blue runes glowing around their protective shells. The first image appeared. Dragon Castle. My home. I had seen it every fucking day. But through RuneCam? Holy shit. The castle rose from the cliffs overlooking the Sea of Mist, crystal and pale marble glowing beneath the moon.

Golden turrets reached toward the stars. Enchanted lanterns floated above bridges and balconies. The central tower shimmered with my sigil. A seven-pointed star enclosed within a circle. Gardens surrounded the castle, overflowing with magical flowers, glowing vines, moon blossoms, and tiny faerie lights. I stared. “That's ours?”

Azarion laughed beside me. “Yes.”

“We're bougie as fuck.”

“Extremely.”

The RuneCam swept toward the barracks. Obsidian and stone buildings formed a massive crescent around the central combat arena.Training fields.
Obstacle courses. Weapons forges. Spell-testing grounds. Thousands of soldiers moved beneath the moons. Sasha's overlays appeared, identifying divisions, commanders, emergency routes, medical stations, supply centers, and training sectors.

FaeNet exploded.

OUR ARMY HAS ITS OWN FUCKING CITY.

WHY IS GENERAL THORNE HOT EVEN FROM THE SKY?!

SQUAD COMMANDERS DROP YOUR TRAINING ROUTINES.

“Absolutely not,” Sasha announced.

I laughed. Then came the Outreach Centers. And that was where the humor died. Warm lights glowed from windows. Children ran through courtyards. Families embraced. People ate together. Healers worked. New arrivals stood staring at beds that belonged to them.

Beds. Something so fucking simple. Something so many people had apparently never been able to count on. Then the RuneCam found MoonHollow. The frost refugees we'd rescued were gathered around an enormous fire. Dancing. Laughing. Children chased one another through the grass. One of the older women sat beneath a blanket drinking something steaming while watching them.

My vision blurred. “Fuck.”

Liam handed me a cloth.

“Don't.”

“I didn't say anything.”

“You were going to.”

“I was going to mention that crying makes you radiant.”

“Fuck off.”

“Lovingly.”

Then the tour reached the villages. Emberreach appeared first. Flame and sky. Built along enormous bluffs, the village glowed in shades of amber, copper, and gold. Floating bridges connected neighborhoods.
Air lifts moved between elevations. Elemental solar lanterns illuminated the streets. Artisan forges burned beside bakeries and bustling trade stalls. At the center stood a massive amphitheater carved from molten glass.

The children's residence had a rooftop garden and an enchanted playground. I pointed. “Is that playground flying?”

“Sections of it,” Sasha replied.

“Why?”

“Children requested it.”

Fair enough. MoonHollow came next. My heart squeezed. Deep enchanted forest surrounded cottages, treehouses, spiral staircases, suspended walkways, waterfalls, and glowing gardens. The crescent lake reflected the stars. Blue and green bioluminescent flowers illuminated the pathways.

Then Thornhelm Vale. Built directly into the mountains. Stone homes. Massive forges. Runic carvings glowing across doorways and beams.
Dwarven taverns already packed. Someone stumbled out of one holding a mug above his head.

“It's not even fully open yet.”

“Dwarves are efficient,” Sasha replied.

Starlight Ridge looked like something from a dream.
Rolling hills. Star-metal roofs. Moonbeam lanterns.
Windmills turning beneath the stars. Light gardens stretched between neighborhoods. A university rose near the edge of the village beside a massive mage tower. Scholars were already applying.

Then Hillshire Plains appeared. I went quiet. Golden fields. Rivers. Water wheels. Enchanted farms. Flower boxes beneath cottage windows. Protective rune circles around every home. Hammocks. Every house had a fucking hammock.

“I want one.”

“You own six balconies.”

“I want a hammock.”

Azarion kissed my temple.

“You'll have a hammock.”

“Thank you.”

Finally, Sasha pulled every RuneCam higher. The kingdom spread beneath us. My kingdom. No. Our kingdom. Five villages connected by glowing roads.
Safety glyphs embedded into every major route.
Outposts positioned between settlements. Wards overlapped in enormous circles, each linked to Dragon Castle and Sasha. Westward, the main road stretched toward the glittering sea. Soldier outposts. Inns. Rest stations. Empty spaces already marked for future merchant hubs.

It looked alive. Aurealis wasn't a castle. It wasn't five villages. It wasn't an army. It was a system built to catch people before they fell. My hand moved over my belly. “Holy shit.”

FaeNet agreed.

HOW DO I MOVE HERE?!

I WILL CLEAN TOILETS. LET ME IN.

I'M SOBBING. THIS IS WHAT A KINGDOM SHOULD BE.

DO YOU ACCEPT GOBLIN ACCOUNTANTS? ASKING FOR ME.

FAENET IS OFFICIALLY AN AUREALIS FAN ACCOUNT.

Sasha's circuitry briefly flashed pink.I narrowed my eyes. “Are you blushing?”

“No.”

“You're fucking blushing.”

“My cooling systems are compensating for processing load.”

“Sure, babe.”

She ignored me. “Registration for citizenship is now open.”

Oh. Fuck. The applications hit instantly. Thousands.
Then tens of thousands. Sasha froze. I sat forward.
“Sasha?”

“Processing.”

More appeared.

“Still processing.”

“Sasha?”

“Rhiannan.”

“Yes?”

“There are a lot of bitches.”

I fucking lost it.

By dawn, I hadn't slept much.

Partly because Aurealis had apparently become the hottest destination on the planet overnight. Mostly because Baby Number Two had spent several hours trying to tunnel through my ribs.

Sunlight spilled across the kingdom. Sasha appeared above my bed. “Good morning, Aurealis.”

Her voice simultaneously broadcast across the kingdom. “Citizenship registration remains open. Each village can comfortably accommodate five thousand residents within the primary settlement and up to seven thousand five hundred including designated outskirts.”

Numbers appeared.

“Current available population capacity: thirty-seven thousand.”

Then applications started scrolling again. Names.
Species. Skills. Families. Children. Housing requirements. Trades. Medical needs. Farmers.
Teachers. Builders. Healers. Blacksmiths. Scholars.
Cooks. Former soldiers. Tailors. Carpenters. People with nothing except a name and a desperate request for somewhere safe.

That one hurt. Downstairs, Reyna, Veena, Gailia, and the council were already working with Sasha. I watched through the communication crystal while eating breakfast in my chambers. Applications were screened. Background checks. Security checks.
Skills assessments. Housing needs. Families kept together. Children prioritized. Medical cases flagged.
Potential threats separated for deeper review. Nobody rejected simply because they were poor. Nobody required some ridiculous entrance fee. Nobody needed the correct family name.

I smiled. Then my back spasmed. “Motherfucker.”

Kaelith immediately appeared. “Your ankles.”

“What about them?”

“They're swelling again.”

I looked down. My feet had become potatoes. Fucking wonderful. She began rubbing soothing balm over them while I glared at my belly.

“I swear to the stars, if these babies don't come out soon, I'm going to remove them myself with fucking salad tongs.”

Kaelith didn't even react anymore. “It will be soon.”

“You said that yesterday.”

“The moon aligns within days.”

“Tell the moon to hurry the fuck up.”

Liam appeared beside me. “Would you like me to hunt down the Moon Goddess and politely slap her?”

I narrowed my eyes.

“With my penis?”

I threw a pillow at him. Kaleb nearly choked laughing.

“I get to headbutt her first.”

Arwen leaned against the wall. “I have rope.”

“Of course you do.”

“And cuffs.”

“Why do you have cuffs?”

He smiled. I decided I didn't need that answer. Sable folded his arms. “I have explosives.”

Elisha looked genuinely exhausted. “Can we please stop discussing attacking the divine realm?”

“No,” I said.

“Absolutely not,” Liam agreed.

Azarion knelt beside me. He didn't joke. He simply took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I'll carry you through it.”

My chest tightened.

“Every breath. Every contraction. Every push.” His thumb moved across my skin. “You will never be alone.”

My eyes burned. “That's hot.”

He smiled.

“Also, I might actually murder all of you.”

“There she is.”

Brimma cackled from behind Kaelith. “I'll prepare the birthing basin.”

My smile disappeared. “Wait.”

She grinned. “Just in case.”

Fuck.

By afternoon, the castle had become an administrative war zone. Scrolls flew through corridors. Builders received expansion plans. Healers prepared intake stations. Village leaders organized housing. Soldiers were assigned to major travel routes. Supply wagons were stocked. Welcome stations were constructed outside every village. And Sasha processed applications faster than anything alive possibly could.

Then, just before sunset, she appeared across every FaeNet screen. “Citizenship capacity reached.”

I stopped eating my pastry. Thirty-seven thousand.
Holy shit.

“Thirty-seven thousand citizenship applications have been approved.”

My eyes widened. Thirty-seven thousand people.
Not numbers. People. Thirty-seven thousand lives about to change.

Sasha continued. “The roads are open.”

A map of Aurealis appeared. Safe routes illuminated.
Checkpoints. Rest stations. Medical tents. Military escorts.

“Approved citizens may begin their journeys.” Her expression softened. “We are ready to receive you.”

FaeNet erupted. Again. But this time I barely saw the comments. I was staring through the window. Beyond Dragon Castle. Toward the roads. Soon people would come down them. Families carrying everything they owned. Children. Wagons. Animals. Dreams. People looking for something better. Looking for us.

I pressed both hands against my belly. “We better not fuck this up.”

Azarion's hand covered mine. “We won't.”

I looked at him. “You don't know that.”

“No.” He smiled. “But we'll fix what we get wrong.”

That? That I could believe. Because perfection wasn't what we promised. We promised to try. To listen. To change. To make sure nobody disappeared through the cracks because fixing the problem was inconvenient. Thirty-seven thousand new souls.

Five villages. One kingdom. Aurealis. Home.

Then my entire belly tightened. Hard. I stopped breathing. Azarion immediately straightened. “What?”

I waited. The pressure slowly released. I exhaled.
“Nothing.”

His eyes narrowed. “Rhiannan.”

“Probably nothing.”

Kaelith appeared in the doorway. Because apparently that woman could smell impending childbirth. I glared at my stomach. “Don't you fucking dare start shit after I just approved thirty-seven thousand immigrants.”

Another tightening rolled low through my belly. Stronger. I grabbed Azarion's hand. He looked at Kaelith. Kaelith looked at me. I looked down at the three tiny squatters who had spent months turning my internal organs into furniture.

“Oh.”

Brimma popped her head around the doorway.

“Basin?”

I swallowed.

Outside, the roads of Aurealis were opening to thirty-seven thousand new lives.

Inside, three more were getting ready to arrive.

I tightened my grip on Azarion's hand.

“Yeah.”

My heart started pounding.

“Maybe get the fucking basin.”