The Monastery

Epilogue: A Dream Come True

"So, you were really my brother all along then?" Princess Tashi asked, questioning her brother for the first time. Kailas shrugged, then grinned as he remembered meeting Tashi in his shop so long before. It felt like a whole lifetime had passed since that moment.

              "A bit hard to wrap your head around right," Kailas laughed. 

               Song stood outside on the balcony with the Queen, overlooking Kingdom.

              "I hear that Song will be the Empress now that her father has stepped down," Tashi said.

              Kailas took a deep breath of mountain air, feeling a fullness in his heart. But before he could speak, Song walked in and answered for him.

              "Actually," Song began, "that is just a rumor. I will not become the Empress. We decided that our family line has ruled for far too long, and that it is time the throne was passed to another."

              "Oh?" exclaimed the Queen, following Song inside. 

              "Yes," Song smiled. "The new Emperor will be one named Sun Yao, the son of Mala."

              "And here we were thinking the two of you would be married and unite the two worlds," said the King, who had been sitting quietly at one of the tables with the Cobbler. Sitting on top of the table next to them was a black decorative box.

              Kailas laughed. "Not everything in life is so fairy tale, after all."

              "Says the boy who rode the lightning," Tashi smirked. "What will you two do now?"

              "There are whispers on the wind," said Kailas, walking to the table where his two fathers sat, "that the monasteries are descending from their places in the clouds, and returning to this world."

              "From their place in the clouds?" Tashi asked, her eyebrow raised. "Wait, there are more than one of these magical monasteries?"

              Kailas took the black box from the table and walked it over to Tashi. "There are many," he said. "But why sit here trying to imagine them?" He opened the box, revealing a simple pair of boots. "Why not come see for yourself?"

***

              The barkeep fumbled with his keys before opening the door to his little bar. The sunset was a blur of gold and red on the horizon. He opened the door and to his surprise, found that he had left one of the windows open since the night before.

              As he moved closer to the window, he could see the light from the sunset shining down upon something on one of his tables. He stopped, then slowly moved closer to the table. He felt a smile tug on his cheeks as he looked down at a rolled-up map, and what looked like a necklace made of dark brown seeds, the likes of which he had never seen before in his life. 

              "I found the window open and didn't think you would mind if I let myself in to wait for you," said the voice of Kailas. Godfrey turned around and smiled, then came forward and hugged the boy.

              "You are always welcome," said Godfrey. He walked over to the front door of the bar and closed it. "I think it's alright to take a break from work every now and then. Especially when old friends have returned with promised stories. Tea?"

              Kailas smiled. "Sounds good, my friend. Tea it is."

***