Far From Home Two: The Monster's Heir-- a M/M/M fantasy romance

EPILOGUE: The Years Since

EMBER—

In the years since meeting and falling in love with my mates, we had lived and loved and grown together as a unit.

True to the legacy of his mother, and his namesake, Llyric found his calling in music, and it helped heal his mind and soul. He learned to play every Akaran instrument he could get his hands on, moved on to El'kahrian— sent by the queen when Sage requested them— and after he had mastered those, he even began to research the instruments of far-away countries. At that point, he enlisted the aid of Dokojn, my tribe's woodworker, and they made strange instruments out of wood and metal that he taught himself to play.

It became a normal sight to find Llyric surrounded by people, usually children but not always, as he played one tune or another. He began to teach others, and that became his job in the tribe— he taught anyone who so desired to play and sing and dance.

He still spoke rarely, and when he did the words were succinct, but both he and Sage learned Akari faster than I had thought to give them credit for. Before long, we only spoke El'kahrian rarely, and usually Sage and Llyric did only to each other— possibly to keep their own culture alive in their minds and hearts as they accepted and dove into mine.

Sage and I were convinced Llyric only ate when he was in one of our laps only because he was spoiled, rather than any lingering trauma. He was healthy, still too skinny, but we figured that was just the way he was built. It was a shame we could never know his mother, to know how he maybe took after her. It was even more of a shame she had never been allowed to grow into full womanhood. The legacy of the Monster truly was tragedy.

It took Sage no time to find his place in my tribe. The head farmer who tended my fields had been planning to retire and move to Moonstone to live with his son and his family, and he was more than glad to pass the work onto Sage. And Sage reveled in the hard, grueling work. My people accepted him without qualm or question, and he brought knowledge and tips and tricks that helped the crops to flourish in a way I had never seen them before.

Sage's mother and brother visited often. It turned out his family farm was only a few hour's ride away. His brother had been overwhelmed with looking after the farm alone, but with the inheritance Hestiel had given to Sage's mother and brother from Llyric, they were able to not only live comfortably the rest of their lives, but retire completely if they wanted.

Of course, being related to Sage, they didn't retire. Instead, they hired farmhands, Sage's brother Lestat continued to work the farm, and they lived happily on a large chunk of riches and barely spent any of it.

By Llyric's request, the family was never told where the money came from. They thought it was compensation payment for Sage's unjust demotion.

It was amusing when Sage's mother Anna first met both me and Llyric. Sage had sent her a letter, warning her to be on her best behavior about the three of us being mates, but she still gaped when Sage led her into the front hall and gestured to where Llyric and I waited for them. In Akar, it wasn't even unique for men to be together, nor was it something out of the ordinary for more than two to be together romantically.

El'kahr saw things very differently.

"Maman, Lestat, these are my mates, Llyric and Ember. Llyric, Ember, this is my Maman and my brother Lestat."

I made a gesture to welcome them into my home and Llyric smiled gently, but the woman could barely keep her eyes on us as she kept glancing back at Sage, as if wondering when he would yell out that it was all a joke.

Later that night, we had been sitting around the fire after dinner as Lestat and Anna updated Sage on the goings-on at the family farm, and Llyric and I cuddled near the fire. When Llyric began to yawn repeatedly, Sage excused himself and moved to us. He bent down, pressed his lips to Llyric's gently, then pulled me to my feet so we could all go to bed.