{Ishkur | Merit’s Iona}

This was the Probability to happiness, and Silence had finally found it.

The foremother dressed in front of a mirror with a small, knowing smile. Kyle’s reflection smoldered as she slipped into the bikini after a morning of proper exercise. The first fighter to pin the other won.

Sometimes Silence let him win, and he rewarded her with hours of delicious pleasure. Watching her dress was simply a bonus. So she exaggerated stepping her long legs into the short dress, clinging to every curve in sheer black. She’d asked Sagan if she could go without the underclothes. The poor girl’s eyes had drifted off, and she’d forgotten how to speak until seconds later she suggested the bikini might prove less distracting.

Silence beamed.

More so as Kyle entered, knelt at her feet, and helped her into matching heels. He mused, “As if you need more height,” and kissed each knee.

“It’s more about having a weapon strapped to my feet for your defense when Korac opens your gift.”

“Hah!” Smith was always eavesdropping.

Neither he nor Lucas felt right about leaving her alone for the first one hundred years in case the nullifying hull failed or one of Dr. Suarez’s tests went badly. Silence had only just convinced Lucas to go back to his prized zeppelin. Surely he missed his closet.

But Smith conveyed. The Shadow reinstated them both shortly after. Smith resided with Kyle and Silence. She enjoyed their humors and relished in their friction. This was her immediate family.

Silence returned her thoughts to the gift. “Must you?”

Kyle beamed, self-satisfied and anticipatory. “Oh, I must.” He stood and kissed her nacre before booping her nose. “My turn. I don’t think Sagan will let me into the wedding if my clothes aren’t matching.”

With a glance at his lime green Hawaiian shirt and blue basketball shorts, Silence threw her head back and laughed. “No. That won’t do.”

Every day was like this.

Easy. Simple. And right.

Even when Silence worked. Yes, her grandson had given his foremother an occupation. She, Smith, Lucas, and Andrew monitored the Probability Matrix. Since Rayne’s destruction of Enki, the threads were boundless. Silence’s team analyzed it closely; although Xelan never read the reports. Supposedly, other leaders requested the surveillance, so she reported to Tumu.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Silence divided her time between that task and the experiments with Dr. Suarez and Xelan. They talked at length with her about Xhi and Lon’s nacres, and they gently but thoroughly interrogated Silence about her time as the Mother.

“How did you escape Quet’s lab in the first place?”

“I never learned how. On that day, I awakened after the last birth with my cement bonds freed. I fled without a single backward glance.”

Kyle smiled at her, changing into a button down. She gazed at him, appreciating how he never pried—Never asked about her eon-long life. There were other unanswered questions. Ones Silence couldn’t answer with any honesty, and she despised withholding anything from her lover and her grandson.

“They’ve asked me repeatedly about the barrier, Lucas. They wish me to reproduce its effects.”

“A little while longer, Mother. Keep your faith. It’ll all come together with perfect clarity, and then everything will be right.”

Silence trusted Lucas implicitly, so she evaded Tumu and Lynn’s questions. The two researchers asked about the barrier less frequently to Silence’s good fortune—

Kyle was staring into nothing, his forest green eyes locked onto nowhere in the closet. His messy brown curls were long enough to obstruct his vision, yet he paid them no mind. Simply lost in his thoughts. This was also happening less frequently, but when it did, only one person was on his mind.

Silence’s approach required a delicate touch. With a gentle brushing of fingers, she took his hand.

Kyle startled, but calmed when he realized it was her. He cleared his throat before saying, “Sorry.”

Silence traced her fingers down his jaw, saying, “Never apologize. Your mourning is mine.”

Kyle’s sigh rattled, and his hand shook. “I was thinking about how she’d be a bridesmaid. You know?”

Silence nodded for him to continue.

“There’d be dancing, and we would all get on the floor for a line dance or something. Like at the skating rink. She’d tease me for being off beat.” His bruised laughter was heartbreaking. “Jack would tell some inspiring story about his big sister. Or an embarrassing one. You never know with those two—”

Kyle’s voice broke, and Silence pulled him into her arms. She held him while he wept quiet tears. Smith popped his head in, and she gave him a sad smile. He nodded his understanding and left them alone.

With all the consolations Silence could offer, only one would suffice. “On your death, a world ends with you. Know the stars will fall still and weep for you.”

“How do you manage?” Kyle asked against her neck. “With Elden gone, I mean.”

A tall figure smelling of clover came to mind at the mention of his name. Two-toned hair. A burning sun reflected in his eyes, and gilded tattoos decorated his charcoal skin.

Elden.

Silence would be honest with Kyle. “Not a day passes that I don’t think of him. The ache is hard to describe, but I believe you experience a similar hurt. Nothing will ever let you forget Rayne, and unfortunately, we both live in a world where our lost ones are quite celebrated. We encounter reminders of them every day. I have accepted the good in this. Because of Elden, my child and grandchildren fought for our people. Because of Rayne, the Shadow united the galaxy into Iona Pax. I find peace in knowing so much right was done in Elden’s name. Can you do the same?”

Kyle separated them and met her eyes with a sad smile. “Yeah. I think that’s exactly what I needed to hear.” He cupped her chin and kissed her sweetly.

Silence let him return to dressing and considered what Remorse had said about Elden. Her mate went to the ends of the galaxy to find her while she slept in a mountain only kilometers away. But what a journey it had set Elden and the rest of Cinder on.

Savis.

Nox.

Xelan.

Eventually Rayne.

So much sacrifice, but so much good.

Elden smiled down on Iona Pax, knowing it was all worth it in the end.