Cecilia's Mate (12 page)

Epilogue

When
Cecilia reached the command deck Draven was there waiting for her. He took her
hand, pulling her in close for a quick kiss before leading her to Bracken’s
office. The doors opened, and he let her hand go. “I already know what’s going
on, not in full detail but enough to guess the end. I’ll be here when you’re
done,” he said softly. After giving her a hug, and another kiss, he left her
alone with her brother.

Cecilia
looked at Bracken and frowned. “What’s going on?” she wanted to know, taking
the seat he offered. “And why is it that you’re wearing a look as if you’re
going to be sick?” She knew that look well from her brother.

Taking
a deep breath, Bracken settled into the chair at her side. “The marshal sent me
the results of their investigation and some other findings that came to light
because of it. I’ll give you the file to view, but it boils down to Mother
being in collusion with Sadie’s mother. From what the marshal and her team
discovered they had plans to overthrow the marshal, the office, and the
government in general. They were part of a much larger force, but their parts
were key. Sadie had to be married to a specific man with political connections
who could get close to many of the senators. You were to be married to Mother’s
lover, who also seemed to be Catherine’s lover, as well as our father’s lover.
He has many of the marshal’s staff in his pocket through various blackmail
schemes he’s been running for years. They are all under his boot heel and would
have allowed him access to key information within the offices.”

Bracken
shook his head and wiped a hand down his face. “Catherine’s future husband,
another one of our father’s lover, is one of the senator’s aides. He’s been
drugged on a regular basis, feeding information to Father, who then has been
turning it over to Mother. Four of Mother’s lovers are key people either in the
marshal’s offices, or within the government. All had given up a lot of
information that could damage everything we hold dear and know to be on
Craegin. Mother, Mrs. Monterey, Father, the sisters, and all the various lovers
have been arrested. They will be tried for treason. Should they give up the
names of the others who started this and recruited them to be a party to it
all, they will only receive a lifetime in
prison.
It
will be one of the moon prisons, maximum security, of course, but otherwise
it’s death by public execution. As I said, you can view the file in its
entirety for all the details and things I left out. But that is what it all
comes down to. Thankfully the House of Monterey, and House of Kiraly, will be
untouched by this scandal. I did allow Draven to view it all so he was
forewarned of what might come around because of our relation to Mother. Sadie
also knows everything since her mother was involved in this.” He stopped
speaking then and sat looking at her with pain in his eyes.

She
was shocked. She knew that their siblings and parents weren’t nice people, were
actually rather nasty people, but nothing could have prepared her for what he
had said to her. She nodded, took a deep breath, and asked, “And what about
you? You said that the House of Monterey and House of Kiraly will be untouched
but what about you, Bracken? This won’t affect you in any way, will it?” If so,
she was certain that both Draven and Sadie would do anything they had to in
order to make sure that Bracken wasn’t harmed by the fallout. “I can’t believe
that they would do this.” No, she could. Her mother had always been power
hungry; she was one of those women that wanted more and more with each taste of
money or power that she received. “Are you okay?” she asked again, reaching out
to touch her brother as she spoke.

“The
marshal has assured me that she’ll keep as much of this from coming to land on
you and I as possible. She’s also assured me it won’t affect my position in the
military, or any future promotions. If I earn one I’ll receive it. But we’ll
have to bear some scrutiny, I fear, because of this mess Mother created. While
I was thankfully away from the home world so often, you were living within the
very mess she created. Draven’s more concerned for you than Sadie is for me.
She’s worried, of course, but I think with the Monterey name attached to mine
we’ll be fine. As I think the Kiraly name will help to protect you. But I also
didn’t want you to be caught unaware by anything that might be said or done.
This is going to be messy, Cecilia. The marshal plans on keeping it as quiet
and private as possible but we both know that people talk.” He took her hand in
his and gave it a squeeze. “I knew there was something going on, and I should
have gotten you out of there sooner. I’m sorry, Cecilia.”

“It’s
okay.” She reached out once more and took her brother’s hand. “You had so much
to deal with. I understand that. You had to protect our borders. I’m not
concerned with myself. I have the man that I love, who loves me. I have my
brother and new sister-in-law. Yes, I’m very sad about losing our family, but
in hindsight I realize that our family was gone a long time ago. I’m just happy
that the two of us got out of that family with our sanity,” she admitted.

Bracken
nodded. “Go be with Draven, Cecilia. He’ll need to remain on the command deck,
or in his office, but at least you can be with him.” Bracken got up from his
chair. When he turned to her again, he held out a small disc. “The file in its
entirety is on this. You can view it whenever you are ready.”

“Thank
you.” She took the disk but she also stepped forward so that she could hug her
brother. “I love you, big brother,” she told him before moving toward his door
and wasn’t surprised when she saw Draven leaning against the wall beside the
door, waiting for her. “Hey,” she whispered and moved right into his arms when
he opened them for her.

Draven
wrapped her up close, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Let’s go to my office,” he
said softly. Keeping an arm wrapped around her shoulders, he led her to his door.
Before they went inside he stopped one of the younger officers to give the
woman some instructions. Then he urged Cecilia inside and to the low-slung sofa
against one wall.

She
let him lead her to the sofa and settled down onto the seat with him. She moved
so that she could be in his arms and rested her head against his shoulder.
“Thank you. For everything that you have done for me. For staying at my side
through all of this. I can’t believe they did this. I’m just floored that they
actually thought they could do what they had planned.”

“I’ll
always be at your side, Cecilia. No matter what comes. You are my wife and the
love of my life. It took us too much time to get where we are to waste even a
moment separated. Besides, this is all on your family, not you. Every person is
responsible for their own actions. While you may feel responsible to some
extent, you are not and shall never be held so by anyone. Our societal
structure is designed in a way that it all falls on the head of the family,
unless the marshal’s office finds otherwise. They have found you innocent of
everything, forced to play a part to survive, and you will not be tainted by
the family again. Bracken has been protected as well. I’m unclear how they
managed it, but they’ve made sure even he will be buffeted from the coming
storms.”

“I’m
relieved. That he’s protected as well. He wasn’t the head of our family, but he
did take over responsibility for me when I came to you.” Which she was thankful
for. “Otherwise I would likely be wed to that male right now.” She shivered in
reaction to that thought. “Enough bad thoughts. We will focus on our
forever-after now, right?” she asked with a smile as she looked up at him.

He
nodded. “The past is the past, something we cannot change, but which we shouldn’t
forget. We learn from what came before so we don’t make the same mistakes
again. Everything that has shaped us was a lesson, a way for us to grow and
become strong for whatever is to come.” Draven rolled his eyes before he
smiled. “A bit existential for my taste but definitely seems to fit the moment.
We can only move forward, Cecilia. And we will because we have a lot of living
to do, little one.”

“Yes,
we do. We have a marvelous life ahead of us.” They had a good life ahead of
them simply because they were together. “Have you been in contact yet with your
birth mother?” She shifted the line of conversation quickly, not wanting to
have another thought about her family. He heaved a sigh and made a face. “I
sent off a message to her. It’s relatively vague, but I think she’ll
understand. I’m not sure yet if I want to meet with her, but I thought we
should at least begin to open the lines of communication. She may not want to
see me. She has a whole new life, a family, a home, and I’m part of the past. Who
knows if she’s even told her husband about the
past.
Another reason for keeping the message vague. I don’t want to cause her any
discomfort by being too open in the communique in case someone who doesn’t know
about me finds it. Best to leave the reveal to her discretion, should she
choose to do so.”

“That
was both very smart and very considerate of you.” Then again her Draven was a
very good man. “Are you good with me being here in your office, then? If not I
can go back to our rooms.”

“Move
a muscle and I’ll damn well tie you down to my desk,” he said. “I want you
here, Cecilia. Besides, I think we both need to be holding on to the other
person. This day hasn’t heralded very much good news, unfortunately. I think we
should enjoy the fact we are together, are both healthy and whole, and that we
are safely far away from the home world in the cold of space where none of that
mess can touch us.”

“I
don’t know, the idea of you tying me to your desk
…
”
Cecilia pulled back and looked up at Draven with a grin. “Thank you,” she
whispered. “For everything. And you are right. Right now we do need to hold on
to the one we love.”

Lifting
a hand, Draven gently stroked her hair, tucking a few pieces back from her face
as he did so. “We are going to be fine, Cecilia. No matter what, you and I will
get through this because we have each other. Now come back here so I can hold
on to you. Especially since I have no idea when one of them will come looking
for me, and I intend to enjoy every moment I have you in my arms.”

“Too
true.” She moved back into his arms. She had her eyes closed as she listened to
the beating of his heart. “I’m a lucky woman,” she told him only a moment
before someone buzzed at his door. She laughed. “Looks as if you are needed.
Go, I’m going to rest here on your sofa and wait for you to come back to me. Go
and do what you need to do.”

“You’re
sure?” he asked softly. At her nod he wrinkled his nose a little. Draven kissed
her, then stood. He touched her cheek gently. “I’ll return as soon as I can.
Until then, relax. And if you want a drink you know where they are.” Smiling
down at her for a moment, he stroked her skin lightly, then turned and left his
office.

Cecilia
watched him as he left the office and just smiled. Even with her family’s world
falling apart around her ears she was happy. Life was, well, life was good.
Very good.

The End

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