Back in Solmere...
Life had returned to something resembling normal.
Not the normal the city had known before Crescent Moon Canyon.
A better one.
The streets hummed with conversation from sunrise until long after dark.
Merchants laughed while arguing over prices.
Construction crews repaired roads and expanded storefronts to keep pace with the city's relentless growth.
Children raced through the markets with wooden swords, pretending to be heroes defending the canyon.
Everywhere Jax looked...
People smiled.
Hope had become contagious.
Even the newspapers reflected it.
Each edition carried another announcement celebrating the future rather than mourning the past.
New trade agreements.
New businesses.
Expansion of the Restoration Initiative.
Roads connecting distant towns.
Another portal completed.
Another warehouse opened.
But one headline had captured everyone's attention.
THE NEXT VIXEN WEDDING
Aurabelle to Wed Merchant Jax Darquebane
Bunny had already read the article four times before breakfast.
She was halfway through a fifth.
"They made my ears look fluffier."
Nyxian leaned over her shoulder.
"They also made your chest bigger."
Bunny studied the sketch.
Her head tilted slightly.
"...They weren't completely inaccurate."
Laughter echoed throughout the dining room.
Even Jax couldn't hide a smile.
For a little while...
Life simply felt peaceful.
No emergency meetings.
No military councils.
No urgent messages.
Only breakfast.
Only family.
None of them realized how fortunate that silence truly was.
Far to the east...
An Empire buried its dead.
Families mourned.
Homes were seized.
Names were condemned.
Blood still stained the stones of Alexandria.
But the news had not reached Solmere.
The tele-stones remained active.
Trade continued.
Yet every report from inside the Empire had quietly stopped.
Couriers never arrived.
Trusted contacts remained silent.
Entire intelligence routes simply...
Ended.
Whether the spies had been captured...
Killed...
Or forced into hiding...
No one yet knew.
For now...
The United Kingdom believed the Empire had withdrawn to recover from its defeat.
So life moved forward.
As life always does.
The following ten days passed almost faster than anyone expected.
For the Vixens...
They disappeared beneath an avalanche of wedding preparations.
Fabric samples covered tables.
Measurements were taken.
Jewelry was discussed.
Then discussed again.
Then changed.
Then changed back.
Nyxian somehow convinced Bunny to try on six different dresses.
Llandra quietly kept track of appointments, travel preparations, and everything else Bunny forgot five minutes after agreeing to it.
Zee packed enough food for the journey to feed considerably more people than were actually traveling.
Bunny herself alternated between excitement...
And something quieter.
She laughed during fittings.
Argued cheerfully over dresses.
Talked endlessly about foods she wanted Jax to try.
Told stories about siblings.
About neighbors.
About places she used to hide as a child.
But every time someone mentioned meeting her parents...
Something changed.
Only slightly.
Her ears lowered.
Her smile became just a little more deliberate.
Then she changed the subject.
No one pressed her.
Not even Jax.
Jax's preparations looked considerably different.
He spent the ten days moving from meeting to meeting.
Trade agreements.
Road construction.
Warehouse expansion.
Funding approvals for the Restoration Initiative.
Military supply contracts.
The Kingdom had won a battle.
Jax had no intention of confusing that with winning a war.
If another one came...
The United Kingdom would function.
Not merely survive.
Early in the ten-day preparations, the Vixens made a stop at Brannic and Merriweather's shop.
They didn't stay long.
Their legendary equipment was carefully packed into reinforced cases.
World Breaker.
Starpiercer.
Sanctaris.
Lilith's Kiss.
And finally...
Peacemaker.
Brannic watched the enormous double-bladed sword settle into its reinforced case.
The wood beneath it groaned.
Jax looked toward the dwarf.
"Think you can improve them?"
Brannic looked offended.
Merriweather laughed.
"You really should know better than to ask him that."
Brannic grunted.
"Come back the day before you leave."
That was all he said.
Jax nodded.
"Works for me."
They left the weapons behind.
For the next several days...
Brannic and Merriweather's workshop remained closed to everyone but their most trusted apprentices.
The day before departure...
The Vixens returned.
And immediately understood why.
Several large cases waited inside the forge.
Brannic stood beside them with his arms folded.
Merriweather practically vibrated with excitement.
Bunny looked between them.
"You two look suspicious."
"We've been busy," Merriweather replied.
Brannic grunted.
"Open them."
Bunny didn't need to be told twice.
The first case opened.
World Breaker rested inside.
Bunny immediately reached for it.
The moment her fingers wrapped around the handle...
Her ears shot upward.
"Oh."
She lifted the massive weapon.
Turned it once.
Then twice.
Her grin widened.
"Ohhh."
Nyxian laughed.
"What?"
Bunny moved through a practice swing.
The weapon stopped exactly where she wanted.
No wobble.
No correction.
Nothing.
"It feels lighter."
Brannic frowned.
"It isn't."
Bunny blinked.
She swung again.
"Then why does it feel lighter?"
"Balance."
Merriweather smiled proudly.
"We adjusted how the enchantments respond to you."
Bunny shifted her grip.
The weapon almost seemed eager to follow.
"It's like it knows where I want it before I move."
"Not quite," Brannic replied.
"But close enough."
Llandra opened the next case.
Starpiercer.
Her expression changed the moment she lifted the bow.
She drew the string.
Held it.
Then slowly relaxed.
Again.
This time longer.
Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"My arms aren't tiring."
Brannic nodded.
"Shouldn't."
She looked toward him.
"At all?"
"Eventually."
A pause.
"Probably."
Llandra smiled.
Coming from Brannic...
That was apparently the closest thing she would receive to an answer.
She drew the bow again.
This time her eyes widened.
"I can feel mana moving through it."
Merriweather nodded.
"Slowly."
"Not enough to replace rest or potions."
"But as long as you're holding Starpiercer, it'll help replenish what you expend."
Llandra stared at the weapon.
Then smiled.
"I like it."
Zee approached Sanctaris next.
The healer lifted her staff.
Immediately...
She became still.
Jax noticed.
"What?"
Zee looked down at her hands.
"I'm warmer."
Nyxian raised an eyebrow.
"It's already warm."
"No."
Zee shook her head.
"Comfortable."
She stepped closer to the forge.
The heat rolling from it should have been unpleasant.
Instead...
Nothing.
She smiled.
"It's regulating temperature."
Brannic nodded.
"Within reason."
Merriweather added,
"And we strengthened the passive recovery enchantments. Mana first. Stamina second."
Zee closed her eyes.
A faint glow traveled along the staff.
"And healing?"
"Minor wounds," Merriweather answered. "Slowly. Don't expect it to replace what you can already do."
Zee smiled.
"It doesn't need to."
Then came Lilith's Kiss.
Nyxian opened the case.
The twin whips almost seemed to shift at the sight of her.
She reached inside.
The weapons slid effortlessly into her hands.
Nyxian immediately smiled.
"Hello, beautiful."
Bunny giggled.
"Which one?"
"Both."
She flicked one wrist.
The whip snapped through the air.
Then curled back around her arm without touching her skin.
The second followed.
Nyxian's smile slowly became predatory.
"They're faster."
"You're faster," Brannic corrected.
"The weapons are responding better."
Nyxian sent both whips outward.
They crossed.
Separated.
Then returned.
She barely moved.
"I can feel them."
Merriweather nodded.
"That connection they already had with you?"
"We strengthened it."
Nyxian looked down at the weapons.
Almost affectionately.
"They feel like part of my arms."
"That was the idea."
Then...
Everyone looked toward the final case.
It was considerably larger than the others.
Six apprentices approached.
Together...
They lifted it.
Barely.
One stumbled.
"Careful!"
"I've got it!"
"No, you don't!"
"Lift your side!"
"I AM lifting my side!"
Jax watched with growing amusement as six grown men struggled to carry the reinforced case several feet across the workshop.
They finally lowered it with a tremendous—
THUD.
One apprentice rubbed his back.
Another leaned against a table.
Bunny stared.
"Did it get heavier?"
Brannic shook his head.
"No."
The dwarf stepped toward the case.
His expression changed.
The humor disappeared.
He opened it himself.
Peacemaker rested inside.
The massive twin-bladed sword looked almost unchanged.
Almost.
New transmutation markings disappeared beneath its existing craftsmanship so naturally they looked as though they had always belonged there.
Brannic stared at it for a moment longer than necessary.
Then looked toward Jax.
"Nine hundred pounds."
Jax nodded.
"About that."
"I could've reduced it."
"I know."
"I didn't."
Jax smiled.
"Good."
Brannic nodded.
That was the answer he'd wanted.
"The weight is part of the weapon."
"I agree."
"Reduce that..."
The dwarf looked down at Peacemaker.
"...and I reduce what I made."
Jax reached into the case with one hand.
Six apprentices watched.
He wrapped his fingers around the grip.
Then lifted.
Effortlessly.
One of the apprentices stared.
Another muttered,
"...It's enchanted for him."
Brannic immediately answered.
"No."
Jax rolled the weapon once around his wrist.
Nine hundred pounds of enchanted metal moved like a dueling blade.
The apprentice's mouth fell open.
Brannic smiled.
Not broadly.
Brannic rarely smiled broadly.
But there was unmistakable pride behind it.
Jax tested the balance.
One slow turn.
Then another.
He stopped the enormous weapon instantly.
"Better."
Brannic folded his arms.
"Much."
Jax looked toward him.
"What did you do?"
"Use it."
That was all he got.
Jax laughed.
"Fair enough."
He placed Peacemaker into his inventory.
Nearby...
Two additional cases waited.
Unlike the others, these had never contained weapons belonging to the Vixens.
Bunny looked toward them.
"What's in those?"
Jax smiled.
"Wedding gifts."
"For who?"
"Your parents."
Her ears rose.
"What did you get them?"
"You'll find out when they do."
"Jax."
"No."
"Jaaaaax."
He walked away.
Bunny hurried after him.
"Tell me!"
"No."
Nyxian grinned.
"I can probably get it out of him."
"No, you can't."
"Want to bet?"
The cases were loaded into the carriage.
The next morning...
They left Solmere.
The portal carried them most of the distance.
Beyond it...
They traveled another two days by carriage.
Stone roads slowly gave way to packed earth.
Bustling towns disappeared behind rolling farmland.
The farther they traveled...
The slower life seemed to become.
Windmills turned lazily above endless fields.
Farmers waved as the carriage passed.
Children chased dogs through freshly cut grass.
The world felt...
Gentle.
Bunny spent much of the second day looking quietly out the window.
She smiled.
But not nearly as often.
Jax noticed.
So did Llandra.
Neither said anything.
Sometimes Bunny's fingers played absently with the edge of her dress.
Sometimes her ears twitched when they passed another Rabbitkin family.
Once...
She opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something to Jax.
Then stopped.
He didn't push.
Instead...
He simply reached across the carriage.
His hand found hers.
Bunny looked down.
Then toward him.
He smiled.
She squeezed his hand.
Neither said a word.
Late that afternoon...
The carriage crested a broad hill.
Bunny suddenly sat straighter.
Beyond it...
Home.
No castle walls.
No towering guild halls.
No bustling trade district.
Just fields stretching toward the horizon.
Simple farmhouses.
Windmills turning lazily in the breeze.
Rabbitkin worked among endless rows of crops.
Neighbors stopped along narrow roads to speak with one another.
Children laughed while racing through fields.
Life moved at its own pace here.
Unhurried.
Peaceful.
Jax quietly smiled.
"I understand."
Bunny looked at him.
"What?"
"Why you miss this place."
She followed his gaze across the valley.
For the first time in hours...
Her smile came easily.
"...Yeah."
She whispered the word almost to herself.
"I do."
The two Shadow Bulls pulling the carriage immediately became the center of attention.
Children pointed.
Farmers lowered their tools.
People stepped from homes to watch the strange procession pass.
Carriages like this didn't come through often.
Carriages pulled by enormous magical beasts...
Even less so.
Before long...
Children began following.
Then adults.
By the time the carriage reached the large farmstead at the edge of the village...
A small crowd trailed behind them.
Bunny leaned toward the window.
Her ears slowly lowered.
Jax noticed the change immediately.
"That's it?"
She nodded.
"That's it."
The carriage rolled to a stop.
For several seconds...
Bunny didn't move.
Jax waited.
She took one breath.
Then another.
Finally...
She smiled.
"Okay."
She opened the door.
The moment her feet touched the ground...
Someone gasped.
"...Aurabelle?"
Bunny froze.
Another voice shouted.
"AURABELLE!"
The farmhouse exploded into motion.
The front door flew open.
Rabbitkin poured into the yard.
Children.
Teenagers.
Adults.
The quiet farm became absolute chaos.
"Aurabelle!"
"You're home!"
"Look at you!"
"Where have you been?!"
"Is that really her?"
Bunny barely had time to laugh before she disappeared beneath an avalanche of hugs.
Brothers grabbed her.
Sisters squeezed her.
Younger siblings nearly tackled her.
Older ones shouted questions over one another.
Aurabelle.
Eighteenth of twenty-two children.
Including a twin brother she'd proudly beaten into the world by exactly two minutes.
For several minutes...
Jax wasn't certain Bunny's feet ever touched the ground.
Then...
The crowd slowly parted.
Two older Rabbitkin stood near the farmhouse.
Her parents.
Bunny saw them.
Everything else stopped.
The noise.
The laughter.
The questions.
For one long moment...
Aurabelle simply stared.
Nearly two years.
Her mother's eyes filled first.
Her father's followed.
Bunny crossed the distance.
Quickly.
Then faster.
She wrapped both arms around them.
Her mother buried her face against Bunny's shoulder.
Her father held all three together.
No one interrupted.
Not one of her twenty-one siblings.
Not one neighbor.
Not one friend.
Eventually...
Bunny pulled away.
She wiped her eyes.
"I missed you."
Her mother touched her cheek.
"We missed you too."
Her father looked her over from head to toe.
"You look different."
Bunny smiled.
"Good different?"
He laughed.
"Very good different."
She turned toward the carriage.
The excitement returned.
Some of it, anyway.
"I want you to meet everyone."
She waved Llandra forward.
"My teammates."
Then Zee.
Then Nyxian.
"My sisters."
The response was immediate.
Llandra barely finished introducing herself before Bunny's mother hugged her.
Zee received the same treatment.
Then Nyxian.
Nyxian stiffened in surprise as three Rabbitkin embraced her almost simultaneously.
She slowly looked toward Jax.
"...Help."
Jax smiled.
"You're doing fine."
Another sister hugged her.
Nyxian disappeared into the crowd.
"I've never been hugged this much in my life."
Llandra laughed.
"They're wonderful."
"They're exhausting."
More laughter followed.
Questions erupted everywhere.
"You're really the Vixens?"
"The S-Rank party?"
"Did you really clear the Crystal Caves?"
"Was Aurabelle really there?"
Bunny's chest puffed proudly.
"I was."
Her twin brother stared at her.
"Our Aurabelle?"
Bunny punched him lightly in the shoulder.
"Your older sister Aurabelle."
"Two minutes."
"Older is older."
The family laughed.
For a moment...
Bunny relaxed.
Then she looked back toward the carriage.
Toward Jax.
He had deliberately remained several steps behind.
Giving her the reunion.
Giving her family their moment.
Waiting.
Bunny's smile remained.
But her ears lowered slightly.
Her fingers curled once against her palm.
Then relaxed.
Jax stepped forward.
Tall.
Human.
The laughter nearest him began to fade.
One conversation stopped.
Then another.
Bunny noticed.
Of course she did.
She swallowed.
Then lifted her chin.
Her smile returned.
Not nervous this time.
Proud.
She pointed toward him.
"Oh..."
She beamed.
"...and my fiancé."
The entire farm fell silent.