A/N: This is not the end of the tale. It is merely the beginning. Keep a close eye out, the Blood Key will be coming out shortly, and it is probably my more favorite out of the series.

Epilogue…

The palace was brightly lit with torches, the sun setting off in the distant horizon. It washed the sky with red and yellows, until it faded into black. They walked together down the hall, not hand in hand but nearly. He was dressed in a deep blue uniform with gold buttons and gold trim.

Rowe found himself glancing to her repeatedly as they made there way towards the banquet hall. She looked gorgeous, so how was he supposed to keep his staring to himself? She couldn’t ask him not to, it was impossible. “Will you stop it?” she muttered with a smile, jabbing him hard in the ribs.

Satine’s dress was a fine deep green. The sleeves hung off her shoulders and were trimmed in gold lace. The sleeves were long and taunt until they reached her elbows, where the satin fabric belled out ever so slightly. Across her midriff was a corset that was the same color green and embroidered with gold ivy designs.

“I can’t believe you gave up the throne,” he sighed heavily with a smile as he shook his head.

“I don’t want to be the Empress of the First, I have enough on my plate already,” she told him as her fingers played with the gold ring on her finger. It was still there, an ever present reminder that Ahriman was alive and well somewhere. “Besides, Darshan will make a much better ruler than me anyway.”

“Excited?” he asked her as they neared the throne room.

“Well, I really wish it could be less public,” she told him with a smirk.

“What do you expect? The great granddaughter of King Oran Lancer is turning over her right to the throne to a rebel leader, of course there is going to be a crowd.” He laughed a bit. “Besides, Darshan’s advisers wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The double bronze doors opened and Satine swallowed hard. Jeez, it was almost as bad as getting married, she thought as the people turned to look at her. She glanced to Rowe, who gave her an encouraging nod.

They walked forward, and cheers began to erupt throughout the room. She tried not to, but she suddenly laughed, unable to stop smiling so dumbly. The room was brightly lit by chandeliers, and decorated in a grand fashion. Darshan stood at the podium, looking more nervous than Rowe could ever remember seeing him. To his right was Denzail and Rita, who were all smiling down the isle at him and Satine as they walked together. Denzail was clever enough to send a wink his way, too which Rowe would have surely punched him for if he had not been so far away.

Satine walked up the podium steps to meet Darshan. Rowe went to stand next to his right between him and Denzail, casting his friend a hardly menacing glare. She smiled at Darshan, and took his hands to give them a gentle squeeze. “I can honestly not think of a more perfect ruler for my mother’s kingdom,” she told him softly.

“Thank you, Empress,” he told her softly, and she scowled at him. “Oh, yes…”

Satine turned to the crowd, having rehearsed this at least twice before this night. She faced them, swallowing hard again. She’d never been one for public speaking, but strangely since being sucked into this world she’d had to put her fears behind her and do what she knew had to be done.

A man came to her holding a blue velvet pillow. Ocean blue, the new colors for the New Empire of the First or rather… the old colors of the Old Kingdom. Atop the pillow was a gold band with carvings etched into the metal. The crown depicted the rise and fall of the Old Kingdom, the rise and fall of the empire…. And the rise of the new empire. Satine could only hope that a crown would never depict its fall.

“I Empress Satine Ahriman Lifesbane…” She visibly winced at the name. “take up this crown that rightfully is mine. I renounce my ownership of it, and renounce my title. It is not with a heavy heart that I do this… The Prophetess has laid before me another path, and one far more important. I the Balancer, the Chosen, have decided to lay down my right to rule, and bestow it upon a man as equally and if not more capable a commander as me until the appointed time I have been chosen for is over. So, it is with great honor that I turn and place the crown upon his head.” She took the crown in her hands. Satine’s heart fluttered, afraid she might trip in her new shoes as she moved in the exceedingly long dress. She shifted to Darshan and lifted the crown to his head. She placed it there, and he smiled a bit sheepishly. He had taken this reluctantly, but had excepted it as right. She knew he’d do well… and that is exactly why she’d asked him to take her place.

“I give to you,” Satine replied, turning to her people. “Emperor Stephan Alexander Darshan.”

She smiled as she moved out of the way, allowing them to see him with crowned Emperor. The crowd erupted and through paper confetti into the air. The cheers rang out through the palace, echoing off the walls and out into the streets where most of the peasants still gathered if they could not fit into the palace. The reign of evil and terror was over… and a new and better one had begun.

There was a great party afterwards where everyone was dancing and having a merry-old-time. Satine was enjoying herself, but despite that she could not shake the nervous feeling she had. Though, she could have passed it off at the fact that there were far too many people around and she needed air. For whatever reason the ex-ruler of the First and newly appointed noblewoman, snuck out from behind the crowd to go out the back door and stand on the still very broken balcony. She walked as far as it would let her until her toes touched the very edge of the granite.

The moon was high and it hovered over the black horizon ominously. The waves were like diamonds scattered all around, flickering with each rise and fall. The wind smelled salty like the ocean, and she liked the smell. It was nice, and different from the city bay. It didn’t smell of rotten fish and sewage.

She loved this world. Loved its people. How could Ahriman want to destroy something so beautiful?

“Escaping?” Rowe asked from behind her as he closed the glass doors. He looked a bit uneasy at first seeing her so close to the edge, but he had to remember she wasn’t that ungraceful standing still.

She hadn’t even heard him come out, and sometimes she wished she could feel his presence too, since he was very good at sneaking up on her.

“Oh… No,” she told him with a smile. “There were so many people asking questions about Ahriman in there I thought I was going to scream.”

She turned to face Rowe and was a bit surprised to see how close he was. She had to laugh, because she knew he probably was afraid she’d trip and fall over the edge. He took her hand and led her a bit from the edge so he wouldn’t have to worry as much.

“Satine…” he breathed and then suddenly clamped his mouth shut, as if he were having second thoughts, and he gave a heavy sigh. “Satine,” he began again.

Satine gasped suddenly as if startled by something, and her knees buckled. He reached out quickly to help her regain her balance as the feeling consumed her. It was stronger, far stronger than she had expected it to be… Not only could she feel him. She could feel his anger as well.

“Satine?” Rowe asked her worriedly. “What is it?”

Her eyes flickered fearfully up at him. “Ahriman,” she replied in a breath, her eyes narrowing on something above and behind his head. On the rooftop there was a figure silhouetted against the stars.

“I’m a pretty patient man,” Ahriman’s voice filtered down from above them. “So I can wait, but can you live with the worry of wondering when? I will have your Blood Key, Satine. So, until then… enjoy your freedom. Both of you.” He backed away then, and disappeared behind the eve of the roofing. It had been eight months since Ahriman had shown his face. The only stitch of proof that he was alive was the ring around Satine’s finger, the one that would not come off until the moment of his death. She’d expected him to make some point, to tell them something, for it was just like Ahriman to do so. He never lied, he never hided, and he never backed down. He was patient… eerily patient, like he knew all along it would come to him.

“He’s right,” Satine whispered hollowly, glancing down at the ocean bellow them. She felt suddenly fearful, for she wasn’t entirely sure what a Blood Key was… and she wasn’t really wanting to find out.

“I won’t let him hurt you,” Rowe said determinedly. Okay, she thought, apparently a Blood Key involves pain. “I promise.”

Satine pressed against him, tilting the side of her face to rest against his warm muscled chest. She believed him, if there was anything she could believe in it was that.

Rowe’s eyes drifted out across the ocean, and the sound of the waves crashing against the cliff filled his ears. She was right, Ahriman had a point. He couldn’t watch over her all the time, and eventually one of them would slip up. It was, as he pointed out, only a matter of time.