At the end where Destiny awaits: Book 6 of the Kinstone series

I feel my tired feet traipsing through the fields, still feeling a little damp from the melted snow. I smile softly as the sun beams gently onto my face. I will forever love my home here, the first real place that’s ever had a sense of actual permanence for me. And now…it’s where I was born.

Diana of course is still rather silent as we walk, possibly having a millions of thoughts run through her mind. I look to her, seeing her face as stoic and determined. I fold my hands behind me, feeling a gentle breeze blowing against us. It’s nothing serious, just a wonderful, wintery wind. I watch as patches of tall grass blow along with it, a nice little scene.

I gaze out onto the path before us, one I’ve walked countless times. Behind us I can still hear the party going on, but it’s a little distant now. I peer up, seeing Silvi flying overhead, although this time alone. I smile, thinking she’s making sure nothing happens while I’m away from everyone. She’s always there, like so many others. And I love them all for it.

I tap my hand, feeling the silence starting to get to me. “What do you think of my coven?” I ask.

Diana looks to me, seemingly a little startled that I’m the one breaking the silence first. Her gaze is then fixed forward again, her mouth quivering a bit as if she’s reluctant to respond. She then takes a deep breath, nodding.

“I never thought such people existed,” she says.

I smirk, “They can be a lot worse if left unchecked,” I reply. “Take me for example. I caused the entire world to basically upend itself,” I add giggling.

She nods softly.

Now I know what I said to Lord Ashlan about Colburn not being a bunch of troublemakers and it’s true…for the most part. Ooof, prime examples I can think of being the debacle in Chicago and everyone picking fights with other covens over the past few months. Yet we’re pretty laidback, given we don’t stir up any more trouble.

Diana looks to me. “Why did you free me and not kill me like you did Selene?”

I nod softly. Killing Selene, well to be fair she was already dead to begin with so could you actually call it killing her?

“You weren’t a willing part in this fight,” I reply. “You were used a tool to get to me and I really don’t think Regulus might have had any plans afterwards. Selene maybe with you as her daughter. However in the end I just didn’t want you to suffer. The hatred burning in you may have been from frustration with me only amplified.”

No one should be made to suffer that kind of hatred, especially if caused by ripping their souls from heaven. That’s a level on agony I can’t even begin to imagine.

Diana’s face contorts with confusion. “If so, then how can you be so trusting of me? You’ve gone out of your way to do so much for me after beating so you terribly, saying all those things to you, and even trying to kill you.”

I smile, nodding as we continue to pass through the fields. “It’s just who I am, a big-hearted softie.” I then giggle, “If anything just a crazy girl.”

I will maintain my status of being a slight idiot at times, always wanting to find the goodness in others, even if they’ve wronged me. Lana and Mistral are prime examples of that wish. I hope one day to see them again, but this time as friends.

I want to see them marching up the streets of Dewloura, banners held high as the walk alongside their wolves. Their faces filled with pride, not a vain one but a true and honest pride, as they reclaim their birthrights. However…that’s something that might take a while.

She nods softly, and then looks to me. “Are we still connected?”

I think for a moment, staring blanking as the lake slowly comes closer. Easy answer…nope because she died. Harder answer? Yeesh that’s a tough one. I nod slowly.

“Yes, but not really,” I tell her. “While we knew each other before, we’re now strangers in a way. Also the same but completely reborn.”

She tilts her head to me. Like I said…a tough nut to crack.

I smile, “My mom would probably know how to phrase it better.”

Diana nods slowly.

I know my words make it feel like I’m detached from her, but it’s the truth. Rachel Rivenfeld is my mother in all ways. Loved ones whom have passed are still connected to us in a way, but there’s still the divide between the living and the dead. Even if brought back to life, the bonds of family might not reconnect. It’s a painful encounter to be sure.

We finally come upon my favorite outcropping, taking a seat under the tree. I gaze out onto the lake, seeing the islands in the distance. Part of me hopes that the gossip might pop up again like they did right before we left for France. However I guess I might have to wait until the weather turns warmer.

We sit there silently, watching the water move with the wind, listening to it buffet the rocks below. I love this outcropping so much, being one of my favorite places on the Estate.

I sigh softly, kicking my feet a little against the rock. “My world is so much bigger than it used to be,” I tell her. “This is my new world, if anything the true side of it.”

I then giggle, “There’s so much I want to show you. There’s so much I’ve done after I was reborn, people I’ve met over the years.”

As I says those words, I feel a slight pang in my heart. They’re almost like speaking wishes out loud. Yet…wishes they are, childish ones.

She looks to me, feeling a little offended. “You kept more from me.”

I shrug, “I tend to keep things locked away.”

I sigh, thinking back to that first year. It was one full of joyous exploration, learning about an entire new world. I went across the globe to places I never dreamed I’d ever visit. During that time I met incredible people who would later become my family. I met my coven, and also one who became my father.

However, it wasn’t all happiness. I endured immense pain, both physical and spiritual. My falling out with my original family, and then having to suffer their deaths and burial. It was a good year, yet a revealing one for me.

“Are you happy here? Being who you are now?” she asks.

I smile, nodding to her, “Happier than I’ve ever been in this life or my past one. That includes the pain.”

Diana nods slowly. “I’ll have something to tell your father when I see him then.”

I glance at her, watching as her body begins to break down, as if turning to ash while at the same time struggling to remain whole. I know what’s happening to her, and I glimpsed it before while in Dewloura. Without an anchor, her soul can’t remain in her body or our world for that matter. Necromancy corrupts everything, setting a fire within the body that burns without a dam to hold it back.

I nod, “He will be.”

She smiles softly, then leans over and kisses me on the temple. I blush softly, knowing it was a motherly kiss even if from a teenager.

“There’s just so much I want to tell you,” she says, and then chuckles. “I was shocked when you told me your plans for the future. Even in the middle of a battle, you just blurted that out.”

I giggle, “They will come true.” I know they will, putting fantasies aside.

She smiles, grasping my hand tightly as she stares out onto the lake. I smile, flipping mine around and hold hers. In my heart this feels like a final goodbye, one done face to face. However, I start to feel it dissolve a little, feeling more like ash or dust.

I glance at her, seeing her body slowly fading away. I sigh softly, wishing still I had more time with her. I think she also knew this was going to happen and wanted to have this one last talk before she left this world. Which also explains why she was with Mom a lot more than with me.

Diana takes a deep breath as her body continues to fade. “Promise me one thing? Never lose sight of who you are. Now or in the future.”

She then looks to me, “Do you know who you are?”

I smile, nodding, “I know who I am. And I’m finally able to move forward.” I can finally let go of the specter that’s lingered over me for years. One I chained myself to, be it unknowingly.

She smiles as her hand completely dissolves from mine, followed by the rest of her body.

I don’t shed any tears as I sit there alone for a moment. In some way I knew this was going to happen, and I prepared myself for it. I’m not sad or depressed, nor am I emotionally detached from this. I do feel a sense of loss from having to say goodbye to my original mother for a second time, but this time it doesn’t hurt as much.

This time we parted with smiles on our faces, feeling a peace. We were able to say our goodbyes, if in our own ways. I think for her she just wanted to see me as I’ve become, not what I used to be. However now free of hatred.

This was good and needed for the both of us. So now…I really can move forward, not having to be shackled by anything.

I take one final gaze at my lake and slowly stand, heading back to the others.

As I retrace my previous steps, I begin to reflect on everything that’s happened to this point. I hold my necklace recalling when I first received the suitcase and was reborn, then those first six months of exploration and meeting Marron. I still smile at how fast we became sisters, now knowing why.

Then I met Mom and begin my exploration of the world that I was meant to be born into. I began to grow a family here, a second sister, an aunt, finding a home here on the Estate. There where my first transformations and my education about them. I grin, remembering my travels all over the world, meeting women who later became my aunts.

I then suffered a rather harsh introduction to the Court, which led to me having to fight for my then future mother and even for myself. I grin, thinking of my first birthday in which I was able to transform into a kitsune, a form Titania and my yokai aunts both say I was destined to become.

From there, my reunion with Marron yet suffering a great tragedy. However I met my coven and Fenris, finding a new rock and family in my life. I giggle, remembering when Mom adopted me, only to discover or rather rediscover that incontrovertible fact that we were destined for each other when our Kinstone reunited after decades apart.

I nod, thinking of the following year, with formally attending Court, meeting Lana and Mistral. I grin, thinking of my glorious second trip to Japan in where I met the man I’d fall in love with.

After learning of my heritage, being of Dewloura and its princess, I never lost sight of being just me. Yet when Lana, Mistral and Irina come knocking and looking for a fight, I stood my ground and repelled them.

I suffered another blow when Marron kidnapped me, out of manipulated jealousy. After she fled, I fought once more for my life, even discovering a new power.

My pace quickens upon recalling when I fled home, having thought I lost my mother, and was on the run, my sister and I still found each other and made up. Even when blasted to the other side of the world, I still kept hope alive within me. I see my journey to Dewloura as yet another piece of who I am now as a blessing. Then with the most recent events which brought it all to a close.

I stare straight ahead, feeling my future calling to me, grinning as I know that this is my life now. One that has so much in store for me.

My pace starts to pick up into a run, racing through the fields until a return to the crowd. A bright grin adorns my face as I pass through them. I feel lighter, happier, and ready for anything that might come my way.

I finally see my mother and others as she turns towards me. I feel my feet leaving the ground as I fling myself into her. She smiles, catching and twirling me around. She holds me tightly to her body, feeling her enthralling scent envelope me as it always has.

“Is everything settled, my precious girl?” she asks.

I nod, clinging to her as though I were a small child. “It is.”

I feel her stroking my hair, swaying softly despite having hundreds of eyes watching us. I don’t even care if they do. I am who I am because of her. All of it stemmed from this woman, my mother, the one who gave birth to me.

I pull back a little to see my family standing around us. Kenji smiles to me, knowing our lives will one day truly become one.

Marron smiles, holding onto Piotr, both appear very happy with the other. Orga and Kateryna smiles to me, I will never forget what they’ve done for me. I smile to her, the first person I formed a bond with since my rebirth. We both are bound to each other by something that transcends lifetimes. I recall all the good times we shared from the first moment we met and until now.

I look to Orga and Kateryna as they smile to me. I will forget all they’ve done for me, sharing the joy and pain of the journey we’ve been on. We fought as a family and stayed together as one.

I look to Silvi and grins, recalling all the mischief we got into. She of course grins as well, recalling our first flight together. Our hunts and parring matches drew us closer as sisters, sharing meals and baths, bonding even tighter.

I feel arms draping around me. I look up, seeing a smiling Velhemina.

“My Little Blossom,” she says lovingly. “My beloved niece.”

I grin, holding onto her. She’s always been there from the moment I first arrived on the Estate, acting as a second set of ears whenever I need them. I still love our first meeting, where she called herself my aunt and from then on, nothing but history.

I look to Yukari and Asha, having met both during my first trip to Japan. While our first meetings were “different” to say the least, we grew closer over the following months. During my second trip is where they became my aunts. I smile to them, forever grateful they’re a part of my life. I also still have a grandmother in Japan, eagerly waiting to hear from me.

A pair of cold noses press against my cheeks. I giggle as I see Fenris and Athena smiling to me. I reach up and cling to their furry manes, my wolf parents. Fenris, my big papa wolf, the first to be bonded to me. The one who saved my soul when I needed him most.

I look to Athena, my mama wolf. She came to me while in the past, yet I never expected that she too would become bonded to me. Now she’s forever at my side, a link to the past but now a future.

I feel a hand resting on my shoulder, looking up to see Arcturus, my soon-to-be father. We smile to each other, knowing that we have so much time to grow even closer together.

“Hey Aria!” I hear someone shouting from the crowd. “So what was that big announcement you told us about?”

I grin, pulling from my family and face my coven. I smile to them, feeling ever so proud that I’m a part of it. Having made friends that will forever be with me.

“I have to reintroduce myself to everyone,” I reply. “Seeing how I’ve been gone for so long.”

Everyone looks to each other confused and then back to me.

I step a little closer to them finally ready to fulfill one final promise made long ago.

“I am, Arianna Lucindel Rivenfeld, daughter of Rachel Rivenfeld.”

I look to Mom as she’s brought to tears. She then walks over, and wraps her arms around my body, and hugs me tightly. I smile, holding onto her as everyone cheers.

When she adopted me, we discussed two issues, the first being if I should call her “Mom” and about changing my name. Both were put on hold for a time.

However you could look at them at promises for the future. The first being fulfilled when I called out to her last summer. Our hearts fully connected beyond anything before and I truly and forever became hers.

The second being now. I held onto my old last name I think purely out of remembrance of my old family. However again, after the summer and my time in exile, I no longer needed it. I am born of my mother, and so I take her name with pride.

I lean into her, feeling free once more, fulling embracing everything that I am now. I am a daughter of this woman, a child of this world, and a future that is waiting for me.