Epilogue Grow Old With Me

Vileria's light pink eyes slowly looked around the party.

She was feeling oddly self-conscious and out of place here on this new world.

Her oldest sons had returned to the ship in a hurry not long ago, though she did not know why, and her daughters were with their father, so she was unsure of what exactly she should do with herself at the moment.

That was when she noticed an older man coming toward her from around the house. She flinched suddenly, a slightly strangled sound escaping her throat when a fierce, burning pain spread over her right shoulder.

Vileria gasped and staggered, falling to one knee on the soft grass, her sea-foam green skin standing out attractively against the darker green blades as the man hurried forward to her side.

"Are you alright?" he asked her with obvious concern. "What happened?"

She opened her mouth to speak, wanting to answer him, but before she could Vilarion was abruptly at her side, Villa and Vanae quickly following after him, their expressions revealing their concern for their mother.

"Vileria, are you alright?" Vilarion asked her with obvious worry. "What has happened?"

"I.. My back," she replied softly, absently thinking to herself that if he had been this considerate during their marriage she might have actually considered fighting for him now. Such an occurrence was rare, but not entirely unheard of. "It was burning."

"What? Where? Show me, 'Leria."

Vileria sighed, but she obediently showed him her right shoulder by carefully tugging her tunic down on that side just enough to reveal the skin beneath and no more.

Vilarion stared at her bared shoulder for a moment before gently pulling her tunic back into place and assisting her back to her feet again.

"Well, congratulations, Vileria," Vilarion said with a smile. "You have the Mark."

"The- The Mark?" she asked, blinking her light pink eyes rapidly in clear surprise at this turn of events.

"Yes. Come, girls. Let us return to the snack table and allow your mother this time to get to know her Mate, shall we?"

"Yes, father," Villa and Vanae agreed together. "Congratulations, mother."

"Thank you," Vileria replied quietly, looking stunned as she watched them leaving again before turning to look back at the older human man. "Well, as you just heard, my name is Vileria, my Mate. May I ask for your name?"

"Max Tennyson," he answered her, his expression shocked at what was happening here, visibly uncertain about whether he was pleased about it or not. "Ben, one of Vilgax's Mates, is my grandson. This is their home. I'm not sure that I understand this. Why would I be your Mate? I'm an old man."

"And I am an old woman. At least by human standards," Vileria replied with a smile, her light pink eyes shining with her clear amusement. "Although I am aware that I do not look it, Max Tennyson. But I have had two husbands, and five children from those arranged marriages. What I need now from you is altogether different. I need someone who will care for me, and not because of my position on my birth planet. I need someone who will grow old, and die, with me. Many years in the future, I would wish, but yes, even that. Fate has chosen you, but I would like it very much if you would consent to be that man for me, Max. Will you agree to this of your own free will? I do not mean to try to manipulate you with your own emotions, but, I have been very lonely for most of my life. Only my children have given me any real solace. All my boys are grown now, and now that our marriage is dissolved, my girls belong to Vilarion by tradition. Naturally he will allow me to continue to see them and be their mother, but as you are my Mate, I need to know that you will be with me through these coming changes. I need to know that I can count on you, Max. I know that I am asking a lot of you considering that we just met, but since what I am asking you for is a lifetime commitment, I need to be as sure as I can be about you."

Max Tennyson was obviously completely stunned by this flood of information, but he seemed to push past that, revealing his still sharp intelligence by the parts that he chose to fixate on and answer.

"If that is truly what you want of me, I will agree. I confess I have been lonely as well lately. Probably because of all these Matings. Is it alright if I ask what you mean by your position?"

"I thank you, Max. And of course you may ask. We are Mates now, and so I do not mind. On my former world I was a princess. Princess Vileria."