"I'll talk to him, then," Flavio smiled. He liked Le-Ath Veronis already. Nearly two hundred thousand of the two hundred fifteen thousand vampires had been brought to Le-Ath Veronis from Earth. Even Jarl made it, I was happy to see. The ones that hadn't made it for various reasons had been euthanized. Kifirin was thorough and explained to me that the ones not making the transition were unsuitable. I didn't argue with him. We didn't need to hunt rogues right off the bat. Flavio and the others had also come out of the closet regarding their modified status, and the vampires didn't seem to mind a bit. They were free now and didn't have to hide from anyone.

Flavio had the running of the city government and to my embarrassment, they'd named the damned capital Lissia. Was that awful or what? All the Council members were still Council members, seemed quite happy with that fact and loved their new homes. Somehow, they'd managed to bring a large portion of their wealth with them, which made me sigh. Vampires tended to be old and wealthy. Banks were already going up and I had Kyler working on finding someone to oversee that. I asked her to approach Merrill, Charles and Adam soon and get them to help.

When I'd become what I now was, some of the hate and betrayal had been filtered out concerning Merrill and Griffin, but there was still an uphill climb for those two. They knew it. A wrapped package had been waiting inside my suite after I'd gone to bed on my birthday, and it held two paintings. One was mine—the Vermeer I'd kept long ago. The other was a Corot and beautiful—a scene of a single boater on a river. That had come from Merrill and Kiarra, with a birthday card. Well, Merrill and I would never be. Being what I now was, Belen wasn't the only one who could mute or destroy M'Fiyahs. Merrill made his decision long ago. I was making my decision now, only I was muting it. Merrill had opted for destruction and to me, that was too much.

Cheedas, my new comesula chef, had taken over the palace kitchens and was hip-deep in cookbooks that Connegar translated for him. He was so happy he could barely contain himself and any night, almost, I could go down to the kitchen and find his latest cooking experiment baking or bubbling away. If he kept making brownies for me, I might gain some of my weight back.

I'd personally searched out Darvul, Orliff and Noff. Darvul wept at my feet when I found him on a farm on the bright half of the planet. Orliff and Noff were overjoyed that I'd remembered them, and shocked that they hadn't recognized the Queen when I was under their care. I gave each of them a kiss and told them I didn't know who I was, either, at the time. All three were now learning from Karzac and Jeff, who'd come to teach modern medicine to the comesuli physicians. Franklin was designing a hospital for Karzac, and it would be built to his specifications.

Susila was often at the palace and looking for something she might do in addition to sitting on the city Council. Rolfe was chief of my personal guards, which pleased Giff very much. Someday, Giff was going to be a beautiful winged vampire and she and Rolfe were going to be very happy together. Meanwhile, Kifirin and I were going among the oldest of the comesuli, determining which would make good turns and which would be female. We were also looking into potential sires for them. Being able to Look, with my other gifts, was a blessing. Many of the females would be placed with the vampires they would love. Someday, there would be equity in the male/female ratio.

"Are you ready, yet?" Charles poked his head in the door. All the former vampires were here—this was a milestone for them as well. They were citizens of Le-Ath Veronis, just as the others were.

"I'm coming," I grumbled. The dress I wore was cloth-of-gold crusted with jewels and embroidery. I accused Erland of doing this to me deliberately—he, Gabron and Giff had gone to pick it out. Giff was now in charge of my closet and was busily stuffing it as quickly as she could. She also went to bed with Rolfe on his nights off. He seemed perfectly happy with that.

"Look regal," Flavio said softly as we walked down the long hall. I slowed my steps and did my best to look Queenly. My posse was waiting on the palace steps; they'd sent Kyler, Cleo and Flavio to get me. I still had no idea what was going to happen, and wished I were two light years away instead of heading to a stupid coronation.

The sea of vampires and comesuli that stood before the palace was frightening, and it was so quiet when I appeared you could have heard a feather fall. Erland Morphis was there, as was a film crew. How the hell had he managed that? Somehow he'd gotten a newscaster (one who was famous, apparently), from a network that served the worlds that had space travel. The journalist was making quiet commentary while the filming went on. Wlodek and Griffin stood nearby, and a microphone hovered above Wlodek's head. Who knew he could make a speech?

"We come here to crown a Queen," he announced, his voice echoing over the crowd. "A Queen for the faithful among the vampire race. A Queen to rule the Dark Realm and bring peace and justice to all who dwell there. Someday, too, the werewolves and many others will live again. The Dark Realm will be reborn through her."

Griffin came forward then, holding my crown on a pillow. It resembled a vampire's claws; ten long points rose from the gold circlet that fit on my head. I wanted to roll my eyes at all the fuss. Why did I need a freaking crown to start with? I had to keep my thoughts away from that; the cameras were trained on my face.

If the crowd wanted a show, however, they got one. Kifirin appeared out of nowhere in a blaze of light. And he was dressed as a King—crown and all.

"I am Kifirin, Lord of the Dark Realm," he announced as if he were used to being on camera every day. "I will crown my mate and Queen this day. If any choose to defy her, know now that they will have to deal with me." He lifted the crown off the pillow, came to stand before me and carefully placed the crown on my head. It glittered with jewels around the wide band and was a bit on the heavy side.

"All hail Lissa Beth, Queen of Le-Ath Veronis," Griffin shouted, and the roar of the crowd below us was deafening.

The End