T’mari wakes to find herself alone in bed for once, a trail of sharpie-scrawled notes guiding her to breakfast—and a truth she already suspects. Down in the medical bay, her mother T’monn confirms the first hybrid V’ren pregnancy in history, with blunt precision only a physician-mother could deliver.
The morning after the gala finds Matt and T’mari navigating groceries, grilled cheese, and a growing sense of shared future. She’s taking over his kitchen, he’s offering her his home—and together, they’re redefining what it means to move forward without erasing the past.
At a university gala in Columbia, Matt dons a barong to honor his roots, while T’mari navigates the politics of academia with poise, charm—and a hidden plan to earn her doctorate in first contact protocols before Matt finds out.
T’mari wakes tangled with Matt and ends the morning in a purple muscle car, her first taste of Earth opulence—and trust. Their intimacy deepens through quiet rituals, shared secrets, and a very personal garage tour.
As Matt recovers from the storm of the previous night, he begins reframing the narrative around interspecies relationships, working with W’ren and Leonard to stabilize policy and protect reputations.
Once nobles by name but stripped of rank, Taval Tall and Kina Thron reflect on caste, exile, and rebuilding a future in Missouri’s Freehold—with their children confronting the uncertainties and possibilities of a world without hierarchy.
T’mari delivers her resignation and a quiet plea: how does a once-equal officer navigate love and loyalty after her bondmate becomes High Lord? W’ren listens—and answers with approval, strategy, and a reminder not to lose herself completely to Earth.
What began as a diplomatic walk-through became a moment of myth and permanence. On the deck of a refugee ship, Matthew Marmaduke received not just fealty, but family. House T’all rose from near dissolution, sealed by blood, bound by name, and recognized by a High Lord Earth never saw coming.
From the observation alcove of the VMS Kalnareth, senior V’ren officers watch Missouri fields and a dusty human truck come into focus. Ten thousand lives ride in stasis below decks. Translator units are prepped, landing plans are set, and the question remains: will they be welcomed—or merely tolerated?