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The Council of Thirteen

Book Four: The Thirteenth Lord

Family

Epilogue: Family Complete

Beta:

Lying back on a bed after having cleaned up from the hours of labour, Dom was presenting her beautiful fair skinned daughter to the two women who raised her. Felicia and Shirayuki were sitting on either side of her, for both moral support and to make sure she didn't overdo it, their words, whatever that meant.

"Sakura-sama, Tomoyo-sama, come see your granddaughter." Dom said as she passed her newborn daughter to Felicia so she could hand her over to her fellow Lords of the Thirteen.

Tomoyo-sama gasped even as she took hold of the adorable baby, which had the newborn blinking her violet eyes at the woman holding her curiously.

"Dom, what are you saying?" Sakura-sama asked, looking away from the baby to look at the Thirteenth Lord in shock.

"Well, it's the truth. You two are the closest things to mothers that I've ever had."

"I'm honoured that you think this way." Sakura-sama said with a happy smile and joyful tears in her eyes.

"It is my honor to have the two of you in my life." Dom rebutted.

"Both of you, enough." Tomoyo-sama chided. "Just accept the compliment. We should just be happy, accept we're a family and be done with it."

"Yes, Tomoyo." "Yes, Tomoyo-sama." Sakura and Dom said in chastised unison, earning giggles from the other women in the room, even the baby giggled.

"So, Dom, Shirayuki, Felicia, what is the name of this little beauty?" Tomoyo-sama asked as she looked down at the baby in her arms with an adoring look.

"Fleda," Felicia said with a smile.

"It means swift in German," Shirayuki said as she adjusted the lollipop she was sucking on to offer a proud grin. "It's a nod to her skin taking after Felicia and the fact that we think she was conceived on the day we bonded."

"Shirayuki~!" Felicia whined with a blush. "Did you have to add the last part?"

"It's just the truth, sweetheart." Dom said with a chuckle.

"It's a nice name." Sakura-sama said distractedly as she and Tomoyo-sama cooed over Fleda. "Fleda Tredecim. It has a nice ring to it."

"It's perfect." Tomoyo-sama agreed. "She's perfect."

"Thank you." Dom said with a proud smile as she watched her daughter charm her grandmothers.

"So~ Tomoyo-sama, Sakura-sama, will I be getting sisters any time soon?" Dom asked with a teasing smile.

Both of her foster mothers blushed and took a moment from fawning over Fleda to look at her.

"Honestly?" Sakura-sama said with a sigh. "No."

"We decided we don't need a baby of our own." Tomoyo-sama added. "We're not actively stopping it, but-"

"We're not actively trying either." Sakura-sama continued. "After what trying hard for a baby did to my first marriage, to say I'm leery of doing so again is an understatement."

"I understand," Dom said with a disappointed frown. "Then I hope fate blesses you with a child someday anyway. You two deserve it."

"It already did." Sakura-sama said with a smile. "It even gifted us with a wonderful little granddaughter."

"Isn't that right, Fleda-chan?" Tomoyo-sama asked the youngest Tredecim who just smiled at the attention her grandmother was giving her.

"Don't be greedy, Dom." Shirayuki said, slapping Dom's arm lightly. "We already have a baby daughter. And now you want a baby sister, too?"

"That's not what I-" Dom said, pouting.

"We know," Felicia said with a giggle. "You're so easy to tease, darling."

"She always has been." Sakura-sama said absently as she played with Fleda.

"And teasing the new mother is mean," Dom said, exaggerating her pout. "So please stop."

Everyone giggled at her expense, even Fleda. The little traitor.

"Okay, Dom." Tomoyo-sama said, her voice radiating amusement. "Let's just focus on today's star. Eh, Fleda-chan?"

The baby waved her arms in what seemed like agreement. Something everyone shared as they all shifted their attention to pampering the baby.

"Should you be visiting me now?" The Twelfth Lord asked as Dom sat with him at a table at the top of his tower. "Shouldn't you still be in your postpartum confinement?"

"It's fine," Dom said with a roll of her eyes. "I just gave birth, I'm not an invalid. I've used healing spells to recover anyway."

"And if little Fleda needs a feeding?"

"Felicia and Shirayuki are lactating too. They can feed her when she gets hungry. And if neither of them can, there's always milk formula." Dom said with a shrug.

"I see," the Twelfth Lord said with a nod. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Have you been favouring lesbians for this iteration of the Council?" Dom accused. "It seems our number among the Council keeps growing."

"Did you just notice now?" The Twelfth Lord asked with a laugh.

"Yeah," Dom admitted with a sigh. "It struck me when Tomoyo-sama and Sakura-sama came to visit. There were three of us Lords of the Thirteen in one room and all of us were lesbians. That's almost a third of the Council, right there. Considering how uncommon we are in the general population, that's very strange."

"Yes, it is." The Twelfth Lord agreed. "And you're right that it's not natural."

"You're not the cause?"

"No," the ancient said with a shake of his head. "The Sapphic Circle's influence is growing in our world, and is affecting the magic of our world and through it the Council's selection proce-"

"What's the matter?" Dom asked, looking at him worriedly at the Twelfth Lord's sudden pause.

"It can't be." The Twelfth Lord says in shock. "Surely that's not what they are after!?"

"What are they after?"

"No, no. It's too ludicrous." The Twelfth Lord said in denial, only in part in reply to Dom's question. "Surely they wouldn't do all they have for something like that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Twelfth, but if the 'they' you're talking about are the Sapphic Circle, then remember they're Outsiders. Do you think their logic is the same as ours?"

"You're right." The Twelfth Lord agreed. "But I need proof. I cannot make assumptions. Not over this."

A thoroughly lost Dom just shrugged. "Can I offer you any help in getting the proof that you need,"

"Thank you," the Twelfth Lord nodded before he continued to mutter distractedly. "If it's true… Then what does it mean?"

Dom just looked at her peer in confusion and a fair bit of trepidation. Whatever had the ancient Twelfth Lord this rattled couldn't be good.

Done!

Pretty straightforward chapter to end this book.

Hope you guys liked it. Please tell me if you did or if you did not and if possible why.

So till next time, Auf Wiedersehen!