"Listen up," Bram called, turning to face the group of children. "Emi, Friedrich, you're on my team. Marina, you have Dastan and Fletcher. All right?"

"I want to be with Fletcher," Emi said quietly, wringing her hands.

Marina put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You have to learn to get by without your brother once in a while."

Emi looked up at her with her sad brown eyes. "But Fletcher said he'd always be there for me."

"He will," Marina assured her. "But you have to be there for him too sometimes, right?"

Emi considered her words, set her jaw, and nodded. "Ok."

Fletcher waved to Emi as she crossed over to Bram's side. The young human girl looked out-of-place next to the tall Bram and stocky Friedrich, her long red locks contrasting with their black hair, and their skin looking almost white next to her deeper color. On Marina's side, though it was Dastan who looked out of place. Fletcher was almost a mirror image of his sister, and Marina's hair was as gold as her eyes.

"Perfect," Dastan said. "Each team has one girl and one human."

"Hey!" Friedrich called. "Your side has one and a half humans!"

Marina glared at him. "Shut up, Friedrich."

"Play nice," Matthew called from the bench. He and Luther had their arms around each other's shoulders, watching the children from a safe distance.

Marina hung her head. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Me too," Friedrich said. "I… like your hair."

"Thanks." Marina straightened up and looked at Bram. "Ready?"

Marina usually didn't mind being the only half-human in Casmark. The others sometimes made fun of her hair, but her mother had always told her it was something to be proud of, and Marina loved her mother as much as she loved life itself. She might have been uncomfortable with the attention—but then, she was the daughter of the people Casmark had been named for. Attention was something she'd gotten used to.

Bram held out the ball. He had his mother's wisdom and his father's dexterity, and as the oldest of the children, he was a formidable opponent. But Marina was only half a year younger, and she'd spent all of her nine years trying to match Bram in everything he did. She wasn't about to let him beat her now.

Marina met Bram's eyes, and he smiled the way he only ever smiled at her—the smile that let her know he wasn't about to just let her win, either.

"Go!" Bram shouted, dropping the ball, and the game began.

"Who's playing?" Cassandra asked, pen scratching away at a ledger.

"The usual group," Mark replied from where he stood at the window. He had a clear view of the shore and the children's game. "Marina and Bram are leading the teams."

"Oh, dear," Cassandra sighed.

Mark smiled. "They've got Fletcher and Emi playing."

"Really?" She set down her pen and made her way to the window. She sidled up next to him, placing one hand on his shoulder as she looked out at the game. "That's wonderful. Marina's really gotten them to open up."

Mark nodded. It had been about a month since Matthew and Luther had discovered the two orphans, and brought them back to the village—Mark still refused to call it Casmark, even though the name had clearly stuck years ago. For the first week Emi and Fletcher had been living there, the two of them hadn't spoken except to each other; but the other children slowly got them to open up, Bram and Marina leading the charge as usual. The two were never made to feel out-of-place for being human or orphans, and Matthew and Luther turned out to be loving parents. It wouldn't be long before they were able to start lessons with Renault and the other children. Emi and Fletcher had begun to come out of their shells, and Mark couldn't help but be proud of his daughter for helping them do that.

He turned to see Cassandra smiling up at him. "What?" he asked, unable to resist smiling back.

"It's good to see you so happy," she said, slipping her arm around his waist.

He raised an eyebrow. "Am I usually not happy?"

She hesitated before answering. "You've been prone to brooding lately."

"Really?" Mark thought about it for a moment. "I guess you must be right."

"I'm your wife; I'm always right." She stroked his arm. "Is it the news from Bern?"

Mark nodded. "The prince was targeted by assassins, but the king is the one who died. And a part of me can't help but think this is just the prelude to something worse."

An evil star rises in Bern. Once again, Lycia brings hope.

"Do you wish to leave?"

Mark turned to her, surprised. "What?"

"Do you wish to leave?" Cassandra asked again, her voice as soft as her eyes. "If Lycia needs you…"

"Why would you even ask that?" Mark said with a laugh.

"Don't you laugh at me," she said, waving a finger at him warningly. "I ask because—well." Her expression sobered. "You still have friends out there, Mark. In a way, you still have family out there, too."

Mark paused, taking her in. She was his life—she, and the community they'd helped to build over the last ten years. Humans and morphs, living together, just as he'd hoped all those years ago. Emi and Fletcher weren't the only humans to join them; others had made their way to the secluded mountain lake over the years. Some were strangers in need of a home; some were familiar faces with nowhere else to go.

But somewhere down there, miles away, Hector was still presiding over a nation. Eliwood was still raising his son. And Lyn was still wandering the plains, a wind at her back and grass under her feet.

Mark looked away from Cassandra, and to their bed in the corner. To Marina's bed beside. To the fireplace he'd tended for the last ten years, the desk they'd both used to manage Casmark, the bearskin rug that had been a gift from Denning after his first hunting trip with Bram.

To the window, and the lake beyond, where the children cheered the first goal of the game. Emi's face was flush with excitement, Dastan was brushing jet-black hair from his eyes, and Marina and Bram were taking their places for the next play.

"I wouldn't leave you," he answered. "Not for the world.

She smiled, and laid her head on his shoulder. He stroked her long, black hair, looking down into her golden eyes. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too."

The End

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I've been writing and revising this story for quite a while now, and I've learned and grown a great deal in that time. I'm glad to have it out before the new year begins, and I'm pleased you didn't have to wait long for updates. As always, feedback is appreciated; but more than that, I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I have. Thank you, and farewell for now.