Epilogue 4.4: Family Vacation
The moon.
Long ago, it’d been transformed as a result of Lorena’s bargain with the Heralds. They used Sophia’s power of creation to create something of an isolated habitat for the lunar dragons. It couldn’t be compared to the moon that Argrave had known, by all accounts. Most prominently, it had something of a protective atmosphere, permitting life from their planet to persist. It had taken Argrave and Anneliese well over thirty years of study—the bulk of which had come in the past four years—to settle upon the idea that colonizing the moon might be possible.
Anneliese, Argrave, and a small cabal of researchers had been endeavoring to that end for a very long while. It was an idea born of Argrave’s whimsy, which eventually consumed Anneliese until her passion for the project overtook his own. The vast infinity of space appealed to her innate curiosity. Argrave just thought it was a cool idea, and enjoyed working with his wife.
Argrave hadn’t ever expected it to be something actionable. Now that the day had finally come, he was filled with a sensation he hadn’t experienced in well over ninety-seven years. It was nostalgic, almost. Confronting the impossible. Tackling uncertainty. As emperor and empress, uncertainty rested in the quality of their solution. Now, they weren’t even certain if what they were attempting was possible.
Just like it used to be.
“What was that?” said Anneliese.
Argrave was brought back to the present, and he looked right. Anneliese sat on a chair, looking out across the coast. They were waiting for their ride to arrive. It was a strangely mundane thing, this journey to space of theirs. In time, their people could develop vessels that bridged the gap on their own. Until then, why not take advantage of the already-available dragons?
“Did I say that out loud?” Argrave shifted in his chair.
“Mumbled it,” she answered.