Chương 319: Together
Brinn hurried to Ithel and her father in the corner of the tent. Out of respect for the king, Zoltan had a curtain hung around him, so it was only natural that Aurora had not spotted him and Ithel earlier.
"Father, I thought you were dead!" Brinn said a she rounded the partition. Her face went from hopeful to grim.
"I may yet be," Zoltan answered with a gentle smile. "However, the unicorns think I shall live, even if I am not exactly whole."
Zoltan's body from the waist up seemed normal enough, but his lower half and legs looked horribly wrong. His legs and feet twisted awkwardly, and his pelvis was much flatter than it should be. The boulder from the giant had done irreparable damage.
"Oh Father!" Brinn eyes were wide with fear.
"It is not as bad as it looks. Well, maybe it is, but I do not feel any pain." The king received a cup of water from a servant. With Ithel's help, he sat up slightly to drink. The elven princess just stared, not knowing what to say or how to comfort her father. Next to her, Alvar shifted uncomfortably at the sight.
"I wish you had not done this for me, Your Majesty." The he-elf felt the weight of his father-in-law's sacrifice. "I should be the one on the cot."
"Nonsense," Zoltan waved his hand as he discarded the empty cup. "Had anything happened to you, Lanassa would have done far worse than this to me. And I already have an heir. I highly doubt that you can say the same." He gave a strange, lopsided grin as he spoke.
"Father!" Both Brinn and Ithel were disgusted by his words. By contrast, Alvar was relieved and encouraged. If the king wanted grandchildren after saving his son-in-law's life, the least he could do was to oblige.
Bring looked at the nurses incredulously. "What did they put in that drink?" The she-elf wondered aloud.
"I do not know," Zoltan answered, not realizing that the question had been rhetorical, "but it was heavenly."
The other three exchanged slightly amused glances. Zoltan was alive, that was what was most important. And there was great comfort in seeing the king happy and not in pain.
"I have one more thing to discuss now that there are two elf witnesses," Zoltan said, his words just a tad slushy. "I want to step down and relinquish my title as king."
"Wait, what?" Ithel quickly came back to his father's side. "No one wants you to do that!" he insisted. "Wait until you are feeling better and we will talk about this at home."
Zoltan grabbed his son's hand. "No one wants half a king. They need a strong leader now more than ever." Taking off his signet ring, the elven king placed it on the middle finger of his son. "I, Zoltan, King of the Elves, do renounce my title and name my son, Ithel, my successor and king. In front of these witnesses, this claim is irrevocable."
Before anyone could argue, Zoltan was asleep. His snore carried through the tent, bothering those around him. Brinn tilted his head back slightly lessen the throaty rumble.
Ithel stared at his hand in shock, "Can…can he do that?"
Brinn pulled her lips to one side and looked at Alvar who seemed just as perplexed as she was. "I do not know," the lady answered, "but until he wakes up and sets things straight one way or another, there is no way I am calling you, Your Majesty. Strike that, even if he confirms you are king, I am still not calling you by that title." The elf gave an impish grin and tucked her hair innocently behind her ear.
Ithel refrained from the undignified urge to stick his tongue out at his sibling. "…thanks, sister. If I am king I will decree everyone must call you Princess Brinn of the Elven Kingdom each time they speak of you and to you. I may not love my title, but you despise yours!"
Her brother had her cornered, and Brinn knew it. If he were king, such a decree was within his power. She crinkled her nose. Ithel had won, for now. "Hmph!"
————-
When Aurora finally dragged herself back to her tent, it was already dark. She had waited until the king had woken to pay her respects and given Brinn all the love that she had promised from her family. Then she had done the rest of the things that she felt a ruler should do in these times. By the time Aurora decided to rest, she had run herself ragged.
Mairwen was waiting for her in tent's entry. "I was getting worried," she said with furrowed brow. Her eyes were puffy from crying.
"I am sorry. I should have come back sooner," Aurora felt a new pang of guilt.
"Do not worry. I had a lot of company. I would not have known what to do with you here too," the princess responded to prevent the Empress from blaming herself. "But I am happy to see you all the same. I know Father will be happy too when he returns. He went to deal with the night watch and sleeping arrangements. If you were not back before him, he was going to form a search party."
"I am sorry to have worried you. Tending the wounded took longer than I anticipated, and then I had to wait for Zoltan to awaken." Aurora tried to explain herself. It sounded like a weak answer, but the princess did not seem to notice.
"King Zoltan's alive?" Mairwen gave a small gasp. "I am happy for Brinn." The girl hugged her mother, "And I am very glad you are back."
Aurora reached down and clasped Mairwen's hand gently. The two entered the tent. A cot had been brought into the main area, and the princess blushed at the sight.
"I hope you do not mind, but I had them bring my bed in here. I did not want to be alone."
The Empress ran her hand along her daughter's arm. "You did the right thing. I would not want you to be anywhere else."
The ladies sat down on the cot, and the princess leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. "I miss him," Mairwen said simply.
"Me too." Aurora could feel the bubble of emotions brewing. She wrapped her arms around the girl, though calling her a girl seemed inappropriate after everything she had gone through. The princess was a warrior who could hold her own.
"Tell me what happened with Alaron. I want to know everything," Mairwen pleaded.
Aurora took a deep breath and laid out the story. She told of Alaron's sudden appearance, his vision, the solution, and finally his sacrifice. Getting it all out helped the Empress process what she had seen. The story, once unfolded, revealed the tapestry of Alaron's selfless courage in the end.
"Whatever his faults, he loved us," Aurora concluded.
"He did. All of us," Mairwen mumbled sleepily.
Aurora lifted her daughter's head off of her shoulder gently and lay her down on the bed. Covering her up, she kissed the princess on the forehead like she used to do. "Sleep well."
Turning, the Empress stifled a gasp as she saw a shadowy figure in the entry of the tent. Grabbing the candle, she motioned for the man to follow her to their curtained-off bedchamber.
"How long have you been standing there?" She whispered crisply. She set down the candle on a chest that doubled as a low table.
"Long enough to hear that our son died a hero." Devrim took his wife in his arms and kissed her forehead.
"We shall make sure that the world knows it." Aurora felt another stream of hot water run down her face. Somehow she knew this would be the norm for the foreseeable future. Such was the pattern of grief.
"Of course, my love. We will honor his memory every way we can. You should get some rest. We both should." Devrim hugged his wife and then backed up and to change into his nightclothes.
Aurora nodded and wiped her eyes, a wave of exhaustion from the day nearly taking her where she stood. She fought the urge as she shrugged off her outer dress. She had shed the armor long before. "I suppose we will have to make plans on what to do next."
The Emperor lay down on the bed and patted the spot beside him for his wife to join him. "I took the liberty of passing out orders to strike camp in the morning. I figure the sooner we can get back and reclaim the palace, the quicker we can move forward."
Regarding her husband with a melancholy expression, the Empress sighed. "How can we ever 'move forward' after everything that has happened?"
Aurora climbed next to Devrim and curled up in a little ball with her back against his chest. His arms enveloped her as he buried his face in her hair and inhaled her scent.
"My love," he told her gently as he felt her breathing slow, "we will do it as we always have and the only way we can: together."
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