"My love, what's the matter?" Alinea asked as she turned to Ryuu.
"Just wait here awhile," he said and she obeyed.
The sun had just risen from the horizon and the army had already started to move with Fredek, Ivan, and Gin on the lead. She was also expecting to go with them, but her husband stopped her. They stood at the courtyard of the palace where the army had been camped just earlier and watched as the last soldier rode away.
"My little one, take care, alright?" Perun said softly, and Ali turned to her father and smiled as she stepped in his open arms.
"I will." She thought that the reason why her husband asked her to stay back was because her father still wanted to talk to her. "Take care of Mother," she retorted.
Yuuka was not present at the moment because she and Alinea had a late night. Her mother accompanied her to her friends' graves where Alinea unabashedly cried her heart out while being comforted in her mother's arms.
