The whole room stared at Morgianna as if she had just suggested they drink poison. Queen Eingana was the first to gather her bearings and speak. "What would sending him away with you achieve?" Morgianna knew the woman did not wish to lose another son.
She turned her full attention to the Queen. "I know you do not wish for him to die, but as the Queen you must know that having him around will cause strife throughout the kingdom. I am giving him a chance at a life where someone will be there to watch over him. You know I am far from average, I would have him form a contractual pact with me so that he could not betray. Give him a chance to make up for his past mistakes."
"I will not allow this!" Councilwoman Salzar bellowed from her seat, her face turning blotchy and red. "That man caused the death of my husband and I demand his head." She was breathing rapidly smoke practically billowing from her mouth as she huffed.
Morgianna turned back to the council members, her head held high. There was a slight smirk playing at her mouth, but her eyes were hard. "You will not allow it? Please by all means tell me who you are to tell the Royal family what you will and will not allow. You said yourself that you acknowledge me as your princess, therefore the vote is in favor of no execution. We are now discussing what shall happen now that he is no longer to be sent to the guillotine."
All four members of the council were in shock. They had taken her for a small child, looking over the fact that she had fought and won against Sora. Each sentence that left Morgianna's mouth was filled with power and authority as if all along she was meant to be above them. They felt a shiver run down their spines looking into her mismatched eyes and felt that even together they would perish under her if she so wished it.
Councilwoman Salzar wanted to stand up and demand justice for her husband. She wanted to beg for Faust to pay for his sins even if he had not meant to do them.
Everyone had heard his side of the story and while it was possible that he too had been a victim there were just too many affected by his betrayal. "I understand that you are all hurting, but his death will not bring the dead back. Instead of his death I ask once more to give him a chance to make a difference in this world. My friends and I are part of a group that rid the world of the less than savory members that inhabit it, let me make use of him." Morgianna looked around at each person present, letting her eyes meet theirs.
...
Walking away from the meeting she knew Fafnir and his family would want to speak to her. Nobody had agreed on her plan yet but surely they saw the benefits. The council would not be able to kill Faust and the kingdom would not have to feel nervous with him walking around free.
As a group Morgianna, Fafnir, and his family walked down the hall with Queen Eingana in the lead. Nobody uttered a word, each digesting what they had discussed and planned their next words for when they finally came to a stop.
Arriving at a set of double doors that were covered in intricate carvings of dragons Queen Eingana threw them open and strode in like the ruler she was. "What were you thinking? I just got my son back and you are trying to take him from me?"
The words were like a slap to Morgianna. It is true she would be taking him away, but she figured the Queen would be happy that her son was at least alive and safe and not being strung up in the streets. Before Morgianna could even formulate a sentence help came from an unlikely source. "Mother, she is not trying to take your son away from you but rather keep our brother alive. You saw the way the council members were waiting to drop the ax on his head. Would you rather he stay here where they would eventually find a way to kill him, or know that somewhere out there he is able to try to live?" Finian held his mother's eyes, begging her without words to calm down.
Fergus stood to the side, his hands thrust into his pants pockets looking exceedingly uncomfortable. "Finian is right mother...I would rather know that he is still alive. I know he has not exactly been a good brother over the years with him being under her influence, but not everyone will understand as we do. They will think that we are just trying to protect him after everything that had happened." He looked to Fafnir as if asking him to say something to appease their mother.
"Mother...I will be there with him. We can visit once things have calmed down..." Fafnir did not know what to say. He had not seen his mother in centuries and it broke his heart to see her so distressed.
Queen Eingana snapped her head in Fafnir's directions as if he had slapped her. "You are going to leave me too? You were just going to come back into our lives and then disappear for who knows how long again? I just got my boys back and I feel as if I am losing you all over again." Tears streamed down her face, and for the first time Morgianna saw her age and how all this had affected her. She had seemed so strong and well put together. Cracking jokes and being a pillar of strength for all those around her that Morgianna had felt that Eingana would be fine. She had failed to think of how much the woman had suffered all these years after losing her husband and not one but technically four sons. Then having two returned to her for only a short amount of time.
Morgianna watched Eingana and felt tears spill from her own eyes. She knew that approaching could be dangerous but she could not stand to see the pain in her eyes. Moving forward she wrapped her tiny arms around the Queen and felt the woman stiffen in her embrace yet she did not pull away. They stood like that for several minutes, nobody saying anything. Eingana finally pulled away from the hug but did not distance herself like Morgianna thought she would.
A look around the room showed Eingana that everyone was feeling the tension of the current conversation. Sighing she moved to her seat and sat gracefully keeping her head held high as if she had not just been crying her eyes out. "I understand." Looking Morgianna in the eyes she gave a small smile. "I will entrust my sons to you. I was hoping Fafnir was coming back to take over for me, but he is clearly happy where he is and as his mother his happiness is very important to me. All of my boys deserve happiness especially after the hell we have suffered through."
Fafnir felt a twinge in his heart hearing his mother's words, but he had long decided that wherever Morgianna, Myra, and Alnwick were is where he too would be. "Fergus would be a perfect King to our people. For years he had stayed here to make sure they are taken care of to the best of his ability. While I was cursed in that cave hating my fate he was here fighting for our people as a true leader should." He clapped his younger brothers on the shoulder. "Finian would be a great second, his brains to match our brother's brawn."
Morgianna smiled at the heartwarming scene in front of her. She felt bad that they would not be able to stay like this forever, but hopefully one day in the future they would all be together again with Faust included.