Kieran, Lord of Darkhaven stood before the throne. He could never find it in himself to actually sit on the throne. He knew Tieran would return, but until then he had taken over his brother's position and ruled Luneria. However, many did not support him taking over his brother's place, especially the Lords. Dana, his sister stood to his right and Eiden, his brother's previous bodyguard, stood to his left. Before him stood the three Lords of Darkhaven, Lord Kô, Nash and Lady Ivelle. Lord Kô had a look of anger the moment he stepped into the room, where Lord Nash and Lady Ivelle were there just because they were required to be.
"I demand retribution!" Lord Kô said, "Your sister has done as she wished for centuries. If King Tieran were here, he would not allow for such behaviour,"
"Why did you agitate her then?" Lord Nash said, with droopy eyelids.
"The southern territories belong to me. You insult me by thinking you have any right to take it,"
Kieran sighed, "Dana, would you like to tell me why you wasted our soldiers to attack Lord Kô?"
"He told me women don't belong in war. I had a point to prove," she replied.
"Enough with this childishness, Lady Dana," Lady Ivelle said, "Elyria is strengthening their armies while you are depleting ours over silly mockery!" Dana rolled her eyes. "Darkhaven needs to begin preparing for war. It won't be long before King Fjord recognises how weak we are and sends his armies to wipe us out. King Tieran isn't here to protect us anymore, and holding out hope for his return is pointless,"
"Very well," Kieran said. He looked to Lord Kô, "My sister will be punished for her reckless acts, and we shall soon convene on the situation with Elyria," The Lords bowed and left. Kieran sighed, "Honestly, Dana, do you have to go and pester the lords like this?"
"They just need a gentle reminder every now and then of who rules Luneria. We wouldn't want them to question your rule, now would we?" Dana walked past him.
"Even so, Lady Dana, the Haven's armies are not your play toy," Eiden said.
"You'd know all about toys, wouldn't you?" Dana replied, running her fingers along his jawline. Eiden clenched his jaw, tilting his head away from her.
"The lords have a point though. If Elyria is gathering strength, we should do the same,"
"I agree, we can't afford to fall behind,"
"Even though you are the reason we are behind?"
"Come now, brother, if anything I did you a favour. Look how the Lords came running to you,"
Kieran rolled his eyes as he turned to leave. Dana winked at Eiden and followed after her brother.
Eiden stood still for a moment, contemplating if he should follow after them as well when he felt a sudden burning sensation in his shoulder. His eyes flew wide open.
~~~
Vale grunted as he slowly took off his shirt. The wounds in his body were healing slower than he expected and his muscles still ached with every movement. He supposed that's what happens when you've been sealed inside a mountain for 70,000 years.
Lily walked into his room with a tray. A bowl of water and some cloths were stacked on top. She placed it on the bed next to him.
"Are you feeling any better?" she asked as she reached for the bandage that was wrapped around his torso. She loosened the knot and began unravelling it.
"Like new," he managed to say.
She poked one of his wounds making him groan. She smirked, "Like new, huh?" She dropped the bandage on the tray and took one of the cloths, soaking it in the water.
"I can do it myself," Vale said.
"You can barely lift your arms," She wrung out the cloth and began wiping his torso, cleaning the herb poultices that she had applied the previous day. Vale could smell the sweet scent of lilies on her as she reached across his body. "Your wounds seem to be healing nicely," she said, rinsing out the cloth before moving to his arms. He winced slightly as she lifted it. She noticed this and squinted her eyes at him, "Oh please, now you're exaggerating," She clicked her tongue and continued to clean him. Everytime she wiped across his wounds, her eyes would catch the scars that littered his body. He was probably a soldier. She would ask but didn't want to risk making him uncomfortable. Once she was done she stood straight, "Right. There's hot water in the bath with herbs waiting for you. Make sure you soak for at least an hour."
Vale tightened his jaw and exhaled through his nose. He stood and obediently made his way to the next room where a large bathtub steamed. He could smell the various herbs that Lily had tossed into the water and reluctantly removed the rest of his clothes before climbing in.
The hour passed faster than he thought it would as Lily knocked on the bathroom door asking him if he was going to get out or not. He grabbed the nearby towel and climbed out. He spotted the fresh clothes that were folded neatly by the counter and got dressed then left the bathroom and walked down the hall and down the stairs to where Lily was making dinner. She saw him take a seat at the table and abandoned the pot to bring him some tea.
She placed a teapot and teacup in front of him and waited. Vale looked down and recognized the teacup as the one she had bought a few days ago. He looked up at her expecting eyes.
"You bought this for me?" he asked. She nodded. "Why?"
"Well, I noticed that you like dark coloured things, and all my teacups are pastels and greys, so I thought you needed a teacup of your own,"
Vale shifted slightly. No one had bought him a gift before. He looked up. Lily was still standing in front of him. He took a deep breath and picked up the teapot, filling his cup with the yellow liquid.
"It's chamomile," she said, "I noticed you're a bit on edge lately. It'll help calm your nerves,"
He smirked, "Anything else you've noticed recently?"
"Yeah," she walked back to the pot and stirred, "You're not just any bear, you're a teddy bear,"
Vale's eyes darkened. Was he getting soft? This young fairy was rubbing off on him. He couldn't return to Darkhaven with this mental state.
Lily placed a bowl of soup in front of him and the other in front of her as she sat down.
"Bone apple tea," she said and picked up her spoon, sinking it in the soup and taking it out to taste. She hummed gleefully.
Vale watched her eat. She was so young. So innocent. What would she do once she found out who he really was?
After dinner, Lily cleaned up and went to bed. Vale sat in his own room with his eyes closed and his legs crossed. The air made a whooshing sound.
"I was wondering when you would show up," he opened his eyes to see Eiden kneeling before him with his head bowed.
"My lord," he greeted.
"How long has it been?" Vale asked.
"About 70,000 years, my lord,"
"I thought so," he said softly.
Eiden looked up, "I've come to take you home,"
Vale shook his head, "Not yet. I haven't regained my full power yet,"
"But, my lord, Lady Dana is wreaking havoc, Lord Kieran anxiously awaits your return, and the other lords challenge your position,"
"Kieran anxiously awaits my return?" Eiden nodded. As much as he wanted to mock his twin brother, Vale simply exhaled and nodded, "Very well. We'll leave by the next full moon,"
A soft tap by the door made Eiden stand.
"It's alright, Eiden, you may go," Vale said. Eiden hesitated but then bowed and disappeared. "Come in,"
The door slowly opened and Lily peeked through the opening. "Are you asleep?" she asked.
"Obviously not,"
She pushed the door further and walked over to climb onto the bed, pulling her knees to her chest. Vale raised his eyebrow at her.
"I had a nightmare," she said softly.
"And?"
"Well," she pouted, "Normally my Mistress would tell me a story to make me sleep again, but she's not here right now,"
Vale narrowed his eyes, "I'm not telling you a bedtime story," Lily's eyes became misty and water began to pool along the edges. He released a heavy breath as he massaged the bridge of his nose. "Once upon a time," he began. Lily sniffed and smiled as her shiny eyes looked up at him, "there was a King. He had gone to war to stop the reincarnation of the Queen because he didn't want the other tribe to gain more power than they already had," he looked at her. She waited patiently, "He was afraid, you see, that the new Queen would wipe out his tribe,"
"Why would she wipe out his tribe?" she mumbled.
"Because his tribe was misunderstood," he looked down, "After millenia of war, his tribe had a reputation for destruction," he paused, "When his tribe was weak and to the point of extinction, he found out that the other tribe were waiting for their queen to be reborn, so that she might end the war and wipe his tribe out for good. So he decided to beat them to it. He mustered the last of his army, men, women, children, and they all rallied and sacrificed themselves so that he might succeed,"
"And then what? What happened to the king?"
He looked back at her, "He died,"
"But he tried so hard,"
"He did, and he succeeded. Because of his sacrifice his tribe survived, but he will always be remembered as evil,"
"I don't think he's evil,"
"Oh?"
"I mean, he sacrificed his life for his people. Isn't that an act of love? Love can't be evil,"
"Love?" he scoffed. "No it was not love, little fairy, it was revenge,"