Fantasy I Was Sent To Kill You |Closed|

[Average.]

Camden didn't know what to except upon entering Yaena's room. He couldn't think for a single reason as to why she would want him anywhere near her right now. He thought that she would hate him, he thought that the very sight of him would send bile rising up her throat. And yet here she was.. wanting him in his room. He wasn't told why she wanted him there, all he was told was that she wanted to have a chat with him. That could mean anything, but maybe her heartbreak and desperation was still eating away at her. Maybe she thought that there was still a chance? Maybe she thought that he was only joking?

Well, if that was the case, he was certain that a couple more hurtful words will be enough to crush any hope that she had left for him.

But that didn't turn out to be the case.

Immediately upon opening the door, she pulled him in and slammed the door shut behind them. He wanted to protest, he wanted to shove her away and ask what was the meaning of this... but before he could even peep a word out, he felt like he was on fire. He immediately wanted to scream, wanted to call for some sort of help, yet no word came out. He felt like his throat was shrinking, closing in on itself. He couldn't help but start clawing at his throat, letting out choked desperate gasps whenever he could.

His eyes were wide, like they were going to bulge out from his very skull. Once he mustered up the bravery to even look her in the eye... all he could see was Selantheia staring right back at him, unblinking. She didn't flinch, she looked so sure of what she was doing. And it terrified him.
He was so loyal to his mistress, he never would have guessed that she would want to hurt him like this, he-

He did aim for this. He aimed for Yaena to feel hate for Briar, but he never expected for her to feel this much hate. Did he ever even think of the possibilities that he was in danger? Would he have even agreed to the task his mistress gave him if he thought of the possibility that Yaena could turn on him like this?

Camden lost everything before, but now he found a new purpose with Selantheia. Back then he was prepared to die, but now he wasn't so sure if he was. Now, he didn't want to die. He could still be so useful to his mistress! He could still be useful to the world!
He never counted on having the luxury to die from old age in his bed, but he never wanted to die this young to some angry princess.

Gods, have mercy please-

You will tell me everything.

Just when he thought that it couldn't get any worse, he felt like something was pulling his stomach, some monster ripping at his skin, at his muscle. At his flesh. He choked on a scream, breaking out into a coughing fit. Was this how Briar felt? No, he felt worse. And Camden would gladly cut him open again if he was up there with him.

He felt his warm blood pooling out from his wound, catching a whiff of it's metallic scent.

If you don’t tell me, sooner or later you will never be able to and it will get much, much worse for you.

So she knew. She knew, or she was suspecting it. He just couldn't understand why Yaena believed in the elvish prince so much, to the point where she didn't even think that he wasn't him. The real him. Perhaps he gave it away to her on accident some how without even realising it.

It didn't matter now. He didn't doubt that this crazy bitch was going to kill him if he didn't tell her the truth. The thought of betraying his mistress like this felt worse than any pain Yaena could inflict on him, but if he lied.. he didn't doubt that she would come back for him anyway and hunt him down. He was just a coward. He was a leech who latched on to anyone who he thought would benefit him the most, and now that his life was on the line, because he was just so terrified of death... he would betray the only one in this world who was willing to give him purpose.

Camden felt tears welling up in his eyes. They felt hot like they would scald him as they trickled down his cheeks.

He felt nauseous with fear upon witnessing the princess take off her amulet and toss it away so carelessly. Like it meant nothing to her. His mistress has told him what this amulet meant and how important it was.

He couldn't take it anymore. He was like a little bird, willing to sing whenever his master wanted him to.

"A-Alright!" he snapped at her all of a sudden. "I will tell you... I will.. tell you everything." he was sobbing at this point, heading hanging low. "Y-Your mother made me look this way. She t-turned me into a replica of Briar. She t-told me to break your heart so that you'd hate him and see the true monster in him." he was blabbering at this point, desperately trying to get the words out as fast as possible so that she would finally stop. "He's being kept in your mother's quarters. T-That's everything I swear! Just let me go, I have nothing else to offer you!"

He was a coward. He was a pathetic, disgusting coward. A coward that should feel grateful if his mistress even acknowledges him enough to want to grant him death after this.

He has failed at the one thing his mistress trusted him with. All he was good at was inflicting pain and sewing fear into those that he hated. And nothing more.

_______

Today’s you’re lucky day. Why don’t you smile for me?

Upon hearing those words, Briar felt tears welling up in his eyes - or eye. He didn't know if they were tears of joy or not. At least if death came for him he would no longer have to endure this anymore. But the thought of never seeing Yaena again, the thought of nobody even knowing that this was happening to him... it was killing him. He would never get to embrace her again, he would never get to kiss, hold her or love her again. He would never get to turn his desire into a reality and have a child with her.

Life was going on as normal in the castle below while he was here going through hell.

All Briar found the will to do was slowly raise his head to look up at Selantheia. The right corner of his eye was blurred. Blinded. The entire right side of his face felt numb and stiff from the amount of dry blood that coated it.
He didn't smile at her. Suppose one could take that as his final little attempt to rebel against her, as insignificant as that was.

Camden took his left eye and only left him with his right one for a reason; he wanted him to always be able to see the collection of bloodied tools in the corner of his eye. He wanted him to be able to see them, their metal winking at him whenever they were in the light.

Any hope that Briar still had of being rescued was snuffed out. He was going to die here, it may as well happen as soon as possible.

"Kill me." Briar was able to get out. His voice cracked. He sounded like he was pleading her. There was no pride left. "Please.. just kill me."

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

Yaena didn’t kill him, but she told him plainly that he was going to walk her right to where Briar was and if he made any signs in front any of any of the other humans, she would just pop him here and now. Yaena was still a princess, he was a servant, at worst, Yaena would be confined to her tower, but who was going to cry over a dead servant? Her mother? Her mother’s biggest strength was that every single person was expendable, even if she did have some form of affection for Camden (people did love their pets), she would simply find another. Camden wasn’t the only desperate person who turned to someone who seemed like a goddess on earth.

She did not let up his grip on his heart, and all she could do was try not to imagine all of the things that happened to Briar. She spent the days resenting him, thinking he was a selfish piece of shit and meanwhile he was alone with her mother. What was Selantheia doing to him? She had seen her mother work on people before, she probably loved having a prince. I’m going to defeat her. Yaena thought and even she was surprised at just how confident she was, but she had powers too, and more importantly she had a trump card that she knew would make even her mother blink.

When they entered Selantheia’s room Camden took her to the quarters and she nearly passed out.

Yaena could hardly recognize the man in front of her, she could feel Briar’s heartbeat that was the only thing she could hold onto to keep her strong. Briar was alive and no matter what, he was going to leave this room alive, even if Yaena would not be able to be. She would rather have Camden do every act of violence he inflicted on Briar on herself than see this.

If Briar recognized her, she couldn’t tell, and she couldn’t stare at his face too much because Selantheia spoke, her eyebrows only raising in mild irritation. Like it was the holidays and she happened to catch Yaena trying to open her presents early. Unlike Camden, even when he was wearing the skin of a refined prince, Selantheia had not looked like she even broken a sweat. Selantheia was refined even then.

“Oh, you arrived earlier than I thought you would.” Selantheia noted with a wry grin, before he waved her hands, “Do you have anything you want to say?”

Yaena had nothing to say at best, what should she even say? She wanted to demand that her mother let him go, but of course that was what her mother knew and she was going to say and she would refuse.

Instead, she held Camden tighter, “Let Briar go, or I’m going to kill your little slave, right here right now.”

Pop.

It was a fun trick both Selantheia could do, simply bring the blood from someone’s veins out. One second Camden was in Yaena’s arms, mentally hurt but physically stable and the next…the only way to say it was that he was turned inside out. He probably didn’t feel much pain, it was like being hit by a train, one second you’re here and the last second, you were nhot. Selantheia didn’t even seem to care enough about Camden to just enjoy torturing him. Killing him was just taking a toy out of her hand.

“Tell me sweetling, what was your plan again?”

Yaena dropped the bloody mess onto the floor, how many times hard she been covered in blood since she left the country? Far too many times, she swallowed hard, she had no grief to share for Camden and this was too important for her to crumble and she put her hands up.

“I’m taking him out of here, and I’m either going to kill you or you’re going to leave Zhicra forever, I don’t care where you go, you are just going to leave us alone, me, him, Tristan, Viria, everyone.” She continued preparing herself. Yaena was either going to win or she was going to lose and because of that, she forced herself to remain confident. She was going against perhaps the most powerful woman in the planet, but Yaena had knowledge that even Selantheia didn’t have.

The pain was instant, and caused Yaena to go on her knees, clutching her head, refusing to scream. Usually, Selantheia got an almost orgasmic pleasure from her torturing, but she seemed to drain no pleasure from this, she was simply a mother disciplining her ungrateful child.

“You little brat, everything that you are, everything that you have is because of me.” She hissed taking a step closer, “I have given you everything, and you think that a few days away means that you’re suddenly the one with the power here? I wanted us to leave, perhaps finally as equals but,” She twitched her hand Yaena whimpered, “Perhaps I should have gotten rid of you.”

Blood drained from her nose, but she stared up, “You’re not going to kill me.” She whispers, “I’ve done my own research, that little spell you cursed me with, if I die, you die too and you will pay the price of every sin you inflicted on.” She whispered, her voice only loud enough for her to hear, “You can die and there is an afterlife for people like you and there’s a reason why you’re so terrified of it.”

“I’m not scared of anything,” Selantheia spat but she could see fear in her eyes she had never seen her mother look like this.

Yaena closed her eyes, blood magic was about exerting your will, on yourselves and others, but for once she allowed herself to try to tap into the magic she learned in Eurous and in books, magic that tapped into her surroundings and worked with them. All her life, she hated the darkness in her, she refused to accept it. But it was her, and perhaps that meant it wasn’t so bad.

She took a deep breath and the shadows around the room quivered, and began to snake around Selantheia before yanking her down so that she was on her knees as well. She wasn’t controlling the shadows, she was working with them, convincing them to do her bidding, that she was worthy as they punctured her mother’s skin, black blood burning through the floor.

“I’m your mother,” Selantheia whispered, and her eyes were filled with fear, “You’re not going to do this to me.”

The pain didn’t go away, but Yaena found the strength to get up, “she didn’t have anything else to say to Selantheia, she would see how strong she was. She was channeling everything that made magic into her powers right now, she was drawing from her own inner strength, the rage she felt from her mother, the love she had for Briar, she was focusing it on this one task even if it would kill her.

And suddenly…her mother disappeared. A puff of sour smelling smoke, the shadow tendrils falling to the ground. It was quiet now except for her own Yaena’s breathing and she paqused, she had never seen her mother teleport before but she was sure that was one of her abilities, and she expected her to come behind her…but for now she never did.

She raced towards Briar, using the shadows tot are off the bindings, what did they do to him? However, she laid him on her lap and put her hands on his chest, feeling her own blood warm within her. “Let the blood in me work on others,” She whispered trying to heal what she could, beginning with his chest, she could get him to live, who cared if they would be scar that would be enough.

“I need you to hold on for me okay,” YAena whispered to him desperately tears streaming down her face, “All you need to focus on is staying for alive, for me, four our baby, just focus on that, I’m not letting you die here.”

 

[Average.]

Briar hardly knew what was happening, and if he did he simply didn't have the strength to show any sort of reaction. He barely recognised Yaena's voice, and at that point he was convinced that the really was dying. It was all in his mind, all just hallucinations.

He was briefly snapped into reality upon hearing the sickening pop, yet his awareness of reality only lasted for a couple of quick seconds.

Now, he was laying on Yaena's lap, and he felt a sensation of millions little pricks and needles on his hands. The blood circulation must just be returning to them. He felt someone - he couldn't recognise who it was - place their hands over his chest. The warmth spread through him, and at first he felt scared that Selantheia was about to use her powers on him again... yet what he felt in the end wasn't searing pain but a soothing, warm comfort.

It didn't feel real, and he was convinced that he was dead.

That was when his vision started to clear, and upon looking up, he was able to begin piecing together and recognising her facial features. He felt tears streaming on one side of his face, and he reached his hand up to gently caress Yaena's cheek. His hands were bloodied too, every single fingernail been violently ripped out. He felt her tears dripping onto his cheek, they were colder than his own. He could hear her words, they sounded muffled, but he could hear them and that was all that mattered.

All you need to focus on is staying alive, for me, four our baby-

Baby?

If he was able to, he would have been bawling his eyes out at this point. Their baby.. just a couple moments ago he felt nothing but hopelessness. And now there was a surge of emotion within him. He wanted to move, he wanted to wrap his arms around her, but now he understood that there would be time for that. They had time. He would get to be there for her, he would get to hear the cry of their little bundle of joy once they were born. It was not how he thought it would end, and he couldn't feel more grateful.

He would not die.

He tried his best to keep his eye open, for he feared that if he closed it, he would fall asleep. And never wake up again. He did not spend this long suffering under the hands of Selantheia and Camden only to die right after finally being rescued. It proved that miracles were possible, and he wouldn't allow this one to go to waste. He had another chance at life thanks to Yaena.

The wounds on his body slowly started to heal over, at least enough so that they would no longer bleed. Some were small enough to disappear completely as if they never happened thanks to Yaena's powers, and others left behind scars.

But her powers still were not healing the blackened patches of skin and his darkening veins. That seemed like the only thing on his body that hasn't been inflicted by either Camden or Selantheia. Briar knew what this was, but Yaena may not. She has never seen what it looked like when his illness was taking over his body.

He didn't know if he would be able to speak to her, however he would try.

".. Amulet.." he was able to get out, his voice coming out as some hoarse croak. ".. A-Amulet.." he repeated, putting a little more emphasis on the word. He didn't know where the amulet was, but he could feel it's energy, which meant that Selantheia didn't get a chance to take it, for if she did she would have successfully finished him. It was still here somewhere for certain.

He just prayed that Yaena would be able to find it in time.

______

He didn't let go of her ever since she came for him. Even now, with them back on the ship, he still wouldn't let go.

They were back inside the safety of their cabin below deck, both under the bed sheets, indulging in each other's warmth and comfort. That was all they could do for now, and that was enough.

Briar now had a white bandage tied around where his left eye once been. His veins were still blackened in some spots, and it was especially noticeable on his wrists and around his eye sockets. Yet on his neck emitted a soft cyan glow. Yaena has found the amulet, with the lake's enchanted water still inside the small vial.

They had little time or will for goodbyes with King Tristan and Queen Inka. The two left in a hurry after what they have been through, and for good reason.

Briar didn't want to speak of it. He didn't want to remember any of it. All he wanted to focus on was Yaena, and the splendid news that she has hinted at when she came for him. They were going to have a baby, and Briar felt like the luckiest man alive.

He placed his hand against her belly. It was still early, so there were no apparent changes in her physically, however in nine months from now they were going to be holding their new son or daughter.

"Did you.. have a chance to think of any names for them?" he asked. He has regained some colour - about as much as his complexion allowed - to his face, and while his voice still sounded ragged, it has gotten better. He has gotten better. Of course, he still had plenty of recovering left to do, both physically and mentally. He would never be able to forget what he has went through, but he knew that with time he will be able to no longer let it torment him.

He owed her everything. Despite her mother being a monster, he could still imagine that it must have taken a lot for Yaena to stand up to her. He felt respect for her on that end, and all he could do was thank whichever Gods still listened that it ended the way that it did. Because it could have ended a lot worse than it did.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

He didn’t let her go and Yaena had no desire to leave.

Yaena didn’t even remember the story that they were going with, something about how a servant killed her mother and themselves. Tristan didn’t ask her many questions and she didn’t give him many answers. Maybe Tristan always knew that this was coming, not the specifics, but he knew Selantheia longer than even Yaena had. Yaena had always thought that she knew her mother more than anyone else but maybe she was wrong. Tristan knew who she was and made the correct decision and simply removed her from his life, not actively sighting her but never seeking her advice or approval.

The only reason why she ever wanted to be away from Briar’s company was because it was hard to look at him, not because she was in anyway repulsed but because it filled her with guilt. She should have known earlier, the second that he refused to go the heart tree she should have known and she should have investigated then, but she had been to sensitive. Her heart had been so broken that she reverted back into what had brought her comfort in the past. And the person she loved most in this world suffered unspeakable things for it.

While she was the one who saved him, it amazed her that Briar wasn’t just able to still look at her but love her. All her life, she had only seen herself in relation to her mother, and she felt like that was all people saw her as. If her mother was a monster, wasn’t it obvious that she would be too? She would have understood (though it would have broken her heart for a second time) if Briar wanted nothing to do with her. If he wanted to forget Zhicra and forget her, there would be another human-elf betrothal, this time with someone who was completely human and not more monster than anything else.

But he had clung to her, and she too him, she was so close to losing him forever, and she never wanted to feel that way again. They were affectionate before, but now it was different, it was less as though they were attached to the hip and more as if they were two halves of one soul and as a result couldn’t bear to be apart from each other.

"Did you.. have a chance to think of any names for them?"

She laughed softly and tenderly moved closer to him, “You know, we should have a bet,” She whispered, although her voice was still hushed, “You had envisioned a girl, I envisioned a boy and only one of us will be right.” She murmured.

When Yaena first found out she was pregnant, she had excitedly thought of names, doing research on naming traditions in her soon to be home country. However, when that impostor had responded to her so coldly all her excitement had drained and she hadn’t thought of names anymore.

However, she continued, happy to see the warmth slowly returning to him. Things would never get back to normal, but they could heal, they would move past it they would build a beautiful life and Zhicra would remain firmly in the past. “If we have a girl, I was thinking we could name her from one of the books that you’ve read to me?” She suggested softly, “I personally liked the names Naeryn or Daella, but there are so many to choose one.” She liked both of those names because both characters explored both Eurous and a human country and how fitting would that be?

She then swallowed hard and gently cradled his face, a shy look on her face.

“And if we have a boy,” She paused, “What do you think of Lhoris?” She asked, Tristan would probably name his son after Haydian (Yaena’s own fallen brother), and even then, she wasn’t going to name someone who was going to one day rule over elves after one of the victims of their war. And she thought of the happy little boy she saw in the dream tree, in a way she imagined that he would be looking over any child that they had.
______

Perhaps people were right, they shouldn’t stray too far from the lake. Personally, Yaena had still felt bound to Briar even when they eventually made it to Eurous. She had no desire to talk to anyone about what had happened, though by now news made its way even here.

Despite having no desire to socialize, for the first time she was relieved to be in the country, she had enough of Zhicra for a while now and although she loved Tristan, and all her siblings. She wanted to focus on a new life here, she would never be an elf, she never wanted to be an elf. But she did want to allow herself to not be changed here, but to evolve. She had always thought of herself as one way but all her conceptions of herself were shattered, and she would have to find a way to make that enjoyable, not terrifying.

Yaena had asked if he wanted to go to the lake alone, he had told her about it but the lake was so special and important to him that she wondered if she would in any way cheapen his connection to it. Before, the lake intimidated her in the way all unknown things did, but now she felt a strange love for it. Anything at all that had a hand in keeping Briar alive and near her where he belonged would be valued by her.

 

[Average.]

Briar was only able to realise how much he has changed when he saw the grand kingdom he called home over the horizon. The last time he saw his home, he was nervous and excited, with butterflies in his stomach. He was yet to discover what Zhicra was like, and they were yet to discover that their trip has been for nothing.

But Briar didn't want to look at it like that.

With Yaena by his side, he was able to keep his inner pessimist at bay, no matter how many nightmares he suffered through at night or how many times he would think of Camden whenever he stared at his own reflection in the mirror. The trip was not for nothing, because despite how many people wanted to break them apart.. their bond emerged stronger than ever. And soon they were going to share that bond with someone else. With their own child.

Briar came back as a changed man, yet he wanted to ignore why he felt different. He would speak to no one about it, not even his own parents no matter how much they pressed him for answers. They were no longer a concern, he was no longer worried what they would think of him. Their word didn't matter, Reina's word didn't matter. None of them could intimidate him no matter how hard they tried.

To him, he was changed because he came back as a soon to be father, and not because of the horrors he has been through.

He could barely see the crowd that was waiting for them. They were not cheering, for they too have heard news of what happened. Rumours have spread, and they would be confirmed once they see the bandage around the prince's eye. Yet even if they would have been cheering and making noise, Briar wouldn't have heard them. He wanted to shut them out for now while he still could, while he still wasn't king.

Now, they were in the royal gardens. So many things have happened here, yet Briar wanted to see them all as good. Even that fight he had with Yaena about the lake, even that was a good memory to him now. Every moment with Yaena, no matter whether it was a pleasant one or not, it served as a building block to the kind of bond they shared now. The bond was strong. He was strong. Selantheia and Camden did not break him. He outlived his torturer and he will outlive Selantheia. They all will.

Briar smiled happily at the familiar whispers he was hearing the closer they reached the lake. He remembered himself feeling discomfort every time he heard them, yet now that has changed. The cyan glow emitting from it was like a sheet of warmth, encasing him and Yaena within it. The lake was welcoming them back home. Previously it has been the source of negativity, the only thing it was useful for was keeping Briar's illness at bay. Yet simultaneously it was a prison to him.
Now, it was more like an old friend.

He knelt down on the dead soil, feeling it tenderly before rolling up his sleeve and dipping his hand into the water. It felt good. By now, any sign of illness was gone from his body.

When he felt her sit down next to him, he suddenly took her hand and pulled her closer, catching her lips with his own. There was sweet passion in his kiss, and desperation and neediness. Desperation he didn't know what for, but it was there.

He pulled away, only for a little bit, only to say something to her. "I love you, sali." his voice was barely louder than a whisper before instantly leaning in for another hungry kiss. Of course, there was no need for him to tell her that, for she already knew. No words would ever be able to describe the intense love they felt for each other. But he still wanted to tell her that, as he only realised now that he never did. He showed her, but he never told her.

"Please.. never again. I never want to be apart from you again. I never want to fear that I'll never to see you again." he frowned. He sounded breathless, like he wanted to show her that he loved her even more somehow.

Of course, the idea of them going any further than kissing out here in these very gardens was even stupider than when they decided to destroy Reina's room, but the idea still crossed his mind. Their boat ride back to Eurus mainly consisted of them comforting each other after the trauma that they both have went through, but now he was feeling passionate. His eye was darkened, yet not in a bad way. There was something in them, something that Yaena probably hasn't seen since their first boat ride to Zhicra.
He wanted to make love to her, words were not enough.

Anyone - even the peacocks - that didn't accidentally intrude on them could definitely call themselves lucky, for even if his own parents walked in on them now Briar would no doubt start cussing them out of all the profanities that existed under the goddamn sun.

Oh, and he could imagine their reactions when he would. His father would probably give him a cold glare and storm off, his mother would no doubt get into a swearing battle with him and they would get nowhere, and Reina would probably just turn red like a tomato with rage and storm off as well. As for any other servant or guard - they would probably just run away in fear with their tails tucked in between their legs.

Tomorrow they probably wouldn't have a chance to enjoy each other's company like this. They would be dragged back to normality, especially since they had no time to waste. The wedding was approaching, and everything had to be perfect. No matter how Briar and Yaena were feeling about being amongst other people, they had no choice but to begin preparing themselves for their own wedding.

Though maybe that was a good thing. At least wedding preparations could get their mind off what happened back at Zhicra. They would be so busy that they would forget about Selentheia, forget about Camden.

To forget about that hell. And simply focus on a new type of hell.
Wedding preparations.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

She should ignore the rumors, as eh was one of the few people in the world who knew the entire truth. But she hated how people wondered if she harmed Briar when even when she was in the midst of her curse she still found enough strength to run away rather than risk hurting him. However, she contented herself with the knowledge that everyone who mattered to her knew who the kind of person that she was and knew that person would never under any circumstances harm him. And she knew that he would never harm her, this world was dangerous, and unfortunately, nobody had the power to make it any less so, however they would always be safe around each other.

Yaena was surprised, but not upset at the new passion in the kiss, they had remained in eachother’s presence, but despite herself she had been extra careful with him. Not just because of his injuries, because a part of her was still worried that he was disgusted with her, even though that would probably never happen.

I love you, Sali.

He was right, they both knew how much they felt for each other, but that didn’t make those words any less powerful, and it was the first time she had ever heard those words in that context and she wished she could take those words and put it in a music box for safekeeping. I love you, I love you, I love you, if Briar ever unfortunately had to leave because of the various duties that called a king, she would listen to those words at all times.

“I love you more than anything, I’m not leaving and I’m not letting you leave either,” She whispered, her voice hushed by just how powerful her emotions were. She wanted nothing more than to have him right here, by the glow of the lake, under the light of the sky. Yes it would probably be considered unspeakably tacky, yes the odds were that someone whether it be the king, the queen, or an unlucky servant sees them but who cared? What was the worst that they would do them? All anyone could do was yell at her, if there was one, one benefit to having Selantheia as your mother was it was hard for anyone else to intimidate you again. She went toe to toe with a monster and won, she felt like she could eat Reina and the Queen whole (figuratively of course).

Not wanting to waste any precious seconds that they had together, she kissed him again, her passion and love for him apparent as she gently pulled him on top of her, her back hitting the grass softly as her hair fanned out around her like a dark sun.

They had a day of wedding planning tomorrow, something that made her want to hide. Yaena had never liked weddings, she didn’t like loud noises, crowds, or strangers and they were usually all in abundance at them. This was going to be a royal wedding and she would be surprised if she knew more than half of the people in attendance. For them this wedding was about Eurus and Zhicra not an elven prince and a human princess. Reina probably had an entire room filled with dresses for her to try on and she would have to tell a designer what she wanted (and then of course Reina would want to tell her why everything she wanted was stupid, and probably offensive to every elf who has and will ever lived.

However, she wanted nothing more than to be married to Briar. To her marriage and love half always been two different things, marriage to her wasn’t any different than signing a contract. But she wasn’t talking about marriage in general, she was talking about this marriage, it meant something because she was going to be married to him, despite not caring about the opinions of others. She wanted everyone, from her brother to his parents to every person attending the wedding to know that they were one now, that they loved each other and that was never going to change.

Although (unless something happens to his father) Briar wasn’t going to be king after the wedding, things would change. No longer would they be two people betrothed, they were now, without any doubt going to be the future king and queen, any child they had would be in line of the throne. Before, she hadn’t had to met any people who didn’t currently reside in the palace, by the end of the month she would probably have to know the name of every Lord and Lady who lived in Eurus.

 

[Average.]

The last month has been... hellish, to say the least. It felt like Briar had to try on hundreds of suits by then, and they were suits. Gowns were generally more interesting and had a lot more variety, so he could only imagine how many dresses Yaena had to try on. He was used to their discomfort and he didn't mind actually wearing one as he tended to feel good in them, however it was just how many he had to try on that bothered him. The majority of them looked the exact same to him anyway, so what was the point?

Lady Reina was especially unbearable during this time. After all, this was her time to shine. This was her time to truly show the public just how polite and well mannered Yaena and Briar (mostly Yaena, since she spent most of her time mentoring her) are because of her.
Because of her. Right. Briar wondered what would happen if he just went around and told everyone that they destroyed Reina's room that one time just because they felt like it. She would probably stick her head into the dirt like an ostrich and refuse to pull it out ever again.

Of course, most suits that he had to try on were of the same colour theme; white and gold. However, even he felt like that was a little too boring and predictable for a wedding. He was going to be getting married to the love of his life, to his sali... he may as well look at least a slightly different to how he usually tends to look like.

His mother played a huge part in helping him with picking his suit, and that was essentially a recipe for an argument. While Briar tended to be closer to his mother than to his father, he was more likely to get into a fight with his mother than with his father. Briar definitely inherited his vulgar mouth from her, and while the Queen was never showed that side of her in public or to anyone that she considered to be outside of her family, she has shown that side of herself a significant amount of times to her husband and her son.

"I don't like any of these. They're boring." Briar huffed, folding his arms to his chest in protest.
The Queen glared at him from the other side of his room like she was trying to shoot daggers from her eyes at him. She has just about had it with him. "Fine. Then tell me. What are you looking for in a suit?"
"Purple. I want it purple and gold."
"Are you out of your fucking mind- no! You will wear white and gold, they're the Aegeiros signature colours."
"Fuck no. Purple and gold."

And there was that. The reason why Briar wanted a purple and gold suit was to match with Yaena, he felt like that would be a nice change. He wasn't naive however; he was aware that probably a good few narrow minded people were going to see this as a sign that the human princess already has him wrapped around her little finger. But if he spent his time worrying about what every person thought about him he would sooner just go insane than anything else.

Then there was his missing eye however. He couldn't go in there wearing a bandage around his head as that would look unattractive. So he had an beautiful eyepatch made for him by blacksmiths.

He has seen Yaena's gown, and he could already picture her in it. She would look absolutely stunning. Their wedding would be perfect... if he tried to ignore the hundreds of people that he was going to have to meet and interact with and shake hands with and oh Gods his cheeks would probably be killing him by the end of the night from all that fake smiling!
And the alcohol. The damn alcohol. There was going to be so much of it at the wedding, and he wasn't even allowed to get drunk! And the food. The food. He can't just stuff his face with cake whenever he wants to!

This was going to be a disaster.

But no. Maybe not. Maybe he would enjoy himself more than he thought he would. He was marrying Yaena after all. After tonight they would be husband and wife. He didn't care about the wedding itself, but he did care that he was going to be married to her. He wouldn't want it any other way.

All of these thoughts were going through his head as he headed towards the stairs, and towards the courtyard. He was dressed up and ready, in his purple and gold suit, with the gold part being mostly flowers, branches and leaves that have been embroidered into it around the shoulders with fine gold thread. It was early afternoon by now, and the sun was shining. The weather was kind to them today. Imagine how miserable it would be if it rained on their wedding day.

There would be a carriage waiting for them, with hippogriffs drawn to it. The hippogriffs were dressed for the occasion too it seemed, with wreaths of white and gold roses over their necks. Now, either elves figured out how to grow real gold roses or they have even went through the effort of painting the roses. It was true what people said; they truly spared no expense.

Briar was the first to arrive at the courtyard, and shortly after him Yaena arrived. He brightened at the sight of her. The last time they had to act so formal in front of each other was when they first met all that time ago at the harbour, where he kissed her hand. Now, he done the same, except there was little hesitation. He smiled up at her after he did before gently taking her hand and entering the carriage with her.

They would say their vows to each other at the sacred Temple of the Sun, where they would also exchange rings. It seemed like there were many similarities between human and elvish weddings, with some slight differences of course.

He was able ignore the cheering of the crowds, and instead he focused on Yaena who was sitting beside him. He would occasionally wave out the carriage window towards them as it was required of him to, yet this time in the carriage would probably be the only privacy that they're going to get today. They may as well make the most of it.

"Nervous?" he asked her. He already knew the answer to that. If she said that she wasn't nervous Briar would be certain that she was lying to him. He was nervous too, yet since he was amongst people that he grew up around his whole life, it was probably less stressful for him than it was for her.

He couldn't help but think back to the first time they sat so close to each other, the first time they rode in a carriage together on that strange first day. They were so awkward and tense, and Briar wanted nothing more than to just jump out of that carriage and disappear into the crowd if he could. But now... he felt most comfortable inside the carriage with her. Now if he could just hide away inside the carriage with her for the rest of the wedding... he would choose that over going out there.

He placed his hand over her hand, moving himself a little closer to her. "Our time at the Temple of the Sun isn't going to be very long. Shortly after we'll say our vows they'll bring us right back to the palace ballroom for the... um... party." he let out a sigh at the end of that sentence. Party... that was definitely going to be exhausting. Elvish weddings were known to last all night, and the night after the wedding they would have another party. Yes, another party, which was supposed to be the exact same except better than the last.

This wouldn't be as much of a problem if you were a noble or simply a guest, as you could leave the wedding whenever you were tired. However Briar and Yaena were expected to stay for every minute of it, since it was... well... their wedding.

"When everyone gets drunk, we'll escape up to your quarters. No one will even notice that we're gone." he winked at her.

He could see them beginning to near the Tower of the Sun. It was a magnificent building, one could argue that it was even more beautiful than the royal palace itself. The people of Eurus loved their religion, and despite Briar not being very enthusiastic with all this God and Goddess stuff, he had to sometimes pretend like he was just to look good in front of the public. Hence why a lot of his speeches often had to mention the Gods and how great they were and blah blah... yeah.

He wrapped his fingers around Yaena's hand, squeezing it affectionately. "Just remember to breathe. We'll be fine. No pressure or anything." he teased.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

If it wasn’t for Briar, Yaena would have hung herself using one of the gowns as a rope.

For once, she had to be relatively pliable with Reina. Yaena didn’t know how to plan a wedding, she didn’t know what dress colors were appropriate and which would cause a scandal, but Reina did, Reina could spend hours telling about the social implications of every little detail of the wedding.

The only fun part had been learning how to dance, despite Reina being having a disciplinary style that would put military instructors to shame, she still got to use it to spend time with Briar. And although she would never admit it, Reina was effective. She went from feeling like a small Zhicran goblin, to feeling confident that she was not going to embarrass herself in front of them.

Honestly it wasn’t the wedding planning that irritated her, it was annoying that she had to spent her days trying on gowns or judging various wedding bands, what really irritated her was all the nobles she had to meet. As the wedding approached, more and more nobles from all over approached the palace. It wasn’t just her family and his family and it wasn’t even just her country and his. One of the first people she had to greet was the prince of Nieve, a human country that had long been one of Zhicra’s allies. Yaena had never had a conversation with the man and it was unfortunate that streak was broken because by the way he looked at her you would have thought that the elves were keeping her tied to a bedpost. Oh you poor sweet little thing, I can only imagine how scared you must be. While Yaena wasn’t scared, she was certainly irritated.

However, Tristan and a very pregnant Inka arrived (Yaena couldn’t help but worry that the future heir of Zhicra would be born in Eurus). Like in many cultures, in Zhicra, the bride’s father walked her down the aisle, however Yaena’s father was dead and as her eldest brother, that fell to Tristan. She couldn’t help but imagine how symbolic it was, for better or worse, weddings have always been about going from one family to another. However, this would be viewed as not just her changing families but her changing peoples. She had spoken a lot about how she would never be an elf but it just hit her that even if she was a human, she would now be considered part of Eurus.

It was hard to think about, mainly because she had nobody who she could safely share those thoughts with. However, her brother did her a massive favor and brought Yuhan, the palace healer to her wedding. Even at a wedding as huge and important as this, It was rare for a personal healer to be invited but Tristan knew how important this was for her.

However, none of the negatives changed the fact that she was excited, she was excited to marry Briar in front of the world and she was excited to have their first night as husband and wife (in fact, it took all her power not to laugh in Reina’s face when she spoke as if she and Briar had never so much as held hands before; that was a lecture she was not going to have to endure). When she first came to Eurus, no matter how stupid it sounded she was insecure about how she was going to look at the wedding, if it would be obvious that she was scared and out of her depth, but that was gone, because she felt sure about everything.

As she walked into the carriage, she imagined the crowds sounds floated harmlessly over her like gentles waves on the shore, she could acknowledge them but they had no power over her. Truthfully, she could live for a hundred years and she would still feel nerves every time she had to walk in front of the crowd, but she could not let that pull her down right now. All she could do was beam at the man who would one day be her husband, this was really happening.

“Nervous?"

“Why would I be nervous, is it a big day or something?” She whispered, and although she didn’t explicitly confirm the state of her nerves, feeling like if she said it she would give said nerves more power she did squeeze his hand.

It was nice to know that they were both equally excited about the party but Yaena grinned, “How about I pass out because of my delicate feminine sensibilities and then you can leave to check up on me?” She offered, through they both knew that they were going to to have to speak to every person at the wedding at least. They would have to talk to so many people wishing them children that she would be surprised if they didn’t somehow induce early labour.

However, she would rather talk to people giving them well-wishes than have to see the politicking that would happen. When was the last time so many elves and humans were in the same room? Yaena personally asked people to make sure that there were absolutely no weapons allowed at the party outside of the guards. The worst thing that could happen would be a human and elvish prince dueling because they both had too much wine.
____

All she was going to do was look forward. She wasn’t going to look behind her to or to her side to see how people were reacting. She knew what this wedding symbolized but for now she wasn’t thinking about Zhicra, Eurus, elves or even humans all she was thinking about was how she was finally going to marry the love of her life.

When they got to the palace that was when they had to part temporarily and she was now face to face with her older brother. He was dressed in in black and gold fabric although despite the color scheme, there was nothing elvish about his attire, he was representing the humans and he didn’t take any risks. However, there was joy in his eyes, and wait was her brother tearing up? The last time she saw him tear up was when their brother died and even then it was when Tristan had thought he was in private.

“By the Gods you look beautiful Yaena,” He whispered, putting his arm up for her.

Yaena hadn’t gotten to see him since they left Zhicra in a hurry, and the only reason she wasn’t going to cry was because Reina would kill her on the spot if she ruined her make-up, “Thank you,” She murmured before letting go of his arms so she could hug him, “I know what you’re thinking right now, and you’re wrong, you’re doing just as good as father would do.” She murmured before putting his arm out.

Eventually it was time for Tristan to escort her out and he did and if he felt any pain because of how tightly Yaena was holding onto his arm, he did not show it.

Despite only focusing in front of her, she could feel people’s reactions, for many this was their first time seeing the little princess. For the most bigoted elves, they were probably mocking her, thinking that it was degrading to see a human in their place of worship, wearing their style of dress. They probably thought she was already unduly influencing her husband. For the humans, they probably thought that Yaena already forgot who her people were, that the King who was so so gently walking her down the aisle gave her over to the elves.

For now, they did not matter.

When they got to the aisle, she wondered if Briar could hear how loud her heart was beating because it was in her ears. When their eyes met, Yaena couldn’t hide the loving smile, not caring how it would be interpreted. She wanted to kiss him right now, screw the ceremony, screw the vows, but there was a tradition and Yaena would respect it. Besides, she had a surprise for him.

The Amandil’s deep voice welcomed everyone here talking about how it was a union of two individuals, two nations, and two peoples.

Here it came, usually Briar was the only person she practiced her elvish with but for once Reina and her were on the same side. She was delighted when Yaena told her of her plan, it was the happiest she had ever seen the perfect elven woman who was currently beaming at the two ofd them, clearly proud of the hard work she put in.

Her brown hand delicately reached for one of the golden rings before she spoke up this time, not in her native common tongue but in elvish, if she did not roll the ‘r’ perfectly she may end up killing herself, “In front of your family, my family, and the Gods, and the love I carry for you,” Her voice only shook on love because it was so genuine for her, everything else was for the sake of tradition, but in the end, her sense of duty didn’t come from the gods or her family it came from her, “I promise to remain faithful by your side and true to all the vows I’ve promised you..”

 

[Average.]

When she started saying her vows, Briar at first thought that his ears were tricking him. He tried not to betray his surprise and merely kept up his smile. She was speaking in elvish as if she knew how to speak it since the day she was born.

If she didn't say the vows to him in elvish, he wouldn't have cared at all. He wouldn't look down at her for it, heck he wouldn't even have noticed. Hearing the language was no big deal to him; he has grew up around people that spoke it of course. Yet it was hearing it from her that made his smile broaden. It was like music to him, the way she rolled the r so perfectly, the way she pronounced every single word so perfectly. It would surprise many humans that were present inside the temple right now. Good. They should be surprised. He hoped that damn prince of Nieve would faint from it right in front of everyone.

The initial plan he had in his mind was that Yaena would say her vows in her native common tongue, and he would say his in elvish. Yet this was actually so much better. Now, he would say his vows in the common tongue, not just because so that the humans in the room would understand, but it was also symbolic. It showed that elves and humans could become part of each other's cultures. Of each other's ways of life.

So, Briar took a deep breath before reaching for one of the golden rings and speaking up. “In front of your family, my family, and the Gods, and the love I carry for you,” it took every fibre of his being to not just kiss her right in the middle of his vows, but that would be scandalous so he restrained himself from doing so. There would be plenty of time for that later. “I promise to remain faithful by your side and true to all the vows I’ve promised you.."

It couldn't have gone more perfectly. A human saying her vows in elvish and an elf saying his vows in the common tongue. He doubted that everyone would be able to see past their pessimism, but for now he wouldn't care.

It was time to exchange rings, and he gently took her slender hand into his own before sliding the ring onto her finger. It winked in the light of the sun - or the golden light that was emitting from the ceiling, since the entire ceiling was made of gold.

It was then like he felt that a collar has broken off his neck. No longer did he need to restrain himself, and he wrapped an arm around her, pulled her into a kiss. He didn't care if the kiss would seem a little too passionate or intimate to some people. Let them see that their marriage was not just some contract. Let them see that love could exist between an elf and a human. They were getting married because they wanted to be married to each other, and not because they had to.

______

Briar felt like he was glowing when he entered that ballroom for the first time. He felt like he could just grow wings and fly wherever he wanted to. He entered the ballroom, his arm linked with Yaena's. With his wife's.

Not too long ago the word wife would leave a bad taste on his tongue. He hated the thought of it. Yet now... the word was something beautiful to him. She was beautiful to him, and nothing would change that.

"After the wedding, things will remain the same between us." Briar said, stopping and turning to look at her. There was a gentleness in his gaze.
Of course, it wasn't true in it's entirety. After the wedding would come the coronation, and then things will change between them. They would become more busy, they would have less time for each other. Yet what he meant was that their love wouldn't change. No matter how long they will have to remain apart from each other, their love would always remain strong.

Which was exactly why this night was so important to him. He wanted to spend it with Yaena as fondly as possible.

The ballroom was absolutely stunning. Garlands of white and gold roses were decorating the marble pillars of the ballroom, there were tables upon tables filled to the brim with food. And for the first time; meat was an option to choose from on the menu, since humans would also be guests here.

Despite all of the alcohol that was available, Briar promised himself that he wouldn't drink. Partly because if he took one sip he would just want the whole bottle, and party because he didn't want to make Yaena feel bad or left out. Since she was pregnant, she wasn't really supposed to drink. If she would forget about that he would be sure to remind her of course, yet he hoped that no one would notice that since they may question why she was the only one who wasn't helping herself to any of the alcohol during her own wedding.

The first place Briar and Yaena would have probably chosen to go to would be the buffet - since that was literally the best part of this entire ballroom. Yet they could not ignore the hundreds of noblemen and noblewomen that wished to speak to them, so here they were.

Briar noticed eyes from all angles staring at them as if they were the wolves and he and Yaena were prey about to get surrounded. They in fact actually already were surrounded. It made Briar's heart beat a little faster from all the anxiety that was starting to pile up inside him. He felt like he has only seen half of all these noblemen and women in the temple, yet it was only here in the ballroom when he realised just how many damn people actually attended this wedding.

And they will have to talk to almost all of them.

Briar swallowed, squeezing Yaena's hand a little. He almost felt like that is how they would mostly be communicating with each other throughout the rest of this wedding; through hand squeezes.

Soon, the dread started to settle in when he noticed someone from that sea of eyes decided to emerge and be the first to speak with the future king and queen. Briar recognised the face of the man. He was an elf, and a face that Briar has seen many times during court meetings where he and his father attended. His name was Ardreth, or Lord Ardreth... a name that Briar had a habit of forgetting. From what he remembered, Lord Ardreth was one of the elves who had a slightly stronger opinion against humans than most in court, so Briar didn't know whether he should be surprised or not that the lord was eager to approach them. And rub his valuable wisdom in their faces.

Briar had no choice but to nod a polite greeting towards the man. "Ah. Greetings, Lord Ardreth." it would take a closer look for someone to be able to tell that Briar was even smiling, as if he was putting most of his effort into not accidentally frowning at the man.

The man briefly flashed an unenthusiastic smile at the two. Perhaps he was less eager to talk to them than Briar thought and was only talking to them because he felt a need to, or perhaps it were the years he spent in agonizingly tedious court meetings that dulled his smile. Whatever it was.. it just made Briar dread having to talk to him even more.

"Greetings." Ardreth nodded slightly. "So.. the future king and queen." he turned to look at Yaena. His brow quivered a tiny bit, as if it was an effort for him not to raise a brow at her and look judgemental. "I like to think that they've made a good choice with you. The nation needs a good queen right now more than ever." he sighed.

"Yes, I agree." Briar nodded slightly, and a muscle feathered in his jaw. The more he listened to him, the more difficult it was hiding his irritation. "But I can assure you, Lord Ardreth; Princess Yaena is the perfect choice."

"Good. I will believe you for now." Ardreth said. Not like he had a choice. "I wish you the best of luck. The royal family needs more heirs and with your wife you should be able to-"

"We know." Briar's eyes narrowed a little as his smile broaded into a thin-lipped one.

Lord Ardreth blinked as if noticing the sign of hostility in Briar's tone and expression. It was small, but noticeable. At least that was enough for the lord to leave them alone, but there would be others would want to speak to them.

Gods... that was only one person that they have just spoken with and Briar already felt like his blood was going to boil out of his veins.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

Truthfully Yaena did not mind much the elven bigots, she would care when it came to ruling. Reina told her, for once not trying to be spiteful that if Yaena had a strong opinion on something related to Eurus, her best bet was to tell it to Briar in private and hope he brings it up. Not because Reina had any personal opinions on the role of women but for the reason that there were a not-insignificant amount of elves who would find Yaena’s support as a reason to fuel their own opposition. She would be aware of that when they were coronated but at t the moment they did nothing but fuel her considerable pettiness.

She had seen some of the younger Elven ladies who probably believed that if the peace treaty hadn’t been enacted that they would be in her position and maybe in another world they would be, but at the moment they would have to live that this wasn’t that world.

One day, probably not so long after the coronation, Yaena would have her own court, young noble ladies sent to the capital in order to earn her favor. Hell, those women whispering about her would probably be the first ones to ask to braid her hair or have tea with her. Her mother had her own court too, so did her sister when she got old enough, they were petty, filled with rumors and lies and backstabbing at every turn. Now, those traits were not exclusive to courts but Yaena vowed that she would not tolerate it with her own ladies, they did not have to be friends, but they would all respect each other. Yaena was only intending on being a mother to the children she gave birth to, she wasn’t going to spend her days mothering grown women.

When the man finally left, she took the chance to whisper something in Briar’s ear, “Really? We have to make an heir? I wish someone had told me.” She murmured so softly that nobody could hear her except for her husband.

“It appears I was right!”

Yaena didn’t need to turn her head, but she did anyways and she was face to face with Viria Narayan, Princess of Zhicra, Lady of The Harvest. The last time she had seen Viria was when her betrothal was announced, the sisters had always had a complicated relationship but Viria had comforted Yaena…in her own way telling her that life was what she made of it and that if she was as strong as she thought she was she would be able to forge an enjoyable life, even in the land of the enemies. Given that she was a direct relative, Yaena had wanted to introduce her to Briar privately but Viria never had the time.

“My I present Viria Narayan, she is the Lady of The Harvest,” The Harvest came from the fact that Viria’s husband’s family were the lords of the most fertile land in all of Zhicra who were currently grateful for the peace agreement because fields always were the first to burn in war. “And of course, my elder sister,” She introduced and despite both of them being formal both sisters were amused act having to talk in such a formal situation. S

There was little resemblance between the two sisters, Viria had the same hazel eyes as her brother but her hair was a dark chocolate brown worn in a single golden braid compared to her sister who wore her hair mostly loose. Her gown was of green and gold silks, her husband’s families colors and despite being “past her prime” as some vulgarians would say she still had a classic beauty.

Always remembering her manners, even when talking to her baby sister, Viria curtsied for them though she did give Yaena a sisterly kiss on the cheek. “It is an honor to finally meet you Prince Briar, in a way, by law I am now your sister as well.” Lucky him!

Although Viria was still her sister, she had to remain more formal than not. To the elves, they were probably worried that she would be too influenced by her human relatives. Despite that Yaena couldn’t help but smile because unlike the other nobles, Viria and her at least shared blood and while Viria could be unbearable, Yaena did trust her. “Well, it was due to happen some time.” She teased.

“Remember when you were a child and you told me you would never get married?” She asked in amusement before glancing at Briar, “Now look at you two.”

Yaena couldn’t help but give Briar a fond smile, before squeezing his hand, “Well, these are extraordinary circumstances.” She admitted wondering if Viria was going to use her classic snake tongue. She would probably get along with Reina was it not for Viria not trusting elves and Reina not trusting humans.

“Calum insisted he be the first of our siblings to speak with you two but King Tristan and I were able to convince him that it would be best if he…”

Now it was Yaena’s turn to interrupt, she had warned Briar about her youngest brother. He hated elves, loathed them, there was a reason why he was one of the better soldiers. Originally Yaena had never cared about his personal feelings towards elves because to be frank: they didn’t effect her. But now that she was married to one, now that she was one she could understand Viria’s worries.


“Calum is my brother, he can speak to me whenever he wishes, and he is also a man grown now, if he wishes to say regrettable things, he will say them knowing the consequences.”

How much longer of this would they have to bear? Thankfully, the next few people in line did not seem to look too bad. Yaena was naturally a cynical person, but she didn’t want to grow jaded. It was corny, but the thing that fueled her life had been a desire to do some form of good. The reason why she had wanted to become a doctor was that she wanted to use her powers to heal others, and the only reason why she was interested in being queen was the idea that she would have an influence.

 

[Average.]

Briar hummed lowly with amusement at Yaena's sarcasm. He leaned in closer to whisper something to her. "Just so you know; if you ever see me being dragged out from the court room in chains it was probably because I clawed that idiot's throat out." his voice was low, yet loud enough for only Yaena to be able to hear him.

Briar's eyes lit up with intrigue upon seeing that the next person to approach them was someone of Yaena's family. He has had a chance to speak with King Tristan before, yet he hasn't spoken to any other of Yaena's siblings. He hasn't heard much about Viria, other than her title. The Lady of the Harvest. He found it amusing that humans felt the need to title a lady in such a way just to let the world know how fertile their land is. Elvish territories have fertile lands too, arguably even more fertile than any in Zhicra, and yet they had no lords and ladies titled after any bountiful harvest.

Now, while he doesn't feel any hate towards humans, suppose that there will always be some sort of bias left in him against humans. When he looks at Yaena, he doesn't see a human, he sees the love of his life, so that doesn't apply to her. However still, the years of his parents and teachers constantly drilling into his head about how terrible humans are won't be erased that easily. Hell, it may never be erased. However as long as their nations remained at peace, a little bias was insignificant.

Either way, he bowed his greeting towards Viria and smiled. "Likewise, Lady Viria. I've been looking forward to meeting more members of Yaena's family." he said.

To be honest, he didn't expect that he would ever be married either. Any time his mother or father would tell him anything about one day getting married to a bride, he would always look up at his parents as if he just saw the most disgusting toad in the world and stuck out his tongue yelling 'Ew!'. Lhoris would have reacted the same way, but his parents knew from the start that Lhoris wasn't destined for marriage and carrying on their family line.
And now there Briar was. Married to a bride. Not just any bride - to his sali.

He noticed the little squeeze of the hand from Yaena and he couldn't help but smile a little to himself, squeezing back in answer.

When he heard the name Calum, he rose a brow. Calum was probably the sibling that he has heard most about besides Tristan and now Viria, despite never actually meeting him. If such hatred for elves was seeded into that boy at such a young age, Briar couldn't help but doubt that was any different now.

He knew that Calum would have been at least invited to attend the wedding, or so Briar assumed. Funny how it was his own wedding and yet he didn't even know to who the invitations were even sent out to. He wasn't in charge of that, he hardly felt in charge of the wedding at all. Maybe that was a good thing, for at least all he had to focus on was looking pretty and not forgetting about the importance of etiquette. Yet still, at least knowing who would show up at the wedding would have been nice. Though at least he knew who wouldn't show up at the wedding - and that was Selantheia.

Yet still, Briar deep down hoped that Calum didn't accept the invitation, since if he barely could stand being around Lord Ardreth, he could only imagine himself having to speak to Calum. It was highly possible that Calum didn't accept. After all, why would he want to be around a bunch of elves that he hated?

The more people they have went through, the more Briar started to doubt that Calum even showed up. He felt as if a slight weight was eased off his shoulders. Yet only a slight weight. It still didn't help that they had hundreds - thousands maybe - of guests to go through.

Whenever they spoken to someone that didn't seem too bad, Briar secretly wanted for them to stay, simply out of fear that the next person in line might turn out to be a rotten apple. And the longer they would have to endure this, the thinner his patience would get. Even he - the future king who has practiced the rules of etiquette all his life - had the capability to snap. Had the capability to end up blurting something out that later he would end up regretting.

Or not regretting.

Finally, a good three hours in of just standing around, of small talk and agony, the two had a slim chance of breaking away as the ball dances were beginning to start now. The musicians have arrived and would soon be playing their music. Couples who wished to dance gathered at the dance floor area, and soon the dances commenced. It was mostly waltz. From this distance, it looked so simple to Briar, and yet this is what he and Yaena slaved away to perfect for so long under Reina's judgemental eye?

Maybe Reina was just sadistic - which was highly likely - and enjoyed telling them that no, no, no. This is wrong and that is wrong and posture this, posture that. But it looked so easy from here. However, none of those couples would be dancing waltz as perfect as they will.
Yes, he and Yaena will have to go up there and dance at some point. And everyone would be standing around in a circle and watching them. Yet Briar reminded himself just to prevent himself from having a stress attack that he would just have to focus on Yaena and block everyone else watching out. If he was planning on surviving it through the dance at all.

However now was not their time to go up since they had a queue, so while people were distracted for just a couple moments they would use this opportunity to leave the stuffy ballroom and head out into the courtyard instead where there were less people strolling about. There were still people, however there were less of them. He would have taken her into the gardens, yet this time they weren't permitted to go there as the royal family didn't want strange noblemen and noblewomen entering their precious gardens - which made sense. However, that also meant that Briar and Yaena couldn't go into them, since that would just look like they were trying to escape from other people. Which they were.. but hush, no one needs to know that!

Briar inhaled and exhaled deeply, clearly enjoying the fresh air of the outdoors. "Alright. Take the time to breathe in this precious air." he joked, elbowing her arm gently. "For a second I felt like I was gonna' get high from all that perfume stench in there."
It was true, the smell of all the perfume mixing together was quite strong.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

Not fully caring that people were watching the couple even outside, Yaena wrapped her arms around Briar once they were able to enjoy the fresh air. “Do you think people will notice if we run away?” She joked. It was a mistake for them to go outside because now she never wanted to go back in.

When you grew up the youngest sister, you didn’t often have to canoodle. Tristan had been talking to nobles since he was six, as befitting an heir and Viria had always been a social butterfly that it was no wonder that Lord Gareth had asked her family to have Viria’s hand in marriage. Most of the time when she was at weddings or other social gatherings she could just lurk into the corner until some group of noble boys were dared to ask Yaena if she wanted to dance to them. She had probably spoken to more people in those three hours than she had over the course of her life.

Some of them were not that bad and after a while, she was on autopilot, if they were an elf they would either make a show of acceptance; praising her beauty and wit or they would make a remark that she was sure they thought were very clever. Sometimes they would call her their little princess and sometimes they would remark about just how difficult it must have been for them to bridge the culture gap between them. On the last note, it was strange while she and Briar certainly had their disagreements she didn’t link any of them to her being a human and him being an elf.

But in the elves’ defense they were not the only ones, some of the human guests were more subdued and ironically most of the Zhicrans did a pretty good job. Maybe it was because by now they knew that Briar was attacked in their country and they didn’t want to risk saying anything that could be a threat or her brother set them straight. Tristan was even-tempered but you would be a fool if you ever thought that made him weak. H/er family often liked to say that the Zhicran throne broke weak mean into shreds. It was the other human nations that decided to test their luck, either making comments about how they were going to have a halfling baby or a loaded question about how Eurus had been treating her.

It was unfair, there had been many people they had spoken to who had been perfectly normal but unfortunately they did not stick out in her mind.

“Don’t ever doubt how much I love you,” Yaena grinned, “I wouldn’t listen to hundreds of nobles ramble for just anyone.”

Reina had been notably subdued this wedding, maybe she was enjoying the fruits of her labor. While both Yaena and Briar were eager to finally marry one another, neither of them were exactly excited to run over the details so that was put on Reina. While she was easy to villainize, she wasn’t a fool, appearances and customs mattered. Anything wrong would be seen as foreshadowing things to come and that could not happen. However, the woman stood in the doorway, even she wasn’t going to chastise them on their own wedding day but Yaena sighed looking up at Briar.

“We just have to get through..twenty more nobles, an hour of eating and dancing and then finally we’ll get to be alone,” One would think that the prospect of a wedding night would not be particularly exciting for the two of them. After all, Yaena was pregnant (though at the moment the only living people who knew that were her, Briar, Yuhan, and Inka) but the idea of them making love as husband and wife was enough to motivate her to get through this party.

When they got back to the table they had been sitting at people seemed no less excited. Yaena always was so perplexed by that part of etiquette, of course, there were nobles who wanted to speak to them because they wanted to get in the good graces of the future king and queen, but there had to be some people who didn’t want to speak to them and Yaena certainly reciprocated that. However, because of these rules that someone made up, they would be forced to talk to them and Yaena would be forced to act as she enjoyed it. Incredible.

However, when she saw a familiar flop of curly hair, her boredom was replaced with nerves.

While both Tristan and Haydian were attractive in their own ways, it had always been Calum had always been the one who attracted the most attention. He often joked that on the battlefield he spent his days piercing people with the sword in his hands, but at home, he spent his days piercing people with the sword in his trousers.

Yaena’s poor, delicate ears.

With dark hair and golden eyes that were actually similar to Briar’s he walked toward them with a wide wolf-like grin. Unlike her brother who had the temperament to dress tastefully in Eurus, Calum was head to toe in black with the only accents being a silver chain from the pocket of his tunic to his pants. He walked over to them, his eyes only focusing more on Briar than the sister with whom he was practically twins.

“I must say I’m surprised this day ever came.”

Hoping to diffuse the upcoming situation with a joke, Yaena but in, “Viria said that a well if you both think I’m ugly please have the courage to speak it plainly.”

Despite his callous demeanor, he had been the brother that Yaena spent the most time with. When she was younger, it had been Tristan but he had the unfortunate luck of becoming king during wartime. The two siblings could not be any more opposite but of all her siblings, he was the one who knew Yaena the best.

“The word ugly should you never be used in a sentence with your name,” Calum reassured putting his hand on his chest. "I just meant that I could hardly recognize you."

Yaena looked to her left, sharing a look with her now-husband, “This is Calum Narayan, a prince of Zhicra,” And she paused for a moment, “The leader of the Iron Forces.”

The Iron Forces were the most elite of Zhicra’s military because they had forsaken all of their other obligations, they relinquished any claims they may have to lands or titles. At the time when he had joined, Calum was sixteen and Haydian was still alive so he would be behind him, Tristan, and any children the two of them may have and he never enjoyed court life so the position was perfectly fit for him. In fact, it bolstered morale because if a prince as willing to forsake his claims in order to fight for his country, what excuse did anyone else have? He had earned a nickname in the war, The Last Dragon of Zhicra.

"And a man who was forced to leave his sword in his chambers."

"Rules are rules and you are no exception."

It was true but that reminded her of a fact that hit her hard. Now, that Zhicra was at "peace," Calum's job was now just to protect the royal family, something that now would never include her.

Calum’s chest swelled at the final introduction not bring eye contact with Briar, “I was surprised to learn that you had gone to Zhicra, I wish I had been there.” I

 

[Average.]

When Yaena wrapped his arms around him, he did the same. To be honest, he didn't know how to answer that question, yet he too was curious. It was a risk that he was almost tempted to take, yet despite many nobles at the party already being drunk to complete oblivion, that didn't mean that eveyone were. It would have been unnacceptable if the last few remaining nobles that wished to speak to Briar and Yaena were drunk. Imagine how terrible that would look on their part.

Briar hated to admit that some of the questions and remarks that certain nobles have thrown at them stuck with him. Most were as insignificant as a fly, and they flew in through one ear and right back out through the other ear. Yes, he realised that they were going to have a halfling baby. A baby that would share both human and elvish blood. For most that would be difficult to even comprehend, yet there was no doubt that halflings existed somewhere in this world.

Except they were in hiding. And for good reason too.

Their son or daughter would not have to hide. Both in Zhicra and Eurus a halfling would have been treated as a good for nothing outcast who didn't belong in any world. Yet their baby will not be treated like this. Briar already made a promise to himself to do everything in his power to make their little bundle of joy be able to belong to both worlds, and not none of them.

Briar couldn't help but smile at her comment.

Them? Alone? It felt so impossible to him now, probably because of how drained he felt. They have spoken to so many people... he just wanted a moment where he could stop smiling at everyone around him. But knowing that they were almost done awakened some excitement in him.

"Yes. And then maybe after tonight everyone will finally stop bitching when they notice that you've spent the night in my quarters." he grinned back at her. He too wasn't excited on having to return back inside, yet if it meant that they could continue making progress by talking with those last few nobles then it was worth it.

Leaning in to give Yaena a quick kiss on the temple, they soon after that returned back to the stuffy ballroom, back to their table. He has already helped himself to some of the food, yet upon returning he suddenly had no appetite to finish what was on his plate.

He decided that for now he would keep Yaena's words on replay in his mind. Only twenty more nobles... only twenty more nobles. Only an hour of eating, only an hour of dancing. Soon, instead of indulging themselves in the spoils of the wedding, they would get to indulge themselves in each other.

When he noticed a dark shape in the corner of his eye heading in to approach them at their table, Briar barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Great, another noble that they would have to suffer through, however upon hearing him speak, he rose a brow and his attention was now fully on the noble. Or should he say the prince.

He couldn't help but tense a little bit at the mention of Calum's name. He wouldn't have if he never heard a word about him from Yaena, but once he found out that this man was Calum, he silently prayed that he wouldn't be the cause of him losing his nerves tonight.

Yet he was quickly proven wrong.

Hearing the word leader and Iron Forces together in the same sentence made his blood run cold, and this time, no matter how much practice he had with keeping up his facade, he was not able to hide his shock. His eye held anger, but it wasn't the same time. It was a cold hatred, one that frozen his blood over instead of boiling it. His stare could put the coldest of winters to shame. He felt like he was mentally prepared for meeting Calum, yet no matter what he would have never been prepared to find out that Calum was his brother's killer.

"Yes, it was a lovely trip. Beautiful country." he spoke through gritted teeth. He didn't mean what he said, and he could tell that if he was beginning to speak like this, he would soon end up saying or doing something that he will truly end up regretting.

So he excused himself as politely as he could before leaving the ballroom once again. This time, he was distressed enough to toss any rules that they have been made clear about aside, and he stormed off to the gardens, where he knew that no nobles would disturb him. Of course, he had a brief little dispute with one of the guards who refused to allow him inside due to his parent's orders, yet once it became clear that Briar had no intention of backing off, the guard was soon forced to give in and allow Briar inside the gardens.

He realised that he would have to explain himself to his family, yet this was something that he would never be able to leave in the past.

He didn't care, he refused to go back in there. He would have to be dragged back into that ballroom if he was to go back in there.

Briar knew that he was being foolish, however he couldn't help but wonder how his parents would react if they too found out that the leader of the Iron Forces was here at the wedding. Would they not care? He wanted to doubt that, yet at the same time... what could they even do?

Zhicra and Eurus were meant to be at peace now, and Lhoris was just one of the few unlucky ones who got burned alive within the inferno of war that burned between their nations. Now, their marriage has extinguished it, but the damage has already been done, and it would not be repaired so quickly. Some of it would never be repaired.

No apology would bring back Lhoris, no apology would forgive how terrified he must have felt before he died. To Briar, Lhoris was still a boy when he died. He was so young to be leading an entire army, and he hated his father with everything he had for allowing Lhoris to ascend to such a prominent position so early.
Lhoris was naive and all he dreamt of was glory, yet when he understood that war was not as heroic or beautiful like he thought it was.. it was too late for him.

All his father had to do was say no, and maybe Lhoris would be sitting here at his wedding beside him right then and there... instead of his cold lifeless body laying in some grave below the ground, getting devoured by parasites.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

Yaena was shocked, she had expected there to be some tension, but Briar was the one to storm off, before Calum even said the worst of it. Both the brother and the sister were surprised, she could hear some of the nobles mumbling. What did Prince Calum say? King Tristan and Queen Inka had previously given their own well-wishes and it had gone remarkably well. Anyone who truly cared about peace should be optimistic about a future where both of them were the heads of their respective nations. Of course, some of them were probably thinking, of course, it had to be Prince Calum. Calum was by far the single most beloved person in Zhicra, more than Tristan, and even more than Inka, but everyone knew that the man had a way of rubbing people the wrong way.

“I do not think that your new husband likes me very much do you have any reason why?” Calum’s voice broke through her thoughts and Yaena turned to look at him, thoughtfully.

Maybe Briar was, very understandably having bad memories of Zhicra? All three of them knew exactly what her brother meant when he said he wished he was in Zhicra. While Calum was not cruel and he would never be the type to torture someone, he would have probably challenged Briar to a drunken duel. Probably over the honor of his sister. When Tristan informed the family of Yaena’s upcoming nuptials Calum had accused his elder brother of being spineless and said that he cared more about appeasing the elves than the safety of their youngest sister. She just realized that she never knew what Briar’s reaction was.

Despite doing nothing to quell any rumors, Yaena politely made her way out apologizing to anyone who had gotten in her way, walking until she was able to find Briar in the garden. The guards also wanted to refuse to allow her there, but Yaena insisted that if Briar could go there was no reason why she, his wife would not be able to accompany now. Truly, it could be impossible trying to discipline a prince and princess sometimes, they could just pull the “technically you work for us” card.

When she found him, she could feel the intensity coming off of him in waves. Although they talked about what happened in Zhicra, both of them were committed to moving past it. Selantheia was gone, and they were the only two people in this world who knew what truly happened that night, but Zhicra would forever be burned into both of their psyches. She regularly had nightmares, about Briar suffering while she was eating breakfast with Inka or going into the city with Tristan. Not only that, but she had nightmares where her mother triggered her curse and Yaena killed him, devoured him like the monster that had lived inside of her.

She didn’t know what to say, however, she gently put a hand on his back, not wanting to disturb him but feeling that she had to comfort him, be there for him in anyway he needed her.

“My brother is an idiot,” She stated plainly, he didn’t need to explain to her why he left or attempt to justify it, especially to her, “I love him, but he is an idiot, he wants nothing more than to get a reaction.”

A bit naively, Yaena clearly assumed that Briar was upset about what Calum said in the ballroom and not what he had done on the battlefield. "We don't have to go back, I can tell everyone it was because of me, that I fell ill," She whispered, her violet eyes searching his face for some answers.

Yaena didn’t remember a time where there was no war, due to her being a girl there was of course never a chance that she would actually fight, but people told her of her father’s valiant battles and one of her earliest memories was watching Tristan sail for war. All of her brothers had fought in the war some way, the only excuse that Zhicrans accepted for not fighting in the war was if there were no apparent heirs.

Then, when she became proficient in her abilities, she and Yuhan would work on healing the soldiers (and to her knowledge that was the only thing Yuhan ever did), he would use the power of medicine, she would use the power of blood. That changed her, it made her simply wish the war was over. Men who would leave spouting lines of glory and justice would be whimpering on her lab table, praying to whatever god their family worshiped. Then Haydian died and the idea that her marriage could prevent more brothers from dying was the only thing that motivated her on her ship ride.

Haydian, how fitting was it that both the future king and queen lost brothers in the war? Though Yaena could admit she had never been as close to Haydian as Briar and Lhoris were. Ironically enough, Yaena and Haydian were similar in personality and that repelled them from each other. It was hard to have an enjoyable conversation when both participants were morbid, sullen individuals. However, Haydian had never wanted to go to war, he enjoyed his books and his offices, had their father allowed it he would have become a scholar. However, war devoured anyone, it didn’t matter if they were good or bad, peaceful or not and Haydian was just…unlucky.

But Calum was different, he was born to be a fighter, he was able to spar evenly with grown men at twelve and it was no wonder that he was the youngest commander of the Iron Forces in history. When he fought…it was indescribable, it was graceful and vicious all at once and even Yaena had to respect his talent. However, Yaena had no interest in hearing of his bloody stories and despite his vulgarity, even Calum had no interest in telling her so she never knew the specifics of what happened on the field.

 

[Average.]

When Briar felt her gentle hand against his back, he didn't flinch away. Instead, he leaned in a bit towards her touch. He would have waved anyone else off, he would have shut himself out inside his protective shell and never wanted to come out again. Yet with her, it was different. He yearned for her comfort, and he would accept it from nobody else.

He knew that had to tell her now. She wasn't forcing him into telling him, but with the way she was staring at him right now, he could tell that she wanted answers. He couldn't blame her for that. Her brother hasn't said anything that has offended him. To be honest, there were some nobles that they have already spoken to that have said more irritating things to them and he didn't storm out like that. And besides, he wanted to tell her too, he felt like he owed her that. He didn't want to shut her out.

"I didn't leave because of what your brother said." he sighed. "To be honest, I couldn't give two shits about what he said."

He was feeling guilty. He felt like he was ruining their wedding all because he couldn't keep his emotions under control. They were both tired, and they both wanted some alone time. If he had to admit, Briar would have preferred if Yaena told everyone that she got ill. It would mean that for tonight; the wedding was over. The next morning they would have to endure the exact same thing, however the second party would go by much faster, and they would get a lot more time alone, since they would have spoken to most of the nobles then.

He wanted to be selfish and tell her yes; that he wanted to return to his chambers with her and just hide away from everyone for the night. But the guilt was just eating away at him. He just felt like he was obliged to stay.

The feeling of embarassment was beginning to set in as well. What would people think of him? He was to be a future king, and he couldn't handle a bit of rude words from some bratty Zhicran princeling. Of course, it wasn't because of anything Calum said, yet that is what it looked like to the people around them.

Since when did he care about what other people thought?
When it came to these things, he would have to start caring, if he wanted to ever be taken seriously by anyone once he becomes king.

So he continued, throat bobbing slightly as he swallowed. "I left because..." he paused to take a breath. "Because your brother is the leader of the Iron Forces." he frowned at her. It looked like it took some effort for him to say that to her, to admit that to her. Yet he still wasn't telling her the full story. It was clear from his expression that there was more to it than just that.

"When Lhoris died, I felt broken. I refused to leave my room for over a month, and the first time I left it I felt like I've forgotten how to even act like myself anymore." he said. One could expect that he would begin to shed tears, since he was opening up about such a sensitive topic to Yaena, and he was never afraid to get emotional or to cry in front of her. Yet he had no tears to hold back. All there was in his eye was... anger. Raw, cold anger.

"When I received news about Lhoris' death, I was told that the one responsible was the leader of the Iron Forces." so that was the reason. That was why he stormed out. Because he couldn't handle staring into the eyes of his brother's killer. "Your brother took Lhoris from me. And for what?" he hissed, furiously staring into the enchanted lake. Into it's cyan eye, into it's depths. "For what? Tell me. Did he tell you why when he came back all bloodied from the battlefield?"

Now he was staring into Yaena's eyes. He looked furious, however not at her. There was an intensity in his stare, exactly like she looked at him that one time where he refused to give her answers about the lake, and when they had their first disagreement. He wanted answers from her, anything that she could possibly know.

"He was a child when my father pushed him out into that battlefield. It was like my father wanted to get rid of him. He was too naive to go out there. He must've been so fucking terrified when he died, he didn't know a thing about real war."

Now there were tears.

First there was anger, and now the longer Yaena stared at him, the more he felt like sobbing. It was as if she was coaxing out any tears that he didn't even know he had. He liked that about her. Perhaps she even knew him better at this point than he knew himself. He was an emotional fool, what could he say?

"A-And then Zhicra and Eurus suddenly decided with the peace treaty. Suddenly there was to be peace." he was frowning at her, yet the tears were still falling. "So then what the fuck did Lhoris die for? For your brother to have a brief moment of spotlight and praise for killing the prince when he came back? Would it bring more whores into his bed? Tell me how much the people of Zhicra loved him for putting an end to a child's life."

He was so angry. Angry, frustrated, upset. He would never stop grieving for him. He would never come to terms with it. Lhoris' life was wasted on that battlefield.

He realised that Yaena may get defensive for her brother. He too would have if it was Lhoris that killed her brother on that battlefield instead and it was her that was expressing her grief towards him. But when it came to their loved ones.. suppose that everyone were a little bit selfish when it came to them.
Except for his father. His father clearly didn't give two shits for his loved ones if he was willing to send his own son out to die like that.

There was no way that they would be returning to that ballroom now. Not with his face getting all red and puffy from crying. He would rather drown himself in the lake (if that was even possible for him to do) than to go back there. He would crumble from the embarassment.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

Your brother is the leader of the Iron Forces.

…So? There were elven soldiers here as well. While Yaena could entirely understand why Briar, an elf, would feel uncomfortable around her brother, she had to admit it didn’t seem worthy of all this.

But the second he began to speak about Lhrois, the second it dawned on her and she felt sick. But she didn’t even have time to explore her emotions because Briar was staring at her with such intensity. She had never seen him this angry, even when she had demanded to know about the lake, he went from staring into lake to his golden eyes boring into hers. Demanding answers, as though Yaena would somehow be able to say anything that would somehow ease his pain.

When he asked if he told her all she could do was shake her head, swallowing hard, it was good that he kept talking because Yaena had somehow lost the use of her tongue.

All of her brothers had killed people, all of brothers had killed elves, they never spoke about specifics (that is, they were around her or Viria).l However, she remembered day when Calum returned home and there was practically a parade in his honor. Wherever he walked shopkeepers would practically beg him to allow them to give him whatever they made for free. Although her brother, bless him had always made time to hang out with Yaena that year it felt like there was a perpetual group of young boys following him, he was their god. Usually, both Tristan and Calum agreed to not even give people the appearance that Tristan was treating Calum differently than any other soldier but that night there had been a feast in his honor.

The emotions were swelling around her and none of them felt useful, of course she empathized with Briar’s grief, the pain of losing’s one sibling was often unbearable sometimes and Lhoris from everything she had known had been gentle and kind. Not the kind of person one would send in war.

However, what she wasn’t feeling was guilt, and she prayed to all the gods of old that he would not ask her to speak against her brother. But what she did feel was angry at was the world for crafting this situation, no not the world the people. Because what did any of the people who died in the decades of war died for? The peace was shaky, but it was still peace and Yaena’s life hadn’t felt any different, but she had seen sons return homes to their mothers, crops finally making their way through the earth. If peace had been so easy why wasn’t it done a long time ago? There was a world where they both had their own brothers (though they would have probably never met).

So then, what the fuck did Lhoris die for?

Yaena so badly wanted to defend her brother, he was not the warmongering demagogue that Briar painted him as. She wanted to tell him how when he became leader of the Iron Forces he strictly told them that any soldier caught raping a woman, human or elvish would be kicked out. Yaena wanted to tell him that when they were little and went into the city he would always ask every shopkeeper about their day and problems, how he was even more empathetic and knowledgeable about the “common people” than even Tristan was. Calum Narayan was her brother, and she loved him and she would always love him and despite understanding Briar deeper than maybe any other person could, it was visibly hard to hear him talk about Calum with such malice in his voice.

But what would that change? It wouldn’t change anything if Calum was personally the reincarnation of Gabriel the Good. This wasn’t about Calum’s character this was about that Calum was the one who killed Lhoris, and to that answers didn’t come easily. Mainly because she was not someone who engaged in lying, even for comfort, she would not forsake her brother, and she would not crucify him. He was the leader of the Iron Forces, he had done his duty and if he hadn’t it would have been him bleeding on the battlefield.

She didn’t want to tell him, not because she wanted to keep secrets from him but because she thought it would do nothing but fuel his anger, fuel his hate. On a selfish level the4re was a part of her that was afraid that one day that hate would be directed towards her. But this wasn’t about her, and she wasn’t about to make it that way. “I didn’t know,” She whispered, and while she was clearly trying to sound reasoned, especially in the face of Briar’s emotions, but her voice quavered.

She wasn’t going to explain herself anymore in that regard, Yaena told him that she didn’t know and she expected him to believe her.

“I don’t know, I wish I had an answer for you, I do,” She quickly wiped her own tears from her eyes not wanting anyone, even her husband to see it. “I’ve never met Lhoris but I feel like I know him through you, and I know it sounds hollow coming from me but I wish he were still here.” Yaena tried to wrap her arms around him again, she had no intentions of going back to the ballroom unless Reina killed her and dragged her dead body there.

She paused for a moment, trying hard to not say anything insensitive and anything that could hold onto, “I’m not going to defend my brother but please don’t make me condemn him I-I..” She trailed off, his face was so conflicted, over the love of his brother, the anger towards Calum and the embarrassment of them causing a scene at their own wedding. “I can’t find meaning in life, but the only thing that has gotten me through life, the is until meeting you is preventing my loss from happening to others.

Without even asking Briar, she looked behind her and caught one of the guard’s attention, “If anyone asks about our whereabouts, please tell them that I have gotten ill due to seemingly nobody understanding that the best fragrance is a good washing.” And with that, even if she had to drag Briar kicking and screaming she moved with the intention of going to his chambers.

 

[Average.]

I don't know.

He was so disappointed by her answer, and it shown on his face, yet he wouldn't press her further for it. He didn't know what kind of miracle he was expecting from her; that she was going to be able to tell him everything without any hesitation? All he did was make her emotional, and possibly scared of him, and that made him feel guiltier than he has felt in a long time.

I feel like I know him through you. I wish he were still here.

Hearing her say more on that didn't satisfy him either. But the longer he looked at her, the guiltier he felt. He hoped that she didn't think that he was angry with her, perhaps he came on a little too strong. If they weren't in a romantic relationship beforehand or if this marriage was their choice and not some contract then anyone would have seen this as a bad omen; that because they weren't as happy as they could be at their own wedding.. their entire marriage and relationship was forever going to be miserable. Briar already knew that wasn't true. Their case was different, and nothing would change between them if they were married or if they weren't married.

He didn't hug back when she wrapped her arms around him, not because he didn't want to.. he just didn't have the will to.

Please don't make me condemn him.

Briar felt more tears stream down his cheek when the guilt became overwhelming. He knew that he would never forgive Calum for Lhoris' death. Even if he didn't kill Lhoris that day and it would have been Lhoris that plunged his sword through Calum instead... he would still think that it should have been Calum that died, and he would feel no pity for him. It was selfish of him, he knew that. He should be hating his father for allowing his brother to go out into a battlefield like that. It was his father that sent Lhoris to his death, and he did hate him. Yet it was easier to blame someone that was from the enemy's side rather than his own father.

But even if he would never forgive him... he would have to learn to control his emotions. For Yaena's sake. It was a difficult subject for both of them, and it wasn't her fault. Tomorrow evening at their second party would he just storm off upon seeing Calum as well? He can't. He is a future king, and he needs to be prepared to put any hate behind him if this alliance is going to work. Because if the king isn't willing to put his hate behind... then why should anyone else?

He must remind himself that others lost loved ones to the war too, and not only him. And while this alliance was difficult for them to accept too... they have accepted it. Now Briar needed to do the same. He needed to put Lhoris behind, he bet that is what Lhoris would have wanted him to do anyway. He would have hated to see him grieving for so long like this. Lhoris was always a gentle soul, and even if he loved his country and wanted to lead them glory... he never would have wanted Briar to take revenge. Not even on Calum.

But it was just so difficult to fucking accept.

Briar just let Yaena drag him up to his chambers, deciding not to try and fight back or protest in any way. There was a strange silent between the two, all the way up to his quarters.

Once the door was closed, he sighed and leaned back against the door. He looked down at the floor, almost as if he was trying to think of what to even say to her first. He let out a sigh and met her gaze. "I'm... sorry if I upset you. I should have controlled my emotions better." he admitted. He was willing to come to terms with it and apologize to her, he wasn't going to pretend as if nothing ever happened. "I'll.. be better during tomorrow's party. Even if I'll have to talk to Calum again... I.. promise to be more pleasant than how I was."

He gave her a strained smile. He just needed to know that she wasn't upset with him. Before he stormed out he was excited to be spending this night with Yaena privately in his chambers, but now he was afraid that he was ruining that too. What if she won't want to be around him? He wouldn't stop her of course if she told him that she preferred to spend the night in her own chambers instead, yet it would definitely hurt.

He felt the need to say more. The guilt was festering in him, twisting and turning... he wanted to make it go away. "I-If you think that I'm blaming you I'm not." he suddenly blurted out. He couldn't hold her gaze anymore, his eye was darting from one spot on the floor to another, but he never dared to look up at her.

"I-I love you and I will always love you a-and I never meant to upset you if I did." he was rambling at this point, trying to get the words out as fast as possible. His voice was quavering, no matter how much he was trying to keep it steady.

He was already failing with keeping his emotions under control. Gods... no one will ever take him seriously when he's king if he acts like this. Of course, while it was alright for him to be like this in front of Yaena - since both of them could be emotional saps at times. However, there would be nothing worse if he done that in front of an entire court room of people.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

Yaena was thankful to just be alone. It was funny, Yaena and Briar were a couple who were in love and were naturally affectionate with each other but they had to remain distant at their own wedding. They had to appear familiar enough with each other that people didn’t believe there was turmoil in the union, but if Yaena acted as affectionately with Briar as she had wanted then they would have been considered scandalous. But, now that they were alone, with not even the guards listening to them, they could finally speak freely.

I’m sorry if I upset you.

She frowned, not because she was irritated with him but because she was genuinely surprised that he said that. Mainly because Yaena was not upset with him. She was upset with herself, upset that she was put in an uncomfortable situation but she put herself in a place where she could understand hm. By now, she was used to the fact that she was in love with a man who was more emotional than even he would admit and she never wanted to make him feel that he could be anything but emotionally honest with her. She would rather that they have uncomfortable conversations in which they were true and vulnerable to each other than if they devolved into a marriage in which they only spoke about politics.

Besides, it gave them an excuse to finally get out of that ball room.

There was more, she could see it and she patiently waited, the owl-look that we all knew and love was back however it was softer as she wasn’t staring at him because she was interrogating him or trying to study him but because she was waiting to hear everything he had to say before speaking. She had been naive before, it was silly but for a while now their differences didn’t matter much to her. Who cared that she was a human from Zhicra or that he was an elf from Eurus? But it did matter, it mattered that they had grown up in countries that hate each other and it would continue to matter. How many times would Yaena be forced to see eye to eye with the people who for so long dedicated themselves to defeating her country? Was there going to be a time when Yaena, even intentionally brought up a Zhicran custom and even Briar would be disturbed?

But for now, she was only going to focus on him and despite her being a reasonable person (or her trying to be) everything he told her was a relief. She was worried that one day he would only see her as a Narayan and nothing more, she did not have a good track-record, she was the daughter of the woman who tormented him and the sister of the man who killed his brother. Any rational person would know that neither of those two things were Yaena’s fault or even her control but feelings were very rarely rational.

“I love you too,” She whispered back, they had said that they loved each other multiple times but it never felt any less serious, in fact each moment was special in its own way because it served as a reaffirmation. She loved him then and she still loves him now and she was never going to stop loving him.

Now that he seemed to be finished speaking, she smiled slightly, “I know you didn’t want to upset me because now you’ve said it twice.” Her smile widened for a second before her face turned gently serious again and she moved to sit on the bed, whether or not he wanted to sit next to her was up to him.

“And I’m not, really I’m not, and if I have any power on it, you’re not going to talk to Calum, especially at a party about our own wedding,” She promised him, and it was true. Nobody should have to go through that, sure they may be a time where there was cooperation between Zhicran military forces and Eurus military forces and he would have to stomach talking to the leader of the Iron Forces but that would be in a war room, not in a ballroom and Calum would have to be okay with that.

She wished she was better at saying the right thing, she recalled how disappointed he looked but she had never been one to believe that there was some higher meaning. After all, her mother, before she disappeared lived a life of luxury, there were servants to attend to her every needs and she was considered one of the most powerful political figures in the world. However, there were thousands of good, kind, hardworking people who died unfair deaths. If there was a higher power, then they deserved little respect from her.

“I’m sorry I don’t say the right things,” She admitted, and for a moment she felt like the awkward, eccentric child that was the bane of many of her instructor’s existences. “I love you more than anything in the world and all I want to do is be there for you, through all of this,” She waved her hand, the wedding, ruling a nation, everything. “Save your apologies for Reina or lord Ardeth,” She glanced to see if there was amusement in his eyes, “Just know that you don’t need to apologize to me.”

 

[Average.]

Only when they entered Briar's chambers did he realise how glad he was to be away from that ballroom. Before now he felt obliged to be there, and he felt immense guilt for ruining it for himself and for Yaena. Yet now he didn't care about the remaining twenty nobles that they abandoned. They could make their dissatisfaction to his parent very clear and he wouldn't have cared. Now, he felt no more shame when it came to leaving the ballroom, and all he wanted to do was praise Yaena for her genius for the 'I became ill' excuse.

Now they were alone, and it was the best feeling in the world. He felt as if a heavy anvil has just been lifted off his back. It was funny how this entire palace was his home and yet the only place where he could act like himself with no shame was in this small space (well, it wasn't small, yet his chambers were definitely very small compared to the rest of the palace).

The more he thought about it, the more he realised that the only reason he ever enjoyed being a prince was because of the luxuries that came with it. He enjoyed the idea of none of the responsibilities that were expected of him, and they would only get worse once he becomes king. Of course, generally people didn't like responsibilities, yet sometimes he felt like the common folk had more freedom in life than he did. He wondered if he would ever trade his life away his current life into a different one. The answer was obviously no because that would mean that Yaena would no longer be in his life. Yet if he could take Yaena with him.. would he have traded it away?

Of course the thought of him no longer looking as refined or him no longer owning his precious silks or clothes was difficult to even comprehend... yet didn't freedom outweigh luxuries? Would they have been happier if they had their own little cottage like that old woman that took Yaena under her wing in her time of need? They would never know, as their life was intended to remain within palace walls.

He would leave those thoughts till later. For now, he would listen to what she had to say. He felt a warm feeling go through him when she responded with a 'I love you too'. It was barely audible, yet it was so quiet in the room that he would have been able to hear even the faintest whisper. He knew that she loved him, he didn't doubt her love for him and she didn't doubt his love for her. Yet it was still nice hearing that from her no matter the occasion. Those were always carried a reassuring aura. They reinforced his certainty, they made him feel even more sure of himself than he needed to be.

The more he listened to her, the more his smile broadened. A brightness returned to his face and he was so relieved to hear this from her. Before she said this to him, he didn't move. He didn't move in closer to sit beside her on the bed like he naturally would have done. Yet soon after he was certain that she wasn't upset with him, he moved away from the door and sat down on the side of the bed, right beside her.

I'm sorry I don't say the right things.

That was false. To him, there was nothing wrong that she has said back at the gardens. In fact, all she has shown him was that she genuinely cared about how he felt, and that was enough for him. He looked disappointed, but he was still emotional then, and he was being selfish. He was desperate for an answer that he should've known he couldn't get from her.

"That's not true." he smiled gently, shaking his head. He scooted closer to Yaena, wrapping an arm around her affectionately. "You do say the right things. You made me feel better just now, didn't you?" his smile turned into a grin, yet he still could sense the gloominess emitting from her. No, no. That just wouldn't do! This was their first night as a married couple, and he didn't want to remember them feeling awkward.

So, he decided to attempt to cheer her up.

A devious smirk soon replaced his grin. He couldn't help but wonder if she was ticklish...
He suddenly started to tickle her. He tried tickling her sides first, laughing whenever she tried to slap his hand away or simply block him with her hands.

He remembered he and his brother would always cheer themselves up like this, however it was always more effective on Briar than it was on Lhoris. His brother would usually give laugh at him a little before they would instead choose to talk about whatever was bothering him. With Briar, whenever Lhoris tickled him it seemed like the entirety of Eurus knew about it.
Briar would howl with laughter, and it didn't matter if he shielded the most ticklish areas on his body with his arms or legs for he was ticklish there too. He sometimes felt like he was ticklish everywhere.

So he hoped that Yaena wouldn't try to tickle him back.

Those were one of his precious memories with Lhoris, and he soon came to the realisation that if he ever wanted to ease the pain of his grieving, he would have to remember Lhoris like that. He would have to leave the memory of first hearing of his death in the fog, and instead focus on the bright memories.

That was easier said than done, he knew this. It would take time, it would take effort. There was no doubt that he would get emotional about his brother again, that is just the way he is. He would never stop grieving, he would never forget. And he may not ever forgive those responsible. However, he may at least ease his pain and choose to think of the memories that were precious to him rather than those that carried darkness.

With Yaena by his side, he knew that would be a lot easier. She was already making it easier for him.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

Briar was truly a genius because he managed to brighten up Yaena’s spirits.





Originally she weakly pushed at him attempting to lie and say that she wasn’t actually very ticklish but the giggles soon revealed her tooth and eventually they were both rolling on the bed together, laughing like playful children. It was the same sugary sweet giddiness that Yaena felt when she had ridden on his hippogriff or when they had explored the city together for the first time. It was reassuring to know that even when they faced tragedies, that they could have moments of levity too. She never wanted to become a jaded, joyless queen and she certainly wasn’t going to let Briar become a joyless king.

By the time that morning arrived, Yaena was sleeping soundly cuddling against her husband, the light of morning bathing them both. Although people had disapproved of Yaena sleeping in Briar’s quarters since she arrived, before their wedding it was explicitly forgiven. If the guards spent as much time catching criminals as they did gently escorting Yaena back to her room then maybe crime would have been ended for good. But now that they were married, all those disapproval’s went silent.

For now, she wasn’t going to think about the fact how she and Briar were going to have to act perfectly in order to make up for their sudden absence and she wasn’t going to think about the fact that Calum was still here. Even if her brother heeded her request and kept his distance from Briar for the time being he could still cause trouble for them. Calum wasn’t the type to bring a weapon into places where they were banned but he was the type to bring a sword with him whenever he had gone out to the city.

What woke her up was a hesitant knock, “Prince Briar, Princess Yaena?” She recognized the guard’s voice but embarrassingly, she forgot his name. I didn’t matter though because it didn’t affect how annoyed she was.

Yaena sighed softly and pulled Briar closer, “Don’t say anything.” She “commanded” in a soft mumble, her head resting on his chest. She didn’t want to move, but the guards never knocked on their door just because they felt like it. They were told to either by the royal family, Reina, or because they had news of a threat, all of which meant that if Briar didn’t let the guard in now, they would pay for it later.

Not having the will to get up, she simply gave Briar a kiss before rolling off of him, pulling the covers over her just in case for some reason the guard peeked inside. It would be Briar who would have to make himself presentable and for once Yaena was thankful that the guard probably would not have much of an interest in sharing information with the human princess. If she needed clothes, she would simply ask one of the serving ladies to run some over. While she loved her wedding dress, she was not in the mood to do all the work it took to make it actually wearable,

When Briar eventually opened the door, the guard cleared his throat looking clearly uncomfortable. Was it because he knew what happened on wedding nights or did he have bad news to share? Or maybe it was something else, however, the guard took a step back and closed the door behind him, “Can you please walk with me to the great room, I have news to share and while it may be disheartening to the both of you it is probably best that the princess hears it from you.”
____


“As you know, we increased patrols starting a week before the wedding and one of the watch guards reported that multiple shopkeepers have witnessed a strange, dark haired human lurking the streets.” He looked at the golden eyepatch and paused, “Just to be clear none of us think that it is the Princess Yaena but-“

There was a loud frustrated hit on the table, “Do you know how to finish a statement?” His boss, a more experienced member butt in before turning to look at Briar directly, “What he is trying to say is that the we believe that the late Queen Selantheia is currently hiding in Eurus.”

Now while the guards did not know the true story, none of them did. They knew that the prince and princess left for Zhicra, their former enemy and when they came back the prince was missing and the queen was declared dead by King Tristan. There was nothing in King Tristan’s private or public messaging that suggested that he in any way blamed Briar for her death so it seemed like a coincidence. However, everyone knew that Selantheia was a witch. It was one of the reasons people hated Zhicrans, they were humans being ruled over by a sorceress who ate children and bathed in blood.

Had Selantheia gone to the wedding? Despite all the security it would be rather easy, of course she would be smart enough to stay away from the people who would recognize her, but all that was known was that she looked like Yaena and that she was short even for a human. And that was if she even kept the same appearance, she clearly had the ability to induce shapeshifting in others. Surely Selantheia would be able to do it for themselves! Maybe she was in this very room right now, clamoring to see what Briar’s reaction would be.

“I hope you understand why we did not wish for Princess Yaena to be here at this timely. She is a princess of Eurus now, but the queen is still her mother.” If only they knew that Yaena would be the last person to be protective over her mother.

 

[Average.]

Upon hearing the guard knock, he couldn't help but let out an irritated groan. Really, they weren't even allowed to get up in their own time and the second party was later tonight. Surely it wouldn't take them that many hours to get ready, but knowing Reina she was probably planning on getting them ready in more ways than just dressing them up. Like how they have embarassed themselves in front of everyone for disappearing from their own wedding all of a sudden.

He felt like whining when she rolled off him but he supposed that was better than having to prise her off him. There was a guard at his door, and they never showed up just because they felt like it. Usually if a guard showed up it meant that he was needed for something important - or for something that someone else thought was important but he couldn't really give two shits about. So, he quickly threw on a plain white tunic from his closet along with some pants and boots, since obviously a guard having to witness a naked prince in front of him wasn't particularly... proper.

Once the door closed behind him, he rose both brows at what the guard has said. Disheartening news? Did his father decide that after witnessing the little scene he caused at the wedding he didn't want his son to be king after all? Briar didn't doubt that his father would have done that if his mother was capable of giving him any more heirs. Her biological clock has long come to it's end by now, hence their desperation to suppress Briar's illness in the first place. Otherwise he probably would have ended up killed by some boisterous Zhicran prince like his younger brother has been.

It couldn't be Reina wanting to scold them either. Of course, he didn't doubt that will be something he and Yaena will have to endure at some point today. Yet he doubted that a guard would personally arrive at the door to his chambers just to tell him that.

So then what was it?

Briar silently followed the guard to the intended room, uncertain of what to expect.

_______

Briar didn't know how to feel upon hearing the news.

Of course, he should have known that what he has seen of Selantheia wouldn't be the last that he has seen of her. He would have been surprised if they never ran into her again at some point during their lives, yet he just didn't expect to hear of her again this soon.

Selantheia was like a shadow, following them. You often forget that it's there, yet it doesn't change the fact that it's there. And Briar felt like an idiot for ever letting his guard down. Now that crazy bitch has followed them all the way into his country. Their home. He was hoping to be able to put what has happened in Zhicra behind him... yet he should have known that it couldn't be this easy.

He could have simply brushed it off and ignored the warning, ignored it as nothing but insignificant rumours, yet if he did then that would have made him into the biggest idiot there was. Word of Selantheia should never be treated as just a rumour, even if it was. It couldn't be a coincidence that there have been reports of a dark haired human wandering around. Of course, the wedding was still on, and hence because of that there were humans in Eurus right now. However, they were all meant to be inside the palace. None would be seen just wandering around like that. His mind was racing of all the possibilities. It was clear that she wanted to show them that she was here, yet she wouldn't strike just yet.

It honestly terrified him knowing that now Yaena and their baby may be in danger of having the same atrocities done on them like he has suffered.

But the queen is still her mother.

Briar almost wanted to bark out a laugh at that. Yes, she was her mother, however they didn't know what her mother has done to her. To them.

He let out a shaky sigh, placing his hands firmly against the table, leaning over it slightly. He tried to remain composed, attempted to remain as calm as possible. These men were not Yaena, he couldn't just pour out all of his emotions and worries for them to see. He needed to maintain an image. "I want you all to listen to me very carefully." he frowned, expression turning serious. "There is to be more patrols, and more guards stationed around the palace." he realised that would be no use against Selantheia, as all that would do is give her more flesh puppets filled with blood to control as she pleased. But having more guards stationed would at least give them a better chance at noticing if something was awry.

"I also want everyone to be aware of her presence. No secrets. I want my parents to know, I want Lady Reina to know. I want everyone else from the Narayan family to know." he added. He didn't want to take any chances. While it may bring a sense of discomfort to their guests, it was better than them being left in the dark. Plus, the increased number of guards would at least give them a sense of safety.

_______

Briar felt nervous upon heading down the marble steps with Yaena to join their wedding party for the second time; yet this time his nervousness was not because of them having to be around hundreds of people once again. It was not because of having to show his face to everyone again after he stormed out from the ballroom last night. No, he was reason because of.. something else.

He still hasn't told Yaena because he didn't know how to tell her. She looked so content this morning, she looked like she was glowing. She was radiating with happiness that he didn't want to destroy by delivering her a heap of bad news, so he decided to hold it off till later.

And later was now.

Just before they headed down the final set of marble steps, he gripped her wrist a little tighter to stop her. He turned to look at her all of a sudden, the anxiety in his eyes clearly showing. He knew that she probably assumed that he was nervous because of what happened during the first party, but he was about to prove her wrong.

He took in a breath before speaking. "The guards have told me some... troubling news to say the least." he said, throat bobbing slightly as he swallowed. "They think that... they think that they saw your mother in Eurus. Selantheia might be here at our wedding right now."

He dreaded the thought of it being true, yet if it was they needed to be ready for anything. They knew of her capabilities better than anyone. "Yaena... just.. promise that you won't go anywhere without me, okay?" his expression could not be more serious, and he took her hand in between both of his hands. "We'll always stick by each other's side no matter what, do you understand? Because if she is really here and if she hurts you I don't know what I'd do with myself."

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

Eventually, even Yaena had to get out of bed, she couldn’t just wear one of her normal gowns apparently. However, Reina had a gown waiting for her, one that looked like her wedding dress, but with a bit of a slimmer skirt as she would have to do more walking and dancing than she did at the ceremony itself.

When she had first seen the beautifully elegant elf, Reina curtly responded that she did not have enough time to fully explain to her just how remarkably stupid she and Briar were for leaving their own wedding. Originally Yaena was going to play coy and tell her that it wasn’t her fault that she had gotten sick, but Reina had told her to stop it and the rest of the morning went by in a strained silence. There were some days where Yaena thought that Reina was finally respecting her, as a queen and as an equal. However, there were mornings like these where she realized that it would be a long time before Reina ever saw her as anything more than a bratty child in need of discipline.

While obviously Yaena would prefer to have no party, she was not nearly as nervous as she was when she woke up on her wedding day. It wasn’t just because she and Briar were married now (though that played a big part), but she didn’t think they had anywhere to go but up. While Yaena’s little white lie eased some of the burden on them, she was sure that the elves now worried if they were going to have a fragile little queen. Now, fragility was less of a sin for women than it was for men but what if she died before producing a royal heir?

She could get through the day, she could make sure that she was so regal and charming to the guests that even Reina would approve, and then she could go back to being alone. If there was one good thing to say about Briar’s parents it’s that they didn’t seem to take much of an interest in her after her first night, not asking her many questions or sitting in on Reina’s instructions, she wished all other nobles followed their lead.

However, when she saw Briar the nerves were so apparent on his face, that when their eyes met she didn’t even feel like she had to ask him what was wrong. He would know that she noticed and he would answer, neither of them like hiding how they felt from the other.

When she felt his grip tightened she bit her lip, prepared to tell I’m that Calum wasn’t going to bother him at the wedding and that they would be able to get through this night but he stopped her.

They think that... they think that they saw your mother in Eurus. Selantheia might be here at our wedding right now.

Now it was her turn to freeze. Yaena had never been so naive as to think that she killed her mother, she honestly wasn’t sure her mother was even capable of dying. However, was it too much to hope that Yaena had at least neutralized her? Kept her out of everyone’s way for at least a few years? She had turned into a puff of smoke and Yaena wanted to allow herself to believe that she was safe, that Briar was safe, and that their baby would be safe.

But of course, that would be foolish, her mother would never let her go. In her eyes, Yaena was her property, her slave.

Yaena didn’t bother to ask him if he was sure, Selantheia was here, Yaena was sure of it, and she wanted to search for her right now. She wanted to interview every person in this palace from the nobles, to the servants, to even the musicians to see if they were her mother. She was not going to let Selantheia go near Briar and Yaena made a vow to her future child that they would never hav a reason to know who Selantheia was. Let her go the way of the boogeyman.

But Briar kept her still.

Just promise that you won't go anywhere without me okay?

Yaena wanted to refuse, not because she was a contrarian but because everything in her wanted to dedicate herself to getting rid of her mother right now. Yaena hated the idea that she could just be waiting around the ballroom and be watched by her mother without even knowing it.

She looked up at him and she knew that she would have to agree. While Yaena would fully be willing to put herself at risk to stop her mother, she was not willing to hurt Briar, or their unborn child to do so. “I-I promise.” She whispered up at him, hoping to hide how hard it was for her to say that. “And that goes to you too, don’t leave me okay?”

She did not want Briar to be in the same room as her mother. After all, while she had no doubt that her mother would kill Briar, her mother would never kill her. Not because Selantheia was ruled by maternal instinct but because she would never kill someone who was so similar to her. Yaena was betting that she still believed that she could bring her daughter back into the fold.

Not caring if anyone saw her, she went on her toes to give him a long kiss, they were about to walk into a room with far too many unknowns to be comfortable. Even if Selantheia wasn’t in the room, she could have countless followers in there. Who would notice a shifty-eyed servant of a curt chef?
___


Most of the time, it wasn’t difficult to keep her promise. They still had nobles to talk to and she and Briar’s remained by each other’s side. At this point she had apologized so much for having fallen ill that she was getting sick.


As the hours went by, she could notice some of the nobles relax but Yaena never did. She never forgot that the threat was looming. Nobody knows how dangerous she is except us, she thought to herself. Yes, everyone, both humans and elves knew of the sorceress who seduced the king and had unspeakable powers but nobody knew just how cruel she was. The humans probably thought that Selantheia was at least on their side and that her wrath would only effect elves.

The only lapse came after the speaking and after their dance. King Tristan had politely asked Briar if he could have a brotherly dance with the bride. Yaena would have no problem with that on any day other than today. He was her older brother, he would know why she was so scared.

“How did you get the scar on your leg?” Yaena asked, narrowing her eyes slightly, trying to think of a question that he would know that her mother didn’t.

Tristan didn’t seem to mind answering it, “You were running from your sister, having stolen one of father’s daggers and you hid behind me and then accidentally stabbed me in the leg.”

Yaena looked at Briar, and seemingly decided that trusted Tristan so the king gently led Yaena out to the dance floor. His very pregnant wife watching from her seated position with a gentle smile.

After a few minutes she could feel Briar tapping her shoulder and she turned around before he whispered in her ear about how they had to see the lake. Given that all their most emotional conversations happened at the lake, Yaena kissed her brother on the cheek before, in her mind, scurried off with her husband to sneak outside again.

“I swear this time, if anyone notices, you’re taking the blame okay?” She asked with a laugh before they approached it’s glowing waters. Usually, the lake either welcomed her or just acknowledged her, but now it was repelling her. Telling her in it’s ancient language to run away, to flee before it hurt her. Did she make the water angry in some way?

She wrapped her own arm around Briar, watching him look at the pretty blue flowers, that had just grown and handing one of them to her.

“You look beautiful daughter,” Yaaena did not even turn to the voice.

Her fists clenched and she held Briar tighter to her as though that would protect him. She was able to defeat Selantheia once she would do it again, “What are you doing here?” Yaena demanded, her voice venomous.

“To tell you I forgive you,” Selantheia walked closer to her and Yaena sent all the pain that she could, “Please, stop with the party trick, you can not hurt me with the weapons I gave you.” She said coldly and Yaena could feel the power emanating on her. “I was furious at you at first, I thought of all the things I could do to you, your husband and…” Her eyes glanced downwards and she grinned at the fear that danced in Yaena’s eyes.

Selantheia put her hand on her stomach, gently caressing it like a grandmother-to-be would, “You truly think low of me if you think I would kill my own blood,” She chucked, “But what I wanted to tell you was that I remembered when I was your age, I fell in love with every boy who gave me the slightest attention, and it’s not your fault.”

Her mother opened her arms and Yaena remained where she was.

“Come on, give me a hug, and I will be out of your life until you decide to have me again. I am still your mother and thus I will always be there for you when you need me.” Her voice was so gentle, so warm, it felt like an embrace in itself, “We are the only ones of our kind in this world and it breaks my heart to be away from you.”

I will be out of your life, would be all that she needed to hear to take the risk. With slow tentative steps, Yaena moved to wrap her arms around her mother, feeling the older woman stroke her hair.

“There’s my pretty girl.”

What she heard next wasn’t a pop, but a gurgle. Yaena turned her head only to see Briar’s throat cut completely open, as though a claw just sank through his thought and pulled something out. Blood was falling onto the blue flowers like rubies and all Yaena could do was shriek in horror, the servants back in Zhicra probably hearing her.

She didn’t even waste time in confronting her mother, she just fell to her knees and put Briar’s head in her lap. The lake she thought in all her fear as she stared into its blue eye, it was warning her. I need to put him in the lake, so Yaena took him up and gently sat him into the lake’s water.

And then the world burned.

For anyone watching her, it looked like the princess danced with her brother, left alone, spoke to her known terrifying mother. Was put on her knees in pain before Selantheia finally added slaying to her crimes.

 

[Average.]

All Briar could do was feel anxiety upon seeing Yaena head off to dance with Tristan, however he reassured himself that he was able to answer a question that Selantheia probably would have never known. This was no clone, this was Tristan, and while Briar wanted to just grab Yaena's wrist and keep her glued to his side at all times... he had to accept the fact that such a thing wouldn't work in a wedding.

He watched them dancing for a little while, his mind racing about all the possibilities, about everything that could go wrong. He wondered how many clones Selantheia could control at a time. Probably a lot, considering her immense power. He felt paranoid of everyone around him; what if everyone except for Yaena and Tristan were clones? Which one of them was Selantheia?

Soon, Briar snapped out of his thoughts and he realised that he couldn't see Yaena anymore. He could see that Tristan was alone, and his heart started to beat faster with panic. Where was she? He told her to not wander off by herself without him!
He was trying to weave his way through the crowd, politely greeting anyone who he made eye contact with, trying to get to Tristan as quickly as possible to ask where Yaena went.

That was until he heard a shriek, and his blood went cold. It was as if the entire ballroom has frozen in time. The music stopped, everything, and distressed murmurs broke out.

His hand flew to his chest to grip it as he suddenly felt an undeniable pain, and the familiarity of it made him feel sick. The pain was spreading through him, wave after wave. But amongst that pain, he was able to feel something else. A desperate call, it was barely louder than a whisper, yet he felt something trying to draw him closer like magnet. He has never felt such a sensation before, yet somehow he was still able to tell where it originated from.

The lake.

He glanced at his hands, the veins in them were beginning to blacken, spreading through his blood like some terrible blight. It made him want to just sink to his knees, yet not with Yaena being in danger. Not with their baby being in danger.

Briar threw aside any code of etiquette that he was expected to follow and just started to push and shove his way through the crowd, however for once none of the nobles gave him any looks of offence. Their faces were filled with concern and confusion.

Upon reaching the gardens, his legs almost buckled from the shock upon witnessing the scene before him.

There was Yaena on her knees before Selantheia, and his corpse.. his corpse was in the lake. There was a sickening sizzling sound emitting from it, and the water's gorgeous cyan colour was being tainted by the redness of the blood from the corpse. That corpse wasn't him... so the lake was treating it as something that wasn't supposed to be touching it, no matter if it looked like him or not. It was slowly dissolving in it's powerful acid, doomed to be turned into nothing if given the time.

He reached his hand out and was about to run towards Yaena, to embrace her, to do anything to help her... yet suddenly, Selantheia grabbed Yaena by the arm and just.. flung her into the lake. His world froze around him, and he stared in horror as the water started to sizzle around Yaena's body. It would get through her skin, her muscle, her flesh, her bone..

He needed to get to her, he needed to take her out-

The agony that was burning in him was worse than it has ever been. He felt as if a clawed hand had it's grip around his heart, digging it's claws into it, threatening to pierce it at any second. Was this the end? Was this what Selantheia wanted? He would have expected if Selantheia was here to kill him, but he never would have expected for Selantheia to turn on her own daughter too like this, even after Yaena attacking her back at Zhicra.

After that, he didn't know what was happening anymore. It was as if his body had a consciousness of it's own, and all he could do was watch.

He sprung back up onto his feet and dove into the lake despite the pain, despite the dark magic that Selantheia was pressing into him. He lifted Yaena up out of the water, into his arms. Upon him coming in contact with the lake's water like this, he felt a warmth go through him that was even stronger than the pain he was feeling. It energised him, it made him feel so alive. He never felt like this before. There was a rage in his eye, yet now it didn't even feel like Briar was staring back at Selantheia anymore. It was someone else, something else in Briar's body, taking control of every muscle in him.

He held out his hand, eye widening upon noticing tiny blue flames beginning to dance at his fingertips, only growing larger and larger. They were such a bright blue, exactly like the lake's magnificent cyan eye. They felt warm, yet they did not burn him. The flames were like a tidal wave, a mob, a stampede growing constantly, angrily charging towards Selantheia. They were ready to incinerate anything that stood in their way.

They caught Selantheia, burning her harder than the lake's water ever could, and any plant or flower that was unfortunate enough to stand in their way instantly caught fire. Soon, the blue flames were not only being cast from Briar's hand, but they were also thriving all around them. They were spreading from plant to plant, flower to flower, tree to tree. They were consuming everything, and soon the entire garden was encased in this bright cyan glow. The leafy crowns of the weeping willow trees were instead replaced by giant crowns of blue fire. The flames were a monster, prepared to devour this entire garden and Selantheia along with it.

Suddenly, Briar blinked as if he just now managed to snap himself out of some trance, and he stared wide eyed with horror at what has been done, at what he has done. His grip tightened on Yaena. and he immediately started to flee with her in his arms, out of the gardens while they still had a chance.

He would not go back into the ballroom, it would take too long to move through the panicking crowd. He made the decision to go in through the courtyard and then up the stairs to take her to the closest medic.

He needed to help her, he needed to find a medic for her now, for if she died he wouldn't know what to do with himself. His world would be shattered.

All he needed to do was remain calm, all he needed to do was remain rational and keep his emotions under control for now. That was what was most important.
Yaena and the baby were the most important.

 

[bambi-under-the-sky]

Yaena had never been close to death before.

She has been punched, slapped, kicked, strangled, stabbed, and cursed but never once had she been worried she was about to die. It wasn’t just because none of those attacks were strong enough to kill her but because she had never really cared whether or not she was going to live or die. It wasn’t that Yaena had been suicidal, she didn’t want to die it was just that for a long time she didn’t care, if she had died on the boat ride she was on to meet her future husband she would have been fine with that.

But now all she could do was focus her energy on one phrase: I am not going to die.

She was not going to die here, and the only thing she was paying attention to is keeping herself here and in the moment. She couldn’t think about the stinging pain of the lake, how every piece of her felt like it was somehow drying up. She couldn’t even think about how the world around her burned blue for a moment, Briar included. I have to live, our baby has to live. Yaena didn’t know how much what people said about expecting mothers knowing about their bodies was true. But she hoped it was because she could still feel it’s life in her stomach, her baby wasn’t just alive it was as though the baby was giving her life.

Yaena hung in Briar’s arms as he ran off with her, her mind only barely acknowledging the crowd that was watching them. Yesterday, she thought the worst thing Briar and Yaena could ever do at their wedding was leave early, that the scandal leaving the wedding would be that Yaena “fell ill” (something that nobody believed but nobody could disprove). The two were so naive. There were some who were trying to follow them, after all, these two were the future king and queen and of the nation and while they didn’t know the whole story, they did see the evil queen attack the princess so at least any rumors that Yaena was aligned with her mother was put to rest.

She was laid not he medical beds, the medics asking Briar to take a step back while they worked on her, They had to take a dagger to the gown she was in, but she didn’t think either of them cared. “Okay she is still alive, I can hear her heartbeat.”

Being spoken to directly for the first time allowed Yaena to speak up her voice hoarse before pointing at her stomach, “My baby, make sure that my baby is okay.” She pleaded, not caring that until now their upcoming baby was a secret and it revealed that Yaena and Briar consummated their relationship before they were married. None of that mattered, she just wanted to make sure that whatever the medics gave her, it wasn’t going to induce a miscarriage.

The doctors hearing what she said and being too engrossed int her work to act shocked, gave her something that made her drowsy.
_________

Three hours later it was discovered something miraculous happened. Their baby wasn’t just alive, it appeared to be healing her, whether it be due to the fact that it inherited Yaena’s magic or…and this was the more likelier of the two, that any of Briar’s children would have a connection to the lake that connection saved both the baby and the mother’s life. When Yaena had first fallen asleep, she was stable but with scarring, Briar was right when he said the lake as acid, but now looking at her you would have thought she had burnt herself while cooking or had a lab accident.

It was probably an ungodly hour right now, the sun still hasn’t risen but Yaena’s eyes fluttered open and landed on Briar who’s throat didn’t look like someone scratched it much less cut it. She reached her hand out so that he could hold it, so they could be tethered again. Now it was Yaena’s turn to become an emotional sap.

“I thought she killed you,” Yaena whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks, “W-we were by the lake and my mother showed up and she killed you, I just was trying to heal..” Yaena couldn’t even finish the sentence before crying again, her mother had tricked her, and she fell for it.


The memories were coming back to her, she felt similar to the way she did when she had discovered her curse. There had been so much fire that Yaena had worried she had already died mainly because she had never seen such a sight before. Her mother was screaming, shrieking, she had never heard her mother sound so desperate before, the screams were there until they weren’t.


“Is my mother, is she dead?” She asked whispering as though if she said the words loud enough her mother would somehow hear them and show that she wasn’t, her eyes suddenly widened, “What about the baby?”

Yaena had so many questions, who wouldn’t in her situation and she listened until everyone gave her answers, for once looking down instead of at others because that was a lot of information to process but the most important thing was simple: She, Briar, and their child were still alive and her mother was not.

They had won, her mother had tried multiple times to take them from each other but she failed. Their child was going to grow up in a better world, a more peaceful world and that was enough to make Yaena not care about anything else and she let herself smile, feeling relieved. For twenty two years she had lived in terror of her mother. Selantheia was good at making Yaena afraid of everything, from the intentions of people she should have been close too (how much more time would she have spent with her siblings if it weren’t for her mother), afraid of the world around her and worst of all afraid of herself. She would never get those years back but she would never give up any more of them.

“I love you,” She told him and she wanted to tell him again and again, “I love you so much, and the only thing I’m thinking about now is the future we’re going to have together.” She explained smiling softly.
_______

Yaena and Briar have broken their streak of most days going by without someone trying to kill them.

It was as though they used up their year supply of suffering on Zhicra and their wedding and now their award was living a peaceful life. For the first time, Yaena had managed to relax, for so long she still scared that something from the shadows would jump out and that fear would never go away. However, it no longer ruled her life, she had Briar and she had their baby and in the foreseeable future nothing was even going to threaten them.

Unfortunately, she had been spending a lot of time with the palace medics for what seemed like countless reasons. First, she survived Selantheia pushing her into the lake and people wanted to be sure they knew what the effects of that were. Second, she was pregnant with the royal heir and it was vitally important to everyone in the palace that the delivery go as seamless as possible. And finally, she was the first woman to be pregnant with a halfling child (who people would actually care about), the medics did not want to take any risks. If Yaena felt fatigued one morning she would have to talk to an overworked doctor by lunchtime.

The only truly strange thing to get used to was just how many more people were obligated to her and Briar’s time now. She was especially surprised with her she always knew that when Briar became king, he would have to spend more time in meetings and such. She knew and she forced herself to accept it, she wasn’t a child she wasn’t going to be petulant enough to put her needs over that of an entire nation. However, it seemed like she went from being just “the little human princess” to “the human queen.” Whenever she walked through the palace there was always a cloud of people eager to talk to her and while she understood it was the price of maturity Yaena had to suppress the desire to hide under her bed.

For the last two weeks, she had been almost completely in the medical wing, her due-date was coming. By now, Yaena was clearly showing, and she and Briar had a friendly bet over the gender of their baby. Yaena was convinced it was going to be a boy because it made sense to her. She had three brothers and only one sister and Briar himself only had a brother, it appeared that boys were common in both of their families. Besides, she had the vision at the blood tree and she just knew those things.

Before she had left, Inka swore that their children would be friends. Three months ago she had given birth to her own son, named Haydian for the brother that he had lost. Zhicra finally had an heir and they could all breathe a little easier. Yaena wished that she could meet him, she was always fond of all her nieces and nephews (Viria had a boy and a girl, and Tristan now had a boy) but both she and Briar could do without traveling to Zhicra for the time being.

While she didn’t like remaining stationary, she now had a lot of time to herself, when she wasn’t with Briar she was catching up on the reading that she had been neglecting on. By now, she didn’t need as much elvish lessons, she still felt embarrassed speaking the language in front of anyone who was not Briar, she had had to get over that embarrassment and the best way to learn a language was through immersion.

She looked at her husband with a playful smile putting her book down, “I’d hate to waste your valuable royal time but could you please get me a copy of The Eclipsing of Nations, I asked for it before but they brought me the wrong one.”

It had not been ten minutes since Briar was off on his noble task where she noticed that there was liquid now seeping the bed.

____

Balin, a young servant with ears that were small by elvish standards and short red hair was sprinting down the halls into the royal library, he had heard from the other servants that he was now in danger of being hit in the face with a book multiple times but he did not mind.

He ran until he reached the king and he cleared his throat, “U-uh your grace I hate to interrupt you but,” His face was bright red, he didn’t look older than a child at this moment, “The doctor say the queen is going into labor.”

 

[Average.]

It has been three hours since then. Three long hours, and Briar never left her side. He was sitting on a chair right near the bed side, his gaze always focused on her. His eye would search her face, searching for any signs of her about to wake up.

His nerves have already been calmed by the medic who promised to him that Yaena and the baby would both be alright, by some miracle. It was a miracle, for Yaena has suffered remarkably minimal scarring. From what he has saw that the lake has done to the corpse of his clone.. he feared worse for Yaena, yet now three hours later.. she looked significantly better than when he took her out of the lake.

Yet his mind was also constantly dwelling on what he has done. More importantly how he has done it. One moment the gardens were flourishing like they normally would and were perfectly intact, and the next they were engulfed in a raging inferno of blue fire. Did the lake give him that power? If it did, why did he only discover it now? Was it awakened within him because of the intense emotions he felt, or was the lake just using him as a vessel to protect itself from danger? Whatever the reason was, Briar was aware of this power, this flame within him now; and he didn't know what to do with it. Of course, he realised that it was going to remain dormant within him for most of the time since now that Eurus was at peace there was no reason for him to use them anymore. The threat was gone, and now they could finally enjoy a peaceful life together.

It felt so strange, almost impossible to believe that they could actually breathe for once without worrying that someone would try to separate them. He didn't know if Selantheia was truly gone, but he suspected that she would at least be gone for much longer than he was after she disappeared from Zhicra.

Immediately when he heard her moving, he was on high alert, shooting up from the chair so fast that he ended up knocking it over before sitting down on the bed side instead. He gently took her hand in between both of his hands and listened to her. He let her cry, he let her get all those emotions out, she needed it. Briar would have cried too if he didn't receive news from the medic that Yaena and the baby would be alright, and if he wasn't so tired. All he wanted to do was let sleep take him. All he wanted to do was just embrace Yaena and remain by her side for as long as they both needed to remain by each other.

My mother, is she dead? What about the baby?

Briar smiled softly at her, leaning in to give her a loving kiss on the temple. "I don't know, sali." now he wished that he could provide her with a better answer, but he wouldn't lie to her for the sake of comforting her. It was true, he did not know if she is dead. "But.. somehow I doubt that she will come back for us as quickly as she did after the incident in Zhicra. If she will come back.. we'll be ready for her." he added confidently, hoping that would make a more sufficient answer. He broke eye contact for a moment and instead chose to look down at her hand, gently caressing it with his thumb.

"The baby is alright, Yaena. Trust me.." he soon moved closer to her, their noses almost touching as he placed his hand affectionately over her belly.

"I love you too... and our future will be a bright one. I can tell."

_______

One moment Briar was making use of his spare time to go and see Yaena, and the next he was heading down the grand marble steps into the library because the servants were all incompetent oafs.

Let's just say that a lot has happened over these couple months. To Briar it still sometimes felt like their marriage has only happened yesterday and that he was still a carefree prince. However now, things were different. If he wasn't in the court room listening to nobles ramble about imports and exports, it was him sitting on a throne made of gold and obsidian, listening to people's problems. And if he wasn't doing any of those things, he was spending all the time he could with Yaena, asking her how she was feeling and having friendly debate after debate with her about whether their baby was going to be a girl or a boy.

Yes, Briar was king now, and it felt more like a dream than a reality. It wasn't a nightmare, to be honest he has settled into his new role better than he thought he would have, and it was not because of Lady Reina's relentlessness during her lessons of etiquette. He liked to think that achievement was all him. It reinforced his confidence that he didn't need to be babysat in order to be a good king and that he could rely on his own decisions. After all... there was nothing worse than the king becoming nothing more than a puppet to his own court. He could not allow that to happen. Those were his father's words, and as much as he hated hearing his father's voice in his head... sometimes repeating those words to himself was useful.

During his and Yaena's coronation he held his head high, and as he felt the weight of his new crown on his head, he squeezed Yaena's hand as they listened to the crowd cheering their names. It were moments like these where he realised just how much Yaena has influenced him and his life, of course in a positive way. He felt like because of her he was able to grow as a person more than he ever could have grown by himself.

He hardly noticed the servant enter the room, figuring that they were simply here on their own business to clean up. So he continued throwing whichever book wasn't the correct one over his shoulder and onto the floor. Some things never change, it seemed.

However.. when he heard that the servant told him next, he just dropped every book he was holding onto the floor and his full attention was on the servant. He was staring at the boy over his shoulder, his eye wide with shock and rising panic and excitement. Immediately he climbed down the ladder without saying any further word to the red-headed servant before just running past him, out of the library and back up the steps. He didn't find the book Yaena was looking for, however that could wait.

Everything could wait.

The doctor was already there assisting Yaena when he arrived into the room, panting slightly from how fast he ran up here. Immediately, he landed on his knees on the floor right next to the bed side.

He took Yaena's hand into his - completely unsuspecting of what was about to happen to it - before looking at her. "Stay calm, sali. Everything will be fine." he spoke, sounding breathless. He would be there for her till the end, no matter if he had to stay here in this exact position for a whole twelve hours, he was not going anywhere. "We're going to have our baby, isn't that amazing?" he grinned. There was concern on his face, it would definitely be difficult watching Yaena be in so much pain, yet at the same time there was excitement. He was so excited to finally get a chance to see their baby boy or girl.

And finally... they would settle their debate on who was right.

"Bet you it's going to be a girl, just watch." he whispered to her, holding her hand tight (tight... he was about to get tight) and never letting go.

Finally they would get a chance to hold their bundle of joy, finally their desires that have been shown to them by the blood tree will be made into a reality. It didn't matter if it was a boy or a girl, it didn't matter if the baby inherited more of Briar's or more of Yaena's features, it didn't matter if the baby would be a halfling. What mattered is that they were going to have a baby. Their baby.

And from now on, their life would be perfect.