The duvet weighed heavy on Leia, much like her racing thoughts. Tears trailed itself over the reddened marks of her slightly swollen cheek.
She had said no. It was the bravest thing she had ever done. Somewhere deep down inside, she found a way to tell her mother no. The slap was sudden and she felt it burn all the way to her heart as she had stared open mouthed at her mother.
"You will listen to me young lady," she had said. The rest was as though her mother were speaking underwater.
Threats.
Her mother had spewed a number of threats. Promising to keep her away from her brothers, whom she had practically raised while her mother was off in the Land of Faeries doing gods know what.
Anger had blazed in Leia then and she was sure her mother had seen it and she braced for another slap.
"It's the only way to truly end this. The faeries will always come looking for trouble." Her mother had warned.
Dakath could control his people. It was what Leia kept telling herself. Yet the faeries at the lake and the creatures she fought in the tavern spurned in her mind. He had had to fight his own people to get her out of the tavern alive. Could his reign be enough to keep the hatred of the faeries who remember the war away from their land?
She tossed in bed, trying her best to drift off to sleep. The room was dark, the moon hidden behind the rainy clouds that matched her mood. She kept waiting for Dakath to slip into her room. She left the window open for him, but nothing came in except the cold wind that chilled the room and left her with ice in her heart as she drowned in fear and loneliness.
Birds chirped periodically but the sound was more like an alarm that made it difficult to sleep. She could run to him. Take another boat from the fishermen on the coast, but that would take too long and the war would remain ongoing and so will her people's suffering.
There was no wrong or right road to travel. She had to choose, but both routes lead to suffering for her. People will win and lose with either choice. How could she secure the health and happiness of her people with her mother on the throne? The question dug its tendrils into her mind, drawing pure darkness. Pure pain.
She felt utterly helpless as she threw the duvet off and slammed the window shut. She started a fire in the hearth, letting the heat warm her face so that her tears would stop feeling like ice daggers scraping at her cheeks.
The small couch in the room was comfortable enough as she settled into it, watching the flames rise, fall and lash at itself in its flickering movement.
It was there that she settled in a restless sleep, clutching her chest as if that would ease the ache of what pained her most.
***
"Oh dear." Ava murmured, causing her to stir and wake. Leia was glad to see her here and unglamoured.
The light from her open drapes immediately caused a piercing pain through Leia's head as she opened her eyes. She groaned, covering them with her hands. Her fingers lightly touched her swollen eyelids and she groaned again.
"Oh dear." Leia confirmed. "I must look like the living dead."
Ava tisked as she took the blanket from Leia, folding it and setting it aside on the couch. "You have slept through breakfast, Your Highness. I must get you ready for the meeting at the border."
"And mother?" Leia asked, letting Ava lead her to the adjoining bath chamber. The water was already filled and delightfully warm.
"Is in a meeting with the General Hankins," Ava said, passing Leia the soap and taking her leave to fix the room.
Leia made quick work of cleaning herself. The last thing she wanted was to be late for when they were ready to leave.
Ava dressed her in silence. Leia wondered if she knew the specifics of what was to happen today. Surely gossip would be rippling through the staff at lightning speed.
When she was finished, Leia slipped out wearing the crimson coat over the simple black dress she had requested for the day.
She ran straight into General Hankins leaving one of the offices on the ground floor. "Lei, are you okay?"
"I–uh," she started. She caught her mother's gaze out of the corner of her eye and she swallowed the lump in her throat. General Hankins was the closest thing to a father growing up. She couldn't risk telling him any of the thoughts that clambered around in her mind. The queen owned him, just as she owned Leia. "I'm fine."
Seven horses were readied and waiting for them and two members of the royal guard by the time they reached the front doors of the castle.
Leia kissed the muzzle of her horse. "Hey Ginny," she said to her childhood horse. "I missed you."
The horse rubbed the side of its face into hers before licking her, something she only did when she felt Leia was in pain.
Leia closed her eyes. "I'm okay." She lied before swinging herself up on the saddle.
A guard came over with her bow and arrow in hand. She felt a curling in her stomach as she took it, looking over to her mother who had a tight smile on her face.
The horses trotted off together. Leia was surprised they didn't ride in a carriage but she supposed it had something with whatever her mother was planning and the need for a swift getaway.
Dakath and his brothers were waiting across the small strip of ocean separating the two lands. What used to be the front of opposing armies trying to cross the lands, was now a dirty wasteland. The grass no longer grew there and the mud was perpetually damp as though completely saturated by the blood of the soldiers. Even the air had a tinged smell of metal and salt.
There was a large strip of limestone that created a road of sorts to bridge the gap between the lands that Dakath must have used his magic to make.
Leia looked back at her brothers. Their pale faces were grim with dread. They were completely unaware of their mother's alternate plan. She expected to feel the familiar sting of tears behind her eyes but there was nothing but a hollow feeling in her chest. If she were to disobey her mother, this would be the last time she saw them. The people would continue to suffer in other ways under her selfish reign and she would be unable to stop her from the Land of Faeries.
She looked at Dakath and his brothers. Their faces were blank as they waited for her. She guided Ginny to the stone. The horse threatened to buck but she shushed her, leaning forward and running a hand on her neck. "It's okay girl. The waves won't get you."
The trip lasted seconds and yet to Leia, it felt like an eternity of mental conflict. Dakath helped her off of Ginny, the curls on the top of his hair were wild and the glint in his eyes were so hopeful that it was enough to make Leia feel an overwhelming rush of guilt.
"Today, we are going to end this." He whispered. He passed a simple wooden cup that was secured in some way with a lid to her, keeping his hand on hers. She knew it was the enchanted water and nodded before she leaned her forehead against his. They did not need to speak, at least she knew that Dakath felt that they didn't need to.
She savored the warmth of his hand and the smell of his skin, that earthly smell that the wind carried to her. That same smell she had been washed in those times he let her in and bared his soul to her.
It's time.
Atreyu's voice sounded in her mind. She looked over to see that her family was retreating back on their horses to give them some space.
She stood behind the three brothers, her shoulder aching where the straps of her bow were fastened tightly, the weapon itself feeling unusually heavy.
Roarke walked until his feet were in the water while Dakath stayed at the shore with Atreyu to his right.
Dakath kneeled first, speaking a language unfamiliar to Leia. She shifted with nerves as he touched the earth.
A blast of wind pulled her hair out of its quick braid. She covered her eyes, squinting through the blowing sand and dirt. The other two brothers knelt and touched the earth and a glowing triangle hummed through.
Leia's heart raced in anticipation. A wall of light slowly climbed towards the sky and Leia could no longer see beyond it.
With shaking hands she notched an arrow into the bow, raising it to Dakath's back as tears spilled from her eyes.
It's the only way to truly end this. She repeated what her mother had said to her.
For a moment she was no longer the young woman she was then, but the naive daughter of a queen on the eaves of the roof that night. Dakath turned and his eyes were just as startling as it was the night they met. Cold and unforgiving. That ancient knowledge that irked her then, scared her now. But there was something else that she noticed. Fear.
"Leia?" he asked. The pain filled in that one word struck her straight through her gut.
The time they shared together made it more difficult to keep her aim. It was as though she could feel his lips against hers, his body, warm and solid against her soft skin. The ridges of his muscles as he gently pressed himself into her. The burning chill that his lips would leave across her body as she curled her fingers into the sheets.
His laugh echoed through her memory, mischievous and pure. She would kill to see that glint in his eyes that he reserved for her again.
She loved him.
A vine crept towards her, but it stuttered and went limp as Dakath screamed out, pushing his magic into trying to tear this dimension into two new ones.
Leia physically jumped at the sound, her hand gripping tighter onto the end of the arrow. It wasn't just any scream.
He was dying.
Just then, Roarke turned, his face twisted in horror as he saw her frozen with the arrow still aimed at Dakath's back.
She dropped it.
She raised her dress in a frantic run towards Dakath, her knees crashing into the earth next to him.
"I'll get this where it needs to go." She promised, holding the cup he gave her infront of him.
He was sweating and looking paler by the minute. His nod was weak, but it was enough for her to know he understood. He understood her desperate actions that weren't her own.
She caressed his cheek. "I vow, I will always be yours Dakath."
A golden tear slipped from his eyes as he shut them and screamed again. The wall continued to climb into a dome and Leia knew she was running out of time.
"My p–pocket." He choked out before losing himself in a coughing spree. Gold spewed out from his mouth and Leia shrieked in horror.
"Dakath!"
"My pock–." More coughs squeezed from his chest.
Leia had never felt so scared. If he died it would be her fault. He would have been safe if he had the pearl, but she lost it to the merpeople. If he died, it would haunt her for as long as she lived. She reached into her pocket and pulled out four rings, one for each of her family members if the plan had stayed its course.
"Until we meet again." Dakath's horsed whisper floated towards her.
"Dakath..." They didn't know if he would even survive this. Then there was the complexities of crossing dimensions to meet again. A promise like that broken would crush them both.
"Until we meet... again, my love." He choked out.
She slipped one ring on and tossed the rest with her arrows. With one last look at him, she hopped onto Ginny and raced back to her land. Crossing the light felt like her soul was trying to rip from her body to stay in the Land of Faeries.
She screamed as she hunched over in the saddle. She kicked into Ginny's side just enough for her to stay in a full run past her family. Her mother shouted behind her but she kept going.
"Kill her if you must!" Her mother's shout tore through her heart.
She kept low as gunshots rang out behind her, putting Ginny in an uneven run. They moved in an unpredictable pattern as she made her way to the treatment plant, her hair whipping behind her.
She sent her thoughts to the sky, hoping somehow Atreyu might pick up on it and get the message to Dakath.
Until we meet again, my love.
###
Author's Note
Woohoooo we are at the end Dear Readers! Thank you for joining me and my characters on this wonderful journey in The War of Crowns!
Next week I will be editing and adding songs and then onto writing the novel version behind the scenes. I will be swapping out the songs for more instrumental music for the novel version.
I truly hope you enjoyed it! Tell me, what do you think of the ending?
(29, 997 words avg. minus author's notes etc.)
With Love,
Miriam <3