"Careful!" a voice cut through the stillness of the empty seaside town. Juniper glanced at the other students at her side, her cheeks flooding with embarrassing heat as their professor lunged to catch the equipment she'd nearly dropped.
"Sorry," she mumbled, kicking pale sand from her shoes. She paused for a moment before she was unable to keep her question to herself any longer. "Are we nearly there?"
"Almost," the professor sighed, having answered the question twice already from the two other students at his side, "Do you three really hate the beach that much?"
At Juniper's side, Owen scowled. "I hate the beach when we've been combing it for days with no sign of anything. I'm starting to think that this was a fool's mission."
"But the locals said that there was plenty of stuff around here for us to find!" Rory, a bookish girl with ginger hair and a thin smattering of freckles pointed out. Juniper watched her glance at her notebook, scratching at her cheek as she squinted at the many maps she'd taped to her pages.
"Have some faith," their professor chided, a wiry old man dressed in shorts and a loose t-shirt. He peered out at the beach with rheumy eyes. "The locals haven't lied. I've found many notable artifacts at this sight."
"Really? Then where are they?" Owen asked disbelievingly. As if in answer, there was a large groan in the distance followed by a thud. Juniper barely jumped at the sound. She'd heard it in the three days they'd been scouring the beach for the supposed gem of an archaeological find. It was the sound of the dilapidated castle at the other end of the beach crumbling, large chunks of stone falling away. It had clearly been a magnificent architectural wonder once, but it had been long abandoned. It was still a mystery as to who had inhabited the broken down castle and the sprawling lands surrounding it. The lands had been filled by many, quiet fishing families who enjoyed the coast, their families having resided here for centuries.
Whatever historical artifacts may exist in this sleepy town were buried deep beneath the sprawling green hills, thick forest, and pale beach.
"Just think of it as a vacation. I certainly am." their professor muttered as they reached the end of the beach. He frowned at the treeline. "Here it is. The locals say that they've seen someone lurking around here. They suspect that illegal digging has been going on."
Juniper squinted, her eyes widening as they caught an irregularity in the landscape.
"There!" Rory exclaimed, "The dirt is freshly churned."
They all scrambled closer. The professor carefully laid out his tools, beckoning his students closer.
"What do you notice?" he asked, impatience colouring his tone. They were all eager to begin digging, but alas, the professor had to indulge their curious, studious minds first.
"The ground is fresh and wet," Owen noted, "Whoever dug here did so recently."
"And they did it carefully," Rory added, pointing at the ground with her pen, "They weren't hasty. And there aren't any marks suggesting that anything was dragged away."
Juniper's heart fluttered with excitement. "So maybe they took nothing away!" she exclaimed.
The professor frowned then, leaning back to inspect the grounds. "Odd," he murmured, "Do any of you see any footsteps moving away from this location?"
Juniper scoured the ground. She didn't see anything of the like.
"Curious," their professor murmured, hoisting his tools, "Well, let's see what we've found, then."
The dig took hours. It helped that the ground was soft and their tools were advanced, but it was still grueling work. Juniper was sweating and panting when her instrument struck something hard.
"Here!" she exclaimed, brushing away dirt carefully. Then she flinched.
Starting up at her was a skull.
"Good heavens," the professor murmured from the other side. Juniper looked up and nearly fainted.
Peering up at the professor was a perfectly preserved face. There were no signs of decay at all. It was as if the elderly woman had simply gone to sleep.
They worked quickly, uncovering the rest of the grave. Two bodies had been nestled close to one another, curled up tightly against one another. Rory recognised it as a couple's burial. Juniper identified that they were both women, including the skeleton.
It made no sense. One perfectly preserved but the other being nothing but bones. If it were any other grave, they could have concluded that the couple only had the funds to preserve one of the two. But the bodies were surrounded by rich jewels and weapons, suggesting that money hadn't been a problem.
"Look at this!" Owen called out from the foot of the grave. He used a brush to flick away flecks of mud and twigs from what appeared to be a stone tablet. "Do you recognise the language?"
The professor squinted at the worn etchings on the surface. "It's an older tongue, but I can translate it. 'Here lies-'" Abruptly, the professor choked, his eyes bugging out. He stumbled back, one hand pressed against his chest like he was having a heart attack.
Juniper stared at him in confusion.
"Professor?" Rory called out hesitantly, "Are you alright?"
The old man swallowed, shuffling closer. He kneeled next to Owen, removing his snug cap.
"Here lies Queen Tigris Otilla Silvia, beloved queen and wife. May she rest peacefully." The professor moved a shaking finger towards the other half of the tablet, its words scrawled in more hastily with jagged marks, "And her wife, Roche Silvia. Ala and wife. May she rest for once in her life."
There was silence for a moment. Then chaos exploded. Owen dropped his brush, stumbling away with a pale face.
"No way!" he gasped, "Queen Silvia? The queen from the centuries old legends? I thought that she was a myth!"
"Well, we just found her grave. And the Ala's." Rory murmured faintly, clutching her books to her chest.
Their professor was nearly weeping, raving about the implications of this find.
All Juniper could do was stare at the two bodies nestled close to each other. A skeleton dressed with a crown, worn from centuries of decay as it should.
And the other. An elderly woman, perfectly preserved. She wore no crown yet she was dressed in a fine gown. Her warm brown skin glowed as the light danced upon it, as if blood still flowed through despite her unmoving chest.
Suddenly, Juniper thought of her professor's earlier observations. There were only footsteps leading to the grave, not away.
Juniper gazed at the face of the preserved woman. Then she turned to her companions once more.
"We need to leave them alone," she insisted.
There were shouts. Hollers of confusion and outrage. Demands to know what on earth she was raving about.
Juniper convinced them that they needed to spread their search. If the legendary queen had been found, then what else could be in the forest beyond? Yes, of course they could take photos for the archaeology journal first. Oh dear, the cameras were broken, such a shame. Well, they could always come back to jot down their findings.
After hours of sweet talking, Juniper watched her excited companions walk away, joyously discussing their finds. The moment they stepped into the treeline, she kneeled next to the grave.
"Hello, Ala," she whispered, "I have what you're looking for. You left these at the library and confused quite a few people. Next time, just ask me and I'll bring these to you."
Juniper reached into her pocket, pulling out two necklaces in the shape of an owl. She smiled as it fell into the elderly woman's hands.
"Goodbye, Ala," Juniper murmured, rising to her feet. Ink flowed out of her hand, "Rest well."
Juniper turned and walked away, smiling as her ink rearranged the dig site back into its natural state. If she'd turned around, she would have seen the elderly woman's lips curl with a smile. Instead, Juniper continued to walk away, deeper into the forest of a sleepy town that had somehow managed to survive centuries after its surrounding nations had withered away into nothing but ashes.
The Ala lived as long as language did. For as long as she lived, she protected the legacy of the woman she loved, their people, and the descendants of their people. She swore to do so until death.
Roche Silvia did not die.
A/N: And that's the end! :D
After nearly an entire year, The Way We Fall has finally come to an end. I began writing this story after being absolutely heartbroken by the Merlin finale and browsing through hundreds of fanfics that healed my heart. After attempting to write my own Merlin fanfic, Roche and Tigris were born and so was their story. I must say, I never expected anyone to read this story and now we've almost reached 3K views :O I still remember when this story only had 2 views, both of them my own LOL. Thank you so much to everyone who's been reading along, I can't believe that there are other people out there who know and (hopefully) enjoy Roche and Tigris' story :D It means the world to me that you've made it to the end of this very special story. Thank you so much for reading, and I truly hope you've enjoyed!
And to anyone who wants to see a bit more of Tigris and Roche, I might be posting a new book of short stories and extras. Granted, it won't be anything as long as The Way We Fall, but there will be plenty of goodies and stories from this book's timeline, before it, and after it too! Let me know what you'd like to see :D
Once again, thank you so much for reading!
As always, happy reading! :D