6 Years Later:
Adeline
“Mommy, why can’t I go hunting with Father?” my six year old son complained.
“Because you are six, Macon,” I replied picking him up, “there is no place in the Forest of Marr for six year olds.”
Josh walked in with his hunting gear already on, carrying our four year old daughter Sera.
“Don’t worry buddy,” he said as I put Macon down so he could rush to his father, “you’ll go on plenty of hunts once you begin your training.”
He handed me little Sera and kissed me on the cheek. Sera’s eyes opened and she looked up at me with her emerald green eyes. That was what she ‘inherited’ from Josh. She had my curly hair brown hair which was just beginning to grow to her shoulders.
Macon on the other hand resembled a miniature Josh but with my sapphire blue eyes.
“Yeah but when I’m ten,” Macon said.
Alice came parading into the room. At 13 years old she was the youngest royal advisor Air Kingdom had ever seen, but I trusted her judgment with my life.
“Addy, The Counsel of the Risen begins in an hour,” she informed me smoothing out her red advisor robes.
“How about this Macon,” I said looking at him, “you can come to our meeting after I put your sister down for her nap.”
“Okay,” he said rushing out of the throne room before we changed our minds.
“Oh,” Alice said suddenly remembering something, “Estelle and King Arthur are here.”
“Already?” I asked.
“Yes,” she answered giggling, “they came for tea.”
“Ugh, don’t they make enough of that over in Earth Kingdom,” I said laughing with her.
“Apparently, not the kind that Estelle likes,” Alice called over her shoulder as she exited the room.
I looked over at Josh who was staring at the window. I set Sera’s sleeping form on the plush velvet cushions of my throne.
“Thinking about King Felix?” I asked quietly coming next to him.
He slipped his arm around my waist, “No I was worrying about Miles.”
“Miles is ruling Fire Kingdom perfectly,” I said knowing his worry over his scatter brained brother, “He has Selena watching his back. Besides, you’ll see him during the hunt.”
As a former Fire Kingdom warrior, Josh had a duty to go to the Midwinter hunt with the other Fire Kingdom warriors.
“Ah Selena,” he said smiling down at me, “I assume she’ll have her hands full with him.”
A couple years after Josh and my wedding, Miles worked up the nerve to propose to my sister Selena. Apparently, they had been secret correspondents, even before Josh and I met. Now they were the King and Queen of Fire Kingdom, our strongest allies.
We had also tightened our bonds with the other two kingdoms in Collaner: Water and Earth.
My sister Estelle married Prince Arthur, whom she’d taken a fancy to during my wedding. Once they wed she became the Queen and we were allied with the Earth Kingdom once more.
Angelica visited Water Kingdom last year. She was my royal diplomat who specialized in alliances, the Water Kingdom had done away with our alliance after they figured out Josh murdered King Fox, saying they wouldn’t be allied with a murderer. She was still a princess though and stayed as a guest in the royal castle. Jason, who was already King of Water Kingdom then, saw her dancing in the garden. They fell in love at first sight and just got married a few months ago and he agreed to re-ally with us.
The bonds of Collaner were firmer than they had been in over 40 years.
Of course we were allied with outside Realms. The UpKee and Yonda visited us after our wedding. Originally we invited them but they were in the middle of their Autumnal Migration so they were delayed a day.
The UpKee was thrilled when we proposed our alliance to them and Collaner. Yonda, Sera’s godmother, loved Sera and was the one to hold my other hand as I gave birth to her.
The UpKee was even more thrilled when we told him that King Fox was definitely dead and planned to make suitable arrangements for the leader of Krush.
When Josh stepped through the gates of Krush, the people literally got on the hands and knees and bowed calling him their hero. As it turns out King Fox was a horrible leader and agreed full heartily to our suggestion of leader.
Sir Steven and Penny were married a month after Josh and I. Josh appointed them as King and Queen of Krush. Steven was the first friend Josh had trusted in years and they regularly came to have dinner with us in Air Kingdom.
Joshua
I was looking down at the training ground where more men were becoming warriors than when I first came to Air. Also a surprise was that many women were lined up, bows in hand shooting arrows that sunk deep into the bull’s eye of straw targets.
“What’s the matter?” Addy asked coming to my side after she deposited our daughter to one of the thrones. She started pulling at her necklace.
We learned from a socyra of Trebeth, that her pendant was magic. It started vibrating when the wearer wanted something. If they touched it while vibrating it would open. The king had left his will in a place where only Adeline could find it.
The socyra took from Addy saying she needed to save Trebeth. She took it for about a year then gave it back saying that it was great help. Trebeth was saved using this pendant as a tool.
“Thinking about Miles,” I said sliding an arm around her waist.
“Miles will be fine,” she said waving her hand, “he has Selena.”
I laughed thinking about my scatterbrained brother with that organization fanatic of a princess for his wife.
“Never would have guessed that the two of them would be married, they’re so different,” I continued.
“Well,” she said looking up at me, “so were we.”
I looked down at her and smiled. Six years of ruling had matured us both, we knew more about life than anyone could believe. We knew things happened for a reason, but we could control our own destiny.
Like Sir Steven said at our wedding, we knew what aspects kept Collaner and its people alive.
I bent down and kissed her on the forehead and she responded with a hug.
“Do you like the bridge?” she whispered glancing in the way of Fire Kingdom.
“Of course,” I said looking at it.
“I must go to the hunt,” I said breaking our embrace.
“Be careful,” she murmured, “don’t get pushed off a cliff.”
I smiled, “I’ll try not to.”
The End
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Ah! It's done! Sadness...
So I have a question-I'm thinking about a sequal, a spin off to this story.
Which romance should I use? Which among the rest of the sister's?
Thanks for reading! FANCOMMENTVOTE