Chapter 14 - How do we do that?
1120 Words
Another long silence as Vince and Nate absorbed this. King Edward would not be pleased. He couldn’t come here, while the queen couldn’t go back. Yet.
“From what you said, you can come back if the dark fairy’s reign is over?” Vince slowly asked.
“Yes.”
“How do we do that?”
Her sad smile didn’t reassure Vince.
“We have been trying. For so long. His reign started even before I was born. Decades…?” She turned to her father for confirmation.
“Yes, soon it will be a century.” King Florian affirmed.
“Tell us about the dark fairy?” Nate asked, putting her utensils down. She suddenly didn’t have an appetite anymore. It would seem the problem is so big.
Elise turned to her father, so they did, too.
“He was a prince who overthrew his father. Rumors and speculations say the king is still alive, but being held prisoner inside his own castle. The prince didn’t want to usurp the throne of a single kingdom. He wanted to reign over all fae. Currently, he managed to take control of seven. Only ten others remain fighting against him. It wasn’t easy, though, as only three of these kingdoms have the capacity to defend themselves. We have allied to better protect ourselves, but any attempt we did to attack them were all futile. We had to retreat. They have the night. It was dark in their domain. The dark prince cursed the land that way.”
That’s not optimistic.
“You mentioned…” as much as she didn’t want to hear the word again, she must.
“You mentioned something about a prophecy?” As she asked, Vince glanced at her and his expression was identical to hers when she first heard it. She grimaced at him.
“You have a prophecy? What does it say?”
“It talks of a human who will come and lead us to victory, defeating the dark fairy prince and restoring the light in all the land.”
“Well…” Nate started, exchanging a long look with Vince.
It was him who spoke this time, “We’re only kids, I don’t think the prophecy would pertain to us.”
The king couldn’t deny that. Kings like him have tried, but they all failed. Still failing.
“We can only hope. Maybe some other human will come.” Elise stated. Her son speaks the truth.
“When we called Elise back, we thought we could fulfill the prophecy with her. She is technically human at that point. That is the reason why she was sent as a changeling in the first place.”
“You tried to circumvent the prophecy? King Edward said it never works to do so.” Nate related.
“Then, I guess he is wise.” King Florian grudgingly relented.
“Of course, he is a great ruler.” Elise had to say it. She knew her husband best.
“Maybe if we can bring him here, he’ll have some ideas.” Vince added.
“That’s true. While we think of a way to do that, we can ask him when we go back.” Nate told him.
Elise was suddenly enlightened. Maybe it could work. That is, if Edward is willing to help.
“It does not say that it will be the human who appears that will lead us to destroy the dark fairy, does it?” Elise turned to her father.
“No, it does not.” King Florian thought it over. A human will come, and then, someone will take charge.
Let’s not get excited, Elise told herself.
“How is your father? Is he well?” She’d been wanting to ask.
“Yes, he is well. He’s busy ruling the kingdom and implementing a few changes in the castle. We’ll be treating magic differently, albeit secretly.”
“Because of you?”
“Not quite. Because of an experience we had in the northeast, but yes, because I have magic as well. And Nate.”
The prince couldn’t be executed. The future rulers couldn’t be executed. They could use their abilities for the good of the kingdom.
“Things have changed.” Elise muttered as she surveyed the two of them.
There was another question she was concerned about, “You said your father is supposed to come with you? He wanted to come?” There was hope in her tone, that her husband wanted to see her.
“Yes, he wanted to see you.” Vincent’s smile at her assured her. He wouldn’t be smiling if his father is angry at his mother, right?
“He did not remarry?”
“No.” Vince narrowed his gaze. He didn’t even want to think about that. He was glad his father never introduced a new queen to the kingdom.
She unknowingly released a huge sigh of relief. It was one of her fears. What if he remarried? If she’d been gone for too long, they could assume she’s dead.
“I probably won’t allow it, but it never happened, so…” Vince assured her again.
“Be sure to hand him my letter, alright? I tried to explain everything to him in there.” She eyed the purse tied on her son’s waist.
Nate extended a hand and put a protective shield on it. In a way, Vince could tell what she did. On second thought, Nate put a protective shield on him instead.
“I will.” Right now, if getting into this dimension requires the person to be magic, he could only think of one way to allow his father to come. He stared at Nate, who raised an eyebrow in return.
Elise thought of something else she could say, but right now, she was content to stare at her son’s face. He really grew up well.
“Did you train as a knight?” She found the sword on his side, and realized Nate has one, too.
“Yes, and recently we’ve been training our magic.”
“How about you?” She was more curious about Nate. She wasn’t like her when she was a princess.
“I used to travel alone, my lady. The sword is my protection. I was still hiding my magic at that time. I’m not as skilled with it as your son.” Nate’s smile warmed her heart, especially when she said “your son”.
“So, you were a traveler, and then you became my son’s companion?”
“Yes, my lady.” That was correct, Nate thought. “The prince saved my life and I owe it to him. When he asked me to be his companion and pretend as a boy, I agreed.”
“You were hesitant, though.”
“We were going to lie to everyone, including the king. I was scared, alright.” She’s finally able to air her grievances.
“Before she became a princess, she did save my life, though. So, we’re even at that point.” Vince didn’t want his mother to misunderstand Nate.
“Didn’t we already stop counting how many times we saved each other?”
“Yeah, too many to keep counting.”
Elise watched as she listened. Her son’s smile as he looks at Nate is too bright. Seeing the two of them together reminds her of herself and Edward. He looks at her like that, too.
- Writer
