Elara Fors
The room was hushed, lit only by the soft glow of the moon filtering through the window. Sieg lay still, deep in sleep. Faux sat dutifully beside his pillow like a silent, watchful guardian. The Green Cub was a dark, furry crescent curled around his feet. James sat next to the bed, a book resting unread in his lap.
Silas stood by the doorway, his shoulders still tight from the tension of the night. "Doctor Ridge checked the young lord," he said. "There are no injuries. He's exhausted..." He shook his head once, a small, smile touching his lips. "But he'll wake up soon."
"Good. Is Doctor Ridge is with Erik now?" I asked.
Silas nodded. "Yes, my lady."
I turned to James. "You should go to bed too."
James looked at Sieg for a long second before turning back to me. "I will... shortly."
I gave him a soft smile and walked out of the room, Silas following close behind.
"You are not asking many questions," I finally asked as we started moving toward Erik's room.
"It's not my place, and I heard the gist of it from Lord Throvald when I escorted the doctor to Lord Erik," Silas said from behind. I listened for any hint of malice or painful memory. He had lost his own son years ago, and I wondered how he felt witnessing our miracle.
We made our way down the corridor. Soldiers and a few shaken servants lined the hall. I asked about the three knights.
"The parrot left them in the church," Silas said. "Father Kaelen and the priests are tending them. They'll need sleep and stitches."
They did quite a good job. I knew they deserved more than just thanks.
At Erik's door, I drew a steadying breath before pushing it open. Throvald sat beside the bed, holding Erik's hand. My dear husband looked older by a decade in the span of a single breath. When Erik's eyes opened a fraction, they moved to me.
"Ma..." His voice was faint, but it struck deeper than any blade.
Seeing him, seeing his face, it was still hard to believe he was here. I fought to keep my composure, battling back the tears that threatened to fall again.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, careful to keep my voice steady.
"Just tired," Erik said, trying for a small smile that did not hide the hollowness at his throat.
"Lord Erik is just a little dehydrated and malnourished," Ridge said from the other side of the bed. "After eating and resting well for a week, he should be fine."
"Thank you, Ridge," I said with a genuine smile.
Erik's gaze drifted about the room, taking in the familiar, untouched objects. "You kept it clean," he said.
"We had it cleaned every week," Throvald answered, his throat full of emotion.
"Why? I mean, you all thought I was dead, right?" he asked.
"We didn't know," I said. "But we kept your things as they were. We wanted to keep you here in mind." My voice caught, shame and relief braided together. "We could not forget you."
"Thank you," he said. There was a simple humility in that reply that made Throvald quickly wipe his face with his sleeve.
"As if we could. You are our son," Throvald said, his voice husky.
"Pa…" Erik's eyes lingered on him with a warmth I thought I would never see again. The sight of it nearly undid me, and I brushed away a tear that threatened to fall.
Then Erik's eyes moved past me, softening in recognition. "...How are you, Silas?"
I stepped aside, allowing Silas to come forward.
"I am well, my lord," Silas said with a small smile. "Even better, seeing you back among us."
Erik's hand curled into a fist, guilt shading his face. "About Alan… I am sorry."
"Please, my lord," Silas answered firmly. "It is not your fault, nor anyone's. Alan… he was doing his duty." Silas insisted gently.
"…He was a great soldier and… a friend," Erik said, his voice heavy with sorrow.
"I know," Silas replied, and in that simple exchange there was grief, but also acceptance.
As they talked, my eyes shifted toward the window. There she stood at the window, a silhouette against the faint wash of moonlight, fiddling with Sieg's torn eyepatch.
I moved closer to her. "What's wrong?"
Valka didn't turn to me, her eyes still fixed in the distance.
"No," she said after a long moment. "I was just wondering about the prophecy. If it does come true, Sieg and I will have to leave the barony, and I will be needed elsewhere. With Erik coming back like this, he is strong enough to protect the barony even if I am not here. I can't help but think some higher power is at work." I finally understood. She was looking at Aethelhum in the horizon.
"So you can leave with peace of mind?" I prompted, gentle but steady.
"Ma, remember what I said about anyone who tries to force Sieg into something he doesn't want to?" Her voice hardened, not with sorrow but with a fierce, contained anger.
I tried to break the tension. "About you throwing the moon at them?"
She let out a small, harsh chuckle. It sounded like amusement only on the surface. "They could probably destroy the moon and still be fine, but that is not the point."
The meaning settled between us. She was not speaking only of threats from strangers. She feared authority, politics, any chain that would clip Sieg's future.
"I will try to persuade Sieg to go with it if it comes to that," she said, finally looking at me. Her eyes were fierce and tired at once. "But if Sieg refuses, I will fight."
A gulp rose in my throat I could not hide. "Did something happen at the funeral? Did you… meet him?"
Valka's hand stilled on the eyepatch. She let a small, guarded smile surface. "No. In his position he cannot always come for old friends. He would not make the trip for a funeral, even one that matters."
I placed my hand gently over Valka's hand around the torn eyepatch.
"It will be fine," I whispered, though the words were more for myself than her. I had no certainty about what the days ahead might bring, yet I could not bear to let my daughter carry that weight alone.
Before the silence could grow too heavy, Throvald spoke, his voice steady but weary. "We should get you something to eat."
"I wouldn't mind a nicely grilled sauced meat… maybe horned boar," Erik said, eyes softening with the memory of a flavor from long ago.
"I'll have the maids prepare it for you," I said, already moving toward the door, eager to do something that felt like care.
"Why don't you let Mommy feed you too?" Valka's voice cut in, her arms crossed over her chest.
Erik let out a breath that carried a smile. "Sis, you don't seem very happy to see me."
"What can I say? I'm in mourning," Valka shrugged.
"Mourning?" Erik frowned.
"Liora is dead."
Erik's eyes widened, and he forced himself upright despite his weakened body. "What? How? She was a High General… who could—"
"It was complications after childbirth," Valka interrupted, her tone flat. "The Illuviare family is a one-person line. The mother always dies giving birth. Liora lived longer than most, but… she's gone."
A heavy stillness swallowed the room. Erik's face was stricken, shadows filling his features.
"Don't make that face," Valka said sharply, almost as if cutting down her own grief. "People die. It's nothing new."
"R-right…" Throvald stepped forward, trying to ease the moment. "Let's get you that food, Erik. Would you like it here or—"
The ground shook violently, a thunderous BOOM followed by the sound of splintering wood and stone grinding against itself.
My heart leapt into my throat. "What was that?" I turned to Valka, eyes wide.
But she was already staring at the wall, her body tense, her face set in grim certainty.
"That came from Sieg's room."
The words were barely out of her mouth before we were all rushing down the hall. Throvald, Silas, and I were close behind as Valka, with a burst of her power, tore the door from its hinges.
"Sieg!" she cried, her voice sharp with urgency.
And then we saw it.
The room was no longer whole. Where the wall and window once stood, there was a gaping wound in the stone, moonlight spilling through jagged edges. Sieg stood at the center, a book spread open in one hand, the other arm still stretched outward. Beneath the bed, a small green cub trembled yet peeked out, its curious eyes catching the light. Above Sieg's head, Faux hovered, circling with laughter and joy. In the far corner, James sat on the floor, his body shaking as though the ground itself still quivered under him.
I needed no explanation. The pieces fit at a glance.
"Sieg, did you…" Valka stepped forward, her voice faltering.
"It's—It's his fault!" Sieg stammered, shoving the book toward Faux.
"Fuaa?" Faux frowned, sparks of indignation crackling in his tiny form.
"He brought the book and asked me to do it!" Sieg's finger jabbed at him.
"Fuaaaa! Fuaa fuuuua!" Faux snapped back, tail thrumming in protest.
"I never asked you to do it! Stop lying!" Sieg argued, his voice breaking with frustration.
I sighed, weary already, and turned toward the boy trembling in the corner. "James. What happened?"
Sieg's small gulp echoed in the silence that followed.
James spoke, voice hesitant and thick with guilt. Sieg had woken up and heard from James that Silas had told him that Sieg reached Gamma Stage, unlocking elements. Sieg, wanting to try the elements, asked Faux to sneak a beginner's book on Force magic from the library. A single spell, meant to test his newfound affinity and the result was the hole in the wall.
By the time James finished, his gaze was buried in the floor, shame shadowing his features.
"It's not your fault," I said softly. "The one at fault is…" I turned to the guilty party.
"So this is the spell you used? That was amazing, my Sieg." Valka was already on the bed with Sieg on her lap, rubbing her cheek against him as if nothing else in the world mattered.
I stepped closer, fingers curling. My hand caught his ear, tugging it hard.
"OWW! Why!" Sieg yelped, squirming.
"Are you seriously asking why? First you run away without a word, and now this?" My voice trembled, memories of the long day tightening my chest.
"Sorry! I am sorry!" he cried, wriggling under my grasp.
"Stop it," Valka said firmly, pulling him into her arms again. She smoothed his hair with her palm, her voice lowering into a soft hum. "See how many things we gained today, Erik is back. Sieg reached Gamma stage… and the forest problem is gone."
Her words were not wrong, but still—still he had to understand. What he did today had been reckless, dangerous beyond measure.
And perhaps, sensing the weight in my silence, Sieg pushed free from Valka's embrace. He stood before me, small yet steady, his head bowed.
"Granny," he said, his voice quiet but firm. "I understand what I did today was wrong, and I'm sorry about that, but..." Then he lifted his eyes to the cub at his side, the creature nuzzling close to his leg. "I just couldn't abandon him."
His gaze found mine, carrying a maturity that shouldn't have been in the eyes of an eight year old. I didn't know if I should be happy or sad that my Sieg had grown up so fast. It hurt a little.
My hand moved almost of its own will, brushing through his hair before sliding gently to his cheek. "As long as you understand."
"Now." Behind me, the heavy voice of Throvald broke the quiet. He stood with Silas by the ruined wall, surveying the wreckage. "We should take Sieg to Erik," he said, excitement kindling in his tone.
"Erik?" Sieg tilted his head, confusion written across his face. "Mother's brother? But you said he…" His voice faltered, sadness flickering as his gaze turned toward Throvald.
Throvald laughed, hearty and unrestrained, before sweeping Sieg into his arms. "He is back!"
"Huh?" Sieg made a bewildered face. I couldn't blame him; if I hadn't seen Erik myself, I wouldn't have believed it either.
"Let me tell you the full story," I said, stepping closer.
From there, I told Sieg everything that happened after he lost consciousness in the forest: the final battle with "Ebony," about him being from past, and the unbelievable truth of how Erik came back to us. I spared him only the truth of Salvation, for that weight was not yet his to bear. I had sent Valka ahead to instruct Erik on what to say and what to keep silent about.
As I finished explaining, Sieg was lost in deep thought, a hand resting against his chin as he processed the rush of information.
"…Is everything fine?" I asked softly.
"Ah, yes," he replied at last. "But what about my eyepatch?" he asked, his hand instinctively reaching for the empty space on his face.
I looked at his uncovered eye. We had all already seen it: an emerald green eye with a stark white pupil. The power it held was immense, a force we were unaware of, and only an eyepatch with sealing magic could truly contain it.
"Wait." I went to the armoire in the room and, from one of the shelves, pulled out a spare eyepatch. This one lacked the sealing magic, but it would still work to cover his eye.
"Here," I murmured, fastening it gently over his eye. My fingers lingered for a heartbeat against his cheek before I drew back.
"Now, shall we go?" I offered my hand.
Sieg gave a small nod and slipped his fingers into mine.
I turned to James, who still lingered near the broken door, his guilt unspoken but clear in the way his shoulders hunched. "You should come too, James."
"Okay," he whispered, falling into step behind us as we left the ruined room together.