The Borrower and the Fairy Prince

Epilogue (Part 1): One More Time with Feeling!

The epilogue turned out to be really long, so for convenience I split it in two! So we have one more part after this one!

"Okay, okay," Patton said, bouncing slightly in a giddy mood. "We're going to need to figure out the guests!"

"Well it should be obvious who's coming," Roman said.

"It is?" Virgil asked.

"Of course! It's a royal wedding! The whole colony should be invited!"

"O-oh, right. That makes sense." The borrower started to play with his necklace, the betrothal necklace that Roman gave him when he proposed. It's a small choker with beads made from rocks from the river, and a tiny hand carved shield. On the shield was a storm cloud, Roman had carved it with one of his favorite memories of his with Virgil, dancing in the middle of a thunderstorm.

They both got muddy and were scolded for doing something so dangerous, but they couldn't help but laugh whenever the moment was brought up. That was about a year ago, it's been almost four years since they first met. It was crazy how fast time had moved.

And in only less than a month, they're going to marry! They already had an idea of where it's going to be, and the decorations, they're having suits tailored, and so much is being done to prepare! It was starting to overwhelm Virgil.

Virgil glanced at Roman's necklace as the prince squeezed his hand, it wasn't a choker like Virgil's, instead it hung loosely down his chest. He had Remus's help making it, having decorated wooden beads and a wooden charm in the shape of a shield. He designed the shield himself, choosing it since Roman always had a protective aura to him. The borrower always felt safe with his prince.

"Do you not want a big ceremony?" Roman asked, bringing the borrower back to the present.

"N-no! I do! I just... so much is happening at once."

"Virgil, if you don't want a big wedding then we don't have to have one. We can throw a public ceremony, but the wedding itself can be small. I don't want you to get overwhelmed."

Virgil took a deep breath to calm himself. "No, I'm fine. It doesn't matter what we do for the wedding, all I care about is that it happens."

"I'll let you choose the guests then." Roman gently held Virgil's hands in his own.

"Everyone's going to want to see the wedding," the borrower laughed. "I seriously don't care. Let them all come! We'll have the important guests in the front. Oh! We should invite Thomas and Nico too! Since we're having the wedding at the river, it should be easy for them to come!"

Roman laughed, "That's going to be a surprise to most, not everyone has met them even if they have heard of them by now."

"We can't not invite them!"

"Oh, they'll be so excited to come!" Patton squealed. "I'll make a note of that!"

"They'll probably have to be on the side of the seats. Let's see, the royal family will sit in the front, except for Remus who is your best man."

"You should have seen Remus's face when I asked him," Roman laughed. "He expected me to ask Logan or someone else."

"Janus too," Virgil giggled. "He thought I would have asked Patton, but after training with him for so long how could I choose anyone else?! Okay, Logan, Patton, Emile, and Remy are going to be standing with our best men."

"I'm so excited!" Patton said.

"The king will officiate our wedding. I guess that leaves the queen sitting in the front with Jasmine, the other healers who had helped you with your studies, guards that I've worked with."

"You mean your work 'acquaintances' and totally not any of your friends?" Roman teased.

"Did I call them friends? No, I did not."

"Sure, you totally haven't spent a lot of time with Elliot whenever you work with them. You always choose to partner up with them whenever you're forced to have a partner."

"That's because I tolerate them better than the rest."

"You choose them over Janus!"

"Moving on! Sitting in the front will also be..." Virgil trailed off, his ears drooping slightly. "Huh, guess that's it really. Maybe the rest of the guard, who won't be on duty at our wedding anyway. We can figure out the rest of the seating later."

Roman frowned, worrying over the slight shift in attitude. "Is something wrong?"

"No, i-it's nothing."

"You stuttered, it's not nothing."

"What's wrong, kiddo?" Patton asked.

Virgil rubbed the back of his neck, sighing, "I don't know. I guess I just wish my mom were here. But then again, it's been over a decade since I've seen her, and I have no idea how I would find her again. It just sucks that she won't be at our wedding."

Roman bit his lip in thought. "Well maybe we could ask Thomas and Nico for help! They have that car of theirs! They said it's faster to travel long distances fast in that! So maybe we can find your colony with their help!"

"Do you think we can?"

"Yes! And when we go ask, we can invite them to our wedding! Two birds with one stone! Of course, I'd understand if you don't want to go back there. I know the other borrowers foolishly disliked you, which I don't see how that's possible."

"No, I'd like to try. It would be really nice to see my mother again."

~~~

Virgil held on tight to the wooden invitation, carved into a piece of bark. They were special invitations, most of the colony got a normal notice.

Roman was worried that Virgil would accidentally break the invitation by how tight he was holding, but luckily that didn't happen. He put an arm around the borrower's shoulder, who was tense as they sat on the dashboard of Thomas's car.

"Okay, you said you remember some sort of landmark on the road?" Thomas asked.

Virgil nodded. "It was a wooden post, it had a white number painted on it. I'm pretty sure the number was 40? I don't know, I didn't go to the road often when I lived in my old colony. It was really far away, half a day's walk. I mostly came to the road when I really angered someone and needed to hide far away."

"Okay, sounds like it's a mile marker that you're talking about. So let's look out for the 40 marker."

The borrower took a deep breath, leaning closer to Roman as he grabbed his necklace, running his thumb on the back of the wooden charm.

The prince rubbed his arm, making Virgil look up at him. Roman gave him a forehead kiss and said, "It's going to be okay, I'm going to be by your side the whole time."

"Thank you," Virgil mumbled, looking out at the street as they passed by trees and guardrails.

"Is that it?" Nico asked, pointing at something.

Virgil saw the familiar wooden post, with the strange number that he now knew was a mile marker. It looked a bit worn since he last saw it, but other than that it was exactly the same as the last time he saw it.

His stomach turned as his anxiety kicked in. He began tapping out a familiar pattern on his leg, following it with his breath as he had done a million times before. He nodded and answered, "That's it."

Thomas slowed down, bringing the car to the side of the road. Nico opened the door and Roman picked Virgil up, flying him outside.

"I don't know how I feel about meeting your old home," Roman said. "I'm excited to see it, but I'm not excited to meet anyone other than your mother."

"You and me both," Virgil sighed. He looked over to Thomas and Nico and said, "You two should probably stay here. If you come with us, you'll probably scare everyone away before we even see them."

"Alright, we hope it goes well," Thomas told them. "Stay safe you two."

"We will, and thank you for driving us out here," Virgil said before Roman flew them to the ground. The borrower led the way, somehow still remembering the way back to his colony. To his old and broken home.