What Is Done

Chapter 8 - The Dawn of Our Folly

When the sun rose, it made the grays of winter pop in Arün. It was cold and dreary. King Valka was known to be awake in early hours. He stayed sitting on the edge of the bed he shared with his wife. Today was a special day for their family, Laverne's fifth birthday. Annually it was special for them to celebrate the life Valka and Moria had successfully brought into the world. His birthday was on what the humans called Christmas. The elves knew of no such pagan holiday and never celebrated it. Prince Laverne had been born a week before Queen Moria's own birthday. She had always thought of him as the most wonderful gift she had received.

Valka walked around the room, attempting to locate the gift he had for Laverne. In the previous year, Laverne had been watching the guards practice archery and told his parents he wanted to do that. Valka searched for someone who created wooden bows and asked them to walk him through the process of creating one. He had crafted the bow he was intentionally going to give to his child with his own hands. Valka was proud of his shoddy workmanship.

Valka held his arms crossed, his hands grabbing at his elbows. He was still cold despite pulling a fur lined robe over his clothes. I don't actually remember where I put it...This is the worst timing ever. He looked back towards Moria who was still asleep, wrapped up in the sheets. Her hair spread out in every direction. Valka took one more look around the room before remembering he'd stashed the bow in the compartment in the floor under the bed. Somewhere his son couldn't get in when searching for his presents. Valka pulled the bow out and sat back on the bed, admiring his own handiwork and desperately hoping to the gods that Laverne would like it.

"Val...ka..." Moria's voice was muffled from the pillow she rested her head on. Valka listened to her. Moria's pale arms stuck out from under the blankets. "Come here, I'm cold." He could see her shivering under the pale sheets.

"Alright, love. Give me a moment." He fed the fire in the fireplace and got extra blankets from the wardrobe before curling back up with his wife. She rested her head on his chest.

He stayed with her until she woke up an hour later.

"Hi," she flicked her eyes open, warding off the tiredness. Valka had come very close to passing out once more.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" He had always been concerned for her postpartum insomnia. Recently, it has been getting better as Laverne got older. Moria sat up, yawning and stretching on the lower part of her legs. She had a serious case of bedhead.

"I guess. It got better when you came back." Moria looked past him for a split second, eyeing the wood carved bow. "Is that for Elf Nugget?" Valka nodded in confirmation. Moria became aware of something she had forgotten. "Valka...I completely forgot to get something for Elf Nugget..."

"Don't worry, I can tell him it was from both of us," Valka sat up, stretching his arms.

"Well, now, I just feel like a failure of a mother... If I did get him something before he woke up, I don't think it'd amount to that," she tittered, her silver eyes holding a certain sadness. Moria leaned in to kiss Valka. "Thanks, anyways."

"Let's go wake him," Valka said, getting up.

"Wait, I've got to at least brush my hair!" She'd always been very particular about never letting anybody see her messy hairstyles from when she slept. Valka had it lucky, his hair was so long that he tied it up when sleeping. His hair was ankle-length. He rarely ever wore it in an updo when awake. There had been a time where he almost always wore it tied up.

The Arünian King and Queen crept into the bedroom of their young son, Prince Laverne. His room was littered with toys. He had been curled up in bed with a book he'd fallen asleep reading. Laverne twitched like he was dreaming. The child faced the window, the trees outside covered in snow. They knelt down on either side of his large bed. His hair was spread out behind him, and also needed brushing.