Raynestorm

The New Heir and The New Council

The New Heir and The New Council

The first thing she notices the next morning is a feeling of euphoria. She can feel his arms around her and his fingers interlaced with hers. His breath on her skin feels like the most normal thing in the world. She smiles and opens her eyes. She gently releases herself from his embrace and grabs a blanket from s chair beside the bed. Wrapping herself in the blanket to fight off the cool morning air, she gets out of the bed, being careful not to wake her sleeping husband. Husband, she thinks, I got married yesterday. She rests her eyes on Adam's sleeping form, and takes a moment to watch him. He looks so peaceful, I don't want to wake him and make him start planning for a war. Not today, not after such a happy, if stressful, wedding day. Not after last night. She smiles again, wanting to climb back into the safety of his embrace, and makes her way to the closet so that she can get ready for the coming day.

Adam opens his eyes and sits up slowly in the bed, keeping his lower body covered by the sheets. He watches her blanketed form as she retrieves clothing from the closet. Smiling, he retrieves his pants from the floor and climbs out of bed. He walks up behind her and wraps his arms around her, giving her a light kiss on the cheek. She smiles and tilts her head into his kiss.

"Good morning love," he says.

"Good morning Adam," he can hear the smile in her voice when she says this. He smiles as well, then moves to get ready for the day himself.

They dress in a calm silence, stealing glances at each other constantly and laughing a little every time they accidentally meet eyes. Finally dressed, they join hands and leave the room together, but just before the door shuts behind them she pauses and grabs the door seconds before is latches shut.

He turns to look at her, "What's wrong?" he asks.

"I'm not sure, I... I feel like I'm forgetting something." She looks at him nervously, "What if we screw up? What if we lose the war? What if the council hall has images of Adleglen's legacy instead of ours?" She has a terrified look in her eyes that worries him.

"Rayne," he says, placing one hand on her cheek, "we will not lose the war. It is three against one. We have the best support system in the four realms: our families. Our children will grow up staring at stained-glass images of our victories. They will hear stories of your heat-of-the-moment speeches that inspire our troops in the toughest of times."

She lets the door close, "we'll be fine." She says convincingly.

He nods, "we'll be fine." He drops his hand from her cheek and they join hands again.

They turn left and make their way to the council hall, but he stops again.

"I'm forgetting something," he says. The same terrified look flashes across her face. "I love you." He says, and kisses her. She smiles and kisses him back, visibly relaxing.

"I love you too." She says, "Now let's go, we're going to be late for our own council." He smiles and they race off towards the hall once more.

When they arrive, the chamber is already full of people, but none of them are seated around the table in the centre. Instead, everyone is gathered around a window in the far wall. The window, instead of being a blank canvas like it had been the day before, is now inlaid with two colourful images one of Adam and Rayne at the altar kissing for the first time as king and queen. The one below it is a little more difficult to decipher, it is an image of a large tree, and on one of its branches sits Rayne, tears falling into her lap, holding the gold crown of a princess heir in her hands. Below her stands Adam, with his hands wrapped around his wife as though he is the only thing keeping her from falling out of tree.