Jurdan Oneshots

11

inspired by paper crown by alec benjamin

I'm riding on my horse with a couple dozen members of the guard behind me. We're so close to the Palace of Elfhame and I cannot contain my excitement.

I had to travel away for a negotiation with a smaller court and it's been a few days since I have seen Cardan. He did not travel with us since he had other responsibilities to tend to and because he finds negotiating tedious.

I smile a little at the thought of seeing him again.

I am brought back to the present when I realize we're about to cross the hill towering over the Palace. My muscles tense up as they always do before I see it.

I still cannot fathom how I came to be living there, with Cardan, nonetheless.

We come to the top of the hill and my eyes widen at the scene before me.

There is nothing. Nothing but a patch of land missing where my home should be.

What?

I look over to my guard. They are just as shocked and confused as me. I breathe in and out, trying my hardest to focus on just that.

It doesn't work because all I can think about is whether Cardan is okay or not.

Suddenly, a noise blares out from the distance.

My head swings toward the direction. Madoc is standing on land not far from where I stand. He has a fierce look on his face, the kind that only appears when he is up against a foe.

I suppose that is what I am to him.

Out of the sea rises Orlagh. She has a smug look on her face.

"I see The Queen but no King?" Her grin only grows and I have to struggle to hold back tears.
I don't remember when I unsheathed Nightfell but it's in my hand now.

I slowly raise it toward them.

At the action, every single guard runs out from behind me, swords in their hands.

I get off my horse and stand on unsteady legs.

"Cardan?" My voice comes out lower than I intended it for to and my question is met with only the rush of the wind. I can hear screams and anguish coming from the battle occurring to my right but all I can think of is him.

I took half the guard and left Cardan with almost nothing. I left him vulnerable. I left him with no one to protect him and they attacked.

They killed him.

The realization dawns on me too late.

I sink to my knees while my arms cover my chest, desperate to cover my heart from feeling.

I look at the hollow space, the place where I had attended so many revels, the place I had taken Cardan hostage, the place he had proposed to me. So many of our memories circle around the Palace and now it is gone.

I touch my forehead to the fresh dirt, hoping something will happen. Hoping the dirt will heal my emotional wounds just as they did my physical ones.

I am The Queen of Elfhame and I command you to bring me my husband, I wish to say.

But nothing comes out except strangled gasps of air while the ground soaks up my tears.