The Princess Who Returned

Epilogue

Two years later......

"Mom, please can I go riding today? It's been far too long  and I am tired of sitting at home all day." asked Lily for the millionth time that day to her mother who for the millionth time shook her head and repeated, "Not until Richard returns with your dad." she whined, "But that will take hours and it'll become night so you'll say no again." "You can go tomorrow then." "but the race is today!" her mother said firmly, "Frankly, you should not even be participating in such a dangerous sport so count yourself lucky that I haven't forbidden you like my mother did when I was Fifteen." lily protested, "But grandma was an old fashioned lady and didn't even let you go out so she is not a good comparison." her mom sighed and said, "We made a deal Lily. You would be allowed to leave the palace grounds without security cameras only if you had either a palace guard or Richard with you. You are a princess Lily and will become the next queen, you cannot risk getting assasinated." frustrated Lily said, "It is just a horse race mother! Nobody assasinates people at horse races. It is far too public." "Need I remind you of how your great grandfather died?"

Recognising that she had been defeated, Lily moved onto another tangent, "Alright, I get it but then why can't I have a soldier escort me?!" her mother responded,  "Are you seriously asking me that?" she nodded and her mother sighed, "I can't send a palace guard with you because most of the guards are on an expedition to get in contact with towns beyond the forest. The only soldiers remaining have to guard the palace and treasury. You already know this Lily so why do you keep asking?!" she sulked, "You're right, I am just tired of being stuck at home and not stretching my wings. I feel restless right now."  Lillian gave her a sympathetic smile and whilst patting her head said, "I know dear and I hate that I have to do this but we can't forget our responsibilities to our people can we?" Lily sighed and nodded, "You're right, I'll go next week."

That was when a familiar voice asked,  "Why not today?" both Lily and her mother whipped their heads around to see a tall, black-haired, green and red eyed, winged teenager leaning against the door frame that marked the entrance to queen Lillian's room. The moment Lily saw him her face lit up and she ran towards Tristan or as he liked to be known now Eric while her mother just watched them happily. They both had gone through a lot in the few months they spent in the forest, Eric for even longer since the person who had kidnapped Lily on entering the forest had been his mother and had been treating her son terribly. They both had gone through a lot even before they met each other and in a weird way this abduction had helped them heal from the issues they had earlier.

They both had found in each other a loyal friend and for the first year after they both walked out of the forest soiled and in Lily's case newly winged they had been inseperable. This made sense because the only people they had was each other for at least a week, before the people that had forgotten them slowly started remembering.  While the people and rulers of Yale had forgotten princess Lily, they had always had this weird feeling of something missing in their lives which slowly started fading away on seeing the princess. The first person to see them had been Richard who found himself sitting sadly, at the border waiting for something or someone he could not recall. When Lily stepped into his view however everything made perfect sense to him even if he did not have the memories yet. This was what prompted him to not attack both of them and had a similar effect on everyone else. Lily had touched far too many hearts to just be completely forgotten by anyone in Yale. 

After a week passed everyone remembered her and had grown to accept Tristan as a result of him always hanging around Lily and protecting her. His life had become brighter just like he knew it would have and she healed. After Eric had settled down in Yale, he started exploring more ways to be by Lily's side and protect her. This was what prompted him to train with the military in an attempt to become Lily's bodyguard, for this however he had to go to the hills which was quite a distance from the palace and was land forbidden to Lily.  They could not meet the entire time, he trained and could only exchange letters which they did on a daily basis. It was hard but they knew this was the best decision. Now it was one year later and they were finally together again.

Both of them in these two years had matured, Lily was now a fifteen year old with wings which at first had been an insecurity for her that she preferred hiding but was now something she proudly flaunted. Eric on the other hand hadn't changed much but had finally found a family and learnt of the simple pleasures of life that he had missed out on for so many years.  Life was great.

The End

A/N: With this I mark the end of my book, this is honestly the first book I have completed and I feel insanely proud of this feat. I really enjoyed making this story as well and realied just how much I can do if I am actually motivated. I hope this story was enjoyable and  impacted you in some way.  Thank You to whoever read it to the end.