The Past

Epilogue

It was many years until I returned to my home permanently, to visit my mother on her deathbed. Nearly all the gods had left Orion, including my Athern, though he had vowed to join me when it was time to claim my throne.

Beside me stood four of my brothers and two of my sisters, all of whom were older than I in appearance. Although I had witnessed the birth of each, my years on Orion left my body still at eighteen.

"Kinheal," croaked my mother's hoarse voice, barely capable of forming the words. "You must bear a daughter and continue our line."

"I will, Mother. Our land shall henceforth bear your name, just as Arketh bears Arke's name, and Aldora bears Doran's." Teirr's brother now held Aldora's throne, for I had never seen Teirr again. Even after all those years, the loss ran deep.

"Our people must continue to grow, and our line as well."

In the doorway stood Ferrin, whom Athern had left for me, to keep me company while he was away travelling the Realms. "Your people are now one with wolves, Mother. They will forever be with us, Ferrin and her children."

"You should have chosen Aeremordus."

My mother never again spoke.

As I left her bedroom, I instructed one of the scholars who waited outside, "Preserve her as best you can."

I never would have expected the amount of people who gathered for her funeral, though I suppose our population had grown over tenfold in the past fifty years. Those were years which I'd largely spent alone, writing and planning for the future of my kingdom. The future that I'd now have to create.

A knock sounded at my door, not long after I returned to my chambers on the day of my mother's funeral.

"Princess?" The familiar voice mocked my new role as queen, yet it filled me with warmth all the same. I knew he needn't knock.

"Athern." My vision began to blur with tears as I opened the door to him and I saw him as though he were on the underside of a lake. 

"Shh." He pet my hair tenderly, pulling me into his arms and giving my head a gentle kiss. "I know. It'll be alright."

"I've loved you all this time, and missed you more than words can say."

"I've missed you too."

"Liar!" I pushed on his chest. "You left me. I've been alone for years, Athern, while you've been gallivanting the Realms and taking whichever women you please."

"Kinheal–" His voice was more gravelly than I remembered.

"How could you? You left only a note."

"I'm back now. I'm back until you're gone, my love."

Everything about him overwhelmed my heart, his beautiful smile and slender frame, the golden hair that framed his face. I'd loved him all along, so how could I possibly turn him away?

Another kiss to my head dissolved my resolve, and as I looked into his eyes, I saw the same god who had shown me magic card tricks back on that ship.

"Come in, then."

It was somehow right, that we had ended this way, though I wasn't sure it could be called an ending. I still had an entire life ahead of me.

Kinheal bore three daughters and five sons throughout her life, and each of them earned one of Ferrin's pups through a rite of passage when they came of age.

She left her eldest daughter her legacy, the legacy of Zalta, along with a request that her name be stricken from our histories, and turned instead into a title. Princess Lisin refused, and it was centuries yet until that wish was granted.

In the present day, we are aware that Kinheal is the title of the Heir of Zalta, although most do not know the tale of how it came to be. The rest of Kinheal's story remains unknown, as are the whereabouts of the gods which left our Realm.

The End