A Better World (Record of Ragnarok x Reader)

Chapter 12 - The story of the Wolf and His Queen

The Torture

The wolf was forced to watch as Cairn mercilessly tormented the princess over and over again until she fell unconscious. When she had awoken, she had no scars on her body, and she could not differentiate reality from imagination. The Fae Queen had used her magic on the princess so that even her dreams were haunted. Sometimes, so horrifying that she almost looked forward to the torture. Other times, so wonderful that the princess would get lost in the momentary bliss, only to be brought back by the dreadful physical pain.

And so, the princess and the wolf had invented a code via blinks in the initial days of captivity:

One for 'Yes,'

Two for 'No,'

Three for 'Are you all right,'

Four for 'I am here. I am with you,'

Five for 'This is real, you are awake,'

and six for 'Liar.'

The wolf had created that last one after he had blinked at the princess three times while she was being tortured, and she had answered with one blink. The princess refused to acknowledge the sixth blink.

After the war

Her court was looking for her. They had thrown a party for their queen - just the type of glamorous nonsense she would love. Fenrys volunteered to go and fetch her, and as he took the flight stairs up, he stared out the windows that displayed the beautiful, green landscape of Terrasen. He turned his attention to the bright moon in the sky. In just a couple of minutes, the clock would signal a new day, a day worthy of celebration.

The queen's birthday.

He did not fear waking her up. She never really slept. And as the wolf opened the door to her bedroom, his heart ached from the melancholy in it. Every time, during this very hour, the queen would sit on the balustrade of the balcony, leaning against a pillar, and look up at the stars. He had seen her do it many times these past months. As if the stars granted her solitude like no other.

He mutedly walked up to her, but she knew he was there. She could scent him. He went down on one knee, took her hand, and kissed it. She didn't as much as glance at him. No words were said, because no words could convey what the both of them had been through. Especially her. The selfless queen before him who had lost and sacrificed so much for this land.

Too shattered. She had already been in pieces after the torture they both went through, but then she had met the gods one month later, and lost both Rowan and her flame, without any time to heal from her previous trauma. No one really knows what happened that day. She didn't talk about it. So, no one asked.

Time. They had all given her time. Time to heal. Time to accept. Time to move on. And yet, that never happened. The queen had not recovered these past months, but rather, she created a void deep inside of herself, locking in all her pain. They had not brought it up in fear of her breaking. Breaking completely.

Even so, Fenrys could not help the lurch in his heart at seeing the void in her chest never reducing in size, never healing. As if now that her scars were gone, she needed to replace the guilt with something else. Something less visible, and yet, much more draining. If he could, he would take all her pain away. Even for a moment. So that she could experience happiness and joy. So, she could laugh the way she did before her captivity. Before the gods. Before Erawan and Maeve, and Arobynn. His queen was his nepenthe. All his pain and suffering disappeared the moment he laid his eyes upon her. He wished so desperately to be hers.