After the War's End

Chapter 21

It was already late in the afternoon when there was a soft, repetitive knock on the door. Aloy scanned in the direction with her focus to see who it was. As she opened it, she said:

"It's Ita-"

"Avad!" exclaimed the young prince, entering the room in a hurry. He ran toward the bed and leaped onto it.

"Itamen!" the Sun-King smiled at the sight.

"Slow down, Itamen!" Vanasha ordered as she entered the room.

"How are you?" he asked, hugging Avad tightly. The monarch embraced him in a paternal manner. Aloy watched the scene with tenderness, thinking that the young Carja likely saw the king more as a father figure than an older brother.

"I'm better," Avad replied with a smile.

"He was very worried about you," Vanasha pointed out, "and today he said he wouldn't move until he saw his brother."

"I was scared that something bad had happened to you." Itamen said with a sad tone in his voice while hugging the Sun-King, unintentionally causing pain in his ribs. Only the huntress could perceive the touch of pain in his gaze.

"Don't worry, it won't happen again, okay?" she reassured him, caressing his head.

"Great!" the boy jumped from the bed again with Vanasha. "Give it to him, show him what we brought." The woman approached where the king was resting, but before she could hand him anything, Itamen snatched it from her hands and rushed over to his brother. "I made this for you." he said excitedly, handing him a scroll. Avad took it and looked at it. On the scroll, there was a drawing of two little figures, one tall and the other small, holding hands in a green field. He felt his eyes moisten as he had a flashback of a pile of burning objects. "It's you and me. When you get better, we can go play in the garden." With effort, he contained his emotions.

"I love it, Itamen, thank you so much. It's beautiful. Of course, we'll go play." he said excited with a big smile on his face. "Thank you very much, really." he thanked again, extending his arms for the boy to hug him. The huntress couldn't help but watch the scene with tenderness. The child was so happy showing his brother what he had done. She felt herself blushing.

"Aloy!" exclaimed the prince, noticing her presence. He was so enthusiastic about seeing his brother that he hadn't realized she was there. "Avad, will you tell her to teach me how to use a bow?"

"And why don't you ask her yourself?" he replied, requesting her with a sidelong glance. She smiled at him, and Itamen ran to her side.

"Will you teach me? Pretty pleaseeee." he begged, pulling at her Nora garb. She squatted down to be at his eye level.

"Of course, I'd be honored." she replied. The boy jumped for joy. "Can you do it today?" she asked Vanasha.

"You make time for the prince but not for me? I'm going to get jealous..." Vanasha responded with a wide smile. Both of them laughed.

"I have time for you as well, of course."

"Well, see you later, little huntress." she said. "Come on, Itamen, your brother needs to rest."

"Are we leaving already?" he complained. "I want to stay a little longer."

"The Sun-King is very tired." she began to say.

"Don't worry, Vanasha, let him stay a little longer, and we can spend some time together. If you want, you two can go do something together, and in the meantime, I'll be with my brother, does that sound okay with you, Itamen?"

"Of course!" he exclaimed joyfully.

"Works for me." Vanasha replied, looking at Aloy.

"Sounds good to me as well." she responded.