For Terrasen

1

"Evalin Ashryver Galathynius Whitethorn," the holy man sniffs loudly and Evalin tries to hide her look of disgust, "Do you promise to protect these lands?"

"Yes, I do." She bows her head low.

Evalin's short silver hair falls down but her crown manages to hold it back.

"Then by the power given to me by the gods," Evalin tries to not roll her eyes and yet her mother rolls her eyes, "I pronounce you Queen of Terrasen."

Clapping sounds as the small crown she was wearing is replaced by a bigger crown, one her mother always wore. Evalin stands up from the place she was kneeling and turns to face the lords and ladies in the church. Evalin's arms burn as she picks up her dress to walk down the marble stairs.

Two years later and her arms still haven't been healed. Bandages adorn her arms but no one can see them with the long sleeves of her green dress.

Evalin walks down the aisle scanning the crowd with a small smile. Just as Lillian, her teacher, taught her. Her older brother was no where to be found, no one of her court, but her few friends were. Evangeline, now Lady of Caraverra, stands smiling broadly with her brother Rhoe, General of the Bane. Mala, Evalin's younger sister, falls in step behind Evalin a smile tugging on her lips. Alric Owen and Luna Moonbeam are a row behind the Ashryvers. They talk quietly but smile at Evalin and Mala when they pass.

Evalin nears the terrace that shows thousands of people waiting silently for their new queen. As soon as Evalin steps into the bright sunlight cheering erupts louder than anything Evalin's ever heard. Everyone bows deeply and she waves a hand for them to rise. It's quiet again waiting for her to speak.

"I, now Queen Evalin, promise to protect these lands and these people. I make it my duty to defend Terrasen until I die or pass on my crown." Evalin uses her wind to send her words down and out. She tries not to cringe at her own words.

There is more clapping for a few minutes and during that Evalin scans the crowd and listens to try and hear any whisper of her court's appearance.

She only has six people right now representing her court. She's been waiting for the rest to show, ten days later and not one word about their arrival. Rhoe, Evangeline, Mala, Alric, Luna, and Thorne Faliq are the only ones in her court.

She waits for the Havilliard sisters; Asterin and Rin, Lane Westfall, and two of the Salvaterre siblings Ferran and Ragnar. Marion their sister sails from Dornelle and will arrive in a week. She waits for Eva Ashryver who still has not sent word like most, and her brother Sam.

Marion was the only one decent enough to send word that she will "gladly" join Evalin's court. She knows just as well as Evalin that she has no choice. She's just the only one who wanted to be polite in some form.

Evalin realizes her smile has fallen when her sister brings their hands together. Their mother puts her hand on Evalin's shoulder and squeezes lightly. Her father puts a hand on Mala's shoulder. They look like one big happy family. One that's missing a child, one that has a child with broken powers and scars bearing her arms, one that has been missing her life trying to fix what's been broken. A mother that won a war and yet for no reason yielded her throne to her broken child. A father trying to find his son and find out information about a new starting war. Yes, one big happy family.

An advisor of her mother—of Evalin. Clears their throat signaling that their time outside has come to an end.

Now Evalin gets to hide in a castle trying to stop a war against Valg. Fun.

— — — — — — —

Evalin's court sits down quietly. The sun still shines brightly through the windows of the throne room. Evalin sits in her mother's throne, and it really is so comfortable. Mala sits to her left where Evalin used to sit.

Evalin's head starts up thinking of many possibilities of why her court wasn't present. Of what they were going to do with Valg army spotted in the Staghorn Mountains. The Bane sat on the other side of the mountain, but they wouldn't be able to do much against an army of Valg. An army that is in their normal forms, forms that make them stronger.

Evalin sits on a throne she should not have ever had, debating a war she shouldn't have ever had to worry about. But no, her older brother gave her the throne last year and left with everyone else to go travel the world and find a "new life not with her."

That's what they told her. That they couldn't live with what she did, couldn't live with the guilt of not being able to explain to the girl's family what happened. Evalin's heart still broke a bit more each time she thought of the fight they got in. Eight against one, one not wanting them to leave her and eight not wanting anything to do with her.

She steeled herself as she looked up at her court releasing her bone white finger from the wooden throne. They all stared back at her, Mala with the same raging look in her eyes. Evalin almost released her broken flame just from the look in both their eyes.

Her court stared at the two sisters but they didn't care. They didn't care one bit how much they stared because they understood each other. Understood the loss of their friends, of their brother. Fire was raging through Evalin's blood begging for release, begging to show her kingdom just what power she held.

Oh, the two sisters of fire would win this war, with or without their courts help. Because they were Ashryvers, they were fire raging Galathynius', and they were Fae with their Whitethorn last name. They were more powerful than their mother and father combined. And with Evalin's broken flame. . . the Valg wouldn't stand a chance.

The world wouldn't stand a chance against them. Evalin promised her kingdom protection and prosperity. She would give it to them, she would save Erilea. Because she was queen and she was good not evil, she wouldn't abandon her home like her friends abandoned her.

She was queen, and she would save her world.