A Kind of Magic

Sixty-Seven

They followed one of the servants who seemed to be in charge of leading the visitors to the waiting king through seemingly endless, winding, ill-lit corridors, up several wide, well-lit, spiral staircases carved directly into the white rock like the walls, and the entire castle itself, by some ancient magic, undoubtedly belonging to the old gods. 

Leodhais walked next to the short man dressed in a fine, red and gold livery, dragging Annwyn whose hand he refused to let go of one step behind him, asking questions most likely to find out what had happened in his absence, to which the man replied either with a nod or a shake of his head.

Upon reaching the door which even Peregrine who didn't know the castle well recognised as that leading to the throne room, Leodhais turned and nodded towards him and Fiona, who walked at his side, her hand fisted inconspicuously around a handful of his cloak.

It made sense to Peregrine that Leodhais wanted her to enter first, or at least together with him... The elf was an adopted son for Alaric, and the king's real, newly-found daughter should assume her place at his side, if not a few steps ahead.

"Go, Bella. Leodhais is right; this is all about you."

He could hear her exhale her frustration an instant before she turned to him and, quick and fleeting and invisible as the gust of wind rushing through the gloomy corridor, leaned on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips before she walked to Leodhais, leaving him behind feeling void and abandoned.

The tall arched door opened even as the elf let go of Annwyn's hand and reached for Fiona's, who didn't accept it, though. Peregrine shook his head at her defiance but smiled; she was incapable of pretending and compromising her feelings and ideas, and he loved that about her. He pressed his hand to his chest where Alaric's ring lay hidden beneath his clothes; keeping it was her idea too, and he would respect it as long as it made her feel happy, unless the king demanded it back. But he somehow doubted that. The longer he carried the band of gold on his neck, the more it felt like it belonged to him, like it could... whisper into his thoughts almost like the one Freddie had, the one showing him the future. He came to regard the magic imbued ring as a living thing, and he didn't doubt that it had ways of not making itself remembered by Alaric unless it wanted to return to him.

He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts as the company filed into the large room illuminated by the light of the fire burning on the tall hearth and the purple magic emanating from Emrys' sphere set upon the throne's wooden dais, finding the king, his husband and his wizard-- who for some reason chose to greet them in his human form, exchanging his floor-length white beard and wizards' robes for a clean shaven face of a middle-aged man clad in the fashion of the people from The World Beyond The Stones-- the only people present. 

For a while Peregrine lost sight of the short redhead who had become the centre of his universe as he walked into the throne room behind Leodhais and Gilderoy, as a part of the trio of questers the king had picked to bring his lost heir home. But then, even as he straightened after the polite bow they all performed in greeting of their king, he could feel her close behind him, using his tall body to hide from her father's view, biding her time, observing her father before she would allow him to see her.

Alexandra, rushing across the vast hall into Emrys' outstretched arms, scattered his and everyone else's thoughts, though. Seeing the woman embracing the wizard without paying the tiniest amount of attention to Alaric was unexpected and inexplicable. 

Fiona, still hiding behind him, giggled, and he was almost certain that she thought that this served Alaric right after how he had treated her mother, and he agreed. Before any of the present could make sense of what they were seeing, Freddie, followed by Gollum, weaved his way through the rest of the company and stood at the foot of Alaric's throne, his squared shoulders making him look taller than he was, his regal posture and the serious blue light emanating from his orbs unwavering in their thoughtfulness as he appraised his grandfather. 

Alaric, obviously feeling awkward under the boy's scrutiny as well as because of the display of affection of his ex-lover and his wizard and best friend, looked upon the little man standing straight in front of him with a frown.

"Emrys! Didn't you tell me my heir was a girl? And doesn't the boy look too young to be my son?"

"He doesn't, if you visited The World Beyond The Stones while we were already dating," the tall elf dressed head to toe in golden, flowy robes, standing until that point in the shadows pooling behind Alaric's throne stepped into the light, his narrowed eyes flickering among Alaric, Freddie and Alexandra who was still wrapped in Emrys' arms, nodding to the words the wizard whispered in her ear. 

"I didn't! You know that I only love you, Cedric. How could you even think that I would... You must never think so..." Alaric implored, jumping to his feet, his hands reaching for the elf's arms to make him turn to him and look into his eyes.

Peregrine sighed. He respected and understood Fiona's desire to hide, but she could not afford to stay invisible a second longer unless they wanted to witness the dispute between the king and his beloved husband escalating into their first argument. 

He reached behind and grabbed hold of her, pulling her, slowly and gently, in front of him. It pleased him to see that she didn't resist-- he hated doing anything against her will-- she must have come to the same conclusion and didn't want to be the cause of a lovers' dispute. 

Fiona walked a few steps in front of the three men and placed one hand on her son's shoulder, then spoke to the king who had finally noticed her, "I am your daughter." She looked at her father's husband then, adding, "I'm almost twenty-nine, hopefully that clears your doubts."

"I... " Alexandra spoke even as she rushed to stand at her daughter's side, "... She is not your daughter, though, Alaric, I'm not certain, that is. She... might be Emrys' child..."

The three men behind her shifted uncomfortably even as Alaric dropped back down onto his throne, looking shocked, and Fiona laughed. She would never have expected something like this of her mother... Whatever the story behind this revelation was, she had kept her secret well all these years.

It wasn't until Alaric's spouse laid a comforting hand on his shoulder that the king stood up again and walked to Alexandra, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips.

"Welcome in my home, Lexie. It's a pleasure to see you after all this time. I'm glad you came; it seems we need to talk," he said, looking between her and Emrys. 

He still seemed shocked, Fiona decided, but his voice was laced with annoyance rather than anger. And she could understand that; the poor man had just learned that he might not have the heir his entire kingdom was expecting. Botheration... She wouldn't want to be in his place.

"Welcome, everyone," the king said, collecting himself finally, looking between the members of the company, shaking and kissing their hands as he moved among them, before he made his way back to Freddie and Fiona. He observed her infinity of red curls and the deep blue eyes so similar to his, a smile accompanying a forming decision playing on his lips as he pulled them both into an embrace, which she returned carefully. 

"I want to hear your story," he announced, narrowing his eyes at Alexandra and Emrys standing side by side, hand in hand. "And yours, daughter," he added, looking from Fiona to Freddie and back. "But let us talk while we eat, you must be tired and hungry, and I need a drink... Emrys, make sure everything is ready for our dinner in the Great Hall, and no servant can disturb and overhear us, we have things to discuss which I want to keep among us. We must take decisions tonight. Follow us, please," he added, offering his arm to Fiona and a hand to Freddie, leading them slowly towards the distant door through which Emrys had rushed out moments before.