A Throne of Fire and Blood

Chapter 18

Tianna was ready within minutes of waking up. She was happy to finally be able to visit Meg's grave but disappointed in herself for not attempting to sooner but with Taisayal the following day, it felt right to visit now.
      Tianna had hide a knife under part of her dress, which she snuck from the guard outside of her room, just incase Dryden try's to do anything. No one would be able to contain her if something had happened to Megara's grave.
      Tianna was lost in thought when Nathan arrived to her room, she haven't even noticed he was there until her tapped her shoulder.
"Ready to go, Tianna?" He asked. Tianna nodded her head slowly and got up from her chair. This was it. She was finally going to see her precious Megara's grave.
Nathan and Tianna walked through the castle in silence. Tianna was just feeling so many different emotions, she didn't know what to say.
As they got outside, Tianna noticed a patch of white roses next to the pathway they were walking down. She stopped and knelt down next to the patch of roses, and picked one. Tianna lifted the rose to her nose and smelt the soft scent of it. Tianna hoped that all that has happened to the grave is that the rise had died, as that was easily replaceable.
Tianna carried in walking down the path to the carriage that Nathan had arranged for them.
      The small, yet elegant, red carriage with two large chestnut coloured horses was waiting at the path for them with the Prince waiting by its side. What was the Prince doing there?
"Hello, your Highness, did you want to use this carriage? I'll happily call another one for ourselves." Nathan told him.
"No, that won't be necessary, but thank you for your offer." Landen turned to Tianna, "I was hoping to speak with you before you left," he looked back to Nathan, "If that if allowed?"
Nathan hesitated before replying, "Yes, that is fine, I'll wait inside the carriage." He said just before he went inside the carriage. Landen took the rose out of Tianna's hand and placed it on the floor, he then reached out to hold Tianna's hands.
"How are you feeling? I know this must be hard for you." He asked gently.
"Honestly, I'm so scared. What if Dryden has done something to it? I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let him disrespect her like that!" As Tianna spoke, her words became louder.
"It's ok, Tianna, don't get yourself worked up over this, if anything has happened, I'll happily pay for the repairs."
"Thank you." She pulled the Prince in for a hug. As she held him in a tight grip, he kissed the top of her head. Landen didn't know why, but he had a connected to Tianna, he felt like he had to be with her, he had to protect her.
"Tianna, can I go with you to visit Megara's grave?" He asked. Tianna pulled away from him so she could look into his face.
"You want to come with me? I would love for you to join me, but why?"
"I want to meet Megara, in some way at least, I want to meet the person who meant so much to you." Landen told her.
"Thank you, this really means a lot to me that you want to come." Tianna bent down and picked up her rose again, "We should leave now, I think we have kept Nathan waiting long enough."
      Tianna sat beside Landen, and facing Nathan but she had spent most of her time looking out of the window as they made their way to the area where the grave was. It saddened Tianna to see how dull the kingdom looked, the filthy streets were covered by the sick and poor, children were begging instead of playing. She couldn't imagine growing on the streets like many people had, she might have grown up being owned by Dryden, but at least she had a roof over her head and food on the table, which was far more then what these people had.
"I promise I will free you all, somehow I will, I will make sure every last innocent soul in under the King's region is free." Tianna mumbled to herself, quietly enough so no one else would hear.
Tianna led Nathan and Landen through a forest after leaving the carriage. Tianna had made Meg's grave in an isolated area were they spent most of their time together.
They came across an open area, with one blossom tree in a forest of oak. Tianna stood dead in her tracks. She stared at the encrypted stone beneath the blossom tree. She had tears rolling down her face.
"Tianna..." Laden started to speak but Nathan gave him a stern look for him to stop.
      Tianna walked over to under the shadows of the tree and knelt before the grave.
"Hello, my love... my brave Meg... I've missed... you." Tianna stopped trying to hold back her sobs and let it all out.
She just cried, and cried, and cried. Tianna hated her self for Meg's death. It was her fault, Meg didn't deserve any of this, Tianna should have never told her about her love, then Meg might have survived.
"I'm so sorry, Meg. This is all my fault. It should be me in that grave, not you." Tianna sobbed, "I will forever love you, no matter what happens, never forgot that. I am yours, and you are mine."
Landen and Nathan sat down on the grass a little distance away from Tianna, so she can have her moment with what was left of Meg. It was hard to hear what she was saying over her sobs, but just hearing and watching Tianna cry made Landen's heart ache. All he wanted was to comfort her, but he knew this was something she had to do alone.
      Tianna had eventually stopped crying for the most part, but as she spoke to the grave, she still had tears rolling down her face. Landen could hear Tianna telling stories to Meg, times of when they were younger.
"Remember the winter when we were 12, we went sledging along the hills in the snow on the east side of the kingdom? We rode our sledge right through the glass window of that tavern, and ruined all this supplies. We had to hide for hours after the old man who called the guards on us? Dryden was furious at us, but it was one of the most funniest days I can remember." Tianna explained. It brought a smile to Landen's face, hearing of a time when she was happy. Landen was grateful that Tianna had someone like her to keep her company for so long in this dark, dark world.
"Oh Meg, there's someone I want you to meet." Tianna turned back towards Landen and waved for him to come over. Landen hurried over to Tianna and knelt down beside her, "Megara, this is Prince Landen. He has been a dear friend to me."
"Hello, Megara, it's great to meet you, in some way." Landen felt awkward talking to a stone, but it made Tianna happy, so he was more then happy to do it.
Tianna told Meg about the King's competition, which was extremely difficult for her. She was telling the one she loved about working for the man she hated. They had talked about taking over the world together, killing every man who had done them wrong. Tianna would do that, do it for Meg.
      Tianna talked with Landen to the grave for another hour. She hadn't noticed how long they had been there until she noticed the sky turn golden as the sun set.
"Tianna, your highness, it is getting late, it's about time we return to the castle." Nathan told them. Landen stood up and backed away from the grave but Tianna didn't move.
"Here." Tianna picked up the white rose she laid next to her and swapped it with the wilting white rose on the grave, "For you, my love, I promise I will return soon, I won't leave you for so long like I did before." Tianna got up and walked past Nathan and Landen, back to the other side of the forest.
      Tianna sat in silence for the journey home. She didn't have anything to say. Tianna felt better knowing, in some way, she was able to say goodbye to Meg.
      When they arrived back at the castle, Tianna thanked Nathan for allowing her to go on this trip.
"I guess this makes up for me not being allowed to attend the Taisayal feast tomorrow then?" Tianna said to Nathan with a smirk on her face.
"How did you know about that?"
"The guards at my door talk very loudly sometimes. But I don't mind, I didn't particularly want to attend anyway." Tianna lied, she was disappointed that she wasn't allowed to go but she didn't want Nathan to know that.
"None of the champions are allowed to go, so your not alone." Nathan explained.
"It's fine, seriously, I don't mind." Tianna persisted. Nathan gave her a smile before walking away to carry on with his duties.
      Tianna stood outside the door to her rooms after he walked her there. Landen reached out and held both her hands and gazed lovingly into her eyes.
"Thank you for coming with me today, I am true grateful." Tianna told him.
"No need to thank me, I wanted to do this for you. I know how hard today was for you, and I'm happy I was able to help you." He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, "Good night, Tianna." Tianna was at a lose for words. She felt like something was pulling them together.
      Tianna turned to enter her room, but she caught a glance at Lady Milena staring at her from across the room. Milena looked for a few moments more before turning to walk away.