Solstice sisters

Prologue

December 21st 2000:
The war had finally ended after a decade of bloodlust sparked by betrayal and jealousy. The tyrannical Maxim Kane had fallen by the hand of the King on the battlefield at midday. His army of corrupt Elves, Warlocks, Trolls, Echthroi, Gauns and Deodands had retreated back into the deep, dark depths of Shadowfey. It was hoped that these monsters would stay hidden away in the far west of Eremay far away from Tavina, where the palace was located. Most of the fighting took place in Draycott, a few miles East of the Palace, where Ravenwood Manor was located.

Even though he'd won the decade long war against his former most trusted friend, King Aramis of Eremay felt uneasy. His beautiful wife, Queen Aliya, tended to their two daughters. Her mousey brown hair fell over he flawless face as she smiled down at their newest baby girl. She stroked her deep brown, almost black hair soothingly as the child slept in the safe embrace of her mothers arms. Aramis found himself smiling in spite of his worries.
Calm yourself Aramis, he thought, you killed Maxim he can't hurt your people anymore. You have another beautiful baby girl, today should be a day of celebration. But what about the boy? Piped up the dark side of his mind reigniting his fears, the boy is still alive and planning revenge for all you know. You aren't completely out of the woods yet.

Three figures appeared at the door.
'Damon' I rose from my seat, startling Aliya 'please tell me you bear good news'
'I'm afraid not my king' said Damon apologetically 'the boy is nowhere to be found, he could have been killed in battle like his father. We will check the remaining bodies again tomorrow after the dead have been collected by their families'
A young Elf who stood on Damons right side grimance day the sound of the men and women we lost in battle.
'Thankyou Damon' I turned to the young Elf who was hanging his head in an effort to hide his pain 'How are you holding up Zachariah?' I asked solemnly
'I've been better Thankyou your highness' he said quietly.
'How's your brother Januarius?'
'He prefers Jace now and he's a wreck' Zachariah admitted sadly
'It will get easier over time my boy' I comforted him 'your parents fought well, they did not die in vain, never forget that'
He gave me a weak smile in thanks, I nodded. So many men and women had been lost each one with so much potential. I didn't know how long it would take the people of Eremay to recover from the psychological wounds of the war.
'Why don't you stay the night?' I invited 'we have plenty of rooms and food. We should celebrate, we won the war after all'
The three men seemed to perk up at the sound of victory.
'Thankyou your highness' said Damon kindly 'we would love to, Zachariah go fetch your brother'
Zachariah hurried from the room to summon his younger brother who was most likely grieving the loss of both his parents in the carriage. A good meal would do both those boys good.
'How have you healed Haryk?' I turned to the slightly taller Elf who flanked Damons left side.
'The Elves in the infirmary had me back on the battlefield in time for me to see you slay Maxim Kane' he said with confidence.
'Good boy' I replied with a smile 'you both must be starving, I'll go tell the kitchen staff to begin making tea, and that they can join us for the feast if they would like, we have more than enough'

Less than an hour later I found myself sat around our large polished oak banquet table. It was laden with food and wine, everyone was having a wonderful time. The girls had gone to bed so I had my lovely wife all to myself.
'I'm going to go check on desert' announced Aliya as she rose from the table
'I can do that your highness' said Esme, our cook.
'Nonsense!' Replied Aliya 'you haven't finished your main course, sit yourself down Esme, it's no trouble'
I smiled as I watched Aliya strut out of the dining room. That right there was why I'd married her in the first place, the war had been long and hard but it had more of an impact on Aliya than I expected it would. Everyday she worried that I wouldn't come off the battle field, she didn't want to lose me and her worry began to eat her up. She became sick of waiting in the palace for news from the front lines. In the end she insisted that she moved down to Ravenwood manor, our winter retreat, so she could be closer to me. Or the "action" as she put it. I wouldn't let her fight in battle in case she was killed, I couldn't live with myself if she was hurt.
At the other end of the table Damon stood up and cleared his throat, the room quiet ended and all eyes fell on him. Silently he raised his chalice of red wine.
'Today we defeated the greatest evil we've ever faced' he started 'the war was long and taxing, we suffered many casualties' he spared a glance at the two newly orphaned Elven brothers 'but we prospered and came out the other side stronger than ever United as one' he reached the climax of his speech 'I raise a toast' he raised his chalice and everyone copied in silence 'to my king, my country and-'
Damons toast was cut off by a blood curdling scream. I'd become accustomed to screams of fear on the battle field over the last ten years, but they were nothing compared to what I was hearing now.
'ALIYA!' I roared and leapt up from my chair.
I barrelled into the kitchen to see Aliya scrambling away from the far wall. Bright orange flames licked the walls, charring and blackening them. Smoke began to fill the air, suffocating us. I grabbed Aliya round the waist and made a break for the hallway. We met the others there.
'The front door' yelled Damon over the sound of wood crackling and burning.
We half ran, half crawled through the manor to find that the front door was also engulfed in flames.
'I can hold the fire off for a while' said Damon 'long enough for us to get out'
'Do it' I said
'Wait!' Cried Aliya 'the girls! They're still upstairs!'
My stomach dropped as I realised we'd almost left our two daughters upstairs to fend for themselves.
'Aliya wait!' I cried after her as she took off towards the stairs.
'You get them out' I yelled to Damon as I began to follow Aliya upstairs
'What about you?' He yelled back
'We'll find a way out, don't worry!' And with that I was sprinting through the disintegrating manor. I dodged flaming beams as they splintered and groaned under the intense heat of the flames.
Aliya met me on the landing, our youngest in her arms, our eldest clinging to her arm.
'Come on!' I grabbed our eldests small hand in my rough, calloused one 'we need to get out!'
We hurtled down the stairs, the entire manor was engulfed in the flaming torrent by this point.

Smoke filled my lungs and made it hard to perform any magical feats. But somehow I managed to calm the angry flames long enough to pass both my daughters out of the house to Zachariah and Januarius.
'Aramis' I heard my name being called out weakly.
'Aliya come on' I turned to see where she was.
I let out a strangled scream of terror as I saw her pinned beneath a beam.
'ALIYA! NO!' I turned away from the door and my escape route to try and save my queen.
'It's no use' she cried tears streaking down her sooty face 'save yourself Aramis, remember I love you'
'No,' I said stubbornly as I tried in vain to lift the beam 'I won't leave you'
'Aramis please this place is going to come down any second now, go!'
'I'm not leaving unless I have you'
                     *                                       *                                        *

We watched in sick fascination as the flames engulfed the manor. Illuminating it in oranges and yellows. The flames licked the night sky, embers floated through the air like deadly fireflys.
Through the dark of the night I could make out two figures hurrying towards us. The fiery torrent lit their forms from the back. As they drew nearer I realised it was Zachariah and Januarius. In their arms they carried a bundle each. The princesses.
'Where are they?' I demanded as the boys drew nearer to the group.
'Aliya was trapped, Aramis went to save her' explained Zachariah
'Will they make it?' Asked Haryk
'Yes, of course they will' I said my voice wavering slightly. Would they?'
Then my worst nightmare became a reality. The manor gave out a final groan and the structure finally gave way. The walls collapsed inwards forcing the last of the deadly flames skyward. They flames illuminated out horror stricken faces as we watched our King and Queen die before our very eyes. I let out a scream of grief and collapsed to my knees. My stomach twisted and I fought the urge to vomit. I wanted to scream and cry. My heart felt like it had been thrown in the fire along with my glorious king and queen.
We stood in stony silence as the fire raged on, eating up our final memories together.
'You will protect those Princesses at all costs do you understand me?' I said staring straight ahead.
'Yes sir' I heard the boys whisper as they comforted the whimpering Princesses.