princess ♢ royal au | fin

[sundown]

sun·down
/ˈsənˌdoun/
noun

》the time in the evening when the sun disappears or daylight fades《

》when one day is ending, and the next hasn't started yet; a time without meaning.《

♢

You weren't sure of how long you had been riding for, but the rhythmic pace of Milaana would have put you to sleep if it wasn't for your excitement of having Ethan with you again. He kept his arms tightly around your waist, hands occasionally rubbing your stomach, and you knew he was thinking of the life growing inside you. When you felt yourself nodding off again, he wordlessly took the reins from you, and you mumbled a thank you, relaxing back into him.

You were roused from your half-sleep by your stomach growling, and you hoped that Ethan couldn't hear it. He did.

"Y/N! Oh my god, you need to eat." He dug into his bag, pulling out a loaf of bread and an apple.

"Is that all of your food?" You questioned, knowing that he had been given meager provisions.

"You need it."

"Ethan."

"Y/N, you're pregnant."

"I'll eat if you eat."

Relenting, Ethan broke off some of the loaf for himself, leaving you to have the rest. You knew that you wouldn't eat all of it, you didn't know when you'd be able to get more food, it needed to be saved. After taking a couple bites of the bland bread, you handed it back to Ethan to put into his bag. He frowned, but thankfully didn't insist on you eating any more.

Every time you neared a town or village, you noticed that Ethan carefully skirted around it, keeping you both concealed in the trees. You saw that the pines started thinning, meaning you were approaching the southern kingdoms soon, pines grew best in the northern regions of Tubon. Farmland thrived along the banks of the Subcrib River, which divided the Northern kingdoms from the Southern kingdoms, and allowed agricultural and fishing communities to prosper nearby.

Curiously enough, you realized that Ethan was directing Milaana towards the bridge across the Subscrib River, the one that would lead to Apocalype. "Ethan, where are we going?" You mumbled, grabbing one of his arms. "I thought we had planned to go to my kingdom."

"It'll be safer to get out of Gizmonia as soon as possible, crossing now and passing through Fischbach is the best option." He explained as the hooves of Milaana thudded against the wooden bridge, too loud of a noise for as early in the morning it was.

The sun hadn't even started peeking above the horizon; the moon was still in her twilight rule with the stars as her faithful companions. You thought back to some of the astronomy studies you had done as a child, about the position of the stars and planets during certain times of the year.

"There's Pegasus." You said, pointing to the constellation above you. "That was always Rachel's favorite."

"Y/N, you don't have to talk about this." Ethan murmured compassionately, but you shook your head, you wanted to remember the good times in your life, however painful it was now.

"Whenever she couldn't sleep, she would sneak into my room and wake me up. From my bed, if the window was open, you could see every star and planet in the sky. I would tell her about the constellations, and the myths behind them. She loved Pegasus in the fall, Orion in the winter, Leo in the spring, and Heracles in the summer. Sometimes she would talk to them, and imagine that they were talking back to her. I told her that they were always going to be watching over her. Look where it got her."