Crown

Mīsagon rȳ ñāqes-Providence at Dawn

Raehar sat in one of the gazebos in the garden, enjoying a morning meal with his daughter, when Sin came tottering by. Dysis immediately lit up when she spotted him.

"Good morning Sin!" She beamed.

His raised his head in a despondent greeting and nodded.

"What brings you out so early?" Asked Raehar.

"I'm looking for Dez. She ran off earlier. I think I may have really upset her so I wanted to apologize."

Dysis mirrored his downcast expression. "Oh...we haven't seen her..."

"Okay. Sorry to disturb you then!" He gave them a weak smile before trudging along.

Dysis sighed and slumped into her seat. This did not go unnoticed by Raehar. He took a sip of his drink and put his cup down. "Don't look so down dear. I'm sure there's some one out there for you...don't think it's Sin though."

Dysis rolled her eyes, unfazed by her father's blunt and sarcastic speech. She was used to it by now. "Dad! Geez!" She shook her head.

"Come now Dysis, you've had a crush on him ever since you were little and it's gone nowhere over the years. I think it's time you look elsewhere."

Dysis was silent for a little while before propping herself up on her elbows and curiously glancing at her father. "Dad? How did you meet mom?"

Raehar stroked his chin. "Hmm let's see...well I first met her when Illya and I were off exploring one of the shrines in the Haan Empire. Your mother was a slave to a very cruel master. Illya and I freed her and took her with us."

Dysis snickered. "Aunty Illya said you were to much of a wuss to ask her to marry you because you had so many other flings that were still mad at you."

A vein popped in Raehar's head. "That woman..."He sighed. "It did take me a while to propose but that's because I had a little anxiety when I came to what I wanted I'm my future and whether or not I could be a good husband to her. We never actually dated...I just sort of asked her to marry me. Point is, love hits you when you least expect it to and everyone's different so stop worrying so much about it. If it's meant to be, love will find you."

Dysis laughed. "Dad that was the sappiest thing you've ever said haha!"

Raehar scoffed. "Shut up and eat you're bread."

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Tah Min was supposed to have stayed in the capital but Ea had made a case for Tah Min to stay with them. The Water Priestess spent most of her time in Meer, The Wind Priestess was often in Qahil and the Earth Priestess lived in Craobh Fuaran. Ea thought she would be lonely in the capital, surrounded by nothing but old men. Illya agrees and gave Tah Min her own place in the palace. Tah Min was always an early riser and so she'd usually wake up to take a stroll around the palace grounds. She'd often run into Ea, who was an equally early riser and this particular day was no different.

"Good morning Priestess," he greeted with a smile.

"Good morning to you too Ea! How many times must I ask you to call me Tah Min?" She put her hands on her hips.

He chuckled. "Do forgive me Tah Min, it was out of habit." Ea smiled again. "I thought I would come by and see how you were doing today. I mean it's been a little over a month since you arrived but I hope you're enjoying yourself."

Tah Min smiled. "Yes! It's been wonderful here! Everyone's been very hospitable. I'm getting a long well with Yukimi and Dez too. I'm very grateful to the Queen for welcoming my brother and I so warmly."

"That's good. Mother does seem to like you quite a bit after all."

Ea and Tah Min stood enjoying the gentle morning breeze and chatting when Ri-is rounded the corner in a panic.

"Ea! Tah Min! Have either of you seen Yukimi this morning?"

Tah Min's smile faded into a look of concern. "No I'm afraid not. Sorry."

Ri-is bent down, hands on his knees. "I thought...she might have come to visit..." He said through bated pants.

Ea put a hand on his brother's shoulder in an effort to calm him down. "Why are you looking for her? Is something wrong?"

"She's missing. She went out early this morning to visit the underground caves near the ruins by the hanging gardens and never came back. I thought maybe she came back with someone else but nobody's seen her since she left."

Ea and Tah Min exchanged worried glances.

"Quick! We have to go tell mother!" Ea said in a hurry.

•~•~•~•~•~•

Isidore and Illya, just having come from breakfast, strolled leisurely through the halls, reminiscing and catching each other up on their lives to make up for the time they hadn't seen each other.

"I'm glad to see you're doing well," said Isidore, brushing a strand of hair from her face.

"Me too. It's been a long time since we've been able to spend time together like this!"

"Too long. You still eat like like you're feeding two mouths instead of one..."

Isidore glanced at Illya. Illya didn't respond. She just looked down at her feet. Isidore looked away in a knowing silence just as Ea, Ri-is and Tah Min came running up to them.

"Mother!...Yukimi's...gone missing!" Ri-is said, breathing heavily.

Illya looked at him like this wasn't at all a problem."And?" She asked bluntly.

"And we have to find her!" He responded urgently.

Ea didn't say anything, but he could already tell what her response was going to be. A long sigh left Illya's lips as she replied. "We? what we is there excatly? I do believe you were the one I put in charge of taking care of her."

Her words, though seemingly cold somehow calmed Ri-is and Ea. She was right. It was his responsibility.

"You have permission to use whatever resources you think are necessary. Do be careful though. If anything were to happen with her, I'm sure it would cause throuble between us and the snow spirits of Hia Miu."

Illya and Isidore went on their way and Ri-is, now dawning a new found determination, turned to his brother and Tah Min with resolve in his eyes and a plan on his mind."I have an idea."