Liridia

Epilogue

3 months later
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The cool breeze rustled my hair as I stared out at the pristine lake, the moss on the rocks such a vivid green they nearly shone in the light of the moon.

"If I am cooped up here any longer I fear I shall die of boredom. Aldwin, your turn to hunt, I can hear the birds in the darned trees, you lazy boy." Deidre cried from inside the shack.

"That's where you're wrong sister, it's your hunt tonight. I brought in the pheasant the night before last, or do you not remember?" I jokingly chastised, tutting and shaking my head in disagreement. That earnt me a shove in the shoulder, nearly toppling me off of the landing. I smacked back out of habit, but turned back to the lake after a moment.

I had heard word of Hywel's untimely demise, and wondered how Liridia was faring. Who had taken control of the kingdom?, probably another high ranking lord who wants a shot at ruling a chunk of unstable land. Although the West could have taken it, the nobles of the East would've been rightly miffed.

You see, the land was sorted up into four main parts, the North, the South, the East and the West. The East and the West were arch rivals, as the Great Prince of the West slept with the East King's daughter and formed the South where they could both escape their parents. The North is all mountains and valleys, a few peaceful villagers, but more savages than anything.

Then the King's held council in their land and split it up with the wealthiest lords, keeping the prime land for themselves. Nohma was the Capital, and it functioned well. But as soon as the Queen died, it went to hell and did not come back.

But Liridia could handle herself. She was strong like that.

It was strange that I could still remember her face after all this time had passed. All shadows and angles. But she was a vicious type of beautiful, and when she kissed my head in farewell, I knew I would never forget it.

Our Father had requested our presence, but even through the written word I could detect the aggressive undertones and I won't respond until he calms down. Which will be most definitely never, as Deidre and I are now fugitives of the Crown.

The sharp snap of a branch ringing in the almost silence made the hair on the back of my neck stand taut. Deidre cursed under her breath and strided into the surrounding forest, bow in hand and whistling a tune.

"Deidre..." I warn, her dark hair flying as she whipped around with her brows raised in concern. She lifted her bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at the underbrush I gestured to. The string of the bow was pulled back, back, back until her forearm was quivering with the effort of holding onto it.

"Lower the bow or I let it fly." A feminine voice ordered from the bush. Deidre lowered her bow slowly, glancing from the bush to me every few seconds.

That voice.

An oak longbow shot up from the bush, the shooter wearing the garb of the huntress, her dark leathers allowing her to blend with the night. Become it.
Her raven dark hair was probably middle back length, and was done up in a simple knot at the base of her neck.

The base of her neck.

A head of orange hair popped up from the bush right next to the woman, it's face covered in mud. It held a bow also, but it was aimed straight at me.

The dim light of the moon revealed little of her face, but plenty of her body, her sides and thighs strapped with daggers and throwing knives. She was definitely ink skinned, but I couldn't make out her face.

Is it...?

The bow gripped in her nimble fingers lowered slightly, and the sight of her smile did nothing to stifle my shock.

"What are you doing?" I hear him whisper incredulously to her. She just held up a hand to silence him.

"Aldwin?" She whispered, her voice barely caressing the wind to reach my ears.

"Liridia?" I breathed, my hands trembling and mouth still wide open.

"Oh, so you know him. That's great. Hi. I'm Warren."

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Hello darlings.

This is it.
My final chapter of this story.
I absolutely loved writing this book, and I hate to leave it like this, but you see, I'm just evil like that.
Thank you to all my readers, my friends who were there from the start and everyone in between.
Writing is a passion, and I fear I cannot go on as my glorious tale reaches an end.
But fear not! Liridia, Aldwin, Deidre and everyone you know and love will be back in the next book! So never fear, my undying love for this world I have created shall continue.

Until we talk again.

In peace may you leave the shore.
In love may you find the next.
Safe passage on your travels.
Until our final journey to the ground,
May we meet again.

EmmsieBear1402 xox