Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Darien

 As much as he hated Queen Alicent, Darien smiled when she saw her embrace Princess Andrella in her arms, both of them with tears running down their faces. He didn't trust Illyria to find his sister at first, but she was the only reason they had found Andrella in the first place. It was Illyria she had to thank, but Prince Roderick beat him to it.

"I owe you an apology, don't I?" he said to Illyria. "And thanks."

"I was happy to help," said Illyria, then she looked to Andrella and Alicent, saying "I haven't had a moment like this with my mother and sister was two and a half centuries ago." Darien didn't know anything about her past other than what Trevor had told him, which was that she didn't join the Silver Hawks by choice and that she only did what Rivenar Jarolan said out of fear of what would happen if she didn't. All of that ended when she attacked Trevor, and he spared her life. It didn't surprise Darien that Trevor didn't kill her outright, as was the nature of every Guardian if they knew something was wrong.

"Why don't you go and see your father, Andrella?" said Alicent, letting go of her daughter, then she turned to Trevor, Illyria, and the three brothers, and said, "Go with her."

"Come on, sister," Damien said, as they led the Princess from the Queen's solar, but Alicent stopped Darien.

"Darien, wait," she ordered, and he stopped. It must have been the first time she had called him by his name without the "Ser" ever since his father knighted him, so he stopped, as much as he wanted to deny his stepmother.

"Yes?" he said. Alicent stepped close to him, closer than she ever had before, which made Darien grip the shaft of Thunder. The Queen didn't have her hands behind her back, so she wasn't carrying a dagger or a pistol. Suddenly, Alicent threw her arms around Darien as even more tears fell from her eyes.

"I owe you an apology, don't I?" she sobbed. "You brought my daughter back to me." Darien let go of Thunder, and he hugged her back.

"She's my sister," said Darien.

"I always thought of you as a beastly, temperamental fool," Alicent started, letting go of him. "But what you did for me, and your sister, I won't forget. Darien, I'm sorry about how I've treated you this entire time. It was wrong of me." Darien couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was his stepmother really apologizing to him for how she had treated him his entire life?

"I don't know what to say," he managed. "Your Grace, I..."

"You may call me 'mother', Darien," said Alicent. "It's what you should have been calling me for a long time."

"Thanks."

"I suppose there's not another favor I could ask of you," said the Queen.

"No, mother," Darien assured. "Whatever you'll need, all you have to do is ask."

"Now, go spend some time with your friends," said Alicent. "You've earned it." Darien left the solar and found that Trevor, Illyria, Andrella, and his brothers were gone, probably already with King Robar, who he could only imagine his joy when Andrella returned to him. As he walked through the halls of the Ivory Tower to join them, he ran into Lord Semil Lysander and his squad of Lysander Knights.

"Ser Darien," the Lysander Lord greeted.

"My lord," said Darien. "I thought you would be on your way back to Green Hill by now."

"I wanted to ask around, first," Lord Semil corrected. "When I heard that Lord Dedric Ingram had passed away, I couldn't help but ask what others accounts of his death were, such as yours."