The Exiled Queen

Epilogue

(art by @faeriereverie used w/permission)

Sixteen years later...

"Virion, have you seen your brother?" I burst into my second born son's rooms in the upper level of the palace under the hill. He prefers this part of the palace, favoring the way the sun streams in gently from the small panes of glass in the domed ceiling. It's warmer than down further into the hill. And it takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the bright natural sunlight, causing me to squint up at him.

Virion is huddled onto a high ledge near the ceiling, right beneath one of the curved oval shaped windows. The panes are leaded in patterns of roots spreading out beneath a tree: a depiction of the Greenbriar crest. One of his gangly legs hangs freely from the ledge, swaying back and forth. A book rests in his lap. A book from the mortal world--a gift from Vivienne, his aunt. Virion is rarely seen without a book in his hands, or in his face when he doesn't feel like talking.

He yawns, methodically placing a black feather into the book to mark his page before closing it and grins down at me lazily, "Of which one is it that you inquire of, mother?"

With a sigh of frustration I reply, "You know very well who I am looking for. Auron didn't appear to be dressed and the ceremony starts at sundown--which is soon. So, will you please come down from there, your clothes will wrinkle and where has your robe gone?"

Virion hops down, landing gracefully right before me. I step back, startled and his eyes gleam mischievously. His lithe height and build is all fey and he towers over me now. I reach out to straighten the shirt that's become bunched under his waistcoat. The dressmaker has fitted him into an offwhite tunic and trousers and a navy waistcoat, all with trimmings of gold. I find his fine robe in a heap on the floor where's its apparently slipped carelessly from the back of a chair. He merely watches me as I pick it up and shake it out with a disapproving frown. It fastens at the throat with a silver chain, made from a pure white velvet and lined with gray rabbit's fur. It is too heavy and warm for Virion to wear just yet so I drape it back over the chair for him.

"I may know of where Auron may be at this hour, if not in his rooms asleep." Virion rasps in his newly deepened voice behind me. I turn to him, standing there in his finery, his hair dark, nearly black but not quite, especially in the sun where it shines with strands of deep, rich brown. He looks so much like his father, except for a much gentler and kinder light to him at sixteen than was Cardan. "He is always off with that pixie boy he fancies, frolicking through the Milkwood and licking the juice of everapples from each other's fingers--"

I hold a hand up and Virion laughs, deep and husky, he thrives on goading me, "Are you quite done? You know I do not care to hear about you and your brother's...romantic endeavours."

"I will find him and bring him back for you."

Virion starts past me but eyeing his fine clothes, I stop him with a sigh, "Better not in those clothes. They won't survive the Milkwood. But if you could find your cousin for me--"

"Again, which one?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a long slow breath, "Eva. Of course. The others are too young to rely on, you know that. She's arrived early, I passed her by in the grand hall, plucking at a lyre with that mortal flutist boy. Will you send her after Auron? He'll listen to her. And I have something I need to attend to before the ceremony." I lean onto the tips of my toes and press a kiss onto Virion's cheek before turning to go.