Once Upon a Lost Prince

Chapter 7

Irwin was bedridden. He’d wake then fall back into his slumber throughout the day then his pain would kick back in at night. His moans as he hallucinated would ring in Faye’s ears as she tried to comfort him, and herself. Her loved one was with her, beside her. His pain will soon fade and he’ll be there for her just like he vowed.

Through the seven days after Diabolos and Irwin met, the king would come to his son. He’d see whether Faye needed anything and if Irwin was getting better which he thankfully was, the oracle made sure of it.

On the noon of the eighth day, Irwin fluttered his eyes open, his identity that he came to refuse over the nights he spent in the dungeons under the ground, and his encounter with his father, clashed in his head and dizzied him even more. He was lost. A prince imprisoned in his own kingdom, it made him laugh, but he only managed to scoff as he took his legs off of the bed slowly. He stood up holding to the column of the huge canopy and looked around. Irwin saw himself in a wide room, the bed where he rested just moments ago sat across the wall opposite to a huge glass door, and as he walked to that door, the scenery calmed his soul as it reminded him of his home. He opened the double doors then took a deep, fresh breath. The view before him was the outstretch of the meadow he noticed when he first entered the castle grounds.

But then a smile caught at the side of his lips as he saw his wife sitting in a chair at the veranda that the double-doors he opened lead to. She was sitting there looking at her huge belly and talking with her baby.
“When will you come?” She asked her child, “I’ve been waiting for a long time now my love, don’t you think it’s time?” Faye paused then gave a sigh, “Yeah I know you’re waiting for your father to get better and I’m proud of you for that!” The mother went on with her one-sided conversation for a while then she stopped and felt the presence in the chair beside hers. Her heart caught in her throat as tears welled in her eyes. She looked at his familiar green eyes, the ones that dazed her months ago and that never lost their effect, not even when they were pained.

That was all what she needed to leap off of her chair and to his waiting embrace as he stood to hold her to his heart, like always. And they stayed like that for a while, him taking her in and feeling his child-the most important people in his life gathered in one body- and she, sobbing her heart out for all the times she wanted to feel his warmth and couldn’t.
Faye’s heart was starting to heal in her husband’s hands when all of a sudden, a new pain gathered at the bottom of her belly. It was time. The baby felt his father.

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“Deep breaths honey!” The midwife, Julia, ordered as she sat under the covers, helping Faye with her delivery. “One more push-“ she didn’t get to finish her sentence as the baby was already in her hands.

“Oh what a beautiful baby boy!” The maid next to the midwife gasped as she saw the newborn, but the happiness in the air was cut shortly then doubled when Faye gave another pained scream, tightening her hold around Irwin’s fingers. The latter didn’t know what to do anymore and he only whispered sweet nothings into his wife’s ear trying to encourage her more. He did not know what was happening as his heart went hammering against his chest, fear and excitement mixing to give an overwhelmed Irwin.

“Looks like you’re having a twin!”
“I KNEW IT!” A shout came from behind the closed doors of the room. Julia gave a small chuckle as she went back to give the second child a chance to live. The oracle knew many things, but he never intervened unless he was asked. It was an oath taken in front of the Gods and every selected oracle had to abide. Oh and in Faye’s case he wanted it to be a surprise, for the lady asked him many a times about her unborn ‘child’ and he would only give hints about it being ‘children’ which left Faye confused.
Soon Irwin and Faye had their babies in their hands, Faye giving a sigh of contentment, the pain was worth it, she thought. She saw her husband’s joy and looked at her children, a boy and a girl, Eugene and Irene. She wished for their lives to be long and happy and for them to always have each others’ backs.

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The castle was buzzing with the news of the newborns. The whole kingdom was preparing to celebrate both, the return of the prince and the birth of his children, it was all too sudden, but people in Peteonia never missed the chance to celebrate. And so they did for the next few days until things about the future of the rein was becoming clearer. The people now learned from the royal family that Prince Irwin was going to live his life peacefully away from the crown, and the kingdom was to wait for a new child for the king, one with his new wife. It was Irwin’s choice. He wanted to stay away from everything; castle life was not his thing even though his relation with his father was healing, slowly but effectively.

Fate however never works that way. Irwin was meant to return, not only to learn about his parents but also to rule side by side with Faye. He was a king chosen by the Gods and no one could ever change their will. You’d think it’s cruel that the lords above deprived Audrey, the king’s wife, the ability to bare children, but at the same time they may have helped her in many more ways, like when she became a woman of a noble status or a godmother for her husband’s grandchildren. As everyone should believe, everything happens for a reason, and it is always for the best.
When the couple first got the news, Faye was afraid that with their newfound responsibilities, raising their children by themselves was a hard quest, but then the mother found that no one is supposed to do anything alone. She had a king, a queen and an oracle to help her with everything, that is beside her husband. The two may have lost the serenity of their small cottage behind the woods, but they gained a family, to love them and cherish them until death does them apart.