After the War... There is Peace

Who is that ?

Although it was a sunny afternoon in Rifthold, Josefin was still in bed, buried under her covers. Her new pup, gifted by uncle Dorian, was at the end of her bed frame snuggled up beneath her dozens of stuffed animals. Josefin had stayed up way past her bedtime last night, even though she knew that she wouldn't want to wake up the next morning. She was surprised that her daddy hadn't thrown her covers off her yet. Oh well, there wasn't anything exciting happening today anyways.

"Up you get, Jose" laughed Chaol.

Oh no. Jose was thinking of how she jinxed herself as Chaol threw the covers off her, them landing right on top of Sorscha, her new pup barking abruptly in confusion.

"Arghh,"groaned Josefin.

"You should've thought about that, my love, before you decided to stay up until the crack of dawn."

Josefin arose from her sprawled position on the bed, to look up her daddy's ruggedly handsome face... and stick her tongue out at him.

He lunged.

She falls back on the bed, overtaken by screams of laughter as Chaol tickles the utter life out of her. He knew just where she'd be most vulnerable. She begs for him to stop in between choked breaths, knowing that she probably deserved this for sleeping in so late.

"Alright, now get up before I make you run laps like the rest of the guards at the palace." Chaol says as he gets up to leave, patting Sorscha's furry head in the process.

Josefin fakes a sigh, as she begins to make up her completely destroyed bed.
Can't an 8-year-old sleep all day in peace?

~~
"I'd really love some pastry tarts," Josefin looks pointedly to her daddy, whose currently helping her mount the horse they'll be riding on today.

"We'll see; Only if you're on your best behavior, Jose."

Josefin signals to him. "Aye aye, Cap'n."

Chaol shakes his head and grins.

~~

Yrene was diligently working on one of her many tonics, when the light that flooded through the window was suddenly blocked out by something. Startled, she looks up only to find a head full of luscious, brown curls illuminated in the sunlight. The owner, who's sitting atop her father's shoulders, is grinning down at her, mischievously.

"And to whom do I owe the pleasure of having not one, but two of the loves of my life coming to see me in my workplace," Yrene says, mirroring the look on Josefin's face.

"We'd thought we would come check up on you", Chaol said.

"How sweet," Yrene gushed. She didn't think they knew how happy this one little visit made her feel.

"Mama, we got you something too!"

Chaol places Josefin on the ground so she can pull a special treat out of her pant's pocket. Yrene, despite herself, let's out a little squeal of delight. Of course, they knew to get her her favorite pastry tart.

"My hearts," Yrene says as she gathers her tiny family in a tight hug. Jose squirms in pleasure while Chaol firmly wraps his arms around them so they could lean on him. The sun shone on them like a spotlight as if they were the only ones in the world.

~~

Chaol arrives to the palace on his horse with his wife leaning on his back, and a snoring Josefin curled peacefully into arms. He chuckled to himself quietly. She's always been energetic, but a good horseback ride can put her to sleep in a matter of minutes. Hopefully she would stay asleep when they made it to her room. These days, she was having trouble staying asleep in her own bed, and would eventually found her way snuggled up in between him and her mama. Not that he didn't mind.

He navigated his way to the stables and tied up his horse. Getting off, he carefully held Jose in a position he hoped would keep her dozing. Nipping at Yrene's elbow was enough to get her to open her eyes and realize they were home. Man, was he tired. Josefin was a lot of work at this age. He was halfway out of the stables, leading Yrene towards the entrance, when he paused to look at two of the horses. He had never seen them here before, but he decided that maybe a princess was visiting from a foreign land.

As he followed Yrene up the stairs to their bedroom, Josefin thankfully still sound asleep in his arms, he heard loud fits of laughter. Josefin started. Oh no.

"Who's that," Yrene said, a hint of curiosity in voice.

"Let's go see," Chaol sighed.

Turning a corner, Yrene stops abruptly causing Chaol to bump into her, which wakes Josefin out of her abyss.

Chaol follows Yrene gaze hoping to see what in the world made her pause so suddenly.

Sure enough, he got his answer as the blond-haired Queen of Terrasen beamed at them, standing next to her beloved, silver-haired prince. Dorian was beside them, looking pleasant himself.

"Aelin Ashryver Galathynius," Chaol breathed.

"Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius," Aelin corrected Chaol, much to Rowan's pleasure based on the slight smirk formed on his lips.

"Who is that?"Josefin asked wide-eyed.

"Where do I even begin," Chaol thought to himself.