Long Live The King

Chapter Ten

The victory at Midae quickly became the stuff of legend.

The neighbouring kingdoms were amazed at Ron's success in defeating the ambitious Midaean King, and in the following weeks more and more Kings arrived at the gates of the Sirnian stronghold with offers of friendship and alliances. Each new friend contributed something to the kingdom: the farmlands were improved with better irrigation systems and gifts of prime fertiliser, an academy was founded with new resources provided, a medical facility was built and assistants provided to Julius to aid him in his work, better housing was provided for villages throughout the kingdom, and a reforestation initiative was introduced for Reyn Woods. This, plus the wedding plans for the kingdom, left Ron with barely any time to sleep, let alone anything else. But he was satisfied – it felt like his life had found a path, and he was finally firmly walking it.

Leyla's brother was established at Midae as the governor for the region, and from what Ron had heard the plans to rebuild and improve the stronghold were going well. The casualty count had been unfortunately high, but the spoils of war were great enough that Ron found himself living with it fairly easily. At times it made him question if he was just broken inside. But he tried not to dwell on that thought for too long.

After all, he had a princess to marry.

While Ron had been at war, Leyla had been forced to endure the journey home and hated every moment of it. She hated being away from him, hated the thought that her home now held one less friend, and she hated how goddamned uncomfortable the journey was. Her only solace was the thought of returning to Sirnia. It was going to be the start of a whole new life, and she couldn't wait. She would have her own kingdom. She would have a man who loved her, and maybe even have children to adore. She would become a wife and a mother. Maybe she could become like a mother to the people.

The thought made her smile, and as she travelled back to Hurgharia she found herself writing journal-like letters to Ron, telling him everything. She hoped he didn't find it too weird. Night after night she laid out her emotions on piece after piece of paper, kissing it every now and then and pretending it was her love. Most nights she fell asleep on that pile of paper.

When her father announced his departure, the anxiety balled up in her chest and it took all of her effort not to scream.

But two weeks later, a letter reached the castle of Hurgharia within a couple of hours of her own arrival back home. It was confirmation from Ron: the war was over. Midae had been taken, and her family was being gifted the stronghold. She would always have her family close by if she ever wanted to visit them. Ron's gift to her brother filled her with so much warmth she felt she could explode, and she spent the rest of the day trying hard not to smile too much.

"Hell, you're smiling way too much," One sister remarked. "It's creepy."

It was also inappropriate. Leyla had returned home to mourn a fallen friend, and was becoming uncomfortably aware of the conflict growing in her. She was meant to feel agony, misery, remorse, but here she was, fantasising about how great her life would be. When she visited her friend's family, she put in the effort to force tears and to grieve with them, but at the thought of her friend she was just filled with emptiness. It didn't feel real to her. Only Ron felt real.

And she knew how selfish that was.

After a month had passed of mourning for her friend, Leyla began to prepare her belongings for the travel back to Sirnia. She was subtle at first, only placing small things into boxes, but after a while it became clear that she was re-wearing the same three outfits every few days, and barely any jewellery. To spare her any further frustration, her parents agreed to arrange one last celebration to say goodbye to their daughter, before making the journey back to Sirnia for the wedding.

The celebrations were extravagant, bright and crazy, but in the days to come Leyla found that she couldn't really remember a single thing from that night. People had sung, danced and told stories. There had been a lavish feast, tearful farewells and promises that they would meet again. But in Leyla's eyes it had all blurred in to one big mess of gold.

The same could be said for her journey back to Sirnia. In the moment, the journey felt as though it had taken an eternity. But as her carriage reached Sirnian territory, she was amazed at how suddenly they had arrived, and how much had changed in the short time she had been away. There were people everywhere; the people in the fields looked fatter and better dressed, with smiles on their faces and new tools in their hands. The people in the villages ran outside to greet the royal procession as they passed through, and she found herself waving eagerly to excited young children as they ran alongside her carriage. Even the sight of Reyn Woods itself filled her with awe and amazement: new shrubs were emerging everywhere, the while ash still draped the land in a layer of grew, stunning deep bluebells and pure white teardrops were beginning to bloom.

But the most amazing sight to her awe-struck eyes was that of the capital's gates. The wooden gates were decorated golden swirls and droplets of mother-of-pearl. The walls looked new, the defences were being improved, and even the roads were being re-cobbled. The whole kingdom was being rejuvenated.

The gates were opened wide, and the cry rang out. "Our Hurgharian family has arrived!"

People poured out into the streets to greet the procession. They surrounded her carriage, hands pressing against the wood, and they fought for access to the windows. "Leyla! Leyla!" They screamed. Her heart raced and she leaned into her seat, her carriage rocking and shaking from the crowd outside. She could hear the driver try to usher them away but with no success.

So she took a deep breath and reached for the door.

As she stepped out into the streets the crowd fell silent, but all eyes fell on her. A lump caught in her throat, and her hands began to shake. She coughed, took a deep breath, and smiled at the crowd. Raising her voice as loudly as she could, she cried out:

"Thank you, everyone, I am so proud to join you all in calling Sirnia my home,"