Blue Blood

Family Reunion

It wasn't long before Kate and Damien got back. Of course, they had a lot of questions to ask, and Roman happily answered them all. Kate set a kettle to boil and we all sat around the table.

"So you're a real prince? Like, a genuine prince?"

"Yes, sir! 100% authentic royalty!"

Damien looks to me, "wow! I mean, I sort of believed you when you told us but it's a little different hearing it from the source, ya know?"

"It's okay, I probably wouldn't have believed me either. You DID find me covered in blood in the middle of the woods after all." I chuckle.

That starts Damien down a story path and he begins to recount that day to Roman. Roman leans into the story; He's always loved stories, big and small alike. I can't help but watch him. He's so mesmerized. He doesn't seem to notice me looking, or at least he doesn't mind it.

I turn to find Kate's eyes on me. She looks deep in thought from her chair, hand at her chin. She hasn't spoken once since she's gotten home besides a quick introduction. I can't help but squint back at her. What is she thinking.

She stands methodically and excuses herself to the garden sending a mindful look my way before she exits. I stand up a few seconds after she closes the door.

"Oh! Pause the story real quick. Mags, what's up? Where are you going?" Rody breaks from the story.

"Ah, I'm a little warm. I thought I'd step outside with Kate for a bit and keep her company."

"Okay. I lo-u-Uh be safe! Y-yeah be safe! See you soon!" He blurts. Blood rushes to his face. I feel my face heat up, but I'm not sure why.

"O-kay, are you going to be okay without me in here?"

"Oh just head outside, will ya? We were just getting to the good part!" Damien half shouts with a grin.

I smile back and head outside, feeling eyes trail me out.

Kate isn't hard to find. A small distance away, she stands with her hands folded in front of her, hair gently floating through the breeze. She looks . . . Somber. Almost sad. The sky and the plants themselves seem to match her.

I walk and stand next to her, not trying to hide my presence. I look to where she looks and see a gray stone, flat and smooth sticking out from the ground. There seems to be writing carved into its face but I can't make out what it says from this distance.

"Magnus," Her gentle voice breaks through the silence. I look to her, but her eyes stay fixated ahead of herself.

"Do you know what flowers these are?"

I follow her eyes to the stone. Softly glowing blue flowers enshroud the stone like a blanket. They all slump forward, their soft glow brightening and dimming with seemingly no order.

"No, malady, I'm afraid I don't."

There's a beat of silence, and for a moment, I think that the conversation will stop there but then she says, "They are called, The Grieving Mother. They are a very rare breed."

Her eyes close tightly, her hands squeezing tighter, "They may only grow  when watered by the tears of a mother who has lost the one thing she cares about most in the world."

Her eyes open, tears cascading down her cheeks, and yet her face holds solemn. She starts to walk towards the stone-No, the grave. She kneels down at the earth before her, her grieving shoulders blocking my view of who's name lies on the grave.

"They can only grow . . . When a mother losses her child." She squeaks, her eyes shut, trying to hold back her tears.

I don't know what to do. I feel so sorry for her, it must be so difficult. My heart breaks for her. Should I give her a hug? What if that just makes things worse? Should I ask . . . ?

"May I ask . . . What happened?" I ask, just above a whisper.

She smiles, looking off into the distance, "We didn't used to be farmers. Once upon a time, we were cartographers. We traveled across distant lands, showing the way to many. We knew that having a child would complicate things, yet . . . "

"One night, we got a bit carried away and soon enough, I was pregnant. We both decided that we needed a place to settle down and raise our child, and so we began to search. I would continue to write in the maps while my beloved would drive the cart. We needed all the money we could, so to stop working was out of the question."

"One day, a knight approached us on the road to Auril. She said that the king had business with us and so of course, with the king having a vast wealth, we agreed and set off right away. At that time, I was having horrible pains in my stomach and I was losing strength by the day. Every doctor we had seen had said they didn't know what was wrong with me, the only inclination that it has something to do with the fetus inside of me, until . . . Well . . . "

"We arrived at the castle, me, barely able to walk with help, and my poor husband so stressed that his hair began to look white. We were brought to the thrown room, where the king and queen sat on satin sheets. They wanted maps of everywhere we had seen and wanted us to continue to bring them more maps as we adventured across the land. We were very great full, but uncertain with our child on the way. We decided to wait at the castle to make a decision. We needed more time. The queen pitied me and so, I was sent to their doctors at the time. They gave me many medicines, and herbs, many of which I had never even heard of. But . . . "

"The pain inside me became worse and worse by the day until it was time to give birth. The birth lasted hours and hours. Every second was agony until finally. . . I heard his cries. My sweet little baby. The smallest child I had ever seen. His cries soon stopped though, as did my happiness . . . They told me . . . They told me he didn't make it. That his tiny little heart was not strong enough to beat. Dead . . . My baby . . . Dead, with only a name and a wisp of hair to him . . ."

Tears streamed down her face endlessly, eye brows furrowed deeply. She looked so tired. So depressed.

Quickly, almost out of nowhere, she sniffles and sits up straight.

"But they were liars and scoundrels. And I will nourish these weeds no longer." She declares rising to her feet.

I turn to the stone.

Engraved into the stone it reads,

Beloved son

Taken before his time

Magnus Sage

"Come inside, Magnus. Your father and I have much to talk about."