Episode 2: Prologue – A Beginning (Aadya)

16 years, 10 months ago

He was waiting for her, in his tent a few rows away for her own. She knew he would be waiting there, and yet she wasn’t sure she was ready for a new beginning. She’d loved her time with Drey.

Drey was out at battle, defeating his father. Drella was waiting beside Cheyenna, awaiting the gut instinct that it was time to kill her by the elixir’s kiss, timing known by her family’s luck magic. Konrad was fighting.

He, Meldrick, her future husband – her past husband – the man that encompassed Konrad’s plans from each end of a shelf lined in the story of her love for Drey, was waiting for her, was there. She didn’t need a husband. A queen had more power and more right. She had the heart of the Lower Dell and she would hold hands in grief and relief with the Upper Dell.

She felt tears stain her cheeks as she slipped into her own tent, unable to go to him just yet. She wasn’t ready; she wanted eternity to suffer through the pain of losing someone she had hoped she would spend her life with. She knew this day was coming; this was the plan. She wanted eternity to avoid a history with Meldrick, who she was incapable of remembering, because Titania had stripped her of her memories and the right to her own past.

She wanted to be alone, to adorn herself with leather and close her eyes and imagine being included in the battle. She wasn’t one to sit on the sidelines, but she wouldn’t interfere either. This was a plan that was bigger than her ego and her drive to help others.

She would help others once the war had ended. There would be other wars for her to fight in, other opportunities to show her strength and skill.

“My lady,” a voice said as she entered her tent.

She looked up, at Meldrick lying on his back along the furthest wall of the tent.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“I thought my lady would enjoy some company,” he replied.

She had no where better to excuse herself to. She settled into the idea of spending this time with him. He was losing his brother, mother, and father today. She knew he needed the distraction too.

He sat up and crawled over to her.

“It’s better than being alone,” he said, reading her thoughts.

Aadya sat with him, or maybe he sat with her. She wasn’t sure who needed the other more at the moment.

When Drey burned, she felt it through the bond, sharing his suffering with her. Meldrick held her. He pulled away the heat and soothed her with waves of water.

She felt the cracks in the elixir, the bond stretching until it snapped, her marriage to Drey crumbling in his death, and Meldrick still held her. Together, they forged a new bond.

Alone, she knew she could have ruled and brought lasting prosperity and unity to the Dells, but she was happy to have a partner to share the burdens and the joys with.

As impossible as goodbye to Drey was, she held Meldrick too. She weaved her fingers, entwining them with his.

He was her strength. She was his. Together, they would ensure the Dells flourished. They would heal the desert and rally the villagers. The landscape would shift and the population would grow. From the rubble of this battlefield, spanning across the rift, they would build a palace open to all.

And on the northern side, covered in vines that trailed up the stone walls and sealed them into place, they would build the greatest library known to any realm; a harbor for civilization and a memorial to the man who made it possible.

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