Page 94 of Arise the Queen
Thesewere her people now.
Her chin trembled with emotion, and she bit back a cry of pain as her gaze fixed on his beloved face—a face she would never see again, for she had spoken true every time he’d asked, and her answer could not change now merely because they had won this victory. A new dawn awaited, and with it, the chance to mend this troubled realm.
Already, she was weaving plans…
Málik nodded somberly, peering down between them, his beautiful face a mask of sorrow. But he stepped back, as she once had in the fields before the Druid Crossroads, breaking their connection. Fat tears welled in Gwendolyn’s eyes. But there were too many witnesses for maudlin displays of emotion. Nor would he kiss the Cornish queen for all to see, then walk away, but neither would he fail to make his heart known. He fell to his knees before Gwendolyn, bowed his head, thumped a fist to hisbreast, remaining there long enough that his fealty could not be confused. And then he stood, giving her a nod, before turning and finding his mare. And then he simply left, with his little blue flame trailing after, until it shrank to a pinprick of light.
The last Gwendolyn saw of Málik was the reflection of moonlight against his beautiful silver hair, and the blink of his Faerie flame before it vanished.
Shrouded in silence, the few who’d remained on the battlefield watched him go—the Fae king, who’d dared to bend the knee to a mortal queen.
With trembling lips, Gwendolyn stared at the void, letting her tears fall, unashamed to weep for losing a piece of her heart.
She vowed the loss would not be in vain.
Gwendolyn’s returnto Trevena was bittersweet.
Far from her worst fear, not only did Caradoc not lock the city gates against her, he’d presented the keys to her with a procession to honor her return. And then, once matters of governance were resolved, he took his Catuvellauni kinsmen, including his son, Ely, and their newborn child, and returned to the fenlands to reclaim his village.
After a tearful good-bye with Ely, Gwendolyn returned to the business of Trevena, disbanding her old Konsel, creating a new type of congress, offering positions at her table to the chieftains of each of Pretania’s tribes—twelve altogether, including three to represent the tribes of Cornwall, one to represent all of Westwalas, one to represent Prydein, and the rest to the remaining seven tribes. True to her word, she would leave all the tribes to govern themselves, but she intended to give them a seat at her Konsel table so they could represent their own interests to Cornwall. For all matters that did not concern the tribes at large,she created a separate body for the administration of Cornwall and its territories.
Naturally, she returned her mother to thedawnsio, and this time, the tribes were far more welcoming of the institution. Queen Eseld also lured two of her younger, unmarried sisters to Trevena, along with Lady Ruan, to help produce herdawnsio. One took the veil and left to join the Gwiddons.The other took her mother’s place when, unexpectedly, after one of their Konsel meetings, she returned to Lundinion with Caradoc—all without Gwendolyn’s intervening. But she and Ely were meant to return together, twice every year to help as Gwendolyn’s closest counsel.
Of course, Baugh returned to Skerrabra, but it wasn’t long thereafter when word arrived that he had abdicated histhanehood, leaving Albanactus to lead in his stead. He perhaps remained another year to provide counsel… but then, one day, Gwendolyn received word that he, too, had vanished.
No explanation.
Gone—as was Málik’s father.
Rumor had it that Baugh had traveled north to a place called the Rhipaion valley, to join the Arimaspoi tribe. Another claimed he took himself and his wife and traveled east to Freydis’ homeland. Alas, no one could say for sure.
Yestin earned himself a chance at redemption, but instead of remaining in the city, he abandoned Trevena with another lover to live a quiet life in the Cod’s Wold, raising sheep for wool.
Merlin, rest his soul, died happily one day beneath their Yew tree. They discovered his old body prone beneath it, with his staff in one hand and a silly grin on his face. He was the only Druid Gwendolyn ever saw again, and once he, too, was gone, no one ever again found the Isle of Mona. It, too, vanished, as did Baugh. But the Gwiddons claimed the isle would return once more before the end of the Druid’s age. Just to be certain,Gwendolyn traveled north to the Druid’s Crossroads, to see if that village was still there, but all that remained were the carved, blooded stones and a ruined cairn. It, too, was gone.
Taryn healed her leg well enough to serve beneath Bryn as captain of Trevena’s army, and she, along with Ely, Eseld and even Demelza, helped Gwendolyn to determine a fair settlement for women whose lives were not meant to be, or no longer, tied to men.
The Iceni rebuilt their village, and along with Cantium, made peace with Lundinion, trading daughters as one might pottery.
Alas, not all things transpired for the better. Despite her query about Bryn, Esme did not remain in Trevena and Bryn did not follow her to the Fae realms. His place, he had insisted, was in service to Cornwall—even after Gwendolyn reassured him he had her blessings to go.
In time, it became clear that he and Taryn had formed a certain friendship, and when Esme departed one evening, never to return, it freed Bryn to ask for Taryn’s hand in matrimony. Of course, Gwendolyn said yes, and the two were married at the festival of Calan Mai in the year of the long-haired star.
Loc, of course, was as dead as a man could be.
She burned his ashes on a pyre before the city he had stolen, along with that of his mistress, whose lifeless carcass was discovered down in thefogousbeneath Lundinion.
With his elder brother’s once-great army disbanded, Kamber returned to Loegria, defeated and grateful for his life. Gwendolyn summoned him to Cornwall to see him bend the knee, but seized his army, along with all their wheals, and their treasury. As a matter of honor, Gwendolyn was forced to give both of Loc’s brothers seats on her Konsel. She did not relish dealing with either, but though Kamber had been stripped of his lesser provinces, he was still king of Loegria and Albanactus was her grandfather’s heir.
As for the recipe for Loegrian steel—stolen from the Fae—this was returned, along with every sword, every axe, and every blade that had made use of the alloy.
And this was the most unbearable of all… for Gwendolyn.
When Málik left the realm, he never returned.
Every night thereafter, Gwendolyn climbed to the parapets to watch the dying light in their Dragon’s Lair, fading day by day.
The Rot was healed, but the magic of Porth Pool was lost. The will-o'-the-wisps were found nevermore. Jakk Frost was never seen again. Thepiskieswere gone from Porth Pool. The Age of Magic was done.
