Page 61 of Return of the Darkness
“And my jewels,” said his mother. “Though she shines without them.”
“Your babies can have our toys,” Edlen said.
“I don’t think we’re quite there yet.” Caellum laughed, and Aurelia and his mother shared a look, as if eager to see him find happiness with a family of his own.
“You’ll be a magnificent father, just as you are a wonderful king,” his father said. Caellum sensed the silent‘unlike me,’the regret lingering in his words.Yet when Caellum looked at his father, he did not see the years of abuse or torment, not after reading his journals and understanding his mind. Wren had tried to fight it. When Caellum looked at his father, he saw the man he would have been: the loving father, devoting husband, and respectful king. The only hatred he felt while looking at his father was towards Caligh, for taking his family from him. Caellum would devote his life to ensure Caligh never took another family as he had his.
“What’s it like being here?” Caellum asked.
“It was… difficult, at first,” said Hestia, squeezing Wren’s hand. “But when your father looked at me the way he had on our wedding day… I knew it was him.”
“You knew that Caligh—the Historian—had taken over his mind?” Caellum asked, remembering how absent his mother had been, rarely stepping in to protect them.
“He is the love of my life; I knew it was not him,” said Hestia.Wren cleared his throat and raised his head, peering up at the sky. “I knew the first time he hit me, and when he locked me away, preventing me from attending to you all. I knew if I tried to intervene, it would only worsen.”
“Please,” Wren whispered; his knuckles whitened where he clutched the wall with one hand. Dalton reached up to squeeze his father’s knee.
“All that matters is we are here now. We have had time together to properly get to know one another,” said Dalton, the brother who should have one day been the King of Garridon. For a moment, Caellum was envious; in death, they had the chance to be together. He had missed out on knowing his mother and father, and watching his siblings grow up with happy childhoods. But he had Sadira, and that thought eased his envy.
“Will you play hide and seek with us?” Edlen asked, rising from the grass and tucking a fallen white flower back into her curls.
“Please, Cal! One last time!” Eve chimed in. Caellum tried to hide his tears as he coughed into his arm and wiped his eyes.
“I’m not sure I have time. I must find my wife.”
“You have time,” said Hestia, picking up his hand and cupping it in her smaller palms. She smiled gently at her son. “She has her own journey here. As long as you reach the Garridon gate at nightfall, you have time.”
“It will take me a while to walk that distance.”
“Time is different here. Take a moment, act like you have all the time in the world, and I will tell you when you need to go.” Hestia smiled when Edlen and Eve took off running.
“Very well,” Caellum stood and covered his eyes before counting. “One… two… three…”
Despite the lack of colour as Caellum ran after his sisters in the walled garden of their home, he did not think there was a day, other than his wedding, as vibrant as this one. Edlen and Eve no longer tired so easily, and only when Aurelia tempted them away with daisy chains did Caellum have time to duel his brothers. Theycursed and laughed every time Caellum bested them, as he always had. The willow tree swayed, hiding them beneath its strands: just four brothers, marvelling at Caellum’s tales of the battle in the Ashun Desert and suggesting different techniques to relay to Sir Cain should they face another fight. When Caellum insisted on spending time with Aurelia, they begged him to stay and insisted she would only ask about his wife. Caellum laughed. He could talk about his wife all day. They were right, of course. Aurelia wanted to know everything about Sadira, the sister she would have loved as her own. So, Caellum spoke of her kindness and strength, how mesmerising it was to watch her work with plants and healing. The birds chirped around them as they spoke, as if happy to hear about their true queen, the Queen of Garridon.
When it was time to leave, his mother looked at him with a small smile and nodded.
“What will happen to you all?” he asked.
“One day, we will still be here for you. We deserve longer together as a family, and we would not fail you a second time as parents and allow you to pass alone,” Hestia said, embracing her son one more time. So, Caellum did not say farewell to his siblings, for he knew he would see them again. Instead, he smiled at them in turn before walking through the archway of the walled garden with his father.
“I want you to know I’m sorry—”
“You don’t need to apologise,” Caellum interjected. They both twisted their wedding bands in silence while heading down the path from the castle to the city, enjoying simplybeing—no arguments, no insults, no fear. Just a father and his son, as it always should have been. The sun was setting when they reached the end of the estate. Wren turned to face Caellum.
“I have thought about this moment for a long time, wondering what I might say to you. But I don’t think there are words to express how proud I am,” Wren said, pulling Caellum in close and holding him tightly. Caellum closed his eyes and inhaled,committing this moment to memory: the comfort of his father’s arms wrapped around his heart, welcoming him home.
“Thank you, father,” Caellum said. For the only time in his life, that word—father—felt sincere and loving from his lips rather than laced with fear.
“You will be a great King, Cal,” Wren said, pulling back to rest a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Our family has always been protectors, and I see that in your relationships.” Wren cleared his throat. “Would you do me a favour?”
“Anything.”
“Would you tell Sir Cain I said thank you for raising you when I could not?” Wren’s smile wobbled, and Caellum nodded. “Go. Find your wife. Go and be happy.”
Caellum walked into the trees leading to Stedon’s open fields, the path to the Neutral City. He turned for one final glance of his family, and a choke escaped him, part sob, part laughter. His family, all eight of them, stood with their arms around one another, watching him go.
***
