The King very clearly suppressed a sigh and chose to ignore the hatred flashing in Raven's eyes. Instead, he walked over to where Trevor was still standing guard over Aline as she clutched Benwyr's dead body to herself. He looked down at her tear-streaked face without any expression. Then his gaze returned to his youngest son's defiant form.
"You really mean to protect her, even if it ends with your own death?" he asked quietly.
"Yes." Raven's face was hard and determined. "She is merely an innocent victim of my own mistakes." Then he did something Trevor never expected he would do. He told the truth about everything.
He started with the story of how he had first enchanted the twelve daughters of an ancient king so they would spend their nights dancing in the Strangelands, a tale that his father and his brothers well knew. But he also told them of details and subtleties that they had not heard before, and the King looked grim when he found out just how close Benwyr had come to dying then, and how Raven had concealed certain secrets that led to greater problems later on. Raven revealed all, including his mother's part in escalating and worsening the situation until it finally came to this tragic end. Then he asked for mercy, not for himself or for Lady Ceirdwyn, but for the mortals who had suffered from what they had done. "But if you cannot grant them this mercy," he finished, "then I will fight you with all of my power so that they may live and the harm they endured would be put to right."
The King was silent for a long moment, thinking over Raven's words. When he spoke again, he sounded tired beyond measure, an old man in spite of his ageless appearance. "You ask for too great a mercy, my son." He looked at the child he had condemned to death and, for the first time, grief flickered across his countenance. He understood now that Benwyr had been as much of a victim as the mortals the Prince had ensnared with his spells and his madness. "But if I am to grant it," the King went on, "I require an oath from you."
The Princes, including Lady Ceirdwyn, all looked surprised at his words. However, Raven quickly recovered from the unexpected nature of this easy capitulation and asked, "What oath would you have me swear?"
"An oath of service, and utter obedience," the King replied. "I will name you the Crown Prince, the heir to the throne, and you will stay by my side and learn the duties of a King." He fixed Raven with a steady stare. "I must confess that you were never my choice to succeed me, but I must select the strongest of my sons to safeguard the Kingdom once I pass on. So you will be my heir, and I pray that I will never have cause to regret this decision."
Raven inclined his head in a little bow to his sire. "I would swear this oath, my King." Each word seemed to stab at him as he spoke, but he made every one of them pass through his lips. Trevor knew this meant Raven had won an incredible victory from his father, though it was at the cost of his cherished freedom. He could no longer be the vagabond Prince he had been for so long. But if it meant that Aline and Meran would be safe, then even Trevor was willing to bind himself with an oath to the King.
"The dead will remain dead," the King went on, still looking intently at Raven, and the Prince nodded his agreement. "There is still another price you must pay," his father continued, and he turned to Raven's mother. "Lady Ceirdwyn." He beckoned for her to approach him.
She stepped forward, her face calm though her amber eyes were turbulent with some strong, unknowable emotions. "Your Majesty." She bowed and knelt before him again, and there was something in her manner that eventually made Trevor realize that she was bracing herself as if waiting for a death blow. Raven seemed to have come to the same conclusion because he looked at his father with sudden dread written on his features. Even the other Princes looked worried.
The King stared down at her. "Ceirdwyn," he said her name softly, "my battle maiden, mother of my son. Beloved." The last word seemed to break something within her because her back bowed more deeply. "For your acts of treason," the King said, his voice unsteady for a second before he took a fortifying breath and steeled his resolve, "for causing the death of a royal son, you are hereby exiled from the Kingdom of Leralond. I banish you to snow and ice." He proclaimed the sentence that condemned a battle maiden who had failed in her duty to the Kingdom.
Raven cried out a denial, but Lady Ceirdwyn never made a sound. She remained kneeling and only raised her head to look up at the King's face as a mantle of darkness fell over her figure and a flurry of snowflakes blew away every trace of her.
Both Raven and Trevor stared in shock at the empty spot where she had been just a moment ago. But there was nothing they could do. Lady Ceirdwyn was gone. For a minute, Raven looked like he was going to fly into a rage. However, the King kept his gaze on him, and it was obvious to all when the Prince forced himself to choke back the harsh words he desperately wanted to fling at his father.
When Raven didn't speak, the King nodded approvingly, pleased by his restraint. "That was your first lesson, my son," he said, not unkindly. "When you give something of great value, you must also take something of equal measure. The humans will be restored to their world and healed of their ills, but your mother will never be allowed to return to Leralond on pain of death."
"As you will it, my King," Raven responded through gritted teeth. The hatred in his eyes when he looked at his father had increased in intensity, but he kept himself from expressing it in words.
The King then looked at Trevor. "And as for this one," he said, "what would you have me do with him? He is no longer fully mortal, from what I see."
Hearing those words spoken gave Trevor a painful jolt. He now remembered that his eventual fate was still uncertain. He had been too caught up in feeling relief that Aline and Meran would be okay he had quite forgotten that he wouldn't be returning with them to the mortal world. He couldn't, or he would die. Suddenly, he realized that what was left of his life rested on what Raven would say next.
The Prince studied him carefully with a calculating expression. "He cannot return to his home," he mused out loud, "and he would die if left to fend for himself in the Strangelands. But that is questionable for he seems to have managed to tap into some magic and that could conceivably help him to survive, for a few days anyway." He shrugged. "Well, I suppose I could keep him on as a servant. A real one this time," he arched an eyebrow and gave Trevor a significant look.
Trevor knew what it meant: cooperate and agree to this situation, or die. Seeing as he didn't really have a choice, he nodded.
"Very well," the King stated. "You may have him as a servant." Finally, he could no longer prevent himself from letting out a little sigh. His gaze returned to Benwyr's pale, lifeless body. "My son," the King whispered.
Trevor felt power begin to emanate from the King in great waves. Light, coming from the King, slowly grew brighter and stronger until his eyes were completely dazzled and he could see nothing else but its brilliance. He heard a voice speak, and he took a moment to wish Aline would be all right. If he had one regret about everything that had happened, it was the fact that they hadn't had enough time.
Then the light filled the whole world. It was too beautiful, and he stared into its very heart until he could no longer bear it and closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, he was sitting on a grassy meadow. Just a short distance away from him was a field of flowers that stretched far into the horizon where he could see the first glowing hint of a golden sunrise. It was strange, because he had never been one to equate flowers with a particular person before, but the blossoms somehow reminded him of Aline. Against the lightening sky, he saw a dark bird winging its way to him.
When Raven appeared in front of him and took on his usual form, he thought that the Prince looked unusually subdued. "Are they home?" Trevor wanted to know.
Raven nodded and went to sit on the grass a few feet away from Trevor. They were both silent for several minutes as they watched the sun rise. She looked happy and carefree, and pleased at the sight of so many flowers greeting her.
Trevor then asked the one question whose answer he really care
d about. "Is she going to be all right?"
"Yes," Raven told him. "The King's magic is potent in ways mine isn't yet. He has turned time and undone the harm Benwyr did, and she should be fine." He seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing, "They will both be all right. They have been made to forget about what happened. The King deemed it the best form of mercy he could grant."
Trevor couldn't help himself. He had to laugh. "So I started this without any memories of Aline, and now she's the one who doesn't remember me." He sighed. "I never even got to say goodbye."
"Oh, well." Raven sprang to his feet. He stared off into the distance. "Perhaps," he said softly, "not saying goodbye is a blessing. Because you can always pretend you will see each other again."
After a moment, Trevor stood up, too. "What about my family?" he wondered. "My mom and my stepdad? What will they remember about me?"
"Nothing," Raven said flatly, still not looking at Trevor. "It will be as if you never existed. All humans who have died in the Strangelands are forgotten."
He wasn't sure if Raven was telling him the truth, but he realized that it was the kindest thing the Prince could say to him. He had no ties to the mortal world anymore. He belonged to the Strangelands now. The sooner he learned to accept it, the sooner he could learn to live with it. "All this magic, you know," he told Raven with a sigh, "it sucks."
The Prince laughed shortly. "It has its uses," he protested. "Now come. The King has commanded me to join his Court. I'll have to prance and preen like all those idiots who live there from now on. It's going to be sheer torture." He shuddered at the thought. "I absolutely refuse to suffer through it alone, so you will be accompanying me." He started walking. Trevor stared at his back for a few seconds before he blinked, bit back a curse, then hurried to catch up.
"Yeah," Trevor said while they strode easily, following wherever Raven was leading him because it wasn't like he knew where else to go. "You're Crown Prince and all now, the next King. And I'm supposed to be your servant. You know I'm not really going to do that, right?"
"Oh, we'll see about that," Raven declared arrogantly. "I'm sure I'll have you shining my boots in no time."
"Really?" Trevor stared at him in challenge. "Yeah, we'll see about that, you little jerk."
Raven stopped and glared at him. "Did you just call me a jerk?"
"Well, you are," Trevor replied and continued walking.
"I could kill you where you stand!" Raven called after him.
"Please!" he shouted back.
But, of course, Raven did no such thing. Instead, he merely grumbled something under his breath then caught up with Trevor in a few jogs. They didn't speak again for a while, both thinking and wondering about the future waiting for them.
Then Trevor couldn't control his curiosity about one particular subject any longer. "So," he said, "did you really bed all the mothers of your brothers?"
"Don't be bloody daft!" Raven snapped. "Those women hate me."
And when Trevor laughed, so did he. The sun smiled to see them.
The Story Continues in "Fall of Night"
~~~
Author's Note:
Thank you so much for reading "Before the Dawn". This novel was inspired by my love of fairy tales and fantasy, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I had fun writing it.
I also hope you'll support the second book that tells of what happens next to Trevor and Raven, Aline and Meran. Their story is not done yet, and there are many more tales that can be told of the Strangelands.
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