Reincarnated as a Dark Elf Chapter 5

  Chapter title: A plea for Justice

  Queen Heather II, named after a famous or infamous ancestor depending on who you asked, was in her bedchamber in her bed nursing her infant daughter Hannah. Born only yesterday after many painful hours of labor. But now she looked upon her child like any loving mother.

  Heather was the daughter of the previous rulers or Carrahe. She was about 8ft tall with blond hair and blue eyes and looked very nordic. She had been the Queen of Carrahe for 18 years. She was considered well respected by the commoners of the kingdom for her wisdom and integrity. At the moment she wore only a simple nightgown as she sat upright in bed nursing her daughter.

  Her husband and Co-Ruler King Oskar stood next to his wife. He was 8ft 6in tall with dark hair and a dark beard. He had married Heather over twenty years ago and they had developed a loving relationship since getting married. He ascended the throne alongside his wife and since then proved to be an able partner in his wife’s rule of the kingdom. He was dressed in a ceremonial uniform with a sash and some medals brocade on his shoulders.

  Their bedroom looked like the type royals would sleep in with white walls with gold trim. A window was to one side a mirror to another side. Nice looking furniture was all around, desks, chairs, tables, a few dressers, and of course one nice looking bed. Sun light easily shone through the window illuminating everything and everyone in the room.

  Lady Lyra Bergen was in the room. She was the Court Magician and she had just blessed Princess Hannah. She was dressed in a magician robes and skirt, with a round hat on her orange hair. She carried a magical staff made of a rare wood with a green stone inserted. She had green eyes and was about 7 ft 7in tall of average size for a Carrahe person. She was commoner stock but she was a very talented magician that worked her way up from nothing. Becoming the court magician was a reward of a lifetime of hard work and developing talent.

  Queen Heather had eight children altogether including her eldest daughter Crown Princess Hilda. The other six children had been in the room admiring the newest addition to the royal family and everyone was having a warm and heartfelt family moment.

  Then who should come in but the Queen’s eldest daughter and heir Princess Hilda followed by Captain Thane who bowed politely. Hilda was greeted enthusiastically by her family and then she requested the room be cleared at once as it was important. To which the Princess’s request was granted. The Children were cleared out. But the Queen still continued to nurse baby Hannah as the Princess related her tale.

  Lady Bergen stayed as did King Oskar and Captain Thane as Hilda told her tale. The Princess recounted the tale of how the Spider-Temple forces attacked her and her retinue and who saved them all while ridding the Gold Red Dragon. And who finally tamed that infamous dragon. Those present who weren’t there found the tale hard to believe.

  Especially Queen Heather. “So you're telling me a little girl tamed the Gold Red Dragon and she used it to save you and she is claiming to be the daughter of my late little brother, do I have that correct” Queen Heather asked.

  “Yes Mother” Hilda replied.

  “That is a bit difficult to believe,” Lard Bergen remarked.

  “Is there proof of this my dear” King Oskar then asked.

  Hilda then produced the same letter Grace had given her earlier “Uncle Haakon wrote this. I recognize his handwriting. It also came with his signet ring” she remarked as she produced the ring itself.

  Queen Heather took the letter and opened it with one hand. But the letters on it suddenly greyed out. With new letters taking its place.

  The Queen knew this was meant for her “To my sister Queen Heather. If you're reading this it means I’m truly dead. My sincerest apologies to you for not revealing that I was alive this whole time but I felt that it would be best if you all believed that I was dead. I have gotten myself involved in something terrible with some of the worst people imaginable with machinations straight out of a nightmare and all because I was trying to do the right thing. If you want to hate me for what I have done, then that is your right, But please make sure to look after my daughters, their mother and I love them very much, Your Brother Haakon.”

  Queen Heather finished reading the letter and closed it. Then she took her brother’s signet ring into her hand and looked at it “Haakon why didn’t you come to me, I would’ve been glad to help you” she remarked.

  Then she looked at the letter sitting on the bed “I have no doubt you wrote that letter your handwriting and your seal were unmistakable. You would’ve been a skilled enough alchemist to create a letter like this one. Oh what a rare talent has been lost” Heather thought.

  “Where are Haakon’s so-called daughters?” Queen Heather asked. Even though she believed the letter she wasn’t quite ready to call them family yet.

  “They’re both fast asleep just outside of this room” Princess Hilda replied.

  “I see I think a Litmus test is in order” Queen Heather said.

  “Already ahead of you mother, samples have been taken from both girls and given to the Palace Doctor and the Court Alchemist who are currently running the test, their discretion can be trusted” Hilda told her mother.

  “Good this will smooth over potential doubts should they arise” Queen Heather remarked then a thought occurred to her “What about your retinue” she asked.

  “I instituted a gag order the instant I realized the significance of the situation. They know better than to defy me” Hilda replied.

  “Good Girl” Queen Heather congratulated her daughter.

  “Your highness if I may speak” Captain Thane asked politely.

  “If you insist, Captain,” Queen Heather said.

  “Thank you your majesty” Thane said bowing briefly “When we were coming to the palace we had to fly quickly and in order to do so we had to fly over the capital itself. As we flew over the capital I noticed many people stopping their daily activities to look up and many of them spotted the Gold Red dragon and ran away while many others stayed in place. I’m certain they have noticed the late Prince’s daughter riding the dragon” Captain Thane pointed out.

  This gave everyone a gasp “That’s not good, rumors are likely spreading about who rides the Gold Red Dragon now” Lady Bergen remarked.

  “We have no choice but to—” but the Queen was interrupted.

  The sounds of a baby crying were heard. The door to the room opened up and everyone saw a guard restraining a little girl with Dark Elf features who was holding a crying infant in her arms.

  Everyone in the room reacted with some annoyance. “I’m sorry but you can’t go inside” the guard said firmly to the child.

  The infant in her arms was crying very loudly. The infant sounded hungry.

  “Guard it’s alright let them in we were going to call them” Princess Hilda announced to the guard before anyone else could react.

  The guard released the little girl and she walked in. The door shut behind her. “Mother, Father, Lady Bergen allow me to introduce Uncle Haakon’s two daughters Grace and Genja” Princess HHilda introduced.

  “The Older Girl is a Dark Elf, no, a Half-Dark-Elf and a Half-Barbarian or else she wouldn’t be able to hold an infant at her age” Queen Heather thought.

  Grace came forward carrying her sister Genja in her arms. Those who hadn’t seen her yet looked on with a bit of curiosity and some annoyance.

  Dark Elves didn’t have the best of reputations in the world of Argea.

  “Princess you never mentioned Prince Haakon’s daughters were Dark Elves” Lady Bergen said addressing the elephant in the room.

  “Appologies Lady Bergen I was going too” Princess Hilda replied. All the while Genja kept on crying.

  “Child we were in a meeting” Queen Heather chided.

  “Yes I understand” Grace began as she was holding her crying baby sister “But my sister is hungry and I’ve run out of the milk I’ve been using to feed her, could you please help” she asked.

  By now the Queen had finished nursing Hannah and was holding her infant daughter on her shoulder to burp her. She also saw where this was going and with a gesture and gently took Genja into the arm that wasn’t holding baby Hannah and the Dark Elf infant began sucking ravenously on the Queen’s breast.

  Surprise went all around, of the scene and how the Queen was taking it in stride.

  “Oh yes you were sure hungry” Queen Hannah remarked with surprise.

  “Thank you,” Grace said.

  “Thank you, your highness,” King Oskar chided lightly.

  “Thank you, your highness” Grace corrected. Then it hit the child “Oh” she remarked with surprise the did a small curtsey “I am Grace Von Kurtz and I apologize for imposing her majesty. I’ll try not to do it again” she introduced and promised.

  “It’s fine you need not worry” Queen Heather assured.

  “I remember Haakon being unusually nice and polite at this age while most of his siblings would run wild and cause trouble, me included. This little girl may very well be his child; she carries herself much like he did” Queen Heather thought. Then she looked closer at Grace “She looks very tired and haggard with bags under her eyes and her cheeks are red” she also thought.

  “Why don’t you go to one of our guest rooms,” Queen Heather suggested.

  “Before I do. I want to tell you what became of my parents” Grace said firmly.

  “Indeed you're his child” Queen Heather thought.

  “Maybe this can wait until she’s better rested,” King Oskar suggested.

  “I refuse to go until I do,” Grace said vehemently.

  No one objected any further. And Grace began her tale. It was indeed a tale of tragedy and loss in the Dark Forest. Grace told the truth about everything except she didn’t mention her memory sphere’s, or the magical storage space her dad left her, or mention the Goddess Aries speaking to her and trying to make her smother her own sister. But those were the only things she edited out. Though no one present was aware of that fact.

  No one was happy to hear of Haakon’s fate, especially his older sister Heather. The little boy she had cared about looked out for and taught how to ride a dragon back when she was crown princess. She secretly gritted her teeth when she heard about how he burned to death to cover his daughter's escape. She was very angry about it. But kept that to herself.

  Grace as she was telling her tale noticed everyone's reactions as she mentioned the Spider-Temple. And they were mostly looks of horror for what happened. But she found Captain Thane’s and Lady Bergen’s reactions most telling. They seemed to be the most horrified of everyone present. As if they had known Haakon personally. Which Grace noted in her head. No one noticed her doing this.

  At the end of this sad tale King Oskar asked “Why would you willingly tell us such a tale that was so traumatizing for you?”

  Grace began to cry “Because I had one simple reason. I felt someone had to know what befell my parents. I don’t care what my fate is. I beg of you find my parents' killers and bring them to justice” she asked through her tears. She sounded so desperate.

  She attempted to speak further but her strength was spent and Grace collapsed to her knees before falling over. Captain Thane caught her before she hit the ground. He was the closest. She was unconscious.

  “What you ask for—Grace, is very complicated. But still what they did to my brother was so unjust” Queen Heather reflected in her thoughts. She felt anger well up in her. But kept it to herself.

  “Captain Thane put her in the guest room” the queen ordered.

  Thane bowed and then noticed Grace’s red cheeks and had a suspicion “Pardon me, my lady” he said and he felt Grace’s forehead “She’s burning up, the Royal Doctor needs to be summoned” he remarked.

  “The Doctor will join you soon now, go” King Oskar said.

  Thane didn’t say another word. He bowed and departed carrying Grace in his massive arms.

  Once gone Hilda said “The Gods test all and royals have been no exception. Although I am grateful to Grace for saving me I can see taking both sisters in will be a challenge to look after.”

  Queen Heather knew her eldest daughter was making a point “I’m aware” she replied. Then the queen looked down onto Genja’s contented face after she had finished nursing.

  The Queen sighed and looked up and prayed to the gods for guidance.

  A few days later. Grace twisted and turned violently on what she was sleeping on. She was having nightmares. She was reliving the day her parents died. The running and hiding and her begging her dad to come with her. All in vain. It ended with the Golem and the Swallow laughing an evil laugh and mocking Grace mercilessly.

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  Then she woke up with a start. She breathed heavily as if she was exhausted. She began to cry silently. She hated feeling helpless.

  Then Grace realized she needed to use the bathroom. With urgency she got up, pulled back the curtain to the bed she had been sleeping in. The bed was enormous. And the room she found herself in was even more enormous. It had polished marble floors that showed stories of heroic epics. The ceiling showed tales of adventures with Dragons. Sun light came through several windows Grace’s right. A large door to Grace’s left with some nice looking walls. The room was beautiful.

  “Bathroom, where’s the bathroom?” Grace asked out loud, deciding she could admire the room later.

  “It’s through that door at the end of the room” came a woman’s voice and only saw a hand pointing at the end of the room. Where a distant door could be seen.

  Grace went through the door, did her business as best as she could and then came out. She had noticed that she wasn’t wearing her original clothes. While she had been asleep someone put her in an orange night gown meant most likely for small children. She also had some new underwear too.

  “Hello my lady, I hope you slept well” came the same female voice.

  “Hello me lady” came a much younger female voice.

  Grace looked and saw a very tall woman with blond hair and dark eyes dressed as a maid. And with her was what appeared to be her daughter except she had brown hair and dark eyes and was Grace’s age. Her mother had her hands on her daughter’s shoulders.

  “Hello I’m Rowena, I’m the head maid and this is my daughter Lenny” the maid introduced.

  “Hello my lady” Lenny said with the cheeriness expected of a little girl.

  “You may not know it but Lenny and I were among those you saved and your dragon saved at the edge of the Dark Forest, our job was to cook so for everyone we saw thank you for saving our lives” Rowena said to Grace.

  “Thank you” Lenny chimed in. And both mother and daughter bowed to Grace like she was royalty.

  “Your welcome” Grace replied politely. But she looked a bit uncomfortable by the sudden deference. “But what are you doing in this room?” she asked.

  “After you collapsed in front of the Queen’s bed you were taken away. You had developed a fever. The Royal physician said you overexerted yourself, you were treated and at least one servant has been asked to stay by your bed until your recovery and my daughter insisted on staying with me on my shift, your fever didn’t break until last night you must’ve been running yourself ragged to survive in that Dark Forest” Rowena explained.

  “How long have I been asleep?” Grace asked.

  “Three days,” Lenny replied before her mother.

  “Where is my sister?” Grace asked.

  “The same royal nanny that’s looking after Princess Hannah is also looking after your sister too” Rowena replied.

  “I’m guessing a decision has been made about what to do about the both of us?” Grace asked.

  Before a reply came the door opened and in stepped a very large and muscular woman wearing a fine looking dress. She was 8ft 3in tall with white hair and blue eyes. She looked older but only barely. She hardly had any lines on her face. She had obviously stayed in good shape at her age. She carried herself like a member of royalty. But she moved with considerable grace and poise.

  Both Rowena and Lenny bowed as she came in. “My lady, allow me to introduce the mother of Queen Heather, Dowager Queen Hedy” Rowena introduced. “And the mother of the late Prince Haakon as well” she added at the last moment.

  “So that means you're my Grandmother” Grace remarked looking at her.

  “Indeed” the Dowager Queen said “It seems the sleeping princess has awoken, come here” she asked. Grace hesitated. “I said come here,” she commanded. The Dowager Queen spoke as if she was someone that expected to be obeyed.

  Grace slowly walked slowly toward her grandmother. Then she grabbed Grace and hugged her tightly. She was indeed very strong. She lovingly lowered her head down and kissed the top of Grace’s head. She was so tall she had to really bend over to do it. “My daughter and Son-in-Law told me what occurred. I’m sorry for your loss. Your father was always a good boy although he was a bit eccentric” the Dowager queen said like a caring parent.

  Grace rested her head on her grandmother’s leg with her head turned to one side with a sad expression on her face. “If only you knew grandmother. Dad and I were both eccentrics in our previous lives” she thought.

  Then Grace’s stomach rumbled and she looked embarrassed as she pulled away. “Uh oh someone’s hungry” the Dowager Queen remarked playfully to her newest grandchild.

  Then she gestured and Rowena brought in a serving cart with a large pot of thick looking stew on it. It was placed on a table nearby. The stew had both meat and vegetables in it but finely chopped. Lenny next to it put a basket with bread and butter next to the pot. And a ladle was used to spoon the stew into a bowl for Grace.

  Rowena and her daughter Lenny withdrew as commanded and the Dowager Queen spooned the stew into a bowl for Grace. She wanted to be a grandma at that moment.

  “My first decent meal in weeks. I’ve only eaten what I’ve been able to hunt or what scraps those damn bandits gave me” Grace Thought.

  “Please sit down, my dear I would like to know my granddaughter” the Dowager Queen said to her.

  So Grace sat down and started to eat the stew ravenously in between talking with her grandmother. Her grandmother enjoyed a cup of tea she got from a large tea pot sitting on the table.

  Grace inner monologued “This is what I learned about my grandmother Dowager Queen Hedy. Was Queen Hedy III about eighteen years ago but then her husband Lars died suddenly from a mysterious disease and since the royal line ran through Queen Hedy she could’ve continued to rule but she decided that there were other things that mattered more so she abdicated and gave the throne over to her daughter the current Queen and her husband and since then had been travelling around visiting her children and grandchildren, giving gifts and pearls of wisdom to them and grieving for her husband’s loss. She had been in the process of traveling to the royal palace when I showed up with Princess Hilda.”

  After a while and a conversation later Grace had finished most of the stew and bread. “Are you finished my dear” Dowager Queen Hedy asked.

  “Yes and it was good” Grace replied with the first smile she had in weeks. Then she burped loudly “Oops sorry. Excuse me” she said with some embarrassment.

  “At least someone taught you some manners” the Dowager Queen remarked with a non-plussed look on her face. But moved on “Well good because my daughter the Queen has summoned you as soon as you are ready” she announced.

  “Okay” Grace said with some confusion till she remembered earlier when she suspected a decision had been made about her and her sister.

  “Then let’s not delay any longer” the Dowager Queen remarked and like the royal she was she snapped her fingers and in came several maids and servants that carried outfits for any younger girl Grace’s age along with several carrying cases. “Time for you to get dressed,” Grace heard her grandmother say.

  Grace wasn’t used to this and she panicked “I’m perfectly capable of dressing myself” she protested.

  “And we must insist my dear, you are related to royalty after and you're about to go before a queen and king” the Dowager Queen replied firmly.

  After much confusion and resistance and sorting of which dress was which and other things in which Dowager Queen Hedy was in total charge of. Along with some basic lessons on how best to present oneself to monarchs. Grace was about as ready as possible to have a formal audience with the Queen and King of Carrahe.

  Grace was walking in the royal halls right behind her grandmother. The hallway was nicely polished with walls showing stories of other familiar epics. The floor was made of marble. Like much of the palace it was a nice and inviting atmosphere. It looked a little like an old French palace.

  Grace was about as ready to meet her aunt and uncle as she was going to be. She was wearing a bright blue dress that complemented her skin complexion well. With a ribbon trying her hair up and cute looking dark shoes and socks. The look reminded her of a porcelain doll.

  Looking in a side mirror as her grandmother announced her arrival to the throne room Grace thought “Well this is cute, but was this really necessary? I’m feeling very self-conscious.”

  She was feeling very nervous about all of this and feared what was to come. She felt that her future was about to be decided. She was very afraid of what it was. She feared that she was going to be effectively left out in the cold.

  Soon enough the door to the throne room was opened by the guards and the two of them were ushered inside.

  The Throne room had several windows all off to one side to let light in. Torches sat unlit to another side attached to the well-polished marble walls. It was daytime. White Pillars kept the ceiling up at intervals in the wide room that was the throne room. At the end were two golden thrones that were well-embroidered with curtains around them.

  The room was largely deserted. No one was around except a small number of guards. But those present were royal guardsmen and several dismounted Dragon knights. All seemed to look upon Grace with respect. But they largely stood at attention as Grace and her grandmother the Dowager Queen came into the throne room. It was meant to serve as a meeting room for a large number of nobles and courtiers to keep court.

  Queen Heather II and her husband King Oskar sat on the thrones dressed in royal regalia. Princess Hilda was also present dressed in royal regalia too. Captain Thane was just behind her. Both kept as silent as mice during the following conversation.

  Grace and the Dowager Queen approached the throne.

  “Remember to curtsey low and bow your head” the Dowager Queen said in a whisper over her shoulder.

  “Yes Grandmother” Grace replied in a whisper.

  They came in front of the thrones of the Queen and King and they both curtseyed low and bowed their heads.

  The Queen spoke first “First of all we would like to express our thanks to you Grace Von Kurtz for saving the life of Crown Princess Hilda and the lives of her retinue.”

  “As her parents we are eternally grateful” King Oskar added in.

  The Queen and King bowed their heads briefly to each other. Which Grace noticed after she and the Dowager Queen unbowed their heads.

  “But before we continue, can you please speak to your dragon? She's been desperately asking if you're alright since you’ve fallen ill and is refusing to eat anything. We would like you to reassure her that you're alright. We’ve been at our wits end” King Oskar explained and everyone in the room looked like it.

  “Yes, I understand your highnesses." Grace acquiesced.

  She turned her head in the direction of the Dragon Stables and saw Leah through the connection with her. The place was a wide open area with a dirt floor. And a hole large enough for a dragon to fly out of. Grace saw Leah being hostile to some man that she assumed was a dragon handler.

  This needed to end “Leah” Grace said though her connection.

  The dragon instantly stopped what she was doing to speak to her rider “Grace it’s good to hear from you again” Leah said.

  “Yes I’m doing fine. Now stop being hostile to the Dragon Handlers. They’re meant to feed and take care of you” Grace said through her connection.

  “Yes Grace” Leah replied through their connection. “Will you come by later?” she asked.

  “Of course and if you behave yourself I’ll even ride you” Grace promised. Leah felt something like joy go through her which Grace noticed through their connection. “Also you should apologize to the Dragon Handlers,” Grace added.

  “Yes Grace” Leah replied.

  “And finally I appreciate that you were so worried about me,” Grace said through their connection. Leah felt satisfaction at hearing that. “I’ll talk to you later.” Their conversation ended.

  Grace turned back to the throne room “Okay Leah shouldn’t be a problem now” she said “What” she asked innocently. when she saw the looks of everyone in the room were shocked and surprised. It was as if they couldn’t believe what they had just seen.

  “How were you able to do that?” The Dowager Queen asked her granddaughter.

  “Oh you were expecting me to go over to the Dragon Stables and speak to Leah directly sorry I didn’t think of that, silly me” Grace said looking very embarrassed and a little playful.

  “Um yes we were” Queen Heather said with a grimace.

  “You still haven’t answered the question young lady” the Dowager Queen said.

  “Well my dad created a device that allows me to communicate with my dragon and that combined with our connection I could talk to her directly over long distances it’s no big deal” Grace said non-chalantly.

  “You call that no big deal” many in the room collectively said through their embarrassment.

  “Well moving on” Queen Heather said to get things going again. “Upon your arrival here some people in the know expressed doubts as to your true origin” the queen said. Grace frowned. The Queen realized instantly that she made an error “Oh don’t get me wrong, we have no doubt that you and your sister are my late brother’s beloved daughters. It was just imperative that we silence the doubters, so samples were extracted from you both and a Litmus test was performed” the Queen explained.

  “I’m guessing that the Litmus test is Argea’s version of a DNA test” Grace thought.

  The Queen continued to say “And the end results of the test were conclusive or as close to conclusive as possible, it’s very likely my late brother was your father and that has been communicated to the doubters” the queen announced.

  “I see, thank you your majesty, but what about the request I made involving the people who killed my parents?” Grace asked. Then she noticed something come across the faces of the Queen and King and even the Princess. But it was gone in an instant.

  “I get the feeling that I am not going to like the following answer” Grace thought.

  “Were looking for the members of this so-called Spider-Temple that murdered the late Prince and his wife. We must ask you to have patience” King Oskar replied.

  “AKA you can’t find them, and you don’t know if you're ever going to, that shouldn’t come as a surprise, secret cults and hidden orders are all experts at hiding in plain sight, Especially if they’ve been around for centuries. And from what I read from my dad’s journal’s the Spider-Temple has been around for many centuries. Well it was worth asking. Now it’s time to find the Spider-Temple's greatest natural enemies—The Ashe. They will likely be able to help me, but that’s for another day” Grace thought.

  Grace had these thoughts as King Oskar had spoken words of comfort along with Queen Heather. But she didn’t hear any of them. Although she pretended too.

  The Queen then spoke again “Since we worried that this golem and his ilk might move against you and your sister we decided to hide your true origins from the general public for the foreseeable future.”

  “Keep in mind my dear we are doing this for your own safety” The Dowager Queen added in looking at Grace. “To get the Dragon Council that governs all affairs involving dragons to lift the kill order on Leah we had to reveal your existence and give them your name but little else thankfully” she also pointed out.

  Grace bowed her head briefly and asked “I understand, so what is our origins now?” She was just barely keeping it together at this point.

  “Thankfully by an act of the Gods a convenient cover story has been concocted, the Kingdom of Toa which borders the Dark Forest recently suffered a massive revolt from their enslaved Gladiators" Queen Heather pointed out.

  King Oskar chimed in “And since many powerful male and female gladiators are bred together to produce future gladiators it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for someone to try to breed child that is Half Carrahe Barbarian and half Dark Elf form Jamon since both often possess great combat prowess and during a slave revolt it’s not uncommon for some slaves to escape during the chaos."

  “I knew that would be in the realm of possibility but still I’ve always found the possibility of breeding future slaves for profit to be disgusting and a disgusting way to subvert a very natural thing like childbirth and to do it for gladiatorial combat now that’s a special brand of disgusting” Grace thought angrily.

  “So that is to be mine and Genja’s new origins but where will we be staying?” Grace asked.

  “You will be staying with us silly” the Dowager queen replied.

  “Huh”

  “The main branch of the Von Kurtz royal family will adopt you both so that you both can truthfully claim that your Von Kurtz’s” Queen Heather announced.

  Grace inner monologued “Well that’s good. Me and Genja becoming royals will ensure that we’re protected and educated and to top it off we’ll have family around again. But I can’t help but feel there's a downside in all of this. We’re likely trading one set of problems for another. I can just imagine what they are. And worse it occurs to me that the Golem, and the Swallow, were all from Carrahe since where else would they have gotten all those dragons. And they’re probably high ranking members of society too. Which means they most likely live in Carrahe which means I’ll likely find them, eventually.”

  “Thank you your majesties” Grace said with another bow and feeling genuinely grateful to her aunt and uncle.

  “No Mother” Queen Heather corrected.

  “And Father,” King Oskar added.

  Grace then began to cry “Thank you Mother and Father" she said.

  She felt emotion pouring out. Up until now Grace had felt sad here and there but shoved it to the side to focus on her survival and Genja’s but now she didn’t have to anymore. For the first time since her parents death she allowed herself to truly grieve for their deaths.

  “I’ll find the Golem and the Swallow and make them pay, then I’ll stop the Spirit of the Goddess of Death from finding the world ending device and protect all of the worlds from destruction and on a side note figure out of the gods were telling the truth or just playing a game with me” Grace promised herself.

  The Dowager Queen Grace’s grandmother and the King and Queen plus Hilda all forgot their royal titles for a moment and came to give a crying Grace a great big hug. While trying to comfort her.

  Everyone else looked on in awe.