Haven Castle – Vaas Lands (5) – The Blood of Kings.

Perhaps God did have bigger plans for Lucan. Who was to know that the magic cast upon the son of Desmond, would finish weaving and turning him to a young man, right before the eyes of the Throne Casterly. Orion had to admit, he was impressed by this, but at the same time wary. The now, young man approached and said what he believed to be true;

“It is now finished. The growth spell has taken it’s course and I shall age as I should.” Orion placed a hand under his own chin and stroked it thoughtfully, while his wings beat slowly. He hated having them drawn in, and liked the freedom of movement they offered. “Perhaps God has bigger plans for me.” The boy was indeed hopeful of this, and really there was only one way to be sure of that. Orion kept his thoughts to himself on this matter, since the immediate family had to deal with Selene and her son. Orion was only an extended member of the family, an observer to this scene.

Lucan wanted very much to be the man in Selene’s life, by the way he wanted to thank her for protecting him, but in the same sentence believed that she should go home to face the man she loved. There were others at stake. Tempest being one, and in a sense Joffrey. He wasn’t completely guilty in all this, for it sounded like he was tricked as well. When the boy offered to take the Princess home, Orion waited for Selene’s reaction. It was no surprise really, when she asked that HE join them on the journey home, to ensure her safety as well as be company to Lucan and herself.

“I don’t see why not. Henry is probably going to be too busy to entertain me, what with him making doe eyes at his wife every five seconds. Sickening really.” He smiled broadly at Lucan. “And Rashna seems to have taken a shine to the young wannabe pony killer. I always knew she was good with children.” Moving to Selene’s side, he offered his arm and said. “Shall we?” A quick head wobble and he was his usual suave egotistical self. Hard to believe a Throne of God was like that.

Clarice’s room

Rashna glanced up to see that Clarice had held her arm closer so that the Throne could get a better view of the turtle to paint. Rashna studied the turtle for a few minutes, then went back on to painting, quietly just as before. This must have been unsettling for the child, and perhaps it was meant to be. The Elder angel was something of a mystery to the Casterly family, and there was a very good reason as to why.

“Why are you here?”

Rashna stopped her painting a moment, and wiped her finger. “I like to paint.” she said simply, then changed her choice of colours, and started to work on Clarice’s dress. Truth was Rashna was a special type of Throne, and one that actually specialized in children. Not that she had any of her own, or ever planned too. She was a watcher, a guardian of sorts. She was not there to be a scolding authority, or even to tell Clarice what to do or how to act, in fact….she emulated her. Head down, she worked her magic in creating a likeness to Clarice’s dress. Part of it was smudged, imperfect. And she did nothing to change it.

Throne Room

Henry had been relieved to hear that his daughter had listened to his confession with a good heart, and actually realized that she was committing the very same mistakes. It was not at all easy for him to come clean on what had been plaguing him for the past eight years, but he also didn’t lay blame at anyone but himself. He now understood that only you can be responsible for your actions, and should amend them as soon as you realize you are at fault. Henry just wanted his wife…he wanted his family whole, even if that meant, losing Selene to Joffrey again. Though with Orion tagging along, things could get interesting. Henry approached his daughter, and shot a look at his older brother. Kissing his daughter’s forehead, he said. “God’s speed, and use what you have learned wisely.” He then said to Orion. “Try not to beat Joff to a pulp…okay?’

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Metia after speaking, she watched her daughter reactions, she seemed to be in deep thought about this matter, and she should. She couldn’t run away from her life, from what she wants/likes, just because something went wrong, if Joffrey didn’t listen her, it meant Selene did not stand for herself, and had too much fear in herself, she needed to be strong and face the reality. She is a mother, she cannot leave her daughter behind, about Joffrey, she doesn’t have to be with him again if she doesn’t want to. Of course, Metia knows Selene still loves Joffrey, its extremely obvious, and no matter how much Metia didn’t wanted her to not love that demon, Selene still wanted him, and if she wanted him, she needs to go after her happiness.
She took a look at her grandson from the corner of her eye, and noticed how he suddenly started to growing up and probably stayed stuck on a teenager body, wow, that was fast, so Desmond’s magic was apparently strong, and now Metia began to wonder if such teen boy could control such power. She didn’t interfere on the moment he was having with his own mother, she would let Selene realize what it was the best to do for her. Which was going back and explain herself, go after her happiness.
Metia smiled and nodded when Selene finally understood she couldn’t run away from her problems. Then she wondered if Orion would go with her, it would be good have somebody with her, for her own sake and the boy’s too, we are not that aware of what Joffrey can do.
The Queen stepped closer to her daughter, and rose her chin, departing her lips as soon as Henry finished speaking.

“And if he doesn’t listen to you. Stand up for yourself, yell, scream, throw stuff at him, till he gives you the right to speak.”
She said with a grin. How did people thought Metia always had the right to speak? Because she never backed away, she stood up for herself, which sometimes it could be troublesome, because the argues with Henry would only get worse, but she was doing it for what she thought it was the right thing to do.

Clarice’s Bedroom

Clarice huffed out when Rashna said she liked to paint, for some reason Clarice didn’t felt like that was the entire truth, and she thought her aunt was only here because she was being forced too. Plus, she had other questions running through her mind, why was her father like that, what had happen between him and her mother, what did he told to Metia and so on. But sometimes it wasn’t really her business so she remained quiet and started to find out things on her own, slowly.
When she finished drawing her little wings, she removed her hands away from the draw, and grabbed on a clean cloth that was there, as she began to clean her fingers, and the turtle as well, even tho the ink was already dry so a cloth wouldn’t work. Clarice placed the turtle back in its box, and picked up another clean cloth, she left her bedroom, and went straight to the closest bathroom, so she could make the cloth wet. This took her five minutes probably, because she was trying to figure out how she would reach the sink.
Going back to her bedroom, she removed her turtle from its box again, and sat down on a chair. She began to clean the turtle, while leaning her back against the chair, and swing her legs back and forth.

With Selene having left with Lucan and his brother Orion, this left the Queen and King alone in the throne room. Clarice was still away with his sister Rashna, who was probably keeping the child well entertained, but lord knows how. Henry let out something of a sigh of relief, when the door was closed and it was just the two of them. He had already explained how he took responsibility for the way he had acted over the years, but he also knew he could not undo the damage that had been done to his relationship, or that of the bond between himself and Clarice. Henry’s appearance had changed drastically, but had his personality? Now was the moment of truth.

Glancing down for a moment, the King went silent, as he gathered his thoughts and then decided what he felt fitting to say.

“For the longest time, I have done everything I can think of to…shut you out of my life. In effect, to make you loath me to the point you would leave our bed chambers and never return.”

The King started to walk towards Metia slowly, as he raised his gaze, his wings opening out in full, and you could see his holy aura returning to the fore.

“When you decided that you would do what I had more or less pushed you too, I realized what I had done. I felt there was no turning back. But in this act, I realized I had not only hurt you, but our daughter and myself. I couldn’t face what I had become, and so I left for the Temple.”

Henry stood before Metia and then asked her the most important question of them all as he brought his hand up to cup her cheek

“Will you have me, Metia?”

Clarice’s room

Watching Clarice sitting well away from her, with her turtle and swinging her feet, Rashna wiped her hands and turned her sitting position so that she faced the little girl. With her elbow resting upon her knee, her fist under her chin, the angel asked the child a question;

“If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?”

<3>

Metia smiled at her daughter and nodded while watching her leave with her son and Henry’s brother. She just hoped everything went alright, and nothing wrong would happen. Well, Orion would be there so its not like something that bad could happen, right? He seemed to be a strong angel. Plus, if Lucan knew about his magic, and could use it, they would be fine, as long as the little boy knew how to control it, he seems to hold so much power.
Now the both of them, The Queen and King, were alone in the Throne Room, things got awkward and silent again, since none of them knew what to say, Metia just started to walk, heading to the throne so she could sit down, but she stopped on her way, whenever she heard Henry talking. She slowly turned around, to face him and listen to what he had to say. She took a deep breathe when he started to get closer to her, but her eyes would never leave his. She wanted to know if he meant his words, if that was the truth, and for now, he wasn’t proving anything that could make her doubt.
She leaned in his touch, feeling the warmth of his skin against her cheek, made her feel good, she brought her own hand up, and placed it upon his, not wanting him to step away from her. This was the final decision, if she took him back, they had the chance to build up everything, to make them have a good and normal family, not like those seven years, they deserved better, they needed better. If she said no, they would stay away from each other till the rest of their lives, and Clarice would never have father love, Metia wanted to do what was right for her daughter, and herself as well.
“Yes, yes.”
She answered him with a gentle smile.
“That’s all I want, to fix our marriage, our life, and our family.”

Clarice’s Bedroom

Clarice kept cleaning her turtle, and whenever she was done, she just threw the wet cloth on the ground, and placed the turtle back on her palm, wanting to see if it would pop out its head and start walking, but it seemed like it was kind of scared right now, so it remained quiet.
She began to play with the inside of her mouth, by biting the inside of her cheek or lip, she was bored, that’s for sure, and her mind wouldn’t stop with the all questions. Her eyes laid back on her aunt, when she asked her “If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?”.
Well, deep inside, Clarice just wanted everything to be alright, to have her mother’s and father’s love, to not be a troublesome child, and not make people hate her, but she didn’t felt like saying this all to Rashna, she never liked to show people that she had some kind side in here, she thought people would take advantage of her if she done that.
“I don’t know..Maybe a place only for me, so nobody can bother me.”
She said with a shrug and stared down at the turtle.
“Or just a normal life.”
Since she didn’t wanted to talk about everything ,father, mother, herself, hate, love, she just said having a normal life, it was like a summary.
“You?”
The child asked curious while staring at her aunt.

Metia’s smile had such an affect on Henry, coupled with the word he longed to hear. And she said it not once but twice. “Yes yes.” It was more than just a commitment, it was a promise. That’s all I want, to fix our marriage, our life, and our family.” The King felt a huge wave of relief, and he exhaled heavily, like he had been holding his breath too long. Feeling the touch of her hand on his, he moved his hand down, and interlocked his fingers with hers. Looking into her eyes adoringly, it was obvious the King had changed. He brought his forehead down to touch hers and uttered;

“I promise not to rush you. But believe me when I say, I want to get to know you again. Spend nights with you, and exploring you.” He brought his other hand up to rest on the small of her back, pulling her tighter towards him. “I’ve missed you so much.” Henry then moved to kiss her lips, ever softly, but not letting her go from his hold. While part of him wanted to go and see Clarice, he felt the need to build the bridge back to his wife. If both parents were united in their love, then surely this would flow onto their daughter, well..hopefully.

Clarice’s room

“If I could have anything in the world, I would wish to be back in Heaven.” The angel said simply, barely moving from where she sat on the floor. Rashna was not about to say why she wanted that most of all, though she had very strong reasons for it. “We might be more alike than you can imagine, Clarice. You want a place only for you, I want to be with God. Though you say you might like a normal life, I really don’t know what a normal life would be like. I’m anything but normal.” The Throne said simply, now drawing with her finger on the stone floor. Lifting her head, she then asked Clarice; “It’s hard being different, isn’t it?’

<3>

Metia smile’s grew bigger when she noticed how relieved Henry felt all off sudden with her words, and his touch against her forehead, making them kept more closer, the way he held her closer to him, made her feel good, feel the love, feel like everything was right, even if they were still half way, it still felt right, and Metia wasn’t regretting this moment. She listened to his words carefully, nodding at each one, she was glad that he had really changed, not only his appearance but his personality as well, she felt like the old Henry was back, not that extreme lame one, but the one that love inside him, and wasn’t such an ass towards other people, and kept putting them out of their lives. He was a warm heart person, always willing to help, and full of love, Metia wanted that man back, even tho she hated that man long ago, but things change.
“I missed you too.”
Before she could say something else, she felt Henry’s lips against hers, and this time he was the one who kissed her, and she wasn’t the one who kissed him, that’s why it felt even better and right. The kiss was soft, but none of them had the intention on breaking away, or staying away from each other, his hold on her would tell that. She stretched out her hands, and wrapped her arms around his necks, while tip-toeing, and deepen more the kiss. Of course, whenever this lovely moment was finished, they had other trouble to deal with, Clarice.

Clarice’s Bedroom

Clarice stared at Rashna and waited for an answer from her. She wanted to be back in heaven? Even if Clarice was this mean, she knew about heaven and god, she was from Casteryl after all, her mother already told her about that, maids, servants, and some conversations she tends to hear from her father, whenever she decides to stalk him. Yet, she didn’t felt like God would like her, that she deserved some place in heaven, that’s why whenever a maid yells at her to be a good girl, or else god won’t like her, Clarice just says she’s going to hell anyway, or says that heaven must be boring with everyone being so polite and not doing anything for their fun. But everybody had different points of fun, Clarice’s fun was destroying the other lives, or maybe, she only done that to call attention, to let people know that this kid existed.
“Maybe boring?”
Clarice mumbled when Rashan said she had no idea of how normal life could be, and she admitted she was far from normal as well, what was the secrets within this woman? Did she felt different? Felt left out? Like she was ugly, but the only thing she was, was just different from the others?

Clarice nodded and looked down at her turtle, when Rashna asked her if it was hard being different.
“Yes, it is. People don’t like it if you’re different, they think its ugly.”
Clarice was using the word ugly, because she was still a child, so she was comparing what people thought about her, with what her brother thought about her black fish, since he called it ugly. 

Such a tender moment. The royal couple alone at last and able to share in an intimate embrace, kissing each other not out of lust or hunger, but of love. True love that had broken through the boundaries of years of sorrow and pain. Beneath all that had happened to them, that one solid bond, could never truly be broken. Henry used to be so lame and goofy in his attempts to keep his wife on her pedestal, something she probably hated and rightly so. She needed a man to love her not the Court jester. But this moment, felt right for both. They needed this as the foundation on which to start over. A new flame of love arose between them, and armed with this, they could well go on to fix their fractured family. If this was a sign that nothing was impossible, than they should use it to the full.

Releasing her from his hold, he stared down at her warmly. He took her hand, and then with his free one, gestured that they go to find their youngest, Clarice.

“I think we have left Rashna to sit for our child long enough, wouldn’t you agree, my Love?”

Clarice’s Room

“Yes, it is. People don’t like it if you’re different, they think its ugly.”

“In a manner of speaking, many people despise what is different. It shows a lack of tolerance.” The Throne said truthfully, rising from the floor, and smoothing out her dress. She then gazed down at the child and continued. “However, I see being different as being unique…special. Why would anyone want to be the same as everyone else?” She started to stroll over to a nearby window, and raised a hand to the pane, speaking as though she was also telling herself.

“True beauty comes from being imperfect. Its not what you see…it’s what you don’t see that truly makes us what we are. So many are quick to judge, especially with children. All too busy with their own lives…they forget the children are in the shadows…watching, learning….reacting.” Rashna sighed, and looked back at Clarice.

“When did they stop looking at you?

<3>

“Is everything ok here?”

Rashna glanced at the door, when she heard the knocking, and then seeing Metia start to enter. The Throne stayed by the window, but turned fully to face the Monarch. She was curious of course, to know how things went between Henry and his wife, while she had been sitting with Clarice, but she had more pressing matters, like kicking Henry’s ass further for his inattention towards his own daughter Clarice. In her mind, Clarice was the product of her Father’s depression and lack of attention. She knew now was not the time to discuss such things openly, especially after getting the child to open up about a lot of things. Children are inquisitive, active and always learning. This is why its important to pay heed to their questions, no matter how silly or simple they may be. They grow with what knowledge they are set at a very young age. From what Clarice had told Rashna, it looked to be that she was ignored from the moment she stopped being a baby. Not by her Mother, but definitely by her father.

“Clarice has been showing me her pets and we have done some drawing together.” Rashna said, gesturing towards the small table, where there were a number of draws. “Your daughter is truly gifted.” The Throne said, and gave Clarice a polite nod of recognition.

Henry stood still outside the door, listening to what was being said. In a way, he was scared to enter. The King knew the harm he had done to his daughter, but would have to suck it up and deal, if things were ever going to be right.

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