The Royal Mark-Chapter 209: Destiny Will Find a Way
Mistress Valeria placed her hands on her chest and Elsa quickly handed Rocco to Elandir.
"Hold him please," she said and then ran to the door looking for a servant. "Bring us water please," she added.
Elsa gazes back at her grandmother and grandfather who are now in tears. She saw her mother, Hera, approach the two and hug them both.
"How is this possible? Elsa said you are dead," King Allister questioned Hera still confused even though he could see his daughter right before his eyes.
"I almost died but Elandir saved me on time. The Tree of Life healed me but I cannot leave Qiryn because of that. My life is now tied to it," Hera explained in the simplest form that she could.
"My daughter!" Mistress Valeria couldn’t stop crying in both happiness and relief. "I mourned for you, I still am but here you are, alive and well."
"I am here now, Mother. No more mourning," Hera said while embracing her mother. She thought that they would be angry when they saw her, given that she ran away without them knowing that she was pregnant. But here they are hugging each other ending the grief that they all felt for years.
"You’ve aged a lot!" Mistress Valeria said to her daughter making Hera smile.
"Yes I did, I am thirty-five years old now. That’s my age when I arrived here in Qiryn so that makes me like your younger sister," Hera joked.
"Looks like they no longer need some water," Elsa whispered to Elandir who smirked at her comment.
"I thought Mistress Valeria was gonna have a heart attack," Elandir whispered back.
"I think you three have a lot to talk about, and Rocco needs to rest and drink milk. I will leave you three and I’ll see you all to dinner?" Elsa said after Rocco started getting fuzzy in Elandir’s arms.
When Hera nodded Elsa swiftly took Rocco from Elandir and went to their assigned room in the castle.
Elandir wanted to go as soon as possible since Marina was waiting for him in his cabin.
"I will go too. I will not join you all for dinner I am still full and I want to rest. Rocco drained my energy this morning, he doesn’t want to be put down in his crib if Elsa is not there. So I will see you all in the morning."
Elandir did not wait for anyone to nod or at least acknowledge his leaving, he headed to the door right away, not letting anyone stop him on his way to Marina... Or so he thought...
"Elandir!" King Tyrion called.
He had no choice but to halt and answer to the king’s call. "Yes, Father?"
"Accompany Mistress Valeria and Princess Hera to their guest chamber and keep them company while King Allister and I talk. I have some matters that I wanted to address first," King Tyrion ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will do that right away," Elandir replied and gestured for the two women to follow him.
Upon reaching the hallway upstairs, Hera stopped Elandir in his tracks, "Elandir, go. I know my way around the castle, and we both know that. We also know that the King did this to stop you from going to Marina, so go now. Go to her."
"It’s ok, my father will get mad when he finds out that I left you two alone," Elandir said casually but deep in his heart, he just hurt his own feelings.
King Tyrion is against them being together even though the king is fond of the mermaid. He just doesn’t want them together because of the elves’ tradition of keeping their bloodline pure, especially for the heirs of the throne.
Mistress surprised both Elandir and Hera when she suddenly held onto Elandir’s hands and said, "We will cover for you, dear. If there’s one thing I learned in life, it’s that, life is too short to waste it on things that will make you sad and regret your decisions in life. Always choose your own happiness before the other’s. You cannot make other people happy if you yourself are fighting a battle inside. We don’t know what fate has in store for us.
No matter how strongly you fight something when it’s not meant for you then it will never will be yours. But if it is yours, destiny will find a way to give it to you. So go now, see if it’s destiny that awaits you because you’ll never know unless you try," Mistress Valeria then winked and smiled at Elandir, who smiled back.
"Thank you, Your Grace. I will follow your advice and go now," he then hugged Mistress Valeria and Hera with a quick kiss on their cheeks before fleeing away.
The two women watched Elandir fade as he descended from the stairs.
Hera shifted her gaze to her mom who she saw still smiling. "Wow, what was that about? When it was me, you were against it."
"And look what happened. We missed twenty-five years from our granddaughter’s life and thirteen years from yours. I wouldn’t wish for that for anyone. And the same with our great-grandson Rocco. Can’t you really come with us?" Mistress Valeria almost pleaded to Hera.
"I can’t... That’s the rule that I need to follow in order for me to live. The Tree of Life will take what it gave me the moment I step out of Qiryn’s boundaries. But you can visit me anytime here, thanks to King Tyrion for finally opening Qiryn’s doors to others."
"How about we go to Elsa and Rocco instead of heading to our room?" Mistress Valeria suggested which Hera agreed to.
Meanwhile, Elandir rushes off to his cabin, away from the castle. It is a place that he has treasured the most since he was young. Whenever the king would punish him because of his mischievousness, he would retreat to the small cabin that he called home.
When he arrived, Marina was not there and he found a note.
"Out to get some vegetables for the soup..."
He quickly searched for something that he had been keeping for years. They had known each other for a long time, and during those years, he had tried so many times to ignore what he had been feeling for Marina. But no matter how hard he tried to push her away, they kept on finding their way back to each other.
"What are you doing? Why are you searching your house like a frantic thief?" Marina said behind him. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
He was startled and wondered why he did not hear her coming. "Oh, I didn’t hear you coming, I was looking for something important," he said as he hid the small box behind his back.
Marina headed towards the table to put down the vegetables she bought.
"What are you lookin–" Marina gasped with wide eyes after turning around, seeing Elandir on one knee while holding a tiny box with a shiny diamond ring in it.
"Marina, please marry me. Not now but after the war, once I become king. I promise you I will bend the rules just to be with you. I will make amendments to the law in Qiryn, changes that will benefit most of its citizens. I love you so much and I can no longer pretend that I don’t care about your feelings because I do care, I really do."
Marina walked towards Elandir and pulled him up to stand. His eyes observe her every move, nervous that she would say no to his proposal.
She cupped his face and tiptoed, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "I will marry you, and yes, not now. I will marry you after you have fixed everything that needs to be fixed. Everything that you think needs changes. And after you settle down as the king of this land. I will patiently wait for that day."
Elandir grinned and was about to speak but Marina put her index finger on his lips and said, "But, I won’t accept that ring yet. Keep it for the meantime. I don’t think that you will be able to do everything in a short time. Your heart may change, but I assure you that I will wait until you finally decide that in the end, it is me that you still want. Propose to me once again, when that time comes."
"And oh! I love you too!" Marina jumped and wrapped her arms around Elandir before kissing him.
Elandir closed the box and hugged Marina back.
"Okay, let’s do that. Thank you for not letting me rush things. I am so lucky to have you. You are the only person who could pull me back, keeping my sanity in place. You are just the perfect woman to be by my side for eternity."
He then put the box on the nearest table and scooped Marina from where she stood. He carried her princess style and headed to his king-size bed on the loft of the cabin.
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