tbh fascinated by potential dynamics between adira and horace! also potential cass-rapunzel parallels!!
That’s so sweet! I’m going to post more about this au cause I’ve gotten a lot of questions and support, so I’ll answer a little about Adira and Horace here and save the Cass and Raps stuff for another post.
In this Au, Adira was assigned specifically to Horace as a personal guard by Queen Hortencia(my fan name for fitzmom lol) and King Edmund. She basically trained Horace from a young age into a fighter on par with the Brotherhood, until Horace was accepted into the Brotherhood as well.
Hector, Edmund, and Quirin of course also trained Horace, but Adira is as to Horace as Cass is to Raps in this story. Personal Knights and Caretakers. I also imagine she was really close with the queen and while she doesn’t seem like the type to enjoy being a mom or mothering, she did take care of Horace. I think she sees him as a younger coworker/responsibility and treats him as such, even as like a four year old😂. Not motherly.
As I’ve been reposting a bunch of my art to Tumblr, I was going to post these for Tangled’s anniversary, but missed it by a day! Oh, well.
A couple of years ago, some members of the fandom decided to do a Tangled challenge for Art April, and I thought I’d give it a shot!
These are my entries, batch 1 of 3:
1. Favourite character - Rapunzel
2. Favourite friendship - Kiera & Catalina
3. Ship you wish happened but didn’t - Lance & Caviar Lance
4. Favourite outfit of the series - Willow
5. Character we saw but didn’t meet - Fitzmom
6. Brock Thunderstrike in a non-Flynn Rider look
7. Favourite mother figure - Queen Arianna
8. Favourite father figure - Lance
9. Favourite thief - Seraphina
10. Favourite villain - Lady Caine
-----A Tangled au ficlet of comfort for your comfort needs.
Blah blah blah..
Eugene leaned on his elbow at the table seated next to Queen Arianna and listened to the ambassador from Arendelle prattle on and on about good relations between the kingdoms.
As Rapunzel’s prince consort, and now prince of the Dark Kingdom apparently, he had to learn to put up with some royal obligations. He actually found relief in teaching the guards how to think like a thief. it got him back to something familiar, even if that familiarness was part of his old life. It was still his life, still his past, still living as memories in his head despite going by Eugene again and taking full advantage of his second chance at life.
He tried to stifle a yawn behind his hand. He’d rather be doing anything than this; being kicked by Max sounded good, sword fighting with Cassandra (being as cold as the steel they wielded gave him a challenge in reading her moves) would be fun, or cleaning the floors with Old Lady Crowley,...would kill time, and possibly his soul.
Literally anything else would be better than this.
The world began to fade away as he stared out the window at the beautiful blue sky beyond.
Freedom. Sweet, sweet freedom lived out there.
The conversation stopped. Everyone at the table froze as though someone kidnapped time. Was this another of Varian’s doodads? Some kind of time-stoppy-thingy?
He got up to wave his hand in front of their faces. Nothing. Not even a twitch.
“Okay, I’m going to label this as weird.”
“I never liked these meetings, either.”
He spun at the sound of a woman’s voice.
She stood in the center of the hall clad in a purple gown with her hands delicately clasped in front of her, and a crown of black rocks set with care atop her head.
His breath caught. He recognized her instantly from the portrait in Edmund’s castle.
“...Mother?”
“Me,” she smiled beneath a curtain of long wavy brown hair the same shade as his.
He approached her with caution, stopping a few feet away, “Ok, now I know I fell asleep.” He looked back at the table and sure enough, he sat there with his eyes glazed over, leaning on his fist, frozen in the same state as the others.
“That...is potentially the strangest thing I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of very strange things.”
And yet it felt real, but the breeze through the window, to the warmth of the sun, even to the hardness of the floor beneath his boots. “This... is a dream, right?”
She stepped forward, revealing matching purple flats beneath her gown, “Sort of. Your connection to the moonstone and the sundrop helped a little. You carry a piece of both.”
“So, you’re really here?”
She nodded.
His skepticism evaporated, and he accepted this dream-thing. The rational part of him kicked to the curb. He closed the gap between them and reached out, though curled his fingers in, afraid touching her would end the dream.
She dispelled that for him by taking his hand.
It felt warm, soft, and far too real. “Why?” his voice gruffed, “Why now?”
“Because you let me.” She drew her hand down his face, “I missed you so much, my son. You look more like me than your father,” she smirked, “Thank goodness. I was worried you would get his hair. As handsome and charming as he is, that mess on his head had a mind of its own.”
“Well that’s good to know, I guess.”
“You’re still upset with him.”
“Of course I’m upset. who wouldn’t be?” he bit, “He abandoned me.”
“Eugene...”
“Didn’t even leave a note. Nothing. Some of the other kids got notes. Sometimes articles of clothing. It’s customary. Me? Nah. Nothing. I’m lucky I had a basket.“
“Eugene.”
“And then he goes and tells me ‘oh by the way, you’re a prince and the moonstone killed your mom. Happy birthday, Horus.”
“Eugene,” she insisted.
“And what’s with that name anyway? It’s terrible.”
“Agreed. That was your grandfather’s name, and not my first choice.”
He continued ranting, “A grandfather! I had an entire family I didn’t know about! No one was ever there. Not him, not you when I needed you, not even anyone from the orphanage. I kept waiting to be adopted and it never happened, and I never knew why--.”
“Eugene.”
“What?”
“I’m here now.”
His fervor dissipated. This had to be a dream, because he wouldn’t let go that easily. The gentility in her voice calmed him.
She tilted his chin up when he hung his head in shame, “I want to give you something - something you’ve never had and something I can only give you here, if you’ll let me?”
She was asking his permission to give him a gift? Confused, but knowing she meant no ill will, he nodded…
...then realized he had to look up.
The world became bigger… no, he became smaller. Once more, he became a child.
And for some reason, he didn’t question it. He was half her height, probably eight years old.
He looked up at her, and the smile she gave to him shone with warmth and love, of gentility, strength, kindness, and...acceptance.
He blinked, unable to speak. A part of him that remained in his adult mind wanted to argue that this was a dream, but the larger part, the part that had remained this kid, the part that had craved this kind of acceptance and love silenced it. If this were a dream, then he would take everything it offered. There was no harm in that.
He had dreamed of this situation before every time one of the other kids in the orphanage was lucky enough to be adopted, and he was always left behind. He never knew why no one wanted him. He always thought it was because he was too small, or too reckless... who would want a damaged problem kid? He often wondered what it would feel like to be picked up and carried home by a new family who loved him, or what his life would be like if his bed wasn’t the ground in a cave, or by a camp fire, or when he had enough money he stole, a worn out feather mattress in a shady inn.
She knelt down to be at eye level with child-Eugene, “Had I lived and known where you were, I would have brought you somewhere safe away from the moonstone to grow up with me. I would have told you everything and raised you to understand your connection to the moonstone, what it gives you, and why we had to leave. You’ve always thought you were defective somehow,” she drew her hand down his hair, “You’re not. You’re perfectly normal. You’re not broken at all, Eugene. You never were.”
He still couldn’t speak, and didn’t want to.
She opened her arms.
A sense of relief flowed through him as though his soul breathed the word, ‘finally.” Child-Eugene greedily dove into the arms of his mother and all tension left him when she wrapped him in a hug he had never experience - of a parent.
She sensed that raw need buried deep from childhood surface and held him tightly to draw out his pain and replace it with love, “You’ve grown so much. I’m proud of you, my son. I’m so proud of you.”
He couldn’t remember the last time anyone said they were proud of him for anything - if they ever had.
He bit his lip, trying to blink back tears. He was too old to cry, but hearing those words from her…
She wanted him.
She picked up child-Eugene, feeling the pain in his heart wash away with his tears. “I love you, Eugene. You’re home, now.”
He didn’t know if she meant here with her, or in Corona with Rapunzel, but he didn’t care. He broke, holding onto her tightly, now completely in the mindset of his younger self and cried from happiness. He had his mom back. After all this time, she really did come back. This was her gift to him - to know and experience the unconditional love of a mother.
He gripped her linen dress in his small fists and smelled her hair, felt her warmth, and the pressure of her arms securely around him. This is what the other kids must have felt. He didn’t know it would be this wonderful. “Mom,” his small voice squeaked. That one word held years of longing. It was a word he could never say to anyone before and mean it. But now he could. For the first time, he could hug her and know for certain that she was his mother - his real mother.
He didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to wake up if it meant he would lose her and this feeling all over again.
“Don’t worry, my son. I’ll always be here,” she whispered, “You’ll be alright, Eugene. You’ll be alright.”
He nuzzled his face into her neck and held onto her for eternity.
“Eugene?”
“Hm?” Queen Arianna’s voice snapped him out of the dream, and for that second, he hated her for it. He quickly realized where he was, what he was supposed to be doing, and sat up. it took him a few seconds to recollect himself from the insanely lucid dream. He could still smell his mother’s perfume. The ache in his heart remained. He flexed his hands. They and the rest of him were back to adult size. He cleared his throat, “Uh...Your Majesty, I was, uh.. Just checking my eyelids for holes,” he grinned.
“Uh uh,” she folded her arms in disbelief, “You forget who I’m married to. Frederick is the biggest daydream-dozer in all the kingdoms. He can fall asleep with his eyes open.”
“That’s not creepy at all,” Eugene blinked.
“These meetings are boring, honestly. And you’re not used to having to sit through them.”
“It’s...taking some getting used to.”
“I need a break. Walk with me through the garden.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Queen Arianna stood, and those around the table immediately silenced. They stood as well. “If you will excuse me, there is something I must attend to. Please, carry on at your will.”
The others waited for her to leave with the Dark Prince before sitting back down to return to matters at hand.
He sighed in relief, “Thank you. You saved my life.”
“You gave me an excuse to get out of there. I should be thanking you,” she chuckled, though her mirth ebbed when she noticed the redness under his eyes, “Are you alright, son?”
Son… the way she said it held the same pure, open concern as the way his mother said it in his dream. Now he knew what it was, and what being loved by a mother should feel like.
He had shown up with Rapunzel after she brought him back to life with a second chance he would not waste, and Queen Arianna took him in as their orphan bonus kid. His mother was right; he was home now. Arianna didn’t carry him out of the orphanage, but she did carry him into her family in her own way. The lost princess saved his life - the life of the lost prince - in more ways than one.
So many times he had lied when he’d say ‘I’m fine,’ but not this time. He relaxed, smiled with the lightness of a cloud, and said honestly, “You know, Your Majesty. I believe I actually am.”
That shift didn’t get past her. He was different in a good way. She held out her arm to him, “Shall we?”
He took it and they headed outside to the gardens.
“So, tell me about yourself, Eugene. I know we share the experience of being saved by the sundrop, but I don’t really know you.”
“Well, there’s not much to tell, really. And...a lot of it could get me in trouble.”
“You’ve gone on adventures, done things I could only imagine. Tell me all of it, and don’t you dare leave out any juicy details.”
“Ah, ok. Well,” he thought back, “See, it all started when I was a little kid. I had this book, a book I would read to all the younger kids; The Tales of Flynnigan Rider...”
When I was cleaning out my drive, I stumbled across this old sketch of Eugene’s mom and a gothic-looking Hamuel, so I thought, why not finish it?
I’ve definitely improved since, and had a lot of refining to do, but they’re finally finished! I decided to do a flatter, simpler style than what I had attempted with my Edmund drawing, because I think it looks more fitting with the cartoonier proportions and all.
And like...IT’S FITZMOM!
(Wow! Hamuel doesn’t look like Edgar Allan Poe anymore!)
description: The Dark Kingdom is about to fall. The Moonstone is acting strange and hurting citizens, and Edmund doesn't know how he can stop it. At least he knows he will have his wife and his son at his side as he tries to save the kingdom.
But one night, everything changes.
warning: major character death
AO3
happy destinies collide day :)
Edmund looked at the small boy in his arms, the future heir to the throne. He felt his heart bursting as his son’s eyes lit up when he smiled. He had the same eyes as the Queen. Same smile, too. This boy was just as perfect as his mother.
Speaking of his mother, Celeste walked into the nursery and put her hand on her husband’s arm. “How’s he doing?”
“Wonderful as always, my Starlight,” Edmund answered, unable to hide his grin. “Are you doing alright?”
She leaned her head against his shoulder, looking at the boy with a soft smile. “I just want him to have a good life,” she said. She took the child into her arms and held him close, rocking him carefully. “We still haven’t settled on a name, you know.”
Edmund sighed. “I still think it should be Horace. It’s a distinguished name.”
“And I still think that naming him Horace would be like saying we hate our child,” she teased. He smiled, his heart fluttering at the way his wife laughed. All these years and he still could never get over how in love with her he was. She looked so beautiful standing in front of him, holding their child with a smile on her face. Nothing could get more perfect than this. “What do you think of Eugene?” she asked.
He frowned. “I think that’s not much better than Horace.”
She laughed and let her head fall forward. “We’re not good at this, are we?”
“I guess not,” he chuckled. “We can push this conversation off until later. We’ve waited this long, what’s one more day?”
She nodded, running her hand over their son’s head. He let out a small hiccup, making his mother smile, and Edmund felt his heart flip once again. Her smile could make him forget about everything wrong in the world. He kissed her cheek and walked out of the nursery, giving her a moment alone with her son.
He had barely made it 4 steps away before Quirin seemed to materialize beside him. “Your Majesty, we need to talk about the Moonstone,” he said, falling into step beside the King.
“What’s there to talk about?”
“It’s been… acting up recently. I don’t know what could have caused it, but these rocks are appearing more frequently than usual.”
Edmund pursed his lips. “Any casualties?”
“Just one person, but 6 homes have been destroyed.”
He sighed. “Help them relocate, I will handle the Moonstone.”
“But Your Majesty-”
“I’ll handle it, Quirin. Thank you.”
The knight clearly had more he wanted to say but seemed to decide it wasn’t worth it. He walked off grumbling quietly under his breath, leaving Edmund alone with his thoughts as he continued down the hallways of the castle.
He knew he had to do something. There had always been lives destroyed by the Moonstone, but usually there was no more than one death a year. This was the third death in the past month.
He didn’t want it to come to this, but he might have to evacuate everyone besides the castle staff from the kingdom, at least until they could get the Moonstone situation handled. As much as he didn’t want to force his people to leave their homes, he couldn’t handle the thought of their lives being constantly in danger.
Not to mention, he was raising a son now. Would he raise his son in a dead kingdom, with no one but the King and Queen and the Brotherhood? That didn’t seem like a very pleasant childhood, but he wasn’t sure if there would be another option.
He groaned aloud despite being alone. He never liked being alone with his thoughts.
He arrived in the throne room and slumped down into his throne. Unfortunately, there was no “correct” option. The only way to save the kingdom would be to get rid of the Moonstone, but generations of his ancestors had wanted to do the same thing. He had studied all the ways they had tried and he learned everything they knew about the Stone. He wished he could succeed where they failed, but he had no idea what he could do.
“You could find the Sundrop,” a voice interrupted his thoughts. Adira was standing in the doorway, watching him sulk.
“...Were you reading my thoughts?” he asked.
She smirked and shook her head. “You mumble out loud when you’re deep in thought.”
“Oh,” Edmund said, slightly embarrassed. “What do you mean ‘the Sundrop’?”
“There is ancient research that believes there could be a counterpart to the Moonstone somewhere in the Sun Kingdom. If we could find it-”
“Adira, I appreciate it, I really do,” he interrupted calmly. “But lives are in danger, we can’t send people out searching for something that may or may not exist. We need to keep our people safe here and now.”
She frowned, walking closer. “Edmund, we can’t keep our people safe. Not with the Moonstone acting the way it is.”
He closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. “I know,” he mumbled. “I know, I just need to figure out a way to subdue it.”
Adira raised an eyebrow but didn’t try to argue with him. “Just let me know if you need anything, Your Majesty,” she said, turning to leave. As she walked out the door, Celeste made her way in.
“Our son just fell asleep, one of the maids is by his room if he wakes up,” she said, answering his question before he even had the chance to ask it. She walked over and sat down next to him. “Is the Moonstone really getting worse?”
He nodded solemnly. “No one seems to have an explanation.”
Celeste frowned. “What are we going to do? If people are getting hurt, we need to help them somehow,” she said.
“I think we might need to get the citizens to evacuate the kingdom, but how could we displace everyone from their homes?”
His wife grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together. “We can make it through this, alright? We’re going to be okay.”
“I’m worried about our son. He’s going to be raised in a kingdom destroyed by this Stone, what kind of a life is that?”
She paused for a moment, then smiled. “A life of love, no matter what. Even if the kingdom is broken, our love for him and each other will stay strong. Nothing is going to change that.”
He smiled gently and squeezed her hand. He had to keep that in mind. She was right, he would love his family despite anything the Moonstone did. And he would make sure his son would be protected from any harm the Moonstone may bring.
After a beat of silence, his wife nudged him playfully. “He’s not going to feel that love if we name him Horace, though.”
Edmund snorted. “I’m telling you, it makes him sound like a real King.”
“He’ll be a real King no matter what his name is,” she said with a content smile. Edmund was inclined to agree. Even though he wasn’t even two weeks old, everyone could tell their son would grow up to do great things. It was a comforting thought; seeing his son full of so much potential gave him hope for the future of their family and the kingdom.
If the boy could keep a bright smile on his little face, then he could too.
-
That night, Edmund was lying awake, his thoughts swirling with worries about his kingdom and his son.
What would he do if he had to send everyone away? He was sure that once the Moonstone found whatever it wanted, it would subside. But there was no telling how long that would take, especially since there was no way of telling what it wanted. That Stone had been watching over him for his entire life, and orchestrating his every move. He had seen the way it affected everyone in the kingdom and the way it changed the lives of all his ancestors. He didn’t want it to torment his son in the same way it did the rest of his family.
He turned to his wife to see if she was awake, but her space on the bed was empty. He sat up, his eyebrows knit together. “Celeste?” he called out. He received no answer.
Edmund stood up and rushed out of the room, trying to see where she went. It wasn’t like her to get up and leave in the middle of the night with no warning. He walked briskly down the hallways of the castle, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
His stomach churned when he realized the door to the Moonstone Chamber was cracked open.
He poked his head in to see his wife standing there, staring at the Moonstone, his axe in her hand.
“Celeste? What are you doing?”
She turned to him, her face plagued with worry and sadness. “I don’t want to live our lives based around this rock anymore.”
“I know, but we have no choice. We have to keep everyone safe.”
Her mouth tightened and she turned back towards the Moonstone. “We do have a choice, though. I’m going to destroy it.”
He froze. A million thoughts started rushing through his head, all of them screaming at him to not let her do it. “Darling, you can’t. You’ll get hurt, I can’t let you do this!”
“And I can’t let my son’s life be burdened by this rock! I have to do this for him. For everyone.”
“But what if it destroys you? Our son will have to grow up with a Mother!”
She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “But if he can grow up without the pressure of the Moonstone, my sacrifice will be worth it.”
Edmund shook his head, his eyes filling with tears as well. “Darling, this isn’t the way to do this. We can handle raising him regardless of the Moonstone. But we’re in this together, and we can’t do that if you…” he trailed off, not wanting to even think about what he would do if anything happened to her.
Celeste’s body tensed up. She shut her eyes and turned away. “It’s in the best interest of the whole kingdom,” she said softly, taking a step forward.
As soon as she moved closer, the Moonstone was glowing more intensely. Edmund’s legs felt numb as he watched her drawing closer to the Stone. His thoughts were begging her to stop, but his voice refused to make a sound. By the time she was right next to it, the Moonstone was glowing blindingly bright. She slowly lifted the axe, then brought it down with a yell.
“No!” Edmund finally found his voice, trying to run towards her, but a burst of energy emitted from the Moonstone sent him flying back. He landed hard on the ground, but he wasted no time in scrambling to his feet and whipping his head around trying to find where it had thrown her.
His gaze finally settled on where she was. She was lying right next to the Moonstone, her dress stained a dark red and getting redder by the second. “No, no no no,” he whispered, dashing to her side.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled weakly as she looked into his eyes. Her gaze was gentle as she examined his face. She winced as she tried to sit up, and he put her hand on her back to keep her steady. She took a deep breath, her eyes already starting to gloss over.
“Ed…” she said softly, raising her hand to his cheek. He felt his throat close up as he watched how she struggled to breathe.
“Stay right here, Sweetheart, I’ll go get the doctor as fast as I can-”
“No!” she interrupted, gripping his shirt as tightly as she could (which wasn’t very tight). “I need you to stay here with me. I don’t know how much longer…” she trailed off, touching her forehead to her husband’s.
“No, please, you’re going to be alright, I need you to stay,” Edmund sobbed quietly, holding her close.
The queen’s face was streamed with tears as she used all her energy to wrap her arms around him. “Ed, darling,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Keep Horace safe, please. Let him live the wonderful life he deserves to live.”
He let out another sob as he ran his hands through his wife’s hair. “I will, I promise I will.”
“I love you so much, dear,” she said, her eyes falling shut. Her body shook one last time, then went entirely limp.
“I love you too, my Starlight,” he responded, but his words were heard by no one. He let out a pained scream as tears rushed down his cheeks. His throat was closing up and every breath was a struggle as he held his wife tightly, wishing she wasn’t growing colder by the second.
It was the Moonstone. He knew it was dangerous, he knew it was a threat to the lives of his family. Why didn’t he do more to stop her? He had stood there and watched her walk to her doom. He could have stopped her. He should have stopped her. And now he was holding her unmoving body, and she had died because of him.
He stayed there for the rest of the night, sitting on the cold floor and holding her in his arms, anguished cries ripping from his throat. He would quietly whisper apologies to her lifeless figure, thinking of everything he had done wrong. “I should have been better for you,” he murmured through tears. “I’m so sorry.”
-
Edmund stood in the Moonstone Chamber the next day, staring down at the glowing rock. He and the Brotherhood had just finished burying the queen, and he couldn’t do anything but reflect on how he had failed her. His eyes were burning as he stared at the thing that had killed the love of his life, but he had run out of tears to cry.
“This stone has destroyed too many lives,” he yelled. “It stops today!”
He had to finish what she started. He had to get revenge for her. He had to succeed, he couldn’t let her death be for nothing.
His sword shattered against the cage surrounding the stone. He reached his hand into the cage, but before he could grab it, Adira and Quirin ran over to pull him away. Their protests and pleads for him to stop fell on deaf ears. His mind was roaring, and all he could focus on was destroying that pebble. He threw them off and strained his arm to try to reach the rock.
The Moonstone sent out another burst of energy, the same kind that killed his love. It didn’t kill him. He didn’t join her. Instead, he let out a bloodcurdling yell, feeling his arm tear away from his body. He fell to his knees and let out a sob.
He failed her again.
-
Later that day, he released his decree that everyone must evacuate the kingdom.
Everyone. His citizens. His castle staff. His knights. His son.
The people were still packing to leave, but they would be gone by nightfall. He would be alone, but everyone else would be safe. That was what mattered.
Edmund walked into the nursery, looking down at his child sleeping peacefully. He hadn’t bared to even look at him since Celeste died, but this was his last chance. Later that day, his son would leave, never to return. He wanted to keep tabs on the child the best he could, but he didn’t think he would be able to. The child would hopefully be as far away from the Dark Kingdom as possible. Edmund wouldn’t even risk the boy knowing his real heritage.
This was the last time he would see his son. He had to make it worth it.
He walked over and picked the boy up, cradling him softly. The child’s eyes cracked open and smiled brightly at the sight of his father. Edmund felt his breath catch in his throat.
He had the same eyes and the same smile as his mother. The resemblance hurt more than anything. The boy raised his arm, trying to grab his father’s face. Edmund smiled tearfully, lifting his son up to kiss his forehead.
“You’re going to do great things, my boy,” he whispered. “And you’ll have mine and your mother’s love with you all your life, even if you don’t know it.”
The child sneezed and looked up with wide eyes. The King let silent tears fall down his face as he looked at the child. He gently squeezed him one last time, then set him back down into the crib. He stole a final look at the (former) heir to the throne, then turned away. He took a shaky breath and pressed his hand to his face, trying to stop the tears from falling.
He was doing the right thing, he knew that. But the right thing hurt him more with every second.
He stepped out of the nursery, watching all the citizens leaving. A maid had promised to take the child and bring him somewhere that he would be cared for. He could only hope that his son ended up with the kind of family and home that Edmund could no longer provide him.
He didn’t bid anyone goodbye. He had chased them away, making sure no one would even want to return. His knights had tried to speak to him, but he had told them to leave. The longer they stayed, the longer they were in danger. He was saving the world from the forces of the Moonstone, even if it meant damning himself to a life trapped in the walls of his own kingdom.
By the end of the day, everyone had left. Edmund was alone in the kingdom. The castle was quiet, and he could hear every one of his footsteps echo. He had never liked being alone with his thoughts.
He passed a painting of him and Celeste and forced a small smile as he looked at her. “He’s going to be okay, he’s going to get the life he deserves, just like I promised,” Edmund said to the painting. “Not a life alone in a destroyed kingdom.” He imagined what it would be like to hear her voice responding one last time, but he was only met with silence.
He strolled slowly down an empty corridor. This was his life now. Alone in the lifelong prison sentence he had brought upon himself. How disgustingly poetic.
He couldn’t help but peek into the Moonstone Chamber, looking at the rock in the center of the room. It seemed to have calmed down. It was no longer flashing brightly, instead it was hovering innocently within the walls of its self-made cage.
The Moonstone had gotten what it wanted: everyone had left. It almost seemed smug. Edmund felt his blood boil as he closed the door to the Chamber. He wouldn’t open it again, he would let the Moonstone stay alone as it wanted.
He looked at the painting of Celeste on the wall again. “Keep an eye on your son, Darling,” he said, looking into her soft eyes. “There won’t be much going on here.”
