Everlasting (11)
A fantasy novelette. The final chapter. This one might contain more mistakes and typos than usual. I have no strength to go through it again.
Previously:
Lord Micah marched into the kitchen as if he owned the place.
“Right, you’re coming with me,” he grunted, picking Ani up by her elbow.
“Why? What are you doing?” She tried to resist, but a slap over the cheek silenced her.
“Lord Micah, what is the meaning of this?” Lady Ann cried out.
“The Autumnian slut should’ve gone to my whorehouse months ago,” he said, dragging Ani along.
“Your whorehouse? What? I can assure you; Ani is an honest woman. A good wife to my son, and…”
“Oh, yes, of course. And you too have hidden the true nature of her purpose here. Off to jail with you, old hag! Finally, I’ll have me a castle near the border. Living in the camp is extremely uncomfortable, you know? Should’ve gotten rid of you a long time ago,” Lord Micah spoke, grabbing Lady Ann by her arm, and pulling both women along with him. Lady Ann could not believe her ears. Lord Micah owning a whorehouse in Tridum had been an open secret she never wished to believe. Rumours and lies, Lady Ann brushed off when her neighbours brought it up.
“Please, kind sir, would you let me take my belongings from upstairs? I could not escape even if I wished,” Ani said submissively. Lord Micah snorted, and released her, marching out the castle.
“Don’t even think of escaping. I have men patrolling around the castle,” he said. Indeed, some soldiers stayed behind with him, while others had taken Aereus to Tridum.
“What will you do to Ani? What of her child?” Lady Ann asked, crying.
“The slut shall serve the good men of Hebeny for gold, do you not know what sluts do, old hag? As for the little bastard, I do not care. We shall sell him or drown him, whatever is faster…” but before Lord Micah had finished, a cold blade struck his head, then slashed his throat. He fell to the ground with one last curse and died on the spot.
When Ani went upstairs, she knew exactly what she shall do. Aereus had not taken his forefather’s sword with him. But she picked it up. Ani ran out the castle, charging at Lord Micah. No soldier came to his aid, nobody expected a pregnant young woman could wield the sword as well as Ani did.
“I am not a slut. I’m the daughter of an honest Autumnian blacksmith, and I know swords,” she said breathing heavily, whilst Lord Micah bled by her feet. But her victory had caused her too much commotion; Ani felt water trickling down her thighs – Aereus’ child was coming.
The soldiers ignored the women begging to let Ani birth her son in the castle. She had murdered a Hebenian sergeant in front of his men. She was an Autumnian. The elderly woman had lied to the said sergeant. They shackled the two women, put them in the carriage for prisoners, and took them to the prison of Tridum city. A crane bird cried above their heads like a bell of a funeral.
***
Aereus gazed up to the steel-grey clouds; he had heard a crane crying high above him. He stood out in the crowd of the doomed low-lives, beggars, murderers, thieves and all-round scoundrels. His head was held high, with the copper-coloured hair blazing like a flame in the gloomy winter morning, his eyes blue as the summertime sky, clear and brave, and burning with anger. He was innocent, unlike the men around him, nevertheless, after an extremely scant meal, which the soldiers referred to as “your last meal”, all the prisoners willing to march into battle instead of getting beheaded, were rounded up in the prison courtyard, given some pieces of armour and rusty swords.
The sergeants gave them no words of encouragement, except shouting a command to fold in line, and march out the prison gates, while the same sergeants guarded them on horseback.
Aereus did not care about his own fate, all his thoughts were with Ani and his own dear mother. Lord Micah wasn’t among the men dragging Aereus to prison. He must’ve returned to take Ani. It all added up – the despicable man wanted her all along, and the rumours about him owning the largest whorehouse in Tridum had been true.
As the crane bird cried, Aereus whispered, Foreverold have merci, I must know if Ani is well, but his voice was drowned by the noise of many feet marching on the cobble stones. New prisoners were walking past them, into the prison gates. That’s when Aereus saw them – two women dragged on by soldiers. One elderly, the other young, crouching as if struck by pain.
“Ani…” Aereus could not believe his eyes, “Ani!” he shouted, breaking his way through the lines of the shabby soldiers. He didn’t care for the sergeants yelling at him. He reached Ani, grabbed her in a tight embrace despite the soldiers. Lady Ann broke out the soldier’s grip to embrace both of them.
“Forgive me. I didn’t give you what you wanted,” he said. Indeed, the safe home Ani longed for, he failed to provide.
“You gave me much more,” Ani said, then moaned in pain; the labour was progressing. “Our son is coming. I shall name him Aereus, like his father the greatest of warriors,” she said, before the soldiers ripped them apart.
“I love you! I will find you in the blessed realms of the Foreverold!” Aereus shouted.
“..where our love shall be everlasting!” Ani replied, only to witness the sergeants jumping off their horses to punch Aereus down. There was no mercy for the despicable prisoners turned soldiers.
“I love you!” Aereus yelled while they kicked his stomach. He smiled with his mouth bleeding, lying on the cobble stones, because he was the luckiest and the most miserable man in the kingdom – his love and his dear mother were together, Ani had not been taken to a dirty brothel, and his son was coming. A part of Aereus would live on, even if he does not see another winter’s dawn.
The excruciating labour took many hours, so did the battle Aereus had marched to, despite being beaten. It had begun not long after the Hebenian soldiers crossed the border of Autumna. Aereus was placed in the front lines. He broke his way through the lines of Autumnians with ferocious strength. Soon enough the cowardly Autumnians gave way to the warrior with the copper hair and burning blue eyes. Nothing could stop him, he was victorious even without his father’s sword, he was the best warrior in the lines of Hebenians.
Ani gritted her teeth – she had lost blood, and she had lost strength; it was a heavy labour. Lady Ann begged the prison guards to help them, but nobody came to their aid, until a tall cloaked woman walked into the prison. Nobody dared to stop her, after hearing her out.
“I am a midwife. There’s a woman in labour locked inside this cell. If you do not let me enter, may the Foreverold have mercy on your souls!” she scolded the guards, and the fools unlocked the door in front of her. There, on the cold stone floor lay Ani, barely conscious, moaning in pain, Lady Ann kneeling by her, crying desperately.
“Do not fear. My name is Crane, and I’m a midwife.”
It was certain, the woman used some kind of magic to help Ani, and after a short while, the wretched prison came to life with the sound of a newborn child crying.
It was a victory! An unexpected gift from the Foreverold, indeed! The men who went into the battle hopeless, now exulted, singing their praise to the Foreverold on the cursed land of Autumna. Not many lived, very few of the doomed prisoner soldiers survived, and Aereus was one of them! He stood his ground firmly, blue eyes shining with joy, wounded, exhausted, he lived. He dropped his shabby armour to the ground, stood breathing heavily, leaning on his sword. His body covered in blood of the enemy. Aereus had fought the everlasting war, and he had won. Not a battle he lost, yet betrayal haunted him beyond the grave. A cold hand of a treacherous soldier, instructed by Lord Micah before he died, struck a dagger into Aereus’ back while passing him in the crowd of other soldiers. The instructions were simple - make sure the bastard doesn’t survive the battle. No other instructions did the treacherous soldier receive. He hid the dagger in his sleeve. The others watched Aereus drop to his knees, then fall flat to the muddy earth of Autumna. His wounds might have been deeper than it seemed. None investigated the reason he fell.
Aereus lay taking his final breath, his last thoughts racing through his mind. There is a power everlasting, a power greater than war… his last heartbeat belonged to his love, as his spirit soared into the blessed realms of the Foreverold.
In the very exact moment, Ani lay on the cold stone floor of the prison cell, holding her son for the first and final time. The labour took all her strength, most of her blood, no magic could save her.
“I name you Aereus,” she said closing her eyes. Crane took the child from Ani’s limp arms.
“I shall love you forever, my son. Your father awaits for me,” Ani whispered, suddenly her eyes grew wide, she saw something hidden to the eyes of the mortals. Whatever it was, Crane also saw it, judging by the morose smile she gave the apparition.
“So, the prophecy has been fulfilled,” she murmured.
Ani’s face beamed in a peaceful smile as she closed her eyes forever.
“Why did you not save her?! You are a sorceress of sorts, aren’t you?” Lady Ann asked after a long pause filled with the tiny baby’s crying.
“I am only going where the Foreverold takes me to fulfil the prophecies. I cannot choose the time or the place, no matter how much… I’d wished to,” the Birdling sorceress said, and sighed at the grim sight; a young woman bled out on the prison floor after hours or torturous pain, an old woman sat beside her with tears flowing down her wrinkled face, and a newborn child in Crane’s own arms, weeping for its mother.
“Why must you be so cruel, Foreverold?” Crane murmured. She looked at the tiny window of the prison cell. The clouds outside gave way to a cold winter’s sun, and a pale ray found the child, despite all the darkness surrounding them.
“So be it,” Crane said, and nodded. “The child needs warmth. I shall take him to a safe place.”
“Wait, where will you take him? And what… a prophecy? Why couldn’t you come sooner and reveal it?” Lady Ann clutched onto Crane’s grey cloak.
“It was not for me to decide,” Crane explained, “had I revealed the prophecy to your son, would he had taken Ani as his wife? No. The child of a Noble Hebenian warrior and an honest Autumnian maiden shall be the greatest peacemaker ever seen. The prophecy revealed it. Aereus, son of Aereus, will be a mighty king who’ll restore the peace between the kingdoms.”
Lady Ann sat with her mouth ajar. She let Crane’s cloak slip from her fingers.
“So be it,” the old woman whispered.
“I will find a good home for the child,” Lady Ann heard Crane telling the prison guards. “The mother did not survive. Do bury her with dignity.”
“We burn the dead prisoners. No exceptions,” the guards said, though they didn’t object when Crane walked away, taking the child with her. Nor did they ask where she’s taking him.
***
“But he was a Noble!” A soldier protested, holding a burning torch in his hand. A pile of dead bodies waited for the fire to become its burning grave. One of the dead soldiers lying on top of it stood out. His Noble face beamed in an eternal smile. His copper hair shone in the pale sunlight. “We bury the Noble!”
“We burn the prisoners. Was he not in the front lines of the prisoner unit? A traitor does not deserve a grave!” His sergeant scolded the soldier, who had no other choice but to sigh and obey. He set the pile of bodies ablaze, and they burned until there was nothing left but a pile of ashes. And so it was, that even in death Aereus had kept his promise – no grave of his would they find on the cursed land.
A crane bird flew above the land of Autumna, while muddy boots of soldiers marched on over the ashes of the dead, and it seemed the war would never end. But somewhere by a warm hearth a tiny voice of a child cried out, and the pale sunlight shone on the baby boy like a sign of hope.
The end.
Thank you for reading! It was quite a journey, wasn’t it? I hope you don’t hate me. No happy end this time. But… yes, I’m a despicable creature. Please, forgive me. The ending is also the set-up for the next fantasy story I plan to torture you with in autumn. The Foul King is the working title. I guess you can imagine who will be the main character…
A happy ending? No, but satisfying, and the one this story needed. With the story of Aereus and Ani now concluded, I can safely say this is among your best works.
No happy ending? There is plenty of sorrow, but Aereus, son of Aereus lives on to bring peace to the land when he grows up... a very satisfying ending!