Chapter Text
Ezran watched the snow continue to drift down outside the windows after he crawled back into bed with Bait under his arm. Eventually, he saw a glimpse of the same dark shape cross in front of the light of the moon as Callum and Rayla presumably flew back toward his room.
Ezran smiled before, mercifully, he was finally able to drift off to sleep.
In his dreams, he saw hundreds of elves coming to Katolis not only to celebrate the Winter Festival, but to start new lives and families alongside humans. People were happy and the centuries of fighting and bloodshed were put behind them.
Instead, he saw couples like Callum and Rayla coming together and finding love and friendship.
It was a nice dream, if not a little lofty, but it helped give Ezran some respite from the storm of thoughts that had been assaulting his brain the last few days.
At least until he was suddenly ripped from sleep by a massive gust of wind that blew the coverlet straight off his bed.
His eyes shot open and immediately went to the doors to the balcony. But even as he squinted against the gale, he could see that the doors were closed tight.
Just as quickly as it arrived, the wind disappeared and Ezran’s attention shifted to where Callum stood at the foot of his bed, Rayla laughing behind him as she held Bait.
Callum joined in her laughter as Ezran frowned, the early-morning sun beginning to sting his eyes in place of the wind.
He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to imitate one of his dad’s ster looks as best he could while he sat up in his bedclothes, his hair mused.
“Oh come on, Mr. Grumpy King. This is exactly what you deserve for waking us up the other day,” Callum said as he walked over to the side of the bed and nudged Ezran’s shoulder. “Besides, it’s festival day! Can’t let you sleep through that.”
Ezran pursed his lips at his brother before looking back over to Bait, who was looking more than comfortable watching the show from Rayla’s arms.
“Bait, we’ve talked about this. What’s the point of all our practice if you don’t initiate the safety protocol?” Ezran said incredulously, lifting his arms in the glow toad’s direction.
Bait shifted to a deep shade of maroon as he grunted back at him in indignation.
“Hey,” Ezran said with a huff. “Whose side are you on anyway?”
Callum leaned over to ruffle Ezran’s already-messy hair even more, “Come on, Ez, just admit that we got you good and we can all go down for some delicious breakfast.”
Ezran narrowed his eyes.
“Plus,” Callum added with a smug smile. “We’ve got a little present for you.”
That would do the trick.
Ezran rolled out of bed and stood in front of Callum with his hands on his hips, sternly looking between him and Rayla, “You’re lucky I love you guys.”
Rayla walked over, plopping Bait onto the mattress as she pulled Callum’s bag off of her shoulder.
“We found these little guys hitched a ride with us from Xadia and we thought you might enjoy their company,” she said with a wide smile as she placed the bag down in front of Ezran and knelt down to open the flap.
What emerged was one of the cutest creatures he’d ever seen.
Ezran recalled seeing little puffballs like these during his trek to Xadia all those months ago, but he’d been in such a hurry to get to the Storm Spire, he’d never had a chance to really get to admire them. Then, on his journey back, he’d been far too distracted to even try to talk with one of them.
Ezran dropped to his knees as three of them came bounding out of the bag and into his hands. They trilled and squeaked a series of enthusiastic greetings, which immediately brought a smile to his face.
“They’re called adoraburrs,” Rayla said brightly. “I used to play with them all the time when I was a kid.”
“There’s a group of them that stay with us at the spire,” Callum said, kneeling down to gently boop one of the adoraburrs on the nose. “We thought they all stayed behind, but when we got here, we found these three little stowaways in my bag.”
“They are so cute!” Ezran exclaimed loudly as he raised the adoraburrs up in his hands and nuzzled them.
“I know, right?!” Callum said, holding his hands up enthusiastically.
Rayla chuckled as the boys continued to fawn over the little creatures. Ezran nearly lost it when she showed him how they stick together.
From his spot on top of the bed, Bait grumbled with his usual unimpressed expression. However, he had turned a very unmistakable shade of pink.
The adoraburrs were extremely friendly and excitable. Their voices fought to chime over each other when they realized Ezran could understand them. They started to tell him about how they’d first followed Callum and Rayla to the Storm Spire before eventually coming with them on this adventure as well.
Ezran talked back, welcoming them to Katolis and telling them they could stay for as long as they wanted. He set them on the bed next to Bait, who they immediately snuggled up against, before Ezran pulled Callum and Rayla into a strong hug.
“Thanks, guys,” he said, holding them tight.
Callum knelt down so they were all sitting on their knees on the floor, arms wrapped around each other.
They stayed there for a moment before the adoraburrs decided they also wanted to join and hopped from the bed and into Ezran’s hair, each fighting for his attention by telling him stories from Xadia.
He chuckled until one story in particular caught his attention and he pulled away from the hug with a pointed look.
“What?” Rayla said cautiously.
“The adoraburrs say you guys cuddle like this a lot,” Ezran replied smuggly.
Callum and Rayla groaned before sharing a look and Ezran could practically hear them silently asking each other ‘What have we done?’
Breakfast was--as tradition dictated--a loud affair.
Everyone came down to eat in their night clothes and play games as a roaring fire crackled in the hearth of the dinning hall.
The cooks prepared soft boiled eggs, sweet and savory breads and fruits from both Xadia and the Pentarchy, as well as steaming bowls of milk-fruit porridge with candied nuts. Barius had also sent up several trays of jelly tarts made with his new recipe. The berry filling was a bit tart and a myriad of spices in the dough added a warm, spicy flavor. In short, they were bliss and Ezran piled his plate almost exclusively with them.
At his insistence, even Opeli and several of the guards joined them as warm mugs of mulled cider were passed around the table.
The adoraburrs had decided they thoroughly enjoyed riding around in Ezran’s hair, so they remained perched there as he fed them bits of jelly tart and listened to more of their stories from Xadia.
The room was brimming with the same warmth and comfort from last night and Ezran was thrilled.
He took the opportunity to share a few Festival Day stories that his father used to tell him and Callum when they were younger. The sunfire elf students scribbled down practically every word as he told them about how humans celebrated the Winter Festival on the shortest day of the year with the hope that when the Winter’s Wind blew at the end of the night, it would mark the start of an early thaw and prosperous spring.
But, of course, traditions had come and gone over the centuries and now humans mostly took the festival as a chance to give small gifts to friends and loved ones and have a little fun in the midst of what was usually a dark and dreary winter.
“King Ezran, if I may,” one of the students interjected. “If this holiday is celebrated with friends and family, why have you invited us here?”
Janai shot a fiery glare from across the table and the student shrank down in her seat slightly.
“Please forgive her,” Janai said, her brows still creased. “We do no take your hospitality lightly.”
Ezran waved his arms in dismissal, “No, I understand. Having you all here is new and different. But it’s because we celebrate the Winter Festival with those who mean the most to us that I wanted you to come.”
He glanced around and saw all heads now turned to look at him.
“All our people have been through so much,” Ezran continued, sitting a little straighter in his chair and doing his best to keep his voice strong like Opeli had been teaching him. “But now, we have a chance to choose peace. I know I much prefer sharing gifts and good food to sending troops off to war. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Hear, hear,” Callum said, raising his mug high and looking up at Ezran with nothing but pride.
More than a dozen other mugs were quickly held aloft as they all cheersed to peace and good tidings while the adoraburrs squeaked and bounced up and down in Ezran’s hair.
“Well said, Your Majesty,” Opeli said with a wink as she clinked her own mug with Corvus.
The rest of the morning was spent in similar fashion. The sun had come out to bathe last night’s snow in light and turn the landscape into a sparkling wonderland. And inside, elves and humans sat together in the king’s personal den sharing stories, playing games and asking each other questions about their cultures.
Ezran learned of sunfire elves’ pride as warriors and leaders and he shared of Katolis’ own reputation as the military powerhouse of the human kingdoms. The students also told him about their university in Lux Aurea, a “pinnacle of education,” they called it. It apparently housed tomes all the way from the Far Reaches, the eastern most lands of Xadia.
It inspired him to take them on a brief walk to the royal library, where he let each of them select a book to bring back for the collection at the university. He told them it was a Festival Day gift from him to them. They were gobsmacked to say the least and each hugged him with fervor.
During the revelry, Ezran took notice of Amaya sitting beside Janai in front of the fire and at one point draping an extra blanket over the elf’s shoulders. This time, when she apparently thought no one was looking, Janai did not grumble at Amaya’s assistance and instead smiled softly and briefly signed a “Thank you.”
Once Callum and Rayla headed back for Xadia, Ezran knew exactly who he could tease until they came back.
When early afternoon came, it was time to prepare to join the festival proper in town and everyone retreated to their rooms to change.
Opeli shot Callum a sharp look, to which he replied with an incredulous expression, his arms out wide. She held his gaze for a moment longer before the facade cracked and she smiled slightly before heading out into the halls.
Their group set out together into the snowy town a few minutes later, Soren once again taking up his role as tour guide as the students, along with Amaya, Janai and Gren, followed his lead.
The town was alive with the sounds of laughter and the smells of delicious food. Children ran through the streets with small, brightly-colored noise makers and new toys while shopkeepers and vendors attempted to cajole passersby into buying sweet treats and baubles.
Soren guided the larger part of the group down the main roads, giving each of them a few coins to spend however they pleased at the stalls. Callum and Rayla hung back with Ezran and Corvus as they took in the sights for a moment.
“So,” Ezran said after Soren and the others disappeared around a bend in the road. “Where are you guys going on your date?”
“Nope, nuh-uh, I am not telling you anywhere we plan to be today,” Callum replied quickly, taking Rayla’s hand.” You go be king and shake hands and stuff your face, and we’ll enjoy the festival in peace.”
“Oh alright,” Ezran replied, his voice sly. “Keep your big smoochy date plans a secret.”
Rayla groaned and yanked Callum down the first side street she saw, leaving Ezran chuckling in their wake.
“Be sure to meet at the tree at dusk!” He yelled after them, watching as Callum gave a halfhearted wave over his shoulder in response.
“We’re going to go looking for them, aren’t we?” Corvus asked, glancing down at him.
“Yep,” Ezran replied brightly. “But I figured we can give them a good head start. Callum’s right afterall, I do have to be king today.”
They set off down the main road and Ezran did in fact spend a good part of the day shaking hands and buying wares from the vendors.
The people of Katolis greeted him warmly, sharing their merriment for the holiday and expressing their joy to hear that Prince Callum had returned from Xadia. Many also asked him about the current climate with the other human kingdoms, and Ezran found he didn’t have a good answer for them.
Human and elf relations were better in Katolis than they'd ever been. But the relations between the rest of the human kingdoms were shaky at best. Whether he liked it or not, his kingdom and Duren had become isolated from the rest of the Pentarchy in order to broker whatever truce they now shared with Xadia.
Queen Fareeda and King Florian were still dead, presumably at the hands of moonshadow assassins. King Ahling could no longer walk and his eldest son had been killed in the fray at the Storm Spire.
When Ezran had met with the newly-crowned rulers several months ago, things had gone rather...poorly.
What began as a summit between all five kingdoms ended with King Ahling very nearly declaring war on Duren after Aanya revealed some of the more sensitive details surrounding Kasef’s death. He now refused to appear at any summit where she would also be in attendance. That, coupled with Ezran’s announcement that a former moonshadow assassin had been the one to help him and his brother return Zym to Xadia, left things more than a little strained between the rulers.
Ezran understood -- of course he did. The fact that he was sitting on the throne at 10 years old was proof of that. His father had also been killed in the midst of all the fighting and bloodshed.
He shared their pain.
But he just wished they could also share his hope.
He and Corvus eventually crossed paths with Soren, Gren and the students. Amaya and Janai were noticeably absent from the group.
“General Amaya took her to the barracks to discuss the state of their safety,” Gren recited half heartedly with a noisemaker in one hand and an iced sweet cake in the other.
Ezran nodded, expecting nothing less from his aunt. Soren also made his way over to report that there had been a few small incidents with townspeople making a ruckus about the sunfire elves as they walked through town, but they’d been tactfully spoken to and sent on their way to enjoy the holiday elsewhere.
“Thank you,” Ezran said, placing a hand on Soren’s arm. “It means a lot that you’re keeping them safe.”
Soren smiled and shrugged nonchalantly, “Like I said, it feels good to be able to help. I feel like it’s by duty after what my dad did to their city.”
That made Ezran frown.
“You’re not responsible for what he did,” he said seriously. “You were brave and strong enough to stand up against what you knew was wrong. You don’t owe anyone anything because of who your father was.”
Soren let out a heavy sigh, “I know,” he said. “But I did some pretty bad things too before I knew what he was. I want to make it right.”
Ezran wrapped his arms around Soren’s middle, Bait warbling in support as well.
“And that’s what makes you a good person,” Ezran said. “And a good friend.”
Soren sniffed and quickly wiped at his eyes before returning Ezran’s hug with ferocity, “How’d you get so good at this stuff?”
Ezran pulled away and smiled, “Bait’s a good teacher.”
Soren laughed and gave Bait a loving rub on top of his head.
“Have you seen Callum and Rayla by the way,” Ezran asked, glancing over to see the students all hastily buying new journals from a rather overwhelmed-looking vendor.
Soren tapped a finger against his chin, “I think I saw them being all lovey dovey over that way about half an hour ago,” he said, pointing East.
Of course they went to the pond, he should have known.
Pulling Corvus along behind him, Ezran waved goodbye to Soren and the others as he headed toward the grove.
The sun was just beginning to dip in the sky as they made their way through the trees, Callum’s ice trails shimmering as twilight rapidly approached.
The sound of laughter reached his ears before the pond came into view. Men, women and children were crowded around the frozen surface, shakily walking on skates as they waited for an opening to join.
Those who made it onto the ice seemed to be enjoying the fun immensely. Couples clutched each other on wobbly legs, kids zoomed around, narrowly avoiding crashing and others glided around with their eyes aimed upward at Callum’s handiwork.
Ezran caught sight of Callum and Rayla almost immediately, standing secluded at the far bank. Callum stood straight and still on the ice while Rayla was hunched forward in front of him, her hands clutching his upper arms while her feet slid around beneath her.
He wasn’t sure how a trained assassin could be quite so uncoordinated, but Ezran definitely enjoyed watching Callum patiently inching her out further and further onto the ice. At one point, she stumbled fully and her left foot dropped out from under her. Callum, in an attempt to catch her, wrapped his arms around her waist.
Unfortunately, the sudden exertion of Rayla’s weight must have been too much for Callum’s balance and he tumbled backward, unwittingly pulling Rayla down on top of him.
Ezran watched his brother attempt to wave off Rayla’s fumbled movements to check if he was okay, at least until he said something that made her smack him on the shoulder and they both started to laugh.
The young king just shook his head and walked around the edge of the pond until he got within earshot of his lovable idiots.
They were still trying to get back on their feet, Callum now struggling to find purchase on the ice while Rayla continued to cling to him.
“You know that’s not how you skate, right?” Ezran said casually.
Rayla reflexively let go of Callum to turn in Ezran’s direction. But she panicked as soon as she seemed to realize there was nothing for her to hold onto. So she grabbed Callum once again by the arms, sending them both tumbling back down to the ice.
“How are you everywhere?!” Rayla called at him exasperatedly, her body now draped across Callum’s.
“Ez!” Callum groaned from beneath her. “Seriously?”
Ezran walked over, Corvus shuffling uncomfortably behind him from a fair distance, and reached out a hand in their direction.
Rayla shot him a glare before taking his hand and pulling herself to the snowy bank to sit down. Callum scooted himself over as well, fumbling slightly to untangle his feet from themselves.
“It’s almost time for the celebration at the Winter’s Day tree,” Ezran said innocently. “I didn’t want you guys to be late.”
“Uh huh,” Rayla said, preparing to pull the skates from her feet. However, Callum stopped her with a hand on her wrist.
“Oh no,” he said to her. “You’re not getting out of this that easily. I told you I would teach you how to skate and I meant it, annoying little brother or no annoying little brother.
Rayla groaned once again, throwing her body backward so she was now laying in the snow, “Just when I thought he was about to do me a favor.”
Callum pushed himself back up from the ground and onto the ice, reaching a hand out to Rayla, “Come on, I’ve got you.”
She looked up at him, a layer of snow now coating the back of her head, “And you promise it’s frozen solid?”
“I promise,” Callum replied earnestly. “I froze it myself, remember? I don’t think there’s enough regular water in here to fill a puddle.”
She took his hand and let him pull her back to her feet. She was still unsteady, but she was up.
“Ez, if you’re gonna stay there, shut up and don’t move, this is important,” Callum said, keeping his eyes on Rayla as she wobbled.
Ezran smiled and did as he was told, crossing his legs and placing Bait quietly in his lap.
“Okay, just like we talked about, keep your feet shoulder-width apart and bend your knees,” Callum said calmly as he continued to hold Rayla’s hands. She followed his directions and wiggled her feet apart before bending her knees.
“Alright, now, keep your eyes on me and push off with one foot,” Callum continued, matching Rayla’s trepidations expression with his own calm one. “I’ve got you, I promise.”
She took a couple deep breaths before moving one foot back, taking a few tries to feel her way around the movement without falling. But eventually, she found enough grip on the ice to push herself forward just enough, Callum gently moving backward with her. He didn’t let go of her hands.
“See! There, you’re doing it!” He said eagerly, letting her continue to push them along tentatively.
Ezran couldn’t deny how sweet and wholesome the scene unfolding in front of him was: A human prince teaching his would-be assassin how to ice skate.
They continued to skate in tiny circles around the pond, Ezran remaining totally silent as Rayla slowly but steadily gained confidence. Eventually, they took off to join the ring of other skaters moving in a steady circle around the main portion of the pond, Rayla now only clasping one of Callum’s hands.
She was beaming brighter than Ezran had ever seen and Callum couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“You know what, Bait?” Ezran said, finally speaking up. “I think I’ve teased them enough for one visit.”
Bait croaked in response, his eyes following the circle of people skating in front of them.
Ezran stood up when they skated back over and smiled widely when Rayla let go of Callum’s hand to skate the last stretch by herself. Ezran caught her by the hands as she reached the edge of the pond, still not entirely sure how to stop herself. But she looked beyond pleased.
“Thanks,” she said to him, her smile not leaving her face.
She turned when Callum easily came to a stop beside her and propelled herself forward once more to kiss him. Callum caught her and chuckled into the kiss as he squeezed her tight.
“Thank you,” she whispered when they separated, tucking her head into the crook of his neck.
“Anytime,” he said back, the familiar sight of his blush slowly returning to his cheeks.
“That was great, Rayla.” Ezran said honestly. “I’m sorry for making you guys fall. I didn’t realize how much this meant to you.”
Rayla gave him a playful punch to the arm as Callum helped her sit back down and begin to unlace her skates.
“It’s alright,” she said. “Just be prepared to get the same treatment when you bring someone home for the first time.”
“Sounds fair,” he replied, handing her one of her boots.