Chapter Text
He kept his vigil by the boulder every evening, but not for too long, coming inside before the cold sunk too deep into his skin, knowing in a painful sort of way that no one was coming, not for a long time yet but still he kept the routine. No matter the weather he would sit out, watching the sun come up over the peaks, quietly waiting for any sign of a messenger.
The moonlight would glisten on the snow and he’d watch the foxes hunt, watching their ears prick, their heads turn, and the way they paced right before leaping into the air, diving head first into the snow to seize some poor unsuspecting prey from under the cover of white.
They had to tunnel their way out of the lodge more than a few times, the snow piling up over the door with the blizzards that would lash against the windows for days at a time, Chayanne spending hours with his nose pressed to the window, not that there was much to see. Tallulah was more indifferent, having seen snow before but even she couldn’t help being swept up in Chayanne’s glee sometimes, watching the storm together.
The new year was spent trapped inside by the weather, sitting at a long table with all the guards and staff in one room, the decorations mostly pine and holly branches they’d dragged in from outside, without the fireworks and the balls and festivities he had become so used to. It felt strangely ordinary, like it had back when he was a child, sitting at the orphanage with all the other children.
Time passed both achingly slowly and much too fast in that little corner of nowhere. Before he knew it the storms were fewer and further between, the snow slowly beginning to recede a little and no longer be replenished.
Grass began to break through, a few of the deer returning to the forest after winter in the foothills, grazing at its fringes.
The river flushed with meltwater, breaking its banks. It became a great whitewater torrent, rushing down the valley, carrying anything with it unlucky enough to get in its path, including a small footbridge they’d been using to cross it.
The guards and various staff for their part were having a great time. It must have been a welcome break away from the city, away from the war, nothing to really worry about so far in the middle of nowhere.
More often than not he’d find Chayanne out with them, kicking a ball around, the boy over competitive as always, throwing himself into it with renewed energy and fight. He was already streaked with mud, some of the guards not much better, grinning from ear to ear
They’d probably have all kinds of stories when this was all over, about the royal family’s ward who ran around head to toe in dirt in the cold, staining all of his fancy clothes. Tommy envied them in a way, envied the way they could make the most of this, while as hard as he tried he couldn’t shake that strange feeling of dread hanging over him.
Small flower buds were breaking through the veil of frost, unfolding into a sea of colour, stark against the last of the ice.
It was beautiful, but also ironic in its own way. Tommy would sit up on his perch on the boulder overlooking the valley, thinking how strange it was that the world was still turning, life was returning despite everything.
Somewhere across the continent his father and brother were facing off in a battle for their lives and yet there he sat on the damp moss in the mountains, wondering whether or not to take Chayanne up to the peaks again, if they’d go walking through the forest today or if he’d weather through trying to teach the boy chess again or something.
He shuddered slightly. The last time had been a disaster, Techno was a far better teacher than he was and Tommy was very sure he’d been a much more patient student than Chayanne, though it was Tommy and he’d always turned somewhat of a blind eye to his own shortcomings.
Chayanne kept making up his own rules whenever it stopped going this way, ignoring Tommy’s careful instruction. In the end he’d flipped the chess board, sending the pieces flying everywhere, he’d spent a good amount of time trying to find a pawn that had rolled under a sofa. Kristin had decided to play with him instead which wasn’t any better as she turned out to be a mean hand at it.
Tommy didn’t like losing.
He took the children up hiking through the mountains now and then to break up the boredom, usually with a guard shadowing them in the distance at Kristin’s insistence, and even though Chayanne complained the whole way about his aching feet when they reached the summit he’d burst into the brightest of smiles. Tallulah would vanish for a moment, and then reappear with pockets full of flowers and pretty stones, ignoring all warnings that it would make the trek back harder.
For a little while as they gazed down onto the foothills and the sweeping plains beyond, for a little while it felt like they had the world at their feet.
“Can I eat this?” Chayanne popped up at his elbow, breaking his train of thought, tearing his gaze away from the mountainside they’d just ascended, holding an odd reddish mushroom. He lunged to take a bite of it before waiting for a reply.
“Spit that out.” Tommy slapped it out of his hand. “That could kill you.” Chayanne snatched his hand away defensively, glaring at him. “Chayanne.”
“What?” He asked innocently.
“What am I going to tell Techno, that his little brother died eating mysterious mushrooms on top of a mountain under my watch.” Tommy shot back. “He’ll kill me.”
Chayanne frowned at him. “But you’re not eating them. You’ll be fine.” Tommy stared at him blankly.
“What?”
“I mean you can if you want.” He held out another mushroom, Tommy moments from just screaming in frustration.
“Where did you get that from!” The younger boy motioned innocently to a small cluster of mushrooms peeking out of the rock. “Oh my god, give it here.” He slapped that away as well. “I meant you Chayanne, not me!”
“But I’m not his brother.” Tommy stared at him.
“Whatever. You’re close enough.” Chayanne blinked at him owlishly. “I mean…you’ve literally been living with us for like three months now Chayanne come on.” He said impatiently. “What did you think it meant.” There was no sign of realisation in the other boys eyes. “I-. Shit. I’m not good at these kinds of talks.” He sat himself down on the rock, rubbing his eyes.
“Shit.” Chayanne parroted back at him happily. Tommy jabbed him in the shoulder.
“Don’t even try, you can’t get me in trouble here, there’s no Kristin to hear.” He picked up a piece of shale, turning it over in his hands. “How do I say this? Puffy probably won’t be able to take you with her when she comes back.”
“She promised.” Chayanne said adamantly. “What do you mean?”
“She promised to come back, but she’s a busy woman and you’re better off here, right? And wouldn’t you be happy here, with us.” The last part was said with a slight plaintive note to his voice, something he hoped Chayanne didn’t pick up on. Chayanne looked thoughtful for a minute, before his gaze turned towards a ice blue lake of meltwater below them, like something out of a painting. “Absolutely not. We’re not going swimming.” Tommy struck that right down, knocking a small pebble out of his boot and tying it back on.
“Why not?”
“Just no. It’s something you don’t do in the mountains. It’ll kill you?” Chayanne frowned at him and Tommy just gave in with a heavy sigh. “It’s poisonous, okay?”
“Oh.” Chayanne turned away, disinterested, before pausing a little way down the path, turning back. “Why?”
“Can’t tell you.” Tommy lied, “It just is. Also Mum says it’s not allowed and if Mum said it’s not allowed then I’m afraid I simply can’t.” This, he finally accepted, trotting on a little.
“So, can I eat the mushrooms then?” If looks could kill then the boy would have been shattered into a thousand pieces by the strength of the glare that Tommy levelled his way.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Mum said you can’t eat those either.”
“She’s not here!” He challenged, turning on Tommy. Tommy frowned.
“Where’s your scarf-. Oh never mind, fine. Swimming the lakes are freezing cold, it’s spring, happy now?” This didn’t seem to work either. Tommy rubbed his eyes slowly, checking if he had any snacks left in his bag to eat but Chayanne had already eaten them all on the way up. “It’s dangerously cold Chay. They’re fed by glacier water, even in the height of summer we don’t swim in the lakes, it’s not safe.”
“Why?”
“I just…” He trailed off, seeing a mischievous grin on the younger boys face. “You’re doing this on purpose. Did Techno tell you to do this?”
Chayanne took off at a run, Tommy in hot pursuit, the rocks scattering under his feet as they went, sending him skidding down in probably the most dangerous way to descend the mountain but he didn’t care. Tallulah followed slowly at a more sedate pace, turning over a sparkling stone in her hand.
Chayanne was ahead of him, laughing, his feet crunching on the gravel, running over the streams running down from the glacier at the head of the valley they were in, jumping over them.
The glacier towered over them, a wall of glistening blue ice and snow. Chayanne had scooped a piece of ice out the water when Tommy wasn’t looking, crunching it happily and by the time the older boy saw he just left him to it rather than have another fight, he was clearly just trying to antagonise and Tommy knew perfectly well he enjoyed taking the bait a little too much.
Sometimes, he reminded Tommy a little bit too much of himself, and he wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.
“Tommy, Tommy! Watch me.” Tommy turned to watch as Chayanne took a run up, trying to leap over onto a boulder in the middle of the main river rushing from the glacier, a deep and fast running channel, the water milky white with minerals and dust from the wall of ice it came from.
He saw disaster coming before it happened, the pool was too wide, the boys run up clumsy. He stumbled, his slightly too large boots catching on a rock, sending him flying face first into the water.
“Chayanne!” Tommy reacted in an instant, sprinting towards him. The gravel sunk beneath his feet, slowing him down but he didn’t stop, thinking fast on his feet, running to a rock that jutted out into the river a little, into the rapids.
“Tommy!” Chayanne’s warm clothes were dragging him down, he was desperately trying to stay afloat but it was deathly cold and the water was running faster than a seven year old could even dream of fighting against.
Tommy threw himself down, leaning over as far as he dared, stretching out into the rapids. Chayanne came closer and closer, spinning wildly, desperately trying to keep his head above the water, splashing and yelling.
“Over here!” Tommy waved at him desperately. “Grab my hand!” Chayanne made a garbled noise, his head already sinking under the water.
The current dragged him closer and Tommy gritted his teeth, leaning out as far as he could without tumbling in himself. Their fingers brushed together, so close but so far. He threw himself forward in one last desperate effort, barely daring to look.
Then the boys fingers closed around his, Tommy snapping his hand shut around his wrist. He hauled back with all his strength, heaving him up and out of the water with a force he didn’t even know he had in him. The boy flopped onto the side, water splattering across the stones, gasping for air.
“Oh you’re an idiot.” Tommy’s voice broke, in relief rather than in anger. “That’s why you don’t run away from me.” Chayanne’s lip trembled, though he was clearly trying to stay strong, his hands shaking. “I know, I know, you just scared me alright. Get your coat off, it’ll only make you colder.” He practically dragged it off the boy, shaking it out, sitting him up. Tallulah finally caught up to them, eyes wide and frantic, searching him over for any sign of injury.
He seemed remarkably unshaken now he was out, shaking his head, droplets flying from his hair, though still shivering. Tommy squeezed as much water as possible out of his coat before hanging it over his arm.
“Come on then. We need to go.”
“I’m cold.” He complained. “I’m so cold.”
“I know, we just need to keep moving, keep you warm, we need to get inside now.” He told him, “We’ll be back home soon, but the longer we stay out the worse it’ll get.” He took off his coat, wrapping it around the younger boy, rushing him over the safe path over the river, back towards the lodge as quickly as he could.
Kristin was at the door in an instant when she heard Tommy’s yell for help, taking over from Tommy, wrapping Chayanne in blankets and sending him to bed with a stern telling off for running away, but just like Tommy she seemed more afraid than truly angry. Tallulah clung to her mothers skirts, watching Chayanne anxiously, as if he’d simply melt away if she let him out of her sight again.
Later that evening, once he’d gathered his thoughts, sat on his boulder at the end of the valley he would wonder if Phil had been right to order them out of the city, away from the danger and the pressure, to give them a chance to carry on living despite everything, to make one of his biggest problems that he couldn’t teach his little brother a board game, or that he wouldn’t stop eating mushrooms, and not being on the watch for assassins.
Not that they really needed assassins, Chayanne seemed determined to do the job himself, either by throwing himself down steep mountains or by making Tommy run after him. Again, Tommy blindly chose to ignore how he’d made life just as had for his brother growing up.
Maybe Tommy was close to going mad if he had to survive one more day in that lodge in the middle of nowhere.
No escape to the city when he needed to breathe, no Eret, no Niki, no Jack. His only glimpse of the outside world was the letters that Techno sent but even they were becoming fewer and further between, until one day they stopped entirely.
He held Techno’s last letter in his hand, opening it and folding it over and over, the parchment well worn.
We crossed the Esempi border a few weeks ago, going has been good. They weren’t expecting such a hard pushback, we’ve been practically unobstructed. What resistance there has been we’ve quickly crushed, and spared as many as we could. Dad’s made it clear we’re after the king, not after the civilians and for the most part they’ve left us alone.
I’m worried though. It feels too easy, and that makes me nervous. I’m sure it’ll be fine, but there’s still that little bit of doubt. Niki has been a rock, it’s good to know someone has your back on the battlefield and I know she always has mine. Don’t worry about either of us, we’ll be alright.
I’ll send another letter when we reach the capital, it’ll likely come to a siege which is the last thing we want but we may have no choice. If that happens I have no idea when I’ll be home, or how long it will draw out, because I know their god emperor isn’t giving in without a fight.
He’s calling himself an emperor now. A little ironic I think, given that his empire now has an army in his lands trying to overthrow him, he’ll be one of the shortest lived emperors in existence if I have anything to do with it.
Still no sign of Orcus or their reinforcements, and no word from Puffy either. I fear we may have made a mistake sending her, but like dad said, there was no other choice. I only hope they reach us soon, we’re approaching the coastline where the forces travelling by sea will meet us.
If their ships don’t reach us in time, our ships will come under heavy fire and we’ll be in serious trouble.
Forgive me, I’m rambling again about stressful military stuff which you’re probably not interested in. I can almost hear you frowning at me through the pages, asking me what the hell I’m on about or something. It’s awful, even hundreds of miles away I can still hear you whining in my ear.
Tommy glared at the page without any real venom, he’d read it so many times. It was almost eerie, seeing the switch between the way Techno spoke when he was talking about war stuff to switching back to the brother he knew.
I hope you’re well, and I hope th e children are making life hell for you . Tell them their big brother says hello.
That was a month ago. Nothing more had come since then.
Tommy kept it together well he thought. He went about his day almost robotically, craning his neck out the window at every opportunity for any sign of a rider or messenger of some kind but there was nothing.
Each time a delivery of food or supplies came he’d be the first to know, running down the valley back to the lodge to watch it be bought in. The guards didn’t even ask him what he was looking for anymore, just shaking their heads with silent pity.
Kristin could tell something was off, he knew she could. She’d started following him around, trying to fuss over him or give him blankets or tidy his books, keeping a close eye for any slip in the mask he’d put up.
“Tommy?”
“What?” He slammed the book shut irritably.
“What’s the matter?” She set down her embroidery, her brow furrowed in concern. “You’re not yourself.”
“Nothing.” He muttered.
“No news is good news.” She tried to reassure him, clearly knowing perfectly well what the source of his distress was, what it had been for weeks.
“No news is awful!”
“Well.” She changed tactics. “You know what, we were going to go have a picnic today.” She said quietly. “Chayanne wants to get out, and I think it’s warm enough. I haven’t been out as much as I’d like.”
“You mean not quite freezing.” He said skeptically. “Sure but only if you wrap Chayanne up in like a million coats, I’m not having him complaining all the way home again.”
The queen sighed patiently. “He had a stone in his shoe and you wouldn’t let him stop to take it out.”
“I did! Like five times, he just didn’t do anything and tried shoving a weird mushroom in his mouth.” Tommy protested. “I told you.”
She paused, and then shoved aside the piles of thread around her into a messy heap. “Nevermind, I don’t have the patience to tidy this. Come on, up you get.”
He didn’t have a choice, she ripped the blanket right off him, dragging him up by his sleeve. He didn’t even have the energy to protest really, letting himself be dragged down to the kitchen, Kristin talking the cook out of whatever he had to spare.
Chayanne was out by the stables, sat on a haybale keeping watch over one of the horses, clearly waiting for them. He must have dressed himself, his coat buttons done up all wrong, his laces but he’d tried his best, Kristin fussing over him to fix it.
The sun was half hidden by the mountain peak, casting long shadows across the valley. In high summer it would rise right over but for now it was still held down by winter's cold grip, the nights still long and the sun still hovering close to the horizon.
They saddled up a horse for Kristin and Tommy, and a little old pony for Chayanne, not that he really knew how to ride, he just sat there while either Kristin or Tommy led him.
Kristin looked a little out of sorts, one arm wrapped around Tallulah who was sat at the front of her saddle, the other holding a basket and the rope holding Chayanne’s pony. Tommy trotted alongside her, holding his arms out.
“I’ll take him for a bit.”
He took off at a trot, a mischievous light sparking in his eyes, making a beeline for the stream that ran through the valley’s centre, trotting through it, dragging Chayanne behind. Chayanne squealed in protest, shrieking so loud any passing onlooker would have thought he too was being pulled through the water himself.
But he came out the other side perfectly dry, not that he let up on his theatrics, throwing himself off the pony with such force Tommy spun his horse around to go see if he was alright, only to find him sat in the grass staring at an interesting beetle.
“Stop tormenting him.” Kristin caught up with them, shaking her head.
“He’s the one who threw himself on the floor!”
“He does that.” She agreed. “You get used to it.”
They settled down beside a hollow tree stump, Tommy leaning against it like a seat, Kristin spreading out a blanket for them to sit on off the damp grass. They settled down, Chayanne still intrigued by his beetle, Tallulah starting to dutifully bring him some more to her mothers great dismay.
She began to lay out the food from the basket, all kinds of sandwiches and cold meats and tiny little pies, clearly prepared ahead by the kitchen. Homely, filling fare, good for the cool chill of the spring day.
About an hour passed in comfortable silence, broken by the occasional chatter. Most of the food had been eaten, Chayanne still nibbling away at some pieces of apple. Tommy was dozing, eyes closed leant against the tree stump when something echoed in the distance. He opened his eyes slowly, not too worried, trying to work out the source of the noise.
There was a chance of avalanches even this far into the spring, the caps on the mountain peaks weakened by the meltwater and warming sunshine. None were close enough to come careening into their little valley but it still had him a little on edge.
Even the slightest sound could set them off at their peak, and whatever noise that had been was loud enough to echo all the way down, but not quite loud enough for him to work out what it was.
He thought nothing of it, settling back down.
It sounded again, clearer this time. Coming closer, a horn of some kind, a hunting horn or something else. Something more sinister.
“Did you hear that?” Kristin shook her head.
“What?”
“Someone’s coming. I heard a horn.” The picnic fell deathly silent.
“There’s no one else out here.” Kristin said softly. “No nobles or anything nearby who might be out hunting, right?”
“Nope.” Tommy shook his head. “Not unless they want to get arrested for breaching the king's hunting grounds. I’ve never seen a soul.”
“Maybe they got arrogant, he’s been gone for a while.” She reasoned. “Maybe…” She trailed off, sounding more like she was trying to convince herself than really believing it. They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before she leaned forward, grabbing the blanket with a sudden urgency. “Hide.”
He scrambled to his feet, eyeing the lodge at the other end of the valley. “Chayanne ride back to the lodge, get inside.”
“No time.” Kristin began to stuff things into the basket without care, trying to get any evidence of them out of sight, looking over her shoulder anxiously. “And it’ll be the first place they look.” Chayanne looked up half way through a pie, confused. “It’s alright, we just have to hide, just in case. Like we practiced, alright?” Chayanne tried to help packing the basket, a little clumsily but Kristin wasn’t taking much care anyway.
Tommy helped her fold up the blanket quickly, pushing it in on top, glancing over his shoulder, trying to work out where the sound had come from.
The horns sounded again, even closer still, echoing up from the west. From the plains, . Kristin grabbed the last of the picnic things, stuffing them in the hollow stump, grabbing Chayanne and ducking behind a tree, throwing her cloak over him to hide him.
“How would they know we’re here?”
“Everyone in the area knows we’re here, the castle staff know we left.” Kristin whispered. “It’s an open secret. You have your dagger?” Tommy nodded, patting it in his belt.
“Never go anywhere without it.” His heart was pounding, his throat seeming to close up, the adrenaline all hitting him in an instant.
The silence dragged on, broken now and then by another horn call, closer and closer.
Tommy risked a peek around the tree right as a lone black stallion galloped up onto the hill in the middle distance, slowing to a halt. The figure on its back was too far away to make out well but seemed to be surveying the valley, looking for something. His heart rate redoubled.
Then another joined him, a standard bearer carrying a blue flag that snapped out in the wind.
“Hold on.” Tommy sat up. “They’re flying blue banners. They might be ours.” He leapt to his feet, trying to get a better look as the stallion descended the hill, beginning to canter along the valley.
“Stay down, it could be a trap.” Kristin ordered.
Tommy craned his neck, trying to see above the grass. The figure looked familiar somehow, as far away as it was. The horse galloped closer, racing over the sea of flowers, the rider coming closer and closer.
“That’s Techno!” Maybe it was delusional, maybe Tommy didn’t care anymore. “Techno!”
“You can’t be sure.” Kristin grabbed his wrist. “Tommy.” He tore his arm away, jumping to his feet.
“I know my brother when I see him, that’s Techno!”
“Tommy please!”
“Techno!” He was up on his feet and running before she could stop him, bursting from the trees, out into the open grass. “Technooooo!” His cry echoed across the valley and the lone rider turned to look.
Then the horse changed course, barrelling straight towards him. Tommy ran faster, feet pounding against the earth, the rider showing no signs of stopping.
“Techno!” Tthe hoofbeats shook the ground, echoing down the valley as he approached, the sound ringing out for miles.
The horns sounded again but Tommy didn’t care, the grass lashing at his feet as he ran, leaping over a fallen tree. The rider ripped off his helmet, tossing it aside, revealing a familiar now slightly faded pink braid.
Techno didn’t even wait for his horse to stop, leaping off and rolling to his feet, running towards his brother in full armour, metal clashing.
“Techno!” They crashed into each other, clean knocking the wind out of Tommy’s lungs but he didn’t care, wrapping his arms around his older brother. “Oh my god Techno.”
“Hey.” It was all the elder could manage, breathless and grinning.
“You’re okay, you’re safe,” he whispered. “Oh my god.”
“Yes yes, of course I am.”
They stayed like that for a few moments, before Tommy staggered away, pressing a hand to his ribs. “I think you broke something.”
“Proves I’m alive,” his brother said nonchalantly
“You smell terrible.” He complained, wrinkling his nose. Techno shrugged awkwardly.
“We rode all night to get here.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” Tommy nearly collapsed with relief, the panic of the last few minutes draining from him and taking all his strength with it. “You scared us so badly. We thought they’d found us.”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t warn you.”
“I thought something terrible had happened, your letters stopped, I thought…” He trailed off, unable to finish.
Techno reached inside his jacket, holding out a crumpled and folded letter. “Here. I never got to deliver it, so I told dad we were riding ahead so I could deliver it by hand,” Tommy was about to tease him, before a sudden thought cut him short.
“Where’s dad?” Irrational dread filled his stomach, but Techno cut him off before he could spiral any further.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, he’s following. We’re alright. We’re all alright.” The words seemed as if from far away, barely registering to him. He would believe it when he saw it.
The second horse rode in behind him at a more leisurely pace, carrying a grinning Niki, Antarctic banner in hand. She swung herself off her mare with a little more grace, stabbing the pole in the earth, running over to embrace him. She picked him clean up, swinging him around.
“There you are!”
“Let me go!” Her was like a bell, ringing clear and sweet above the meadows. She set him down, reaching and punching Techno’s shoulder. “What did I tell you about running off?” She chided him.
There was a loud squeal from behind him before he could reply. “Technoooo!” Chayanne came racing through the grass, throwing himself at the armoured prince with just as little regard for himself.
Techno staggered back a few steps, picking him up and holding him up in the air. “Look at you! You’ve grown.”
Kristin ran after them, hindered by her dress, but determined as more horses appeared over the ridge, one notably far ahead, the king’s standard bearers rushing to keep up, followed by a small party of knights and men-at-arms. She grabbed the crown prince, dragging him into a crushing hug.
“Please, my ribs.” Techno protested weakly. “They’ve survived several battlefields, please don’t break them now.”
“Yeah, that’s what you get!” Tommy said triumphantly, but his gaze was already turned away to the approaching band, led by the none other than his father.
Phil looked weary, a bandage wrapped around his hand, held gingerly on his reins as he rode in. He slid off his horse, Niki catching him, steadying him a little, helping him limp over to Kristin. Her eyes widened a little, hurrying forward.
“You’re hurt.”
“Nothing that time won’t fix.” He brushed it aside, taking her hands, giving her a kiss. “I missed you. All of you.”
“So. It’s done?” She asked breathlessly.
“It’s done.” Phil agreed, a little formally. “The emperor is dead, between our forces, Orcus and others, his army is shattered.”
“They came?”
“Of course they did,” he said softly. “They’d follow you to the ends of the earth. Just as I would.”
“It’s really over?”
“We might have to head out again but for now yes, the war is over,” The king told her. “There will of course be pockets of resistance, and likely we’ll be dealing with the repercussions for years to come but it is what it is.”
“It certainly sent a very strong message to anyone thinking of going after our wealth for a while.” Techno said happily. “Especially with all our border nations who were eying the silver mines for a bit, they thought we’d be weakened by the war and they could swoop in.”
“Vultures the lot of them.” Kristin agreed. Tommy almost collapsed to his knees with relief, wiping his eyes.
“We barely met any resistance in Esempi.” Phil said grimly. “The emperor was trying to destroy villages in our path to slow us down, except not only did it do our work for us, it made the civilians angry.”
“They were totally unprepared for a long conflict, their troops untrained for the winter. We barely had to call on ally aid.” Techno agreed. “And he made his own citizens mad at him. He was doomed from the start.”
“We’ve already let the castle know that Eret can return home at last.” Phil continued. “The news will probably have reached them by now, and after Esempi’s nobles have recollected themselves they’ll return for their coronation. Sam will be going with them.”
“Wait what?” Tommy’s head snapped up. “Sam’s going with her?”
“I’ll find a new steward, but the young monarch needs him a lot more than I do. It was inevitable really, the terms of his service were the continued safety and protection of the princes and that’s no longer necessary.”
Sam had always been in the castle, he was almost a part of the castle in a way, an immutable constant throughout Tommy’s life. He was rarely seen but always felt, in every banquet and ball and even just the tiny little cogs of the day to day work of the castle would never have run without him as smoothly as they did.
The king and royal family may have been the castle's heart but Sam was what made it beat, kept the lifeblood moving. The idea of him not being there was still incomprehensible.
“Dad!” Chayanne poked his head out from behind Techno, overcoming his nerves. “You’re back.”
Tommy couldn’t quite describe the myriad of emotions that flickered across Phil’s expression, a hundred of them all at once. He said nothing, kneeling in the grass and holding his arms out to the younger boy. Chayanne sunk into him without hesitation, burying his head in Phil’s shoulder.
The king looked a little misty-eyed, smiling over Chayanne’s shoulder. Tommy felt the stress of months wash away, tears running down his cheeks. His family were all home and safe, and well it seemed, if a little weary from the travelling.
“You’ll have to tell me everything.” He grabbed Techno’s wrist. “Everything, you hear me?”
“I don’t think you’ll want to know most of it,” Techno admitted. “It wasn’t pretty.”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Techno assured him. “Better now I’m home.”
The reunions took a while, full of tears and explanations and rambling stories about Chayanne’s various escapades while they’d been gone. It was a blur of emotions, he didn’t quite take in that it was really happening, that they’d come back safe.
When he finally got away Tommy lay down in his room, unfolding the letter that Techno had given him with shaking hands, his brother sat in his armchair, neither of them would ever really admit it but they weren’t particularly keen to leave the other any time soon, hovering in the same rooms.
Tommy
The emperor is dead.
We won.
Techno (the prince)
Tommy stared at it, turning it over, looking for more. “You travelled halfway across a continent to give me this?”
Techno shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, I suppose I can fill in the rest can’t I. It wasn’t like I’d be able to send a letter and…”
He wasn’t able to finish, Tommy shooting up from his bed and smacking him across the face with a pillow. “You bastard! You..!”
Techno burst into a deep, belly laugh, absolutely no remorse for his actions. Tommy redoubled his attack, his brother scrambling to respond in kind, tearing the duvet off his bed.
Kristin walked by a little later, drawn by the shouting and arguing. The pillow had ripped, feathers flying everywhere, Tommy and Techno buried somewhere beneath the mess, wrestling on the floor.
Chayanne barged past, throwing himself on top with a wicked shriek of glee, his sister in close pursuit, the fighting redoubling. Phil joined her, shaking his head quietly, watching as the three of them tumbled around on the floor like no time had passed at all.
“I think they’ll be alright. We can leave them to it.” Neither of them left though, watching with fond smiles as they rolled around in wreaths of laughter, the children teaming up with Tommy to batter Techno and Tallulah into submission, Techno simply letting them.