Hope Falls

“You do not have to end your night early to come see me, Magnus. Go back out there with Kael, I’ll be okay.” Thea assured as she filled up her glass, tucking her legs up under herself.

---

“Avani despised you to the point of injury. And yet she was there with Indira and yourself when your first children were born. Would you have asked Indira to not have Avani there?” Daphne asked, her tone was light despite the question, though her point was clear. “If you and my sisters cannot get along for enough time to deliver a baby then all three of you will be outside and Karina will have my hand. I am not asking for you all to hold hands and pray, nor am I asking for all of us to go for a picnic together and embrace endlessly. I will tell my sisters the same thing when I next have them together. This tension is to be nowhere near the room once my labour begins. You feeling vulnerable… Kael I will be incapacitated. I will be in pain. And your ancestors may have assured you I wouldn’t die during this but injury is still possible, infection, blood loss, weakness. No matter what happens you can walk in and out of that room unassisted and feeling no worse for wear than the way you came in, my sisters too. Any of you feeling a little awkward will be nothing compared to what I’m doing. I thought you would’ve understood that.”

---

“I am proving nothing to nobody. I want to slow dance with my wife after over five years of being in a wheelchair.” Lucian insisted, wrapping his arm around her waist.

---

“I do not think I have ever done so, now you mention it. I am clearly not impressed enough am I?”

---

“I will let you have at least one turn around the dance floor before you go to bed.”

"You believe I am the problem." Kael laughed humourlessly, wounded as he edged away from her. "Someone to 'advocate' for you? Like - Like I don't consider your wants, like I am some controlling tyrant? Daphne, what the fuck? Don't you dare patronise me either, I am perfectly aware of the risks you face!"

---

"Kael has conversations he has to have with his wife, about the impending birth of his child. The Drivas sisters have caused quite a storm for them." Magnus grimaced, taking his shoes off so he could kick his feet up onto the arm of the chair and lay back. Head rested on Thea's lap to gaze up at her.

---

Karina swallowed as her throat tightened, hand trembling as it rested against his shoulder. "Luc."

---

"There must have been something in your life that has impressed you." Rohan raised an eyebrow at her as he took up position. Resting a hand against her waist.

---

"Promise?" Sullivan whispered, reaching his little finger out towards his father. "Proper promise?"

“You haven’t tried with my sisters since you deemed them liars, Kael. Yes they have been rude and I am trying to correct their behaviour but you made your mind up about them and have not shifted. I feel pulled by all of you and I am only one person. You dislike them, they dislike you. You tell me how they think is wrong, they tell me how you think is wrong. I love all of you, I am frustrated by all of you. None of you have made this easy for me. I feel like every choice I make, each word I speak hurts one of you. You do not have the same patience for them as you did for me when I came here. You told me to be considerate with them when I told you I was upset but as soon as it was you they upset all understanding went out of the window.” Daphne swallowed, flinching when he swore at her. “I will do this alone, with Aoife.” She moved to stand, gingerly placing her feet on the floor. “If me having Karina offends you so I won’t, I will respect that, but I will not be pulled apart before or after I deliver. I would rather do this alone from this point onward than have to carefully consider each breath I take around any of you for fear of upset or insult. I am sorry I displease you.”

---

“I promise, Sullivan.”

---

“I can do this, I assure you.” Lucian kissed the top of her head before squeezing her hand gently and bringing her close, moving slowly with her to the music.

---

“What is the kind of answer you expect to come from me? What is it you think I should have been so amazed by?”

---

“They are children… Their bodies may be those of adults but those girls are sheltered children. Crass but they do not mean to be. Curious and mean in a way that children are - without malice but they have not been socialised well enough to tell what they are saying is inappropriate.” Thea remarked as she quickly finished her glass once more. “I pity them. Life will be very hard for them until they are shown better graces. They seek men that will see their cadence similar to the little sisters they already have.”

"You can't deny me from being there when my child is born." Kael's shoulders tensed, hand moving before he could even stop it to dig fingernails into his arm. Panic etching his voice, "No. No."

---

"Okay," Sullivan nodded, dropping his hand, satisfied.

---

Karina let out a trembling breath, leaning her head in to rest it ever so gently against his shoulder. Hiding her face from him, and the crowd as tears of joy threatened to fall.

---

"Anything, anything at all. It needn't be big. I.. We have sand storms, they last days and they... dessicated everything. We must all stay inside, lock windows until it has passed. I enjoy the first paw print in the sand afterwards, the first sign of a hoof on a desert."

---

"I have not seen Kael so jarred by people as he is with them." Magnus lifted his hands up to touch Thea's chin affectionately.

“If he is jarred by petty childish girls can he run a country? Nothing jarred his mother, nothing…” Thea murmured, staring at the fire.

---

“You are right. You are King… If it was something you truly wished you could exert your title and have my wants overruled. But if you and my sisters cannot find a way to get along before the child comes then I will state very clearly that I would rather do this alone than be in the middle of a tug-of-war and bathing in tension whilst pushing a child out of me. I’ll do as the cats do and find a quiet corner in storage if I have to - to get away from the hatred. None of that is what I want. What I want is you by my side and my sisters by the other… but I cannot choose between you. All or nothing. And I will be telling my sisters the same.”

---

“Your sister, curing the poison from the East. I was impressed by such. It was unexpected.”

---

“I am sorry it took so long for us to have this danced Kari. I shall not make you wait so long for the next one.”

"No! No. You just came to me and accused me of not hearing your voice, needing someone to advocate for y-" His voice broke in his panic, flinching at his own nails. "I have been so fucking open about them being there! I have not once spoken to you about not wanting them there, so whatever you believe is going to happen comes from then an- " He raised his hands in surrender, mumbling, "I - I can't... it's- t- too - too mu-" as he rose to his feet and went to leave.

---

"Petty childish girls who are turning the woman he loves against him. Siblings of a woman he is wedded to, once again, planting seeds to tear them apart. He is not Isolde, T."

---

"Sshh, don't you apologise." Karina whispered, voice giving away her tears. "You didn't do a thing wrong. I - I was never even waiting, silly."

---

"Mm, I did hear about that. She has brains that she uses, occasionally. When she isn't so love struck by the guards in this place."

“Your words and your demeanour are two different things. They upset your precious Wyatt and you have been frosty ever since. But it is decided. No Karina, no sisters, nobody. I will do this alone. I have seen the process enough times to know exactly what I am doing. And since you keep insisting on cursing at me I’ll remain alone until it is time too.” Daphne swallowed thickly, “I love you… but you’ve made clear where your priorities are. You managed to put aside your arguments with Avani to hold Indira’s hand. But me? When I ask I become a blame for your meltdown again. This will turn into horrible Daphne kicking you down because she wanted peace during birth. I am fucking horrible aren’t I?” She choked on the words, holding in a sob before turning to the guards around her. “I will be returning to my own chambers and I will be accepting no visitors, no companions, do not even ask me to let them through unless it is Healer Aoife. As your Queen this is what I command.” She ordered shakily before leaving their seating area and then the hall all together.

---

“He is her son…” Thea murmured, barely blinking. “This place still smells the same…” she whispered absently, voice dry despite the bottle of wine she had now consumed.

---

“One cannot help a mating bond, she had no choice in the matter.”

---

“Well I was, to do this with you again.”

Magnus pushed himself up to sit properly then, switching their positions as he coaxed her onto his lap. "Kael wishes to discuss military plans, his ancestors warned him of Sarika's arrival and he wants to prepare. I've told him I'll be returning home as soon as that is done, you are welcome to leave earlier. You've done well, shown your face. Shown her."

---

"Quiet, q- quiet, be quiet." Kael almost gasped the words, taking half a step forward until Daphne left herself. Almost whimpering as he looked out at the crowd, scratching, digging into his own skin to try and ground himself.

---

"It is amusing to watch. She is.. Rahul is heartbroken by it though. He felt abandoned by her before, and just as he was starting to warm again the reason she rushed them here was made clear to him. He is a good boy, and the two of them were each other's lights. He just needs his mother. I am.. disappointed in her."

---

"You've been so brave." Karina half laugh, half sobbed as she finally lifted her head to meet his gaze. Cheeks glimmering with her tears.

”Your sister has suffered, I can tell despite her lack of words to me on the matter. She just wants to be happy with the man whose movements do not have her cringing so hard it pulls a muscle, Rohan. You are a good man, but you are a man of war, you know the power even your fingertips contain. Have you ever considered that men with your strength will pull back that hand and destroy with it rather than nurture? That your sister faced that? That she was drowning for so long without help that when she finds a rock to cling to she is hesitant to wade back into the waters?”

---

“I have shown her nothing. I have shown nobody nothing.” Thea shook her head. “She got away with it, she will forever remain unpunished for what she did to me. Because to punish her would be war. To punish her would be to sacrifice thousands of lives. She gets to live, she gets to feel clean… She did not have to change her entire wardrobe, so that there was no longer flesh on display. She did not have to stop wearing necklaces, so there was nothing to choke her with. She does not have to get her husband to check the doors are locked every single night. I have shown her nothing. She does not care enough to be shown.”

---

“And I could not have been without you, my love. I am here because you nurtured me back to health. I would not be here without you.”

---

“Kael, Kael!” Indira frowned as she approached, having been moving through the crowd when she noticed his distress. Gently looping her arm through his and turning him back toward the wall so his face wouldn’t be visible to others, gently taking the hand he was using to scratch in her own. “Fresh air, Your Majesty?” She asked quietly.

Kael's fingers continued to dig, nails instead finding their way into Indira's skin. Chest moving rapidly with shallow intakes of breath, eyes that of an animal caught in a trap. Only managing the smallest nod of agreement to the question.

---

"You give me too much credit, and yourself not enough." Karina's rested a palm against his cheek. "You've always been so much stronger than you have truly believed. Your face to the world has never been the face you have seen in the mirror."

---

"Lean against me?" Magnus requested quietly, "I would like to pull the blanket down from the back of the seat behind us and wrap us together in it. I want us to melt into one another, and the rest of this room to melt away."

---

"I don't know... I don't know all the details of what Rajiv done to her. It was Arzen who she confided in with things like that, and then Kiaan but I don't believe it was the same level." Rohan frowned. "A mother is important though, when their father has been cruel. She left, and he began with them. Rahul is so sure he deserved everything that man done to him, and he takes all the guilt for what was done to his siblings too. He was too scared to even come to us."

“It’s okay, it’ll be okay.” Indira assured, leaning her head against his shoulder as she guided him through the hall and out of the doors into the garden. “Leave us, please.” She commanded the guards that followed them, “The King and I have a private matter to discuss. I need no ears around us until he commands otherwise.” She added, watching as the Guards stood before continuing further into the garden with Kael. “Okay… okay. Nobody is around now.” She whispered after a few moments, stopping with him. “Scream, if it is needed, nobody will hear. Scream.”

---

“Allow me to compliment you for once Karina. Allow me to appreciate what you have done for me.”

---

“Your sister was only just older than her son is now when she was sold off like a prize mare. She will never be perfect at being a mother - she was barely allowed to be a child Rohan. I understand you love your nephews deeply and it pains you to see them suffer - but it is not just them that suffer. Your family is fractured and needs healing, I do not doubt that. But I think your sister needs a little more compassion than you or your brothers give her after all her suffering…”

---

Thea swallowed, doing as he asked and closing her eyes. “I am sorry, you are leaving early when you wish to stay.”

Kael almost stumbled over his own feet once they were alone, reaching his hand out to grip onto one of the ornamental statues and steady himself enough to semi-gracefully lower to the ground and pull his knees up to his chest with a broken, guttural, sob.

---

"I don't want to do that if it means speaking of a world in which you aren't here, in which you had done something to yourself." Karina whispered. "I know you wanted to, more often then not. I just don't want to think about how close it was becoming, it is too much for me. This is happy, today is happy, mm?"

---

"All of us fight similar demons, under different names and at different times." Rohan whispered. "We are supposed to break the cycle though. Idris being here is a joy, Ishaan's son will have such a different life too. Avani's boys though, they need healing now - nurturing now. Avani should be focusing on them before she begins to address herself. They need her. She needs to be there. It is not their responsibility to sacrifice so she can heal first."

---

"Wish to stay? Mm, no." He whispered, pulling the warmth of the blanket around the two of them tightly. Resting his head against hers, "Not this time. It feels less exciting this time, the atmosphere heavier and the conversation more serious. I would just like to be with you."

“Your sister cannot be what they need without healing somewhat first. It is a… vicious cycle, mm? Your sister isn’t what they need right now because she has been so broken down by their father. She needs time to get to that point. It’s all… everyone all round needs some empathy for the others.”

---

“Oh Kael…” Indira whispered sadly, moving to sit on her knees in front of him. “What had happened? Have you - has there been bad news?”

---

“He is your friend, you enjoy time with him. You do not have to lie to me about that… It would probably have been a better choice for me to not come, mm?”

---

“And I am very happy with you.”

"Sh- She does- doesn't want me there. She thinks I do- don't lis- listen to what she wa- wants. To the poi- point she wants Kar- Karina in the room when the ba- aby comes to be h- her voice." He struggled to speak through his cries. "It wa- as their words out of her mo- outh a- and then when I told her I wanted to be t- there because I was sc- scared she ma- ade out like I di- didn't understand an- anything. Sh- she got an- angry because Ava- Avani was there for y- you and Idris a- and B- B- B-" Hands lifted to tug at his hair, unable to say the name.

---

..
"It is hard for a teenage boy to have empathy, especially in a place so far away from home, when he has an entire legacy resting on his shoulder. I am doing my best to navigate it, to help them both be kinder to each other. Being peacekeeper is hard, it isn't a thing I am used to being."

---

"I am not lying to you, the things he was saying today have been deranged. Then Lucian accused me of underestimating Dagmar. I was happy to get away from them."

---

"I am glad to hear it, even though I know. I am glad."

Indira moved to sit next to him and pulled Kael into her arms, enveloping him tightly. “Those bitches from Caleer have truly worked their way into her mind haven’t they? I am so sorry she would ever think you do not want the best for her and your child… Of course you care what she thinks, mm?”

---

“I think you are doing an incredibly good job… and I think you being here for your sisters, your nephews, is commendable. I know you jest often about being a nanny, but I think what you’re doing is very kind - to be so oriented around them. One would think you have children of your own with how well you handle them.” Lily complimented, patting his arm gently.

---

“Thank you, for your patience, when I know at times it cannot have been easy.”

---

“Ah, rule number one of being in Magnus’ presence is to not offend the Valkyrie, of course.” Thea teased lightly, laughing a little. “He should know better than to speak ill of her in your presence, silly man.”

"You, and the Valkyrie I will never allow to be spoken ill of. I would be inconsolable if I ever lost you both, I wouldn't come back from it." Magnus brushed his fingertips against the length of her arm. "You are safe here, in this moment. None of these people are going to touch you, look or breath at you in the wrong way."

---

"It isn't anything I have held against you, not for a moment. It has been lonely, mm, sometimes. I have needed Dagmar, her not being here has been more of a gaping hole then I thought it would be. The children too, leaving... spreading their wings. I am struggling with it."

---

"No secret children," Rohan shook his head, spinning her with the music and gently bringing her back against his chest. Ducking his head to whisper in her ear, "If you tell a soul that I long for them one day though, as I am sure you have gathered, I will be very unhappy with you. I'll act out some kind of revenge, I swear it, you'll regret it."

---

"I - I have tried t- to step aside so - so much, took so many breathes and not reacted to so many blows." He sunk into her, closing his eyes to try and focus on his breathing. "It still isn- isn't enough. She has mad- made me love her, and n- now I am being painted as a ty- tyrant and is it some plot? Is it so- some scheme to ta- take us all down. Now she ha- as banned me from the room ent- entirely and banned me from see- seeing her too. Th- thats it.. tha- at's it."

“I know with you I am safe… I know… But I will never truly feel safe indefinitely until Isolde is dead… I will not lie and say I don’t pray for the day to come soon…”

---

“No, no. I believe she loves you too Kael. I do. I think her evil sisters have preyed on her when her mind is most vulnerable and sunk their hooks into her to make her doubt you. They are her sisters, she has grown with them. She trusts them as wholly as you trusted your Ada because why would someone so close harm you mm? But they have done exactly that, they have betrayed her. It is not your fault, it is nothing you have done. You are not to blame here, they are. With their cruel words about our innocent boy, and their lies about Hawk and his men. Their vicious whispers into your wifes ears. Evil bitches.”

---

“I am here for you, you can lean on me now Karina. As you should have always been able to. I am sorry you have not felt you could.”

---

“Now now, it is not very Princely to threaten.” Lily laughed, turning her head so her nose brushed against his ever so briefly. “I am sure some Princess or noble Lady will one day happily give you dozens of saplings if you wish for them.” She assured. “One day I hope to do the same for someone too.”

"You needed me more," Karina grazed her lips against his, "I'm a big girl, I know how to regulate my emotions. I know how to get through things with less support when I must. Please don't apologise for needing me, you accepting the comfort has been something that has made me very proud of you. It isn't easy, being brave enough to show the vulnerability you have."

---

"She- She doesn't want me there. I won't get to see my baby born be- because of them." He choked, devastated. "If she is sc- scared she will be al- alone because of them. If sh- she... I don't know what to do, I don't know what I am meant to do."

---

"You'd be a wonderful mother, a spectacular wife." Rohan assured with quiet confidence. "I don't understand how you have not already found the perfect person for you. There is so much of you to enjoy"

---

"I wouldn't expect anything else. She is a cruel beast. We won't be here for much longer, we'll pack and head home as soon as acceptable."

“Tonight? Nothing.” Indira ran her hands through his hair gently. “Tonight you let her rest alone as she wishes, I have no doubt sleeping alone will be the most comfortable thing for her at the moment as it is - I have been there, so large and uncomfortable. And you get a good nights rest too. And then in the morning you ask to go speak to her, and you work out what you can between you. It has been such a long day today for the both of you hasn’t it? Lots of walking, lots of things to remember. Socialising and words and ceremonies and promises and… so much. And if she feels like she needs Lady Karina as an advocate… You take Prince Lucian as yours. They have been married through a lot of trials mm? Perhaps the two of you together with people to help you find your words will help.” She hummed, pressing her lips to the top of his head. “Nothing is irreparable just yet. Nothing.”

---

“Men do not want marriage and children they wish to raise. They are happy to plant a child within you and coo proudly when it arrives but being a family is often too much work and too restrictive for men.” Lily shook her head. “Twice I have been a fool enough to believe one who told me otherwise. Neither man married me in the end - a shock. Even though the first promised when the sapling took root. But most saplings did not grow during that time, most women who found themselves pregnant only had the pleasure for three or four months at the most before it ended. The wasting took all, and mine would have been less than the size of a daisy head when my body let it go. I told myself I would not be such a fool the next time…”

---

“I hope next time you meet your friends you enjoy it more.”

---

“I may have needed you - but you were there for me. I wasn’t when you needed me and I am sorry for it. I always will be.”

((Night))

"My daughter went away to school, my son became distant as men do from their mothers. Normal things, I- healthy things that I have assured myself means that I have raised them to feel confident enough to take risks and know they have safety if it goes wrong." Karina shook her head, "I have felt lonely and sad over silly motherhood things when you have been recovering from losing part of your independence. It's incomparable. This though," She ran her finger across a part of his make up that had smeared to clean it. "I like this, very much. I like that you feel confident enough to put it on again. I like that you are laughing again."

---

"Next time will be less formal, hopefully." Magnus' arms tightened further around her. "When you feel ready to step outside of this room, small we speak to the Razi's about their beasts? Massive cats. Maybe if you take a shine to them we can ask for a kitten."

---

Rohan frowned, leaning his head against hers as their dance turned instead into a gentle sway,  going against the grain of the others in the room. "They sound deplorable. The situations sound... indescribable. I am sorry you had to go through such things, healer. The gods can be cruel beasts, you did not deserve to suffer that way."

---

"Things have been so busy, s - so busy. I wanted to - I needed to spend the evening with her tonight." Kael swallowed. "Fia-'Fiadh told me part of loving was accepting not everyone would like me, L- Lucian told me toda- today to put my foot down and insist I was there when the sapling was born and make her sisters stop. I am scared if I do, I will lose her."

“Avani and I argued when I was so close to birth, daily. Even though she’d been here such a short time. I assure you Daphne is just at the end of he tether and does not mean it; Kael… I do not think exerting your power over a woman in child bed will end well for you, and from what I remember Lucian hasn’t had his partner give birth, so I would not say he is an expert mm? Tonight the matter is done with. We can start afresh tomorrow on fixing things between you.”

---

“You want to get feline cubs from them?” Thea raised an eyebrow in surprise.

---

“I will wear it more often if you like?” Lucian grinned, kissing her gently.

---

“Many lost children during that time, I wasn’t the only one… But the entire situation is one to avoid entirely, for my own sanity I believe. No men who will leave me, no saplings to conceive and mourn over mm?” Lily closed her eyes at his touch.

"I know felines make you happy, and perhaps something.... different shall be another show stopper for us to bring out at parties. I could see you lounged with a massive beast on your lap." Magnus chuckled.

---

Kael shook his head, "I have to be there, I have to. It isn't something I can co- compromise on. It's too important. She can't take away me being there and allow them there when they are so vile."

---

"If you were a Princess you would have men fighting for you, parading in duels and tournaments just to get your attention. I would do it right now even as you are now. These people here, these men... they are blind. I simply don't understand it."

---

"I wouldn't argue against it," Karina laughed softly against his lips, humming, "Handsome man." Before returning the kiss.

“Do not do that, Rohan. I can take the jests and the flattery but not the lies.” Lily shook her head, “Princes do not court, nor fight for the attention of common women. Not when they do not need to, not when a snap of the finger is all it takes. I’d rather you not believe I will fall for it.” She laughed nervously. “I thought I appeared too smart to fall for sweet promises.”

---

“Ah, you want a show animal. One to terrify and amuse the guests all at once. Do I no longer do the job?” Thea laughed.

---

“Then you are King… if you command to be let into the room nobody can deny you.” Indira pointed out, smoothing her fingers down his arm.

---

“My head will get too big Karina, I may overbalance.” Lucian teased, pulling her closer.

"Stop accusing me of the lies, petal." Rohan hummed affectionately. "You are smart, it is incredibly attractive."

---

"You do an excellent job, I just think the image would suit you."

---

"I don't wish to do it as King, I wish to be there as a father. I don't- I can't understand it. I can't understand why she hates me so deeply she will take this away from me. If she - if she does there won't be a return from it, I couldn't stand it, couldn't forgive it."

---

"Your head has always been far too big, up until recently. You managed fine before with a large head, you will again."

“The way you men are over here is so queer compared to home. Men would rather pay to be away from a childbed than fight to be in it.” Indira mused quietly as she kissed the top of his head. “I truly believe all will be well after a night of sleep for you both, and perhaps a glass of wine or two for you to help you get into that restful state. I love your heart dearly Kael, but I think your mind convinces you of the worst sometimes. We can fix this. We will.”

---

“And I cannot tell you who my great great whatever grandmother is five generations removed and who served her in a court. I have no noble breeding, my family surname is one my father made up because he came from a tribe so nomadic there were no need for last names. We are not - you finding me attractive is silly on your behalf, truly.”

---

“Perhaps a word to them about a cub or two would not go amiss.”

---

“And the world has you to blame that it is so.”