The long awaited (maybe?) epilogue to The Price of Recklessness! This story is actually long overdue, but I -finally- decided to finish it.
Border Town. A quiet little place, these days, now that peace has finally claimed Weyard. The gates are wide open, as any previous hostilities between Bilibin and Belinsk has evaporated. Not completedly, of course, but enough so that war is unthinkable.
A man is currently leaving Border Town, heading east towards Belinsk. He's about twenty years old, with blond, untamed hair. Practically everyone, save for someone living under a rock, knows who he is. Leader of the Eclipse Warriors, son and nephew to the leaders of the Warriors of Vale, Matthew is known throughout Weyard for his, and his relatives, deeds.
Three, nearly four years ago, Matthew helped bring the Grave Eclipse to an end, but lost his sight as a result. Now, he has perfected the Life Sense ability, exclusive to Venus Adepts, and now intends to do what he should've done years ago.
Most monsters avoid Matthew, as his very presence is enough to force weaker enemies to submission. He's thankful for that, as he wishes to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. But not everything can be done peacefully, he knows, as he can sense a Golem walk towards him. A being made of earth, clay or stone, Golems are mindless and lifeless, doing nothing but what their creators ordered them long ago. Their creators are since long gone, but their orders remain, whatever it may be.
The golem raises it's fist and thrusts it towards Matthew, but he easily sidesteps it, draws the long sword on his back and slices the golem in two in a single, swift motion. A feat normally impossible for a blind man, Matthew has trained to fight blind for the last four years.
Sheathing the sword, Matthew walks onward. Only a few hours later, he 'sees' Belinsk, all the living beings, man and plant alike, appearing to him like fireflies in darkness.
"Halt! Who goes there?" A voice yells. While peaceful times, theft and robbery isn't very unusual, since many became home- and/or jobless following the Grave Eclipse.
Matthew stopped as ordered, before grinning as he recognized the voice. "Hey Mark, is that really how you welcome a hero?"
While he couldn't see it, Matthew guessed the guard became somewhat flustered at the remark. "You... Lord Matthew?"
Matthew winced at the 'lord'. But then again, if everything went well he'd need to get used to something 'worse' than lord. "I'd like to say 'it's nice to see you again', but that's pretty darn difficult if you catch my drift."
The guard known as Mark let out a hearty laugh. Just like four years prior, Matthew didn't have any issues making a joke of his own situation. "Then let me say it for you my Lord, it's nice to see you again. What brings you here, after so long?"
Matthew grinned. "I'm here to see Sveta, I have something important to tell her."
Mark nodded. (not that Matthew could see it.) "Then I shall escort you to the palace."
Matthew was thankful for that, as while he could sense living things and anything earth-related, navigating a city full of people was not his forte due to the overwelming life surrounding him.
When the people of Belinsk saw Matthew, they cheered. Their saviour had returned after so long. Everyone wanted to greet him, thank him for what he had done, but that could always be done later. The palace guards saluted him before opening the gates, and within a minute they found themselves outsite the royal chamber. Mark knocked on the door.
It was quiet for a moment. "Yes?" Matthew would recognize that voice anywhere.
"There's a visitor requesting an audience, your Majesty," Mark stated.
Matthew could hear a sigh coming from the other side. "I'd hate to disappoint, but I am exhausted after all the audiences recently. Please ask him or her to return at a later date."
Mark wanted to say just WHO was asking for an audience, but Matthew signaled for him to be quiet, and said. "Since you seem so tired, I suppose I can come back later."
There was an audible gasp of surprise from the room, followed by fairly silent movement. Caused by the padding on her feet I presume. The door opened quickly, and Sveta looked at the 'visitor'. Four years had done him good. He had grown slightly taller, and he had also become more muscular due to the training he had done. He still wore his father's yellow scarf, and the rest of his clothing were similar to four years prior, albeit a larger size.
"Matthew!" She exclaimed happily before bull-rushing him into a hug. Four years is quite a long time, after all, and Sveta has been too busy with work to even consider leaving to visit anyone.
The guard left to return to his post, seeing as Matthew wasn't one to hurt anyone. And even if he tried, Sveta was more than capable of defending herself until the royal guards arrived.
Sveta disengaged the hug, and looked up at Matthew (Beastmen are fairly short after all). "While I'm happy that you decided to visit, I still have to ask what has brought you here Matthew."
"Remember what you told me on Eoleo's ship four years ago, Sveta?" Matthew asked. Sveta nodded unsurely. She said quite a lot, so she wasn't sure what he meant, specifically. Believing her to be in thought due to her silence, he continued. "You told me to find happiness. During those four years of training, I've been thinking hard about what makes me happy, and only one thing came to mind."
Sveta looked at him, confused at his statement. All of a sudden, Matthew took a knee in front of her, and grabbed her hand. "You," he said, "you make me happy, Sveta. Thus, I've come here to ask for your hand, in marriage."
Obviously overwhelmed by the sudden confession, Sveta was unsure what to answer. Her feelings aside, what would the people think? True enough, Matthew is loved by the people, but would they accept him as their king? Morgal has a long history of human rulers, all of whom caused pain and suffering for the beastmen. While confident Matthew would never do any of the sort, Sveta wasn't sure the people would be in agreement. Or would they?
"Matthew, I dont-" Sveta tried, but was interrupted by Matthew.
"'You don't know what the people would say'?" he asked calmly, as if expecting her to say that. "Could you take me to the balcony?"
Sveta wasn't sure why he would do that, but she did as asked, and the guards opened the doors when they arrived. To Sveta's surprise, the people had gathered down below, as if they were waiting for Sveta to make an announcement.
I've got to thank Mark for this later. Matthew thought to himself. Before, when he was escorted to Sveta's chamber, he had asked Mark to gather the people outside the palace, just for this moment.
"Ma-" Sveta began, before Matthew interrupted her with a kiss. Right in front of Morgals population. Sveta, the guards, the people, everyone was dumbfounded because of what was transpiring before their eyes.
Then, the people exploded. But not in anger like Sveta had been worried for, but in cheers and applause. Thinking they had been called because Sveta were going to announce their engagement, the people showed their approval.
As Matthew finally ended the kiss, he asked Sveta once more. "Sveta, will you marry me? If it makes you feel better, I will renounce any claim to the throne. I just want to spend the rest of my life together with you."
Sveta looked at Matthew, before looking down at the people of Morgal, to the guards, and then back to him. All of her doubts cleared, she could only answer one way.
"Yes, I will."
I suppose some might wonder why I wrote this as a separate story. The reason is because The Price of Recklessness wasn't tagged as -romance-, and I couldn't be arsed to change it just for the "final" chapter, so it became a separate epilogue like this, instead.
On a side note, I've realized I'm over-mentioning "four years ago", but I don't know how to change it without possibly damaging the story...