The Hero Queen was dying.
One of the last Heroes of this age of Albion.
While all of Albion was worried, the ones closest to the Hero Queen were the ones suffering the most.
Together, the Hero Queen's three children, Logan, Yiva and Azmer, were standing in silence closest to him. Walter Beck, his hairs a deep shade of black with a few specks of grey, was standing far in the corner. While he was grieving, as the Hero Queen was a good friend, he knew by experience that those that are closest to the dying would be hit hardest the most.
Logan was 22, old enough to be the King, but he wasn't a Hero. Azmer, who was only 10, hasn't yet learned much yet or shown any characteristics of being a Hero. But Logan was hardened by being in the military for some time, and was used to death, but Azmer was still only a child. Yiva, the lone female child of the Hero Queen, was also 10, since both Azmer and Yiva were twins. She was adorned in her wolf-styled clothing, which was difficult to get her out of.
The Hero Queen reached out a dying hand to Logan, which the Prince took and leant over to hear the words of a dying woman. The exchange was quick, which both Walter and Logan knew it would. Dying people are the enemies of time. And time never rests.
With that small and quick exchange over with, the Hero Queen took her very last breath and released it, never to breathe again. Azmer shook his mother's arm, a desperate bid to wake her.
"Mother?" He asked, not knowing how people die.
He shook harder. "Mother?" He asked louder to the corpse.
Tears began to well up in his eyes. Lion started to cry and shake the arm harder. "Mother, wake up! Please!" He ordered.
But all energy left him and Azmer collapsed to the floor, holding the hand he knew as mother. Yiva was crying as well, but not as crazed as Azmer's. Logan's face was grim, all colour left his face. Walter left his corner and walked over to the twins. He knelt down to their level. Both ten-year-olds turned and hugged the old soldier.
"Teach us how to be Heroes, Walter." Azmer whispered.
Walter moved his head back so that he could look at both of the twins. Although their eyes were full of tears, there was a deep resolve burning behind their eyes.
"Ok. I will train you two." Walter said, bowing his head slightly in defeat.
The twins looked at each other and leapt at Walter, hugging his neck. In response, Walter hugged them back. Although not of their Heroic blood, the twins regarded Walter as family.
The Hero Queen was transferred to the royal crypt, where the King-Consort was laid to rest many years beforehand. Since his death, the old Hero Queen wasn't the same.
The massive statue with the folded hands overlooked the two coffins, one open, the other closed. A hood covered the features. Only Walter knew of the secrets of this crypt. When they were old enough. Only when they displayed the signs of being a Hero will he bring them down here for the secret to be revealed.
The ceremony was long. Longer than expected. But this was a Hero that went out of her way for the people. While the town and populous knew her as Queen, the close circle of friends knew her as Huntress. And the few really close friends knew that the Hero Queen was once a man and took a potion that turned him into a female about fifty years ago.
The Hero Queen was finally laid to rest within the crypt, the heavy coffin lid pushed into place and firmly secured. With the precession over, all of the current mourners removed themselves from the crypt and towards the throne room, where Logan would be crowned King of Albion.
Later that day, during the night, a shadow was sneaking across the gardens of Bowerstone Castle. Towards the tomb that the Hero Queen was laid to rest in. A hood covered the features and moved with a cat's grace.
The shadow entered the tomb and snuck across the crypt, coming to the coffin where the Hero Queen was inside. It raised a single hand and magical power flowed out into the palm. Wind slowly pushed the coffin lid away, enough so that whatever was happening could happen without alerting the rest of the castle to the shadow's presence. It looked into the coffin, the face meeting the muzzle of a pistol.
The pistol was pulled away once the shadow pulled the hood down.
"Hello Garth." The Hero Queen said.
"Nice to see you again, Hunter." Garth replied.
The Queen chuckled, expertly climbing out of the coffin. "It's Huntress now, Garth. Back from Samarkand?"
"I received your letter a while back. Let's get you out of here to Greatwood."
"Like old times?"
Garth chuckled, pulling the hood back up. "Certainly."
He handed Huntress another cloak, which the Hero Queen put on and pulled the hood up. Garth used his magic to close the coffin lid. Together, they snuck out and left the castle far behind them.
'And time to see Rose once more.' Huntress thought.
And she was hoping that she wasn't to angered by the fact that her "Little Sparrow" had changed so dramatically.