Author's Gibberish: Oh dear, it's been a while. If you've been following this little series, you'll notice I've change the summaries and given the arc a title. Yes, Return is not an incredibly creative name, but what the hell, right? I'm giving due warning: I've been writing about babies a lot recently... and this is not an exception, though it is not a theme of the story.
Please, please checkout the art that inspired this fiction, by escafan. She is a wonderful, extraordinary artist that has let me take one of her best pieces out on an inspirational limb. I'll have a link to the image on my profile page. Check her out, and give her some awesome comments! She really deserves them!
So anyway, enjoy Part Three of Return, and please review!
Tawnyb
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Get that? Nothing. I'm legally incapable of owning anything. In truth, my parents own me.
Van glanced up, pausing to watch the new Queen of Fanelia as she stood in the center of camp. She was beautiful, no longer dressed in durable ridding cloths, but a casual gown made of simple fabric and held together by a long strip of cloth tied about her middle. His own travel clothing had been discarded not long after, replaced by an open backed tunic-a specially made outfit sent to them by Asturia's ruling couple.
They had been married for little longer than a month, and she still caused him to pause at times to catch his breath.
The yerkles-a twin pair of black and red, bred almost solely in Fanelia-pranced impatiently, and the King continued with his work. Letting them wander on their own, knowing they wouldn't roam far from the fire and nearby river.
With a quick toss of the light ridding saddles and bridles, Van found himself standing beside his wife. "You think so?"
She was quiet, starring at the half sphere that wasn't blocked out by the great canyon walls. Van grimaced, squinting at what looked like a very vague swirl of blue, white and green. Her voice was frustrated when she finally spoke.
"Well, they're not exactly alike. But if you look right there, you can see a lot of Africa. The continents look similar, and a few countries share characteristics…"
Van struggled to find where her finger was pointed, having no idea what she was talking about.
The realization made his stomach sink in guilt. She had been struggling with classes, trying to become a true Queen by understanding the lay of Gaia, and he had absolutely no knowledge of her world.
In all honesty, Hitomi didn't have to be as great as the counsel demanded. She could simply coast by, not lifting a finger and depending on her husband to deal with any political issue. But no, the young blonde had studied worried over mindless details for months-if only to ease the burden of leadership placed on Van.
It made him sick that he had never wanted to understand where she came from. It was only fare that he would have to try to understand her customs, as she had studied his.
An idea of repentance began to form, bringing a smile to his young face and he smoothly slipped in behind the blonde women at his side.
"Hold on."
Long ago, the pain of summoning his Draconian wings had faded-the tearing of flesh numbing and smoothing until the only sensation left was a kind of whoosh and slide.
He flew swiftly -large wings no longer straining with the additive of her weight-to a ledge above them that was situated just bellow the level of a waterfall across the canyon. A quick glance throughout and across its ridge revealed the campfires of three small groups of guards; close enough for protection but far out to maintain privacy on their three-day escape. The two moons hung, unobstructed, surrounded by stars, as the larger seemed to follow the smaller.
They didn't move much, Van's arms simply sliding bellow the sash of Hitomi's dress, and her arms relaxing from their hold. She still wasn't used to flying, especially her husband's sporadic urges to grab her up and soar off after a day in court.
"So, you lived…?"
Her arm lifted as she tugged on his earring-the piercing having been added during their honeymoon trip, simply to match the set Hitomi had received-and made a clucking noise at the back of her throat. "I've told you that one before."
She pointed outward, squinting a little. "You can't really see it, but to the right of that large area of land is a set of islands. A large group of them make up Japan, the country I was born and raised in." There was a pause, and then she tilted her head up and into his chin. "I've never been anywhere else, really. Mom didn't travel well, and Mamoru always got sick in airplanes and cars."
The girl in his arms visibly deflated, and Van felt a thrill of terror rush through his blood, remembering exactly why he had never broached the subject of her home. It always seemed too painful, still raw after such a long time.
The lost King floundered, lost for words.
"Hey, you know… our family could go places, if you really want…"
It was a stretch, with Van's own untrusting nature being the source. No one had been proven worthy of watching the throne for longer than a small camping get-away, let alone the months of travel he was suggesting.
His wife chuckled, turning in his arms with a good-natured grin. "Yes, I suppose there is always that."
Her hand gripped his, pushing the appendage into cupping a small belly-bump that he hadn't noticed before. Van's eyes widened, but the young Queen was off and away with a quick kiss on the mouth.
Van simply stood there, a small smile spreading across his face as his body tingled with a sensation he had only felt when flying. She turned, grinning, as the tie of her sash seemed to loosen of its own accord.
"Hey, you know I can't get down from here on my own, right?"
His grin spread as he followed her forward. Already, Van could tell that Hitomi's geography lessons were going to become a habit.