Of Old Wounds and Memories

"At the end of the river the sundown beams
All the relics of a life long lived
Here, weary traveller rest your wand
Sleep the journey from your eyes."

- Turn Loose the Mermaids by Nightwish

The next morning, just as he had promised, Hercules returned to the royal palace first thing in the morning. But before he was even able to start looking for Meg, he was told by the guards that the king wanted to meet him. Surprised and little hesitant, Hercules headed to the king's private chamber, finding the monarch making his way slowly out of bed.

Hercules rushed to his aide.

"Your Highness should still be resting," he protested, but the king merely scoffed.

"Nonsense, some exercise and fresh air is exactly what I need. Walk with me to the gardens?" the king offered and Hercules remained closely on his side, following the king's lead as they headed to the gardens situated at the inner courtyard of the palace.

They found seating at the gardens on a marble bench and for a long while, the king remained silent, simply studying a statue before him.

"Is there a reason why Your Highness called for me?" Hercules than asked, shaking the elder man from his thoughts.

"Indeed there is. And no need for formalities, son; you're gonna marry my daughter, so you will become part of my family as well," the king reminded him, making Hercules blush and he uneasily looked away from the king, who was still looking at the statue.

As Hercules studied the same statue, he suddenly realized that the woman statue presented had to be queen Eurydiche, Meg's mother. The similarity was striking.

"Is that…" Hercules begun to speak, but the king cut him short.

"My late wife, queen Eurydiche. Yes, yes it is." The king sighed.

"She was the love of my life. When I lost her, I think I lost part of myself as well," the king told with a weary voice.

"I can imagine that," Hercules replied, remembering the small moment when he had lost Meg, the endless desperation he had felt when he had hold her lifeless body in his arms.

"What was she like?" Hercules asked him, curious to know more about Meg's mother.

"She was a gentle soul. I think something broke inside of her when we lost our sons. The last few days, before she took her own life, she seemed better. Happier. I thought she would be able to recover from their deaths. I was wrong: she had obviously already made her own decision concerning her fate and it was that thought which brought her solace," the king had a distant look in his face.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm very sorry for all you and your family have been through," Hercules offered.

"You're kind. Even though Megara looks so much like her mother, her personality is different. She is more strong-willed and independent. But she too has been through much, way too much for someone her age. She's tough, but she's not made of steel either," the king concluded.

"Meg is… Strong-spirited. She always finds a way through her sheer will," Hercules had a small smile on his face, thinking about his beloved.

"Indeed she does," the king and Hercules shared a small smile.

"Coming close to death is a funny thing. It makes you… Reconsider things," king Creon slowly continued. Hercules remained silent encouraging him to continue and after a moment of silence, as the king did.

"I thought that if Megara would not marry for love, if she would marry someone respectable, a good ally, I could spare her from the pain I had experience. Tha she would eventually break her heart the way I did, if she married someone she loved. You must think I'm a foolish, old man?" the king then queried.

"No, you wanted to protect your daughter and acted by what you thought was right for her, I understand that," Hercules told him honestly.

"Hmmm, you're a good man, I can see why my daughter loves you. I think you will understand my perspective better when my daughter and you will have children of your own," the king gently smiled, looking at Hercules.

Hercules felt a flush creeping on his face as he contemplated the thought: he had always known that he wanted a family of his own and to become a father. The thought of the children Meg and him might have together had been something he had thought about several times: it wasn't really an issue that had really discussed much upon, but he did truly hope that they would create a family together.

"So you have thought about it, about having children with my daughter?" the king continued, the answer evident on Hercules' face.

"Well, Meg and I haven't really spoke about it, but certainly do wish to start a family with your daughter," Hercules felt the blush in his face deepening: this wasn't really something he had thought he would discuss with his future father-in-law the first time they would talk alone.

"Good, as you see, your children will inherit my throne. I'm glad to know that my bloodline continues," Creon pointed out. Hercules felt perplexed, even a bit torn: he did want to have a family with Meg, but thinking about continuing the royal house was a bit too much. He knew even without asking that Meg would not approve of such thinking.

"Your Highness…" Hercules started, not sure how he would explain himself to the king.

"I know, I know, it isn't my place to make decision on your behalf on such matters. But this has worried me greatly because of my recent illness," the king addressed.

"Just… Just promise me you will take care of my daughter, that you will treat her better than I have?" the king looked at him, his eyes misty with grief.

"I'll love her and cherish her with all my heart, I can assure you that," Hercules solemnly replied, looking back at the king.

"Good, that is all I wanted to know," the king sighed as he closed his eyes and nodded to himself.

"You are hers and she is yours. I can see that you are as committed to her as she is to you. That is what I wanted to know," the king explained and Hercules felt as if he had passed some secret test.

Hercules offered to escort the king back to his quarters. First the king tried to brush the offer off, but as he slightly stumbled upon getting up, he finally accepted Hercules' offer.

From the king Hercules learned that he would find Meg from the throne-room taking care of the king's duties and that is where he then headed out to.

He found her alone, sitting on her father's throne, her head buried to her hands.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Hercules hurried to her side, kneeling beside her.

"Oh, Wonderboy. Nothing really, it just all came back to me. Why I left this place in the first place, I mean. All the back-stabbing and scheming, I loath it," Meg moaned out, shaking her head.

"You've had a long day," Hercules pulled her closer and she simply nodded.

"How are you feeling?" he than asked, feeling her shrug against him.

"Pretty okay, I guess, considering things. Grandmother, however, I'm rather worried about her. Father's poisoning was a big shock to her, she's still recovering from it," Meg replied with a sigh. Hercules felt sympathy towards the elderly woman: Creon was his son after all, anyone could imagine how witnessing something as horrific as that would feel to a parent.

"I'm sure she'll recover fully after she has some time to rest. I met your father and he seems to do a lot better!" Hercules offered optimistically and Meg took a closer look at him.

"You did? And he was being civil?" Meg looked more than a bit skeptic.

"More than that, we talked the things out. He doesn't hold any grudges or anything," Hercules replied.

"That's really good to hear. One thing less to worry about," Meg breathed out, leaning against him as she closed her eyes.

"I'm sure you've done enough for one day, let's head home, shall we?" Hercules offered her his hand, helping her up and Meg nodded.

"Nothing ever has sounded more enticing than that offer. Let's do that," she smiled back at him and he returned the favor.

Looking at her beautiful eyes and smiling face made him believe once again that whatever might come their way, they could overcome it together.

-A/N: Hello friends, hope you've had good Autumn so far, mine has been a bit brutal: I've had quite much work-related stress and the my whole family was sick with a flu for numerous weeks. So yeah, not the best Autumn.

But I hope you liked this new chapter: I know king Creon has seemed quite terrible in the older chapters, but I wanted to point out in this chapter that he wasn't exactly himself because of the poison and then again, he thought he had his own reasoning. Still not sure when I'll next update "Desolation", but I'll be doing my best.

Thanks once again for reading and take care, as always!

Shout-out to Guest: Hah, a cliffhanger is always a good ending. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!