A/N: Yep, I know said that this would be a one-shot fic, but KatYoukai suggested that I do an epilogue, and I like this idea too! (My replies to all of my lovely reviewers will be at the end) I'll probably add an epilogue to one of my other one-shot fics as well, I can't help myself! So… this is set around the time of Roald's death, as he reflects on Lianne, and those dreams from the end of the last chapter. Warning! Lots of suicide references in regard to Roald.

Dedicated to KatYoukai, who asked me to do this chapter.

A Prince is Born – Epilogue

Gone. The word reverberated around Roald's head like a demented echo. His wife, his loving Lianne, had gone, succumbing to the many illnesses that had plagued her since Roger's spells had been lifted. Roald felt like an empty shell.

It had been nearly a whole three weeks since she had passed into the hands of the Black God. Roald no longer cared for anything around him, he took refuge in his memories of the past, of happier times. He saw the worry on faces around him, but all he could think of was Li…

Roald had locked himself into his chambers for the first week, only letting Duke Gareth and Jonathan in once, to say that he was handing over the reins to Jon 'for the time being.' That last bit was a lie, as the words left his mouth Roald knew deep down in his heart that he would never recover from this. He was going to die of a broken heart.

He had eaten sparsely, and only ate to stop the entire court gossiping about him, not that wasn't already happening anyway. There was no stopping the court gossips on a topic like how the King coping with the death of his Queen, or how Prince Jonathan, or Duke Gareth were taking the loss of their mother/little sister, depending on who it was you were talking about.

Deep in thought, and lost in the depth of his memory, Roald found himself gazing out of a window, the sweeping view of the royal forest starching as far as the eye could see. Memories overwhelmed him, his confession that he loved her, their first kiss, when he'd proposed to her in their favourite clearing…

It was there that his brother in law found him with tears silently rolling down his cheeks as he remembered the times that he and Lianne had spent down in the forest.

"Roald?" asked voice from behind him.

"Remember that time Li and I pulled that prank on you in the forest, when we'd just start courting?" Roald asked quietly, he knew it was Gareth without even turning around.

Gareth let a small, wry smile cross his worn, grief-stricken face, "How could I forget, it took weeks for that dye to rinse out of my hair, I was the source of ridicule for months thanks to you two." He said dryly. "I did not appreciate being turned into a redhead," he added.

Roald grinned slightly in spite of himself at the memory of Gareth of Naxen turned into a redhead, Lianne had decided that his temper was becoming like the temper of a redhead, and that he should have red hair. Those had been the days…

"Don't you wish we could go back to those days? Back to when thing were simpler…" Roald asked.

"They only seemed simpler because we were still young." Was the soft answer he received. "Dwelling in the past isn't going to help you Roald, it'll only make it more painful," Duke Gareth continued, his misery and grief obvious in his voice. "I know your in pain, so am I, but don't do anything rash, for Jon's sake especially, he's struggling as much as you are, he's just hiding it better than you." He added again, withheld tears making his brown eyes bright.

There was silence as Roald slowly registered what had just been said.

"I just feel so guilty, she was supposed to outlive me, not the other way around! She deserved better! I feel like I failed her, I said I'd keep her safe, and couldn't even protect her from a member of my own family!" Roald let the tears burning in his eyes course down the well-worn tracks on his cheeks again as he got more and more worked up. "What do you think would have happened if Alanna of Trebond hadn't discovered the image spells Roger had on her? We would have lost her sooner! I can't bear it, I can't," Roald trailed off.

Gareth gripped Roald's arm painfully, "Don't you dare blame your self for what Roger did, young Alan- no, Alanna, was the only one who Roger didn't have under his thumb, I always thought that she was afraid of him. With good reason we now see. You didn't fail her! You loved her too much to let yourself fail her. And if you insist on blaming yourself for Roger, remember this, were all just as guilty, he had us all under wraps." Roald tried to wrench his arm free, but his brother-in-law wasn't going to let go. "Didn't you hear what I said before, don't do anything rash! Please!" there was a note of pleading entering Gareth's voice as he talked. When he had finished his speech, he let go of Roald's arm.

Silence settled around Tortall's king once, more as his brother in law left him to his tumultuous, and somewhat morbid, thoughts.

Gareth was deep in thought as he walked back toward his chambers. He didn't want to admit it, but he was worried that Roald would do something stupid, he wasn't quite sure why. Maybe it had something to do with the way he continually walked around the palace like a ghost, or maybe it was just some kind of intuition telling him that Roald wouldn't be around for a lot longer.

He hoped desperately that it was all in his imagination, but day-by-day, the feeling of dread was building was growing inside him, and all he could possibly do was wait and see.

Only a couple of days after that talk between Roald and Gareth, a hunting party was announced. The members of the court were surprised, and pleased to hear that their king would be joining the early April hunting party.

Roald was finalising his plans. His death plans. The thought suddenly struck him as he glanced up from saddling his horse. He looked around the stable, his blue eyessoaking it all up as it hit him that he was never going to see it again after this.

"Father? Are you ready?" inquired a quiet voice behind him.

Roald turned to face his 24-year-old son, as worn looking as the king himself, the past three weeks of stress and grief taking their toll on his young, handsome face. Jonathan was already mounted on his horse, Darkness. Seeing that he was the last member of the party to still be standing on the ground, he hurriedly mounted .

As the hunt, and the day, drew on, Roald was deep in thought. He was going to die today, kill himself. He knew that as well as knew his own name. He just wanted to be with Lianne again, never to be separated from her…

Lianne wouldn't want you to do this, a little voice within his own head screamed out. She'd say that Jon needs you now, that you need each other. Roald squashed the voice quickly, but he still squirmed at the same time… Jonathan… he was effectively going to abandon him.

Guilt swept through his body at the thought, but it had to happen. He couldn't go on like this, but he couldn't pull himself back together either.

He continued to think about his son, his only child. It wasn't that they hadn't wanted more, but after two miscarriages… there wasn't much they could do.

Roald looked up to where he saw Jonathan and young Gary talking and a surge of pride filled him as he gazed at his son. Jon will make a great king, he thought. Better than me, he won't be afraid to try new things, the fact that he took Alanna of Trebond as his squire says that much. And he won't isolate himself in the palace like I have…

Roald chuckled silently to himself. His son was defiantly more like his grandfather than his father. Or maybe he was the perfect balance between the "Empire Builder" and the "Peacemaker" Not unwilling to fight, but able to negotiate peace where there was once unrest and distrust. The thing with the Bazhir tribes proved that, he'd been adopted into a tribe, and become the voice of the tribes. Jon doesn't think that he'll be king for years, but he will be soon. And I'm sure he'll rise spectacularly. Roald thought.

Casting his mind back, Roald thought of the night that Jon was born. The anxiety, the pacing, the worrying and when he was finally let in, the look of pure joy on Li's face, how tiny Jon had been, hard to believe that that tiny baby was now twenty four and very tall, and lastly, those strange dreams he'd had.

He'd thought, at the time, that they might be prophetic dreams, but then he'd promptly forgotten them. They'd only resurfaced in his mind recently. Roald went over the dreams in his head quickly. Jon, Gary, Raoul of Goldenlake, Alexander of Tirragen, Francis of Nond and Alan- Alanna of Trebond as pages. Then what he supposed that next was part of Jon and Alanna's battle against the Ysandir.

The next segment… that fateful night nearly two years ago now, when Alanna exposed Roger for what he was, and at the same time, Roger exposed her true identity. Roald winced visably when he thought of the next part, it hadn't come true yet, but it soon would.

He almost laughed when he thought about the second last "sub-dream" he'd had, Jon's wedding, he hadn't recognised Jon's bride then, and still didn't, Roald was just glad that it wasn't Princess Josiane.

The last bit still puzzled him though, Stormwings? The Dominion Jewel? Did these things even really exist? Oh well, he would never really understand that bit he supposed.

By this time, Roald had fallen behind the rest of the party, it was time to put his plan into action.

Twangs of guilt swept through Roald as thought about what he was leaving behind, especially Jonathan. But as he came up to the gorge he was going to "miscalculate the jump on" he thought of what he was going to, Lianne, and they'd never be separated again.

"I'm sorry Li, I can't stay here without you, I'll be with you soon my love." With those last heartfelt words he took the jump.

These wounds won't seem to heal,
This pain is just too real,
There's just so much that time cannot erase.
-My Immortal, Evanescence.

A/N: meh. Don't like this bit as much, not really sure why, wait yes, yes I do! It's sad, much sadder than the first bit. Anyways, please review!

Reviewer Replies:

razzberrycat: thankyou! And wish granted, it isn't really a one-shot any more, is it?

eridani: thanks for the advice, I'll use it next time I do a dream sequence, cause dreams are definitely fun to write!

Yuiko: (blushes crimson) gee, yeah, I like my story, but I wouldn't go that far!

KatYoukai: you're addicted to "tortall in the past" fics are you? And you blame me? (tries to look offended while trying to wipe the crazy grin off her face) No, I made up the name of Alanna's mother, and where she came from. I'm wondering why no one else is doing any of the more "ignored" pairings, because I think, the less information you have, the more you can fiddle around with the characters. And yep, I did the epilogue, and I have you to thank!
Also, I can't believe you put me on your Favourites list!

Oh, and those of you who have read my other TP fanfic, Walks In The Royal Forest, I promise that there will be another chappie up by Christmas.

By the Aussie Daydream Queen, Misha.