I know I have let you for a while... September has been a busy month. Also, I'm afraid some of you thought the story was over. Good news: it's not! Not quite yet! So I hope you'll like the last chapters, because there still should be a few of them. So if you would like to sit back and enjoy...
CHAPTER 103
The following moments were but a blur to Varian. He vaguely registered his face being wet, his breathing shattered with sobs and then arms wrapped around him. There were faces, many of them, so many that it was overwhelming, and he couldn't have said who embraced him in their arms. It felt warm and nice though, and he leaned into the touch. As bottled-up emotions and ongoing tension left him, his whole body went slack. Even his brain was blank. All he knew was exhaustion, and exhaustion quickly led to numbness. His eyelids were heavy as hell and he could only let them slide over his eyes.
Then there was more commotion around him, he thought he heard voices panicking overhead, but he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes anymore. He felt he was swept off the floor and secured in somebody's arms. The motion, gentle as it was, was enough to make Varian feel dizzy, and then he knew no more.
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"….. let us know as soon as he wakes up."
"…should let him rest, he is…."
"Come on now, dear, we….."
Varian's face scrunched up in his sleep and he stirred slightly. He was hearing words, but they didn't make sense to him. A door was being shut softly, and the voices stopped. With much more effort than it would usually require, Varian half-opened his eyes, not quite able to identify the silhouette coming over to him. A wrinkled hand was laid over his forehead.
"Just rest now, my boy. Everything's well. Go back to sleep", Varian heard. He didn't know what was well exactly, his foggy brain still refusing to let him access to any kind of information, but it felt good to believe it. He heard a familiar chitter next to his ear, and then felt a soft furball made its way under his arm to snuggle against his side. A sense of safety and peace engulfed him, and everything went black once more.
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When Varian awoke again later – how much time had passed, he didn't know-, he first stayed in his lying position for a while, his eyes riveted to the ceiling as he forced his brain to come together. He was in his new room, the one the King gave him after Hans' attack, but it was daylight. Why was he taking a nap?
Then it hit him.
The trial.
His upper body shot up into a sitting position as the events of the morning unfolded in his head. But he didn't get much time to dwell on it, because of a very affectionate raccoon, who for once didn't mind the rude awakening. Ruddiger excitedly climbed on his boy's shoulders, voicing his welcome back to his friend in his own way.
"Haha, Ruddiger, easy, now, that tickles! I… I'm happy to see you too!", Varian replied, gently guiding the raccoon onto his lap to calm him down. He really needed to cradle his furry companion in his arms.
"So, how are you feeling, Varian?"
Varian had failed to notice he wasn't alone, but he was now able to recognize the old man he saw earlier. "Remyus! You… I…. what happened?"
"You passed out after your sentence was pronounced", Remyus clarified, his tone casual as he sat down on the edge of the bed and started to examine Varian, starting with his eyes in order to check pupil dilatation. It was now a sort of routine between them, and Varian let him do his work while he talked. "I am not surprised though. That was a lot to go through, and may I remind you that you refused to eat anything in the morning."
"I know… sorry..."
"You'll be fine, though", the physician assessed reassuringly after checking Varian's pulse. "But you are not getting up until you have something in your system." He stood up to get a basket full of bread and fruits and handed it to Varian. Ruddiger eyed the shiny apples with interest until he could decide which one was the plumpest of them all and then helped himself. Varian chuckled. He picked a slice of bread for himself and bit into it. The bread was freshly made and even without butter or jam, was more than delicious. It was divine. Varian had the peculiar impression he hadn't eaten in months and that this was his first taste of food in a long time.
Remyus gave the boy a warm smile, obviously pleased with Varian's appetite, but didn't comment on it.
"I'll leave you for a moment. Their Majesties asked me to inform them as soon as you would wake up, but I suppose you could use some downtime to think." Remyus added as he turned on his heels.
Varian wasn't sure where the old man was going with this. He looked up, one eyebrow raised questioningly, managing a barely audible "Uh?" His mouth was too full to speak.
"You are free, remember?", Remyus laughed over his shoulder before leaving the room.
Varian suddenly forgot about the bread in his mouth. He stooped chewing and his eyes looked like they were looking for something to focus on.
Free. He was free. The concept still sounded foreign to him.
After several long seconds, he swallowed what was in his mouth in one go. He looked down, and the proof was there: the cuffs had been retrieved from his wrists. How did he miss that?
"Ruddiger…" he whispered, like he was afraid to say the words out loud. "I'm free…"
The raccoon stopped eating for a split second, then shrugged as if saying "Duh, bro!" and bit into his apple once again. Varian said nothing more but his breathing picked up. He was breathing more deeply, intensely, and the feeling was a good as quenching his thirst from a stream.
Varian suddenly got up from bed, sending Ruddiger rolling over from the abrupt pull of the blanket. But he barely noticed. He just needed to get to the window, right there and then. And when he peered outside, the sight was breath taking.
It was the same view as the day before but the colors were brighter, the smells more accurate, the wind on his face softer and stronger at the same time. It was like all his senses were sharper than before.
Yearning for more, Varian took off like a shot and ran through the hallways, faster than he ever had. He raced past a few people – maids, guards , counsellors- but he didn't slow his pace, Ruddiger lagging behind.
He reached the front entrance in no time and not even the guards on duty stopped him as he flung the high doors open. It took only a few strides for him to get to the other side of the terrace. He first contemplated the courtyard at his feet -the very same place where the Expo took place- and then he let his gaze travel further in the distance where laid the town, the bridge, the forest and above him, the endless sky…
Varian started to laugh.
He laughed because he was taking in the beauty of this sight as if for the first time, because he was letting the sounds of the town below sing to his ears. He was feeling small in this huge space yet ready to conquer the world at the same time, and the feeling was exhilarating.
Varian just stayed there, basking in a multitude of emotions. It was like the world had been out of reach for far too long, and now that he was opening his senses to it again, it was his to take. He was free and he knew what he had to do.
"Varian?"
Varian turned around at the familiar voice calling his name and smiled at the two figures standing by the doors.
Frederic and Arianna were holding each other's hands, a smile on their faces. They took a few steps forward and Varian did the same. To Arianna and Frederic, the moment resonated like another one, very dear to their hearts. It was the exact same place where they were able to hold their daughter in their arms for the first time after 18 long years. Even Frederic, who had yet to bond with the boy, felt the emotion of the moment. Eyes bright with tears, Arianna opened her arms…
… but then Varian reminded them that he wasn't Rapunzel. He did something they didn't expect, but was deeply natural to him, because it was the right thing to do.
He knelt to his King and his Queen.
