A/N: At Raider's request, a fast chapter...because waiting around at airports is boring.
Alex: Reese is fun :) Thanks for the compliment! When they adopted him I knew he wouldn't want the title that came with it.
Hammy: Quinlan is a small town in Texas. No, I don't nor have I ever lived there.
TheRanger'sDaughter: Reese will have a lot of figuring out to do in this story. He doesn't want the crown, but the next in line isn't ready to step up either. Julia and Maggie being in Araluen will be explained later.
Raider: Yeah...I decided to jump the gun on Leap Day and I blame this entire thing on YOU. Donald Trump...ugh. Politics are giving me a headache. Americans 18 and over...GO VOTE if your state hasn't had your primary yet. Yes, the primaries are just as important as the general election. If you aren't registered, do that ASAP! Oh, Hazen's not as bad as Reese makes him out to be. Those two just don't get along...and trust me, they are far from angels...except maybe Anne. Maybe...but after all the hell Russ, Holt, and Robin put their parents through they deserve an angel. I picked out the characters based on whose story I could develop. I may start Themes again...but not right now. Goodness New Zealand has made you punny. The names really don't come from any one place...I just pick them out when the character comes up. Several come from a baby name website...a lot of the Academy students got their names from there. Recently I've just been staring at the screen until one comes out. Did you realize your Chapter 4 review was so long I had to log into Fanfiction to read all of it? Again...HERE!
Disclaimer: I'm not John Flanagan.
Elizabet rode down to the docks with Gabe excitedly. Guests poured in from around the world for her wedding. Some would stay through Gabe's wedding while others had to rush back to their posts. The Araluen luxury liner and Nihon-Ja dragon ship appeared on the shoreline two days ahead of schedule. They'd planned a great feast to welcome all their foreign guests at once, but the ships came on the same day as the graduation of several apprentices in the castle. Everyone else was tied up there, making speeches and celebrating the apprentices' new positions. Elizabet and Gabe, however, were dismissed to welcome their wedding guests.
"Do you think we could push up the welcoming feast?" Gabe asks as he shielded his eyes from the sun.
"No," Elizabet answered. She dismounted and handed her reins to Carter, Tucker and Caitlyn's son. His family had joined them the day before, and one-year-old Lina managed to catch a cold during their journey. She demanded her parents' attention, leaving little for her twelve-year-old brother. Carter gladly moved in with Elizabet's soon-to-be stepbrother/son and the boys created nothing but mischief together. Soon Horace III would join them, and perhaps Warden and Carissa's son Max. Neil wanted to spend extra time alone with Noah before their wedding, so Elizabet recruited Carter to welcome their newly arrived guests. Carter tied the reins to a post eagerly, glad to be of use.
"It'd be too much trouble?" Gabe asked.
"Yes," Elizabet replied. "The cooks would kill us. I'm sure they've got everything they need to do scheduled to the minute. I don't want to anger them."
"Well, I set my date first, sister," Gabe teased her. Elizabet laughed, playfully shoving his arm.
"More like Lorelei set the date first."
"True."
Gabe had grown into a strong young prince. Despite issues breathing when he was younger (which still flared up from time to time), he'd trained to become a master horseman. Caitlyn was able to take the herbs a healer prescribed to help him breathe and turn them into tablets to be dissolved in hot water. He carried them with him everywhere and several in his circle knew just how to prepare them if his lungs ever closed. He served as an archer rather than a knight and handled negotiations with ease.
"Thus the chaos begins," Gabe whispered as the gangway was secured to the dock. Elizabet can't help beaming as her heart flutters with excitement. She elbowed her brother, teasing him as she did when they were children.
"Do you think Mama and Daddy are upset to be losing both of us at the same time?" she asked after Carter took off towards the gangway.
"They aren't really losing us," Gabe pointed out. "We'll all still be under the same roof."
"I'm not sure that logic applies when the roof is that of a castle."
Gabe laughed. "I think they want grandchildren so badly they're happy we're both taking the leap so close together."
He had a point. Everyone else in their parents' generation were enjoying their children's children, spoiling and playing with them every chance they got. Sean and Kineta often acted as grandparents to Hazen and Mara, sometimes Carter and Lina if they were around, but they still wanted their own.
The siblings greeted the Araluens and Empress Sun one by one. Several sailors and fishermen stopped to watch the fanfare. The entire group acted more like family and friends reuniting than royals greeting one another. Elizabet let Carter take her horse to join a race Gabe challenged everyone to. Elizabet joined Kane and Gabby on foot behind the others. After one rough dismount too many, Kane's back no longer allowed him the ability to withstand the constant motion of riding horseback. He could probably handle a carriage, which Elizabet offered to hire, but Gabby was eager to have land under her and wanted to walk. Kane kept his arm around his wife's waist while Elizabet let her hold her arm as she led the way to the castle, chatting animatedly about Neil and Noah…and Lorelei, whom they hadn't met yet.
"I'm really glad you could come," Elizabet told them. "Both of you."
"We wouldn't miss it, Elizabet," Gabby assured her. "Russ and Holt both regret they couldn't join us."
"It's alright."
Anne had opted to ride ahead with Robin, giving them what was sure to be their only moment in private together.
Elizabet swallowed nervously. "Um…I actually wanted to ask you something."
"Ask us what?" Kane encouraged her when she didn't continue. Elizabet took a deep breath.
"It's just…we're starting a marriage with a child."
Kane nodded his understanding. Gabby squeezed her arm as they walked.
"Like we did," Gabby said for her.
"You remember our circumstances were different, right?" Kane asked.
"I know," Elizabet assured him. "It's just…Noah's a lot better but he's still upset about his family. He still talks about going back to Claymound as soon as he's of age and revitalizing their farm."
"He can if he wants," Kane said. "I mean, Neil owns it right? Surely you won't block him from going."
"Of course not," Elizabet said quickly. "It's just…it's like he's so focused on going back he doesn't appreciate where he is. He likes me, he says he's happy his brother is marrying me, he's getting an education for the first time in his life…and he's trying to go back to where he was."
"Just give him time," Gabby told her. "He has to make his own way, same as all of us. I promise he appreciates you and everything you've done for him."
Elizabet still felt uneasy, but they were right. She needed to stop worrying too much about Noah. He was half-grown already and would find his own way through life. She just needed to support him, as her parents had supported her when she was younger.
"Four more days," Gabby changed the subject. Elizabet grinned widely though she couldn't see. "Are you ready?"
"More ready than Gabe," Elizabet answered.
"Your parents must be wrecks to lose both of you so close together," Kane said. Elizabet wondered if Russ, Holt, or Robin had prospects. No one mentioned any in letters, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Elizabet got to see them so little she'd be lucky if she even had a name prior to a wedding invitation.
"Gabe thinks they're just ready for grandchildren."
"You don't have to start on those right away," Kane quickly warned her. "You've already got one coming in by default."
Elizabet shared a laugh with Gabby. Kane had been a father for so long he never turned that part of his mind off anymore.