Chapter Two

Explanation

The white ceiling with the gold, glassy chandelier made it obvious that I was in Forening. It wasn't exactly a mystery as to how I must have got here, assuming that after I must have won the war and passed out, Sara would have called a couple of guards or Trylle people to carry me safely to one of the cars, from where someone must have driven me back to Forening.

I wouldn't exactly call it winning a war, since after whatever freedom, safety and victory I had brought over to the Trylle tribe, I had traded it for the troll who was the most valuable for me. Thinking of him still made my heart ache, and almost as an instant reaction to my thoughts about him, my eyes became slightly watery.

When I could tune out my feelings about him aside with some obvious efforts, I got up from my sleeping position and looked around the room. It was my old room – the one which I had first been given when I had arrived in Forening.

The unnatural bleeding from my hands, eyes and mouth had stopped, and someone had been kind enough to wipe the blood wherever it must have stained my body. I was still in the chiffon gown I had worn on the war day, and I decided if I would be able to move around comfortably, I might have a shower and change into something cleaner from my room closet.

Apparently it turned out that getting up was a little strained, but I could still manage it. The warm water helped soothe down whatever wounds Oren and the other Vittra had caused, and a strange sense of déjà vu encircled me when I stepped out of the bathroom in a fluffy bathrobe and saw Finn standing by the window. He tensed when he heard the bathroom door open, and slowly looked at my direction with caution.

"Hello Finn." I said gravely.

He nodded. "Hello, your majesty." His words made me flinch since it made me realize that now I was not a girlish, immature and free princess, but a proper queen with actual duties and the burden of the entire kingdom on my shoulders.

"How much time since the war?" I spoke shortly. It wasn't generally to be my habit to speak shortly and keep my mouth shut so much, but depression, loss and regret had taken over me, and now I didn't feel like using too many words in my sentences.

"Today is the third day. How do you feel, Wendy?"

"How can you – you out of all people – ask me this question, Finn? And it can't be possible that you don't know about what happened." I could feel blackmailing tears at the back off my eyes. I gulped the bile in my throat, letting a tear out, which I hurriedly wiped, though not enough for Finn to not notice that.

"I'm sorry. Maybe you are thinking that I'm not at all concerned or sorry about that, but I do feel bad for whatever happened." he was probably waiting for a reply, and if the normal, not-so-depressed me would have been there, then maybe I would have said something like 'thanks for your concern' or 'I'm sorry I shouted at you', but now I was far too painfully numb to even manage to think of a suitable reply to what he said, and instead just stayed quite.

"So . . . do you want me to give you the updates of what happened when you were under hospitalization?" I wasn't sure whether I actually wanted to know or not, so didn't say anything. Finn however continued speaking "People had been deciding if they should have the funerals for Elora and the chancellor while you were under medical care, but then they decided to give Forening, Oslinna and Ondarike some more time to recover from the past attacks, so we are probably having it somewhere next week. Also Kanin and Omte trolls would be coming for Elora's funeral, so we were required to give early notices to the foreign trolls to plan their visits.

"Then after Oren's death, Sara is now up for ruling Ondarike – for which she of course needs some cooperation from the Trylle for the destruction we had caused, but then Markis Bain and some other marksinna – not Laris – have gone to give Sara a hand in the change of ruling after the several decades of dealing Oren. Maybe Tove is planning to go too, when you get into a suitable condition for ruling.

"Oslinna is now in a much better condition, Matt is still there to help in the architecture of the houses. The Vittra hasn't fully come into peaceful terms with the Trylle, but maybe if we Trylle set in a treaty with them, go according to it and help them in times like these, we might actually have some peace between us.

"As for the war causalities, some people were injured, but few were actually killed. (Very few maybe, but even just one of the killed ones had meant the entire world to me) Garrett was in a pretty critical condition, but it seems that he at least made it out alive from the war.

"Out of upcoming events, there would be a funeral separately for Elora and a combined funeral separately for the chancellor and the dead from the war. Also you are supposed to make a public appearance along with Tove, for announcing the treaty to the Trylle and the Vittra. Sara's coronation is still on the waiting list, in case we seemed to have earned enough respect to enter her lands. If yes, then you and Tove would be attending it.

"Also, according to what I have learnt by interacting with a couple of people is that many of them are dying to talk to you. For instance, Willa, Matt, Rhys, Tove, Garrett, Aurora, your host aunt, Sara –"

"Sara wanted to talk to me? Is she here now?" that caught my attention. I had ever since been furious at her for not saving him when she could have done so, and being an important person in the restoration of the Vittra kingdom after Oren's assassination, she must have very little time to actually come over and talk to me in person.

"Well, yes. Apparently she should be helping in the progressing of Ondarike, but turns out that she has her own minions who would do her jobs for her. Also she had estimated your healing time astonishingly well, so she didn't have a minute go wasted on her trip to Forening. Would you like to speak to her?"

I nodded, and without further instructions of what to do, I went back to the bathroom to get into some decent clothing before the Vittra queen appeared in my bedroom to see me semi-naked in just a bathrobe. Once in a simple long dress, I sat on the couch and waited for Sara to arrive and speak whatever she had desired to.

"Princess," said Sara as soon as she opened the door. I didn't give her much of a response except looking at her direction, and without needing to be told, she came inside and took her seat on the loveseat. Behind her, it was habitually annoying to see Duncan, standing like a guard by the door. "You may excuse us, Duncan." I said monotonously.

Well, it looked like even Duncan could understand and would respect my problems and my depression at this moment, because without being told twice, he left me with Sara, shutting the door behind him. "I heard that you were dying to speak to me." My voice actually sounded kind of evil.

"Everyone is. Afterall being probably the first teenager to have killed a pure-blood Vittra is a great achievement, one that has bought you fame all over the Kanin and Skojare tribes. And well . . . I can actually explain my reasons for . . ."

I gulped, and so did she, as we both turned away from each other slightly so that we didn't have eye contact anymore. It was relatively more comfortable that way. "You must know that I am not genetically entirely Trylle; half Trylle and half Vittra, though my home is in Ondarike. Due to this I have some qualities that Trylle possess and some qualities that Trylle don't possess, all in equilateral quantities. Therefore, being a Trylle, my ability is that of a healer, but however it isn't as advanced and productive as the pure-blood Trylle healing abilities.

"The reason being simple, that I am a half-Trylle. In this case, I can heal basic wounds and injuries, recover someone from a major disease. Even bringing someone back from coma is a difficult task for half-Trylle like me; it takes up a large quantity of your energy, leaving a simple coma restoration job done with the healer's condition like yours had been after the war.

"Bringing someone back from dead is something completely impossible for a half-Trylle- half-Vittra like me. Maybe a pure-blood Trylle would have such advanced abilities, but not someone genetically like me. I'm sorry for whatever happened, you can't say you don't believe that I am. I wanted him alive, smiling here right now just as much as you did; but just like you, I wasn't capable of doing so."

I nodded, without answering. I wanted to argue with her and tell her that she was wrong and selfish, but ultimately I had no valid argument point and she was right. Being a half- Vittra and half-Trylle, she had some deficiencies in her Trylle abilities. She got up, and started leaving, but then paused and said "I kind of understand your desperation for love, but holding such an important position as a married Trylle queen, you seemed to have no chance with him."

That immediately got my attention, and I flared up. "I had a wonderful chance with him in the future. You don't know; Tove had offered up to divorce me, so that I could actually have someone whom I love as the king, and not someone whom I am forcefully supposed to marry and rule with."

Sara was practically left speechless at my sudden outburst, and simply just nodded and walked away from my room. When she was gone, I fell on my knees to the floor. Tears won against my cornea and soon I was sobbing on my knees with my tears soaking my dress.