AN at end
Epilogue
He ran after the messenger boy. He didn't just jog leisurely, nor did he really sprint, but he ran in a sort of way that showed anyone who might have seen him that he was running somewhere important. If they knew what he was running towards, they might have run after him, or run the other way, it all depended on the person. It shocked him that he was actually running. He had never had reason to run in his palace before and now that he had a reason, it felt slightly strange but more liberating than he thought. It wasn't the time for him to enjoy the feeling though, he had many more important things to think about than his stupid emotions.
When he got the message from his general, he had a very bad feeling about all of this. He felt as if he should hurry after the youth who was sent to bring him the news. The fact that he was not told any details worried him more than anyone could have imagined, or at least more than they would all know. He realized that the boy had started to slow down which only ment that they were getting close to wherever they were going. When he realized where they were heading too he let his feet stop moving, planting him on the spot. His face paled slightly.
"My lord?" the boy asked.
"Are we going where I believe we are going?"Rahl asked after cleaning his throat.
The boy just nodded slowly and shivered before setting of at a trot again. Rahl felt a whole lot better that he was not the only one that was afraid to go near that thing, just his reason was very different than the boy's. Rahl forced his legs to move forward, taking him towards his worst nightmare.
He knew it would be bad, but he never though it would be this bad. Egremont tried to stop him from going near the cell but he could not force the king to stop. The king was on a mission and the general was not so stupid as to try to stop him. Rahl couldn't help but let out a slight gasp at the sight of his beloved. He bent down and went to pick her up but he hesitated slightly. He took a moment to take in the sight of her.
She was bent over something and she had obviously tried to protect it with her life. And that was exactly what the beast took, her life. And his son's. And a few of the guards. Her limbs were gnawed on and covered with warm blood that was still oozing out of her slowly.
He knelt down next to her and cradled her head in his arms. He studied the expression that she had left this world with. She looked more shocked than anything. There was no pain or fear in her eyes or sketched on her face; just a mix of determination and shock. It hurt him far more than it seemed it did her just to look at her in this state. He leant down and kissed his wife's forehead as he closed her eyelids.
He leant over and picked up his dead son and kissed his head lightly. He almost lost his composure as he actually touched the pulseless corpse of his only heir. He couldn't help but feel greatly impacted by this small infant's death. It was his son, even if it wasn't truly his wife's and therefore the heir to the throne of D'Hara. His death would mean so much to his people; it would bring about so much grief and strife.
He couldn't imagine how terrible the next few days, if not weeks would be for him. Right now he was just happy that he was numb to the bone or he wouldn't have been able to control his sobs. At least this way he would be fine for a while, he would be able to walk around in this state for a while and it would take until he was alone tonight for this all to set in. The gravity of the situation was just starting to strike him.
"My lord, what do you want us to do about all this?" he heard Egremont ask him softly from just behind him.
"Tell the people of the queen's and prince's death and how the queen had killed the beast as she was fed to the beast by a captor that the beast later killed. Tell them all that mourning will last a fortnight and that there will be feast nightly in the queen's and prince's honour open to all," Rahl said without looking away from his son's dead body.
"My lord, how do you know that is what happened? All of the witnesses are dead. Events could have easily come to pass a whole other way," Egremont replied.
"I don't, but seeing as we will never really know I believe that she should die a hero. Throw in a bit about the Seeker sending the kidnapper if you wish, just play up her innocence and that someone else is at fault. I won't have her die for any other reason," Rahl replied turning to look at the general.
With a stiff nod the general backed away from the king. He didn't think that he had even seen that look on Rahl's face, and he had seen the king in many states throughout his life. He knew that doing as he was told was exactly what the king needed right now, so he would spread the word of the queen's bravery and such. He would find out what really happened another day.
"You heard the king solders. Spread the word. Oh and someone, clean up that god awful mess and keep the beast's head as a trophy. Someone bring the queen and son somewhere dignified where they can be prepared for the funeral ceremonies." Egremont shouted out orders to all the solders around knowing that the king would approve. Sometimes it was better to just assume that he knew what the king needed or wanted to happen than to ask the king's permission all the time.
Rahl nodded to all of the orders absentmindedly. Despite Egremont being annoyingly suspicious at times, he knew that the general knew what should be done in times like these when he had no clue what to say or do. He would just be a zombie for the rest of the day and that would be fine by him. If anyone had a problem with that then he would deal with them when he was in his right mind, which he had a feeling wouldn't be for quite some time. Luckily for him, he had someone at his back that would deal with anything urgent and wouldn't try to do anything while he was vulnerable. He liked knowing that he had someone that he could trust.
Well this is it, the end of this little story between the great Darken Rahl and his late wife Shara. I hope you hve all enjoyed this as much as I have. Feel free to read any of my other stories if they interest you, if not then I hope that I will come across you another time on the interweb. If not I hope you have a great life.
Your humble author,
Hulachowdown
