Hello everyone. Here is chapter 18. I hope that you will enjoy it. :)

After Arthur gave their children to an orphanage, Banderas and Maria made love in the forest for the last time before Banderas had to leave for his kingdom as he knew that his mother will be clearly worried for him as he understood why his mother is worried for him all of the time as she was worried for his life.

He found a horse and he mounted the horse before riding off while waving goodbye to Maria as she blew him kisses which he, happily, returned while he continued to ride his horse until he was out of sight as Maria began to make her way back with Arthur in order to reunite him with his family.

It wasn't long until they heard a very familiar battle-cry as the two looked out from behind the trees to see that Albert has returned with Kings Eduardo and Challa at his side as the three have a massive combined army at their disposal as they began to march on Albert's former castle.

The following battle was both brutal and tiring, though, it ended with the death of Haredi as well as the defeat of his army, who were quickly captured and thrown into jail to await trial for their crimes committed against the people, who cheered at the arrival of their King.

Albert was now carrying his two children, Alex and Liz, when he began to search for Maria as he hoped that she is alright knowing that there is a chance that she might no longer be alive which would mean that he will have to look after his children by himself.

He searched and searched until he finally found Maria with the sight of her making him smile as he ran over to her which resulted in the two hugging as well as sharing a kiss while Arthur could only watch as the royal couple are reunited and he wondered about his father's whereabouts.

"I am so glad, that you're alright" said Albert as he kissed Maria. "I thought, I lost you".

"Don't worry, Albert, I'm ok" said Maria as she smiled at Albert. "At least, we have got a chance to restore the kingdom to normal".

"Um, your majesty, where's my father?" asked Arthur as he was worried. "Did he come back with you, is he ok?".

"Ummm, this is going to be difficult" said Albert as he kneeled down to Arthur's level. "Little one, I am sorry to say, that your father is dead, he was killed".

"What happened?, how did he die?" asked Arthur as tears streamed down his face. "Who killed him?, your majesty, who killed my father?".

"He died protecting me, little one" said Albert as he took in a deep breath. "As for who killed him, I do not know, though, the voice sounded familiar".

Arthur wept as he mourned the loss of his father with Maria and Albert comforting the guy in the hopes of giving him so strength to use in his recovery from his loss while everyone else in the kingdom also mourned for the loss of an very loyal royal messenger and they won't forget him, ever.

They all began to rebuild the kingdom back to it's former glory and they even build a statue of Arthur's father, Leofric, to honour his sacrifice in protecting Albert from his enemies and they, also, witnessed Arthur becoming the new royal messenger as he hopes to continue his father's work.

He was doing a really good job at it as he kept on exchanging messages from not only Albert, but, also, other royals in different kingdoms as he continued to prove that he is more than capable for the job and his success grew with each successful mission that Albert put him on.

Arthur even got the honour of becoming a friend to Albert's son, Alex, with the two sharing a brother-like bond and they both shared a dislike for Alex's older sister, Liz, as they thought that she is a bit spoiled and thinks that she deserves to be on the throne rather than Alex.

While that was happening, Albert and Maria remained as in love as ever, even when Maria already felt pain from parting ways with Banderas as she hopes to see him again in the future, though, she also hoped that nothing bad will happen to him before that time.

It was also during those years when they would receive news about the assassination of Banderas's mother, Sarah, with the news shocking the entire royal family as they managed to attend her funeral while comforting the people that mourned the death of Sarah, though.

There was happier news as Arthur had a girlfriend, a female Scarlet Macaw peasant girl called Lorena, to whom he proposed with Lorena accepting the proposal which led to their marriage as well as the birth of their three children, Lancelot, Percival and Gwen, the news bringing happiness to the entire kingdom.

Albert and Maria are happy for the lovely couple, especially Arthur, as they knew that the lovebirds have now got a family of their own to love and cherish for the rest of their lives, though, they had no idea that tragedy was coming and it caught them completely unprepared for it.