"Mother, it is for thine own health that we yet hide secrets."
Owain shifted in discomfort, he was sure that any words he tried to speak would yet fan the flames. The sentinel only laid a reassuring palm on his princess' back. The queen made a small keening noise in the back of her throat, running trembling hands through her dark hair. Her regal face was skewed in rising panic. "The soul yet speaks but the body is lost. The Dark Moon laughs." Too wide eyes locked onto Owain. "What a fine protector thou art, what a grand warrior. Such prowess in guarding and thou hast allowed thine wife to come to such a fate?"
His greatest shame thrown in his face, Owain could do naught but bow his head. Ranni took a tentative step forward. "We've devised a way forward, if thou wouldst but listen." Her voice, usually so cold, was wavering, colored with rare submission.
"Oh, a path out of this fresh hell thou sayst?" Owain shook his head as the air grew jagged from spiraling magic. "I can yet feel thine magic at work in mine mind, daughter. You hide much from me. Dost thou thinketh me so weak that I canst not bear the truth in full?
"Aye." Ranni too, could not meet Rennala's piercing gaze. It was soft and quiet, but the queen heard it all the same.
The monarch was caught by such surprise that her rage was supplanted, for a breath, by genuine shock. "Daughter?"
Ranni pressed forward, "Thou'rt more fragile than thou knowest, mother. I beseech thee-" Owain swayed on his feet at the force of her rageful magic.
"Enough of this nonsense!" The queen's pale hand shot forth and a surging wind swept Owain into her grasp. He had to run! He could not let slip the memories he knew she would claim from him! The sentinel tried to regain his feet but was too slow; icy fingers grasped his face.
"Mo-mama, no!" Ranni stumbled to stop her mother but she too was not swift enough.
Owain felt the queen's overwhelming magic crash through his fractured mind. Countless memories surfaced. What little strength he could muster in defense was brushed aside by an uncaring force of nature. The queen saw Ranni's doll atop her chair as the truth of her death was revealed. She saw Oswald's gray face as he reported Radahn's sickness. She saw Ranni's tears as the princess lamented Rykard's loss to the serpent. She saw moment after moment after peaceful moment of Lord Radagon in Leyndell, holding children that were not hers, embracing a woman that was not her.
She saw too much.
He heard the beginning of a heartbreaking scream, felt the ends of her long nails dig deep divots into his cheeks. Alas! The queen was losing control she would-
Owain surged up from the cold stone of the chambers floor with a bellow; he had died? The sentinel could scarcely breathe, the air was too potent with wild magic. Ranni was attempting to embrace her mother, voice a rising cry, but it was only worsening the situation. He rushed to untangle his princess from her mother. He knew better than any how disorienting it was to have the crumbling doll that yet held her soul, place its porcelain hands upon one in an attempt of comfort.
"Ranni, away beloved! I will console her!" The look of cutting hurt that she showed him as he spirited her out the door would stay carved upon his heart. He grit his teeth, swiftly closing the entryway once more before stumbling back to the still wailing queen. His sight kept shuttering black, his consciousness holding by a fraying thread. She was now sat upon the ground, eyes aglow with power, pale face lined with frosted tears.
"Mother." He murmured lowly. Her unseeing gaze snapped to him and his knees buckled from the pressure. "Mother. I-" A lithe arm reached out to him and he thought for a terrified moment that he was about to die once more.
"This must be a nightmare, sweet Wain. Such ghastly imaginings I hath seen." Had the potions effects worn off in full? Or was there yet a chance to salvage this horror?
He crept forward slowly until at last he could gather the queen in gentle arms to place her back atop her bed. Owain sat gingerly beside the woman, who looked at him with such searing despair he began to weep as well. "I felt much the same, when I awoke to this new world." He laid a hand atop hers, stilling her trembling fingers. "But I am here now, Mother. Ranni can yet be saved. She has not shared her machinations with me but I am certain that my brothers may be restored as well. You are the Lunar Queen, she who stopped full the Golden Order not once, but twice. Who are we to turn to if not you."
The roiling mana in the room began to still, and Queen Rennala finally met his gaze. The monarch took several hitching breaths, squaring her shoulders in a sad imitation of her usual posture. "I hath been…unwell for quite some time, have I not, Wain?"
"Such grief as yours is easily understood, mother. You almost healed from it once, I believe you can anew."
"Something in mine heart has shifteth ever so slightly. Like the razor's edge of mine misery is dulled in a small way. Mayhaps this is better, to be spectator to mine tragic past; rather than participant." Her fingers, now warm, were gentle as they caressed his face. "I am sorry, child. For the violence I've shown thee."
He smiled softly. "You are blameless, mother. I too, am sorry, for this new turmoil we have placed upon your shoulders."
The queen urged him from the bed with a hand. "A mother's work is never done, especially not with such a clever daughter." Her voice broke, betraying her poorly hidden despair. "For now, mine son…go. Leave me to mine rest, callest thee for mine handmaidens. I must begin to apprise mineself of these Lands Between once more."
He rose, standing stiffly, before bowing low. Owain had his reservations, but he would trust in the queen. This was the most cognizant they had seen her in many years. "As you wish, mother."
Ranni was not waiting for him outside the door as he'd expected. Nor was she in her tower library or study. She must be distraught indeed to seek solace in the manor. The shape under their blankets did not move when he entered their chambers, but he felt a small sense of deja vu as the door slammed shut behind him and he was whisked to the bed by a gust of frosty wind. She had told him once that securing herself so tightly helped ease the horror she sometimes felt at the state of her soul. His poor princess, that she must suffer so.
Owain lifted the covers slowly, meeting Ranni's eyes with what he hoped was a gentle smile. "Starlight."
"Sunbeam." Four arms reached out to him and he gladly acquiesced. His princess had begun acting more and more like her past self, like she had flesh instead of fired clay. He knew she could not feel his arms around her, he knew she had no need to sigh or sniffle; but still he was relieved she did. It made her that much more alive. "Is mother…alright?"
"She is. Truthfully, this is the most hopeful I have been since Lord Radagon's departure. Though the tonic you two devised did not maintain its intended effect, mother seems to feel it has soothed her somewhat."
Cold lips pressed a slow kiss to the base of his throat. "I thank thee for all thou hast done for me, my dear. I should hath known better than to think we could find such an easy solution."
"Things grow brighter by the day, Ranni. Hold to me as I hold to you, all will be righted."
Ranni finally emerged from their covers, blue hair a frizzy halo in the beams of noon sun cast through the windows. "Always, Owain." Her faces smiled shakily and just a small amount of the stress he held on his shoulders seemed to lift away.
The next few months were difficult for his princess. Progress with the queen was a slow and halting thing; some days she was hale and hopeful, while others she would not leave her bed. Owain attended to both Carians often, but knew that Ranni devoted much more of her time to her mother.
For all the hardship and strife he was sure the queen's ailment caused, there did seem to be a general improvement of morale. Not only in Ranni, but further still in the hearts of all who toiled in the manor. News of the Lunar Queen's return had spread swiftly across the land and the manor town was undergoing ever more expansion. The manor proper was well along its way towards full restoration. When Owain walked among his people. He saw smiles and heard laughs; the sun seemed to shine warmer.
It was three full months after Queen Rennala's awakening that Owain was called frantically from his conference with Lord Moongrum and good Iji. "My lord!" A sentinel burst through the library doors. "My lord! Dragons! Two dragons approach from the north!"
Dragons? He rushed through the manor halls to the bright noon outside, if these dragons were who he thought they were, Owain needed to warn Adula. "Adula!" He called, just as the great dragon was rising to meet their coming guests. "They are guests! Pray, do them no harm!" The great glintstone dragon paused in her ascension and regarded him an unamused eye before gliding once more aground near Ranni's tower.
Owain could clearly see the two approaching dragons now, Lady Fortissax and Lady Lansseax were familiar shapes to him. Lord Moongrum made his way quietly to Owain's side. "I hope you know well, the task you undertake, my lord." He grumbled.
Owain chuckled. "Let us stay optimis-" As he regarded the dragons in flight, a memory came unbidden to crash through his thoughts.
He really should make more time to walk the ramparts. Owain had been so busy since his father had handed command of the sentinels to him, but there truly was no excuse. He'd thought Captain Gora would be skilled enough to manage the wall without close supervision, but the man was letting too much slide. The guard rotations were falling out of sync! Owain growled out his frustration, Gora backing away slightly. Today was too important for mistakes! "Gora."
"I-I know, highlord. It is my fault, I've yet to integrate the new sentinels properly." Owain hummed his acknowledgement.
At least the lieutenant was not attempting to shift blame. "As long as you get them in order. Today must be a day without failure. We will discuss this later, I need return to the palace."
Lieutenant Gora sighed, his shoulders slouched. "Yes, my lord. I shall have- Lord! A dr-dragon!"
There was little time for Owain to act. He turned to see the largest dragon he'd ever yet laid eyes on filling the width of the horizon. It would be upon them in mere moments! He could already see the unspouted fire bubbling up in its throat. "Gora! Away! Rally the guard!" Owain threw the man bodily down the long rampart, that he might avoid the coming death.
Cruel intelligence sparked in the beast's eyes as it loosed its flame, it was laughing. Owain cast the enchantment of his great shield as the fire consumed him, only just avoiding being burnt alive. Two massive forepaws gripped the golden rampart of the city, the impact knocking the sentinel to his back.
As he regained his footing, he came eye to eye with the city's assailant. 'Fetch thy queen for me, little mouse.' The dragon's booming baritone resounded in his mind.
"You'll face me instead, creature!" As the beast's talons closed in on him, he threw his spear with all his might, only to watch in rising despair as it clinked uselessly off the dragon's cheek to fall to the far ground below. Harsh laughter vibrated through his chest as he was plucked from the wall and thrown in the direction of the royal palace.
The sheer force of the movement sent him skyward; sailing across the many miles of Leyndell proper. The weight of his speed robbed his senses; he could hear only the scream of whistling wind through his helm before he impacted what felt like crackling wood. He fell a great distance more before cratering into solid stone.
Owain could not think, could not breath. His armor was nigh unbreakable but the body within was not, he was-he was dying. Frantic voices swirled around him, but he could make no sense of who they were nor what they were saying. His lungs would not open, too full of blood. His breaths dragged and rattled through his broken chest. Was this how he was to end? So soon after taking up his father's mantle? He cursed himself for tarnishing his father's name, and for marring the day of the newly borne princes.
Golden light suffused his senses, knitting bone and mending flesh. He pushed up from his forearms shakily, Owain had to warn his queen! "Dragon!" He groaned out. "Dragon at-wall!". He coughed bloodily.
"Rise mine son." Father? But he was guarding the eternal one!
The dark bronze gauntlets of his fathers crucible knight armor flashed before his eyes as he was hoisted to his feet. His lord father stared down at him worriedly, Owain tried to shake his lingering daze. "Come, Lord Godfrey and I must go forth to face the threat. Remain at the queen's side, mine son. See that no harm comes to her." Owain sputtered, yes the-the queen!
He removed his helm to heave in more air. "Aye, father! I will not fail!"
As his father led him through the wide, airy corridors of the capitol, he realized the dragon had thrown him squarely atop the sprawling platform of the elden throne. Now that more of his senses had returned to him, he and father began sprinting through the halls. Upon arrival at the queen's bedchamber they were met by the rest of father's order; all with weapons drawn and shields raised.
"Ordovis! Siluria! We shall slow his advance, my lord!" All sixteen of Lord Godfrey's fearsome crucible knights charged from the chamber, leaving Owain to wade through scurrying attendants to his queen's bedside. Lord Godfrey himself was cradling the eternal one in his arms, their two newborn babes atop her bare chest.
Owain dared not drop eaves but he heard the tail of their whispered conversation as he knelt a ways before the royal bed. "-no foe that is a threat to me, mine pretty little wife. I shall return soon, tend to our sons."
The queen laughed breathily, "Such arrogance, thou'rt truly a brute." Owain cast his eyes down as he watched his queen kiss his lord. It was lingering and gentle and not something he should be privy to.
Lord Godfrey nestled his wife and children in layers of enchanted sheets before finally turning to Owain. "Rise, young Wain." He voice was far from the sweet grumble of the doting husband; the Elden Lord now stood before him. The giant man stepped forward to clap a hand on Owain's shoulder. The sentinel's legs almost buckled from the force. "A dire test indeed so soon into thine command. Let no harm befall mine family."
"Yes, my lord!" Owain would have said more but the man was already gone. Owain collected himself swiftly and knelt before the watching queen. "My queen, is there anything that I can do for you?"
She gifted him with a rare smile, "Come and greet thy new lords, Sentinel." Her voice was low so as not to disturb her sleeping children.
Owain blinked owlishly before making his way quietly to her side. He'd yet to process his close brush with death, he worried for his father and his lords Godfrey and Godwyn. As he gazed upon the newest members of the royal family, his racing thoughts slowed for a moment. He swore to himself that as long as breath remained in his chest, these precious children would meet no harm.
The sentinel's refocusing gaze met two booted pairs of booted feet. He sighed through his tumultuous emotions, lifting his eyes to meet the curious faces of Ladies Fortissax and Lansseax. He righted his tilting kneel. "Greetings, my ladies. I welcome you to Caria Manor."