It was spring.
Notch leaned out over the railing of his balcony, gazing over the dozens of islands suspended amongst the clouds that stretched out to the distant horizon. The skyroot trees were covered in pink and white blossoms, promising a good crop of the golden apples that kept the Aether and its armies in good health. He could pick out flocks of valkyries where they travelled between the islands in the early morning sun, many of them reporting to their various positions for the day.
Notch himself had a rather eventful day ahead of him. His first meeting of the day was in less than half an hour, an audience with a young valkyrie couple to discuss their upcoming marriage. Afterwards, he would be meeting with two of his generals on the matter of replenishing troops at two of the largest Overworld cities. From then on, he would be spending the rest of the day in preparation for the small banquet that he would be hosting tonight.
Hosting a dinner wasn't all that uncommon for him. Notch, of course, had both the means and the willingness to celebrate his subjects and their accomplishments at every opportunity. Tonight's banquet, however, held an ulterior motive.
It had been ten months now since Null, the devil that had terrorized the Nether for hundreds of years, had been slain and his forces dismantled. Still, his influence continued to plague this world in his absence, in the Nether as well as much closer to home. He was dead, and there had been no sign of him or his animate skeletons since, but there were questions he had that still weighed on him. How Null had remained hidden and out of the public eye for so long, for one, or what had prompted him to attack the capital after being dormant for so long since the fall of the previous king.
Notch folded his arms on the railing, his dark eyes tracing over the landscape until they rested on a small, intricately built cottage not far from his own castle. Though it was early yet, he would be surprised if its inhabitants were still in bed. His son and daughter-in-law had always been early to rise. Even in retirement.
The flutter of wings caught his attention, and he turned to look as a young man with long, dark hair landed nimbly on the balcony behind him.
"Nathaniel." Notch turned around fully to greet him. "Have the invitations been distributed?"
"Yes, my lord." Nathaniel bobbed his chin. "I placed them in each recipient's hands directly, and explained the circumstances."
"Very good, thank you." Notch gave him a gracious smile. "You may return to your post." Nathaniel bowed, then took off again, vanishing around the bend of a turret.
Notch cast his gaze to the scenery once more before he turned away, his golden cape snapping in the wind behind him as he passed back beneath the castle ceiling. The sunrise would be there tomorrow, he needed to prepare for his first meeting.
"I thought you didn't like parties," Evangeline breathed, her fingertips gripping at the trim on the doorframe. Her husband paused at this, his lips hovering over the soft skin of her throat.
"I don't," he murmured against her skin. "That's why we're back here." He pressed a kiss to the underside of her chin, and Evangeline couldn't stop a stifled giggle, her free hand tangling in the back of his rumpled dress shirt.
A year prior, Evangeline would not have even dreamed of sneaking away from a gathering hosted by Notch himself in order to spend time with her husband. However, it seemed that Herobrine had far less respect for his sovereign than she did, and thus had no qualms about taking his wife into a moderately secluded hallway to hide from the other attendees.
"Dinner will be starting soon…" Evangeline murmured, her hand drifting up to his shoulder to keep from losing her balance. Herobrine paused in his affections, making a displeased sound in the back of his throat.
"They can wait," He muttered, his hand settling in the small of her back. Evangeline hummed, tilting her head back to lean against the wall.
"I am not keen on someone coming to look for us…"
"Fine." Herobrine pulled away, clearly disappointed, but he reached up to finger-comb her hair back into order. He cupped her head in both hands, gazing into her gold-rimmed eyes, and Evangeline leaned in to press a chaste kiss to his lips.
"Come on," she coaxed, and Herobrine stepped back, taking her cane from where she had left it leaned against the doorframe and pressing it into her hand. "Your shirt's untucked," she added as she stepped away from the wall. Herobrine scoffed, tucking it back into his waistband.
"And whose fault is that?"
It may have been more than nine months since they were married, but Evangeline's devotion for her husband had not so much as faltered, and she knew that Herobrine felt the same way. Though they may have stayed out of mortal danger since Null's downfall, they still supported each other every day, though now their support came more in the form of late nights and early mornings rather than prowess in battle.
Evangeline's cane gave an extra small thump where it met the carpet with each step. She had only started using it a few weeks ago now, in an attempt to stave off the pain in her leg that had developed over several months of carrying the weight of a full-fledged wing on only one side of her body. The cane helped a bit, built of the same zanite-infused steel as her sword had once been forged from.
She had noticed that the sight of her using it had prompted Herobrine to help her with menial tasks far more than normal, insisting on getting a cup from the cupboards from her or helping her put on her shoes. Right now, he had a hand on her waist, his forearm resting across the back of her red formal dress. Evangeline obviously didn't need any help keeping her balance, but she wasn't going to complain.
The pair of them emerged out into the dining room, where, as Evangeline had suspected, the guests were beginning to congregate at the dining table. There were not a lot of them, only fifteen or sixteen by her estimate, and Evangeline had already picked out a few familiar faces.
Evangeline found the seat marked with her name and sat down, Herobrine ensuring that she was settled before taking his seat on her left. Across the table, Meryl rested her chin in her palm, arching a brow in their direction.
"And where did you disappear off to?"
"We were admiring the grounds," Herobrine lied before Evangeline could come up with a response. Meryl gave him a skeptical look, then turned her brown eyes back to Evangeline and reached up to tap at her own neck. Evangeline flushed as red as her dress.
"Evangeline!" The voice from her right caused her to turn, and she broke into a reflexive smile as Notch seated himself beside her. "How are you this evening? I did not get a chance to speak with you earlier."
"Very well, thank you," Evangeline responded politely. If Notch noticed her blushing, he kindly refrained from drawing attention to it, nodding instead before turning his attention beyond her. "Herobrine." Herobrine gave him a small, warm smile, one he reserved for only his family and his wife.
Among those at the table were her former commander, Phillip Zenith, as well as his wife the Queen of the Nether and his companion, David Tekno. Evangeline had greeted them all before dinner, but she offered them each a broad smile before beginning to eat.
Herobrine leaned over to murmur in her ear as she took a tart from the tray before her. "How long do you think this dinner will last?"
"At least an hour," she murmured back. Herobrine's jaw quirked at that, and she reached over to rest her hand on his forearm. "You've endured worse." Her husband just grumbled under his breath.
Evangeline bit into her tart, the filling of which seemed to tingle on her tongue. Golden apples were plentiful enough here in the Aether that some, especially the sovereign of the realm, could afford to serve them for their taste rather than for their healing properties.
"Meryl," she addressed her friend, attempting to banish the embarrassment from her teasing. "You've been stationed at Mosenta for some time now, haven't you? How has that been?"
"It's been going well," Meryl told her, taking a cut of pork. "It's beautiful there in the spring, and Lord Lancaster is a gracious host."
"Is he, now?" Evangeline arched a brow.
"Yes." Meryl side-eyed her. "He is."
"I'm pleased to hear that," Notch cut in cheerfully. "Have you had much trouble there?"
"No, my lord," Meryl told him. "It has been very peaceful. My only complaint is that it is still a little cold there." Evangeline's smile faded a bit at that. It seemed that, after Meryl's death and resurrection, her tolerance for cold had never been quite the same. "And what have you been up to, Eve?" Meryl changed the subject. "Has retirement driven you to take up knitting yet?"
Evangeline wrinkled up her nose. "Not quite. They did give me a blunt object for me to hit people with, though." Meryl eyed her cane where it rested against her chair.
"I will remain aware of that."
The dinner continued in such a manner for not one hour, but two before some of the guests began to leave. Herobrine remained quiet for most of it, but his spirits did begin to lift over time, and he ended up engaging with Commander Zenith in a lengthy discussion over fighting styles and one versus two-handed weapons.
By the time the sun had set, the windows around the dining room dark and their curtains drawn, all that remained in the room were Notch, Meryl, Tekno, Zenith and Queen Rosales, and Herobrine and Evangeline themselves. Notch cleared his throat softly, then pushed his chair back and stood.
"Thank you all for staying," he addressed them. "As I told you in my invitations to each of you, there is something that I would like us all to discuss." He stepped away from the table, beckoning them with him, and Evangeline took ahold of her cane. "Come," he instructed them. "Let us go to the sitting room to speak further."
yayyyy triquel yayyyy!
turns out I can't stop thinking about them so you get more lol
~p0tat0-g0ddess