In less than a week, the entirety of Liurnia had been cleansed of the Cuckoo filth, all save the academy. Half his forces he'd redeployed in Limgrave, to continue efforts there, the other he'd stationed throughout the lakes to begin restoration and protection efforts. While more came under his banner every day, his Sentinels and new trainees were beginning to strain over such a vast territory. Towns were being rebuilt, fields resown; all needed the protection of gold. Already a makeshift city was springing up outside of Stormveil.
There were so many that he'd missed on his mad dash to Caria Manor, so many that needed aid or shelter or safe harbor. Owain would save them all, he would right his wrong. Godrick had been stockpiling supplies like a miser for decades, he would put it all to good use. They could weather the next few seasons before crops could be cultivated.
Only nine other sentinels stood with him before the main gate of the academy, more than enough to rout these feckless cowards. He held the key he'd found behind his breastplate, knowing now what it was, a master key to the academy gates gifted to him by Mother Rennala. Owain smiled at the memory.
He bowed as low as he could, he could not kneel to the foreign monarch, but he hoped she understood his deep respect and love for her. "I, Owain of the sentinels, Greets Your Majesty Queen Ren-"
The queen scoffed, turning and ushering him along with a lithe hand. "Ever formal aren't thee. Come." She swept powerfully away. "Rykard and Radahn haveth their own domains. Thou'rt lord consort apparent of Caria, Wain. We must begin in earnest thine education on the Carian court." Books began to float from the bookshelves after them.
Owain sputtered, "Your Maj-"
"If I heareth even one word of protest from the man who hast courted mine daughter for centuries, I shalt turn him into a newt."
He sighed while rushing to keep up with her long strides, suitably cowed. "Yes, Your Majesty. I am honored by the instruction."
The queen halted abruptly, spinning to look sternly down at him. "Ah, takest thou this key. The academy's doors, as well as mine own, are ever open to thee." Rennala pressed the key into his shocked palm, closing it gently. "Mine daughter lovest thee, mine sons respecteth thee, even mine husband is fond of thee. I am proud to call thee son, Lord Sentinel. Now doth not dare tarry in Leyndell overlong, I expect a royal wedding within this century, Owain."
The sentinel could hardly speak past the constricting of his throat. "Yes, great que-" At the flashing of her eyes he corrected himself. "Yes, mother. I will not disappoint you."
Owain shook himself from his reverie. "Heed me, Sentinels." He waited until they had gathered before him to continue. "We ten shall now go forth into the academy, culling all that dared to hold even the smallest of hopes of supplanting Queen Rennala. We will move slowly, methodically. You will not take a life unless I confirm their allegiance. When at last we reach the grand courtyard that lies before the library, you nine shall return to your posts. Even mad, the Queen Rennalla is not to be trifled with. Do any of you hold queries?"
The nine were silent save for one, a newer recruit of his sentinels, the boy had barely been bequeathed his halberd before Owain had died. "My lord, is Queen Rennalla not an enemy of Leyndell? I do not understand why we have gone to such great lengths to save the Carians." A few of the other gathered sentinels nodded.
There could be no dissension in his ranks, but he could not lose his temper at a man simply trying to understand. "There is much that all of you do not know. Of the nature of the shattering, of the nature of the great ring. I will not begrudge your confusion, young Rolant." The man snapped to a proper posture, perhaps realizing his impudence. "What I will tell you is that I seek only the betterment of all of our lands between. All that I do is to that end. Queen Rennala is the only person to ever live to fight the Golden Order to a standstill even once. With the disappearance of Queen Marika, The Full Moon Queen is the most powerful woman alive. I seek to gain her aliment, and to cure her of her madness; that she might aid us in our great quest." Rolant and the few that had nodded cast their heads down, suitably chastised. Owain winced behind his visor, he still could not gentle his tone enough. "When next any of you or our brothers seek elucidation, come before me and I will explain. Does that satisfy, Rolant?"
The sentinel cried out his affirmation as his brothers aside him elbowed him.
"Now then, my golden host, onward!"
It was not combat that awaited them, but a brutal slaughter. Room by room, level by level; the dissenters were put down. These sorcerers were not soldiers, but academics. Their spells reflected off of he and his brothers greatshields, their neglected swords shattered against golden armor. At least Queen Rennala's hound was pleased to see him. He sent it, along with the few loyal mages they'd collected through the academy, off with instructions to attend to Ranni at the manor. Owain was beyond weary by the time they finally approached the upper courtyard.
He halted, it was far too quiet here. Behind the colossal fountain that stood decrepit in the center of the yard, he spied a towering mechanical being. Rykard's doing? It was of his taste, the man seemed to only invent brutal weapons.
Whirling saws and reaching arms levered towards him and his men and Owain shook himself from his musing. "Formation!" He bellowed. A shield wall was hastily placed before the monstrosity wheeled into them.
It struck with ghastly force and he was pushed back several steps. His spear was ineffective in damaging its metal hide. "The joints! Hammer the joints!" He called.
It took them a few precarious minutes of the mechanical abomination surging from greatshield to greatshield, but his sentinels were able to hack it apart with their halberds. There was little in the lands between that could bear the weight of so many blows from a sentinel's halberd.
They moved on cautiously, but there were few enemies left to dispatch. It was early night when at last they arrived at the courtyard before the library. A carian knight stood waiting. He turned to his gathered men. "Seek egress through the south gate, bring the corpses, that they may return to the great tree." They saluted as one, rushing to fulfill his command. He turned to the waiting carian, suspecting already their identity.
He walked slowly to the nearest pillar of stone, leaning spear and shield against it. His helm and gauntlets too, he removed. With an uncovered face he called out to the knight. "Hail, knight of Caria. I come with no ill intentions, only to take mother home."
"So the astrologers were correct, you have returned." Owain smiled at the grizzled voice that reverberated from the shining silver helm. His supposition was right, it was Lord Moongrum, head of the Carian knights.
"Aye, lord. I would see Caria restored." Owain made to step forward but the knight held out a hand.
"You do not seek the queen's great rune? You are tarnished now." Moongrum's grip rested lightly on his sword hilt. Without his weapon, Owain would surely lose should Moongrum deem him a threat. The man had held off Lord Radagon's armies with naught but fifteen knights and a score of mages.
"I do not seek it, Lord Moongrum. Only her safety, and her wisdom. I will bring her home to Ranni." Moongrum took a step back in surprise. So, Ranni had not made it known to her mother that she survived?
"Ranni yet lives?" The knight's voice hopeful, wavering in a way that Owain had never heard.
"Of a sort. Her soul survives."
Moongrum heaved out a great sigh. "Then you may pass, Owain, perhaps this news will snap Queen Rennala from her madness. It grew much worse at the news of her daughter's death, the news of all her son's horrible fates made me lose all hope she will recover."
Owain at last walked forward, clasping the knight's arm. "Thank you for protecting my family, a lesser man would have lost himself after all these years."
Moongrum slid up his visor, haggard eyes and pale skin pallid in the moonlight. "As long as I yet breathe, the line of the moon will not break. Go now, Wain, I will journey to the manor, ready to serve her highness once more. Keep your wits about you, lad. She has not shown much aggression, but you are gold where I am silver."
Owain met the knight's eyes with a steady nod.
As he approached the grand doors of the library, the same unease that had gripped him at the manor sat in his gut. The queen had been improving when last he saw her, what state would she be in now after such long hardship? The sentinel pushed open the doors to be met by the foreboding gloom of the library unlit by any source save moonbeams.
"Queen Rennala!" He called. "Great Queen! It is I, Owain!"
He crept forward slowly, wishing he'd thought to bring a lantern. "Moth-"
It was not until the queen's grand spell unmade him in an unstoppable beam of light, that Owain recalled a crucial fact. The mad queen believed him dead as well.
He heard the soft padding of bare feet come ever closer as he lay on the ground, eyes unseeing, gasping with a lung that was no longer there. "I am not so mad that I wouldst believe mine dead son walkest again. To attempt such depravity, thou'rt truly heartless."
He- he was dying again. "Mo-mother, I-" There was too much blood in his throat, he could not get the words out. How ironic that his second death came at the hands of his love's mire.
He surged up in the debate parlor, gasping for fresh air. Owain apprised his armor. It was…returned? The greater will must play with time or some such, for he and his armor to be so wholly restored. Phantom pain lanced through his chest and he keeled over with a groan. Served him right for underestimating the queen.
This time he ventured in with lantern held aloft. "Mother! I return! Pray, do not kill me!"
He felt the magic before he saw the spell. The very moon poured forth from the high windows, pooling at his feet. Owain looked up in resignation, the queen had trapped him in an enchantment he knew he had no hope of breaking.
"Wretched defiler. Horrid tormentor. Canst thou not leaveth me alone to mine grief?" Queen Rennala's manic voice came from all around him. Owain shivered in true fear.
"The world has changed! The dead return! I am returned, mother!"
He gasped in surprise as he felt a hand wrap around his throat. The Full Moon Queen materialized before him, lifting him off his feet. "Dare not name me as he wouldst. How foolish, to use the guise of mine daughter's consort. The man wouldst never serve vile usurpers such as thee." His world was turning dark.
Owain grasped futility at the queen's willowy arm, this was her world. "Ranni-"
He was flung away with such force that he felt all the bones in his side snap in unison. "Speak not mine daughter's name, cur!"
Owain could do little else but watch with ratcheting dread as the queen walked ever closer. He could not move, he could hardly breathe. "Ranni lives! I liv-" The Royal Scepter of Caria pierced his exposed throat with ease.
Tears marred the regal face of Queen Rennala, whose hands shook around her staff. "Were it so that that were't true, cretin. Were it so mine husband were't here. Mine sons. Mine daughter. Yet not even I can reverse death."
Owain tried desperately to speak through the blood pooling once more in his throat, but it was futile. He could do nothing but bleed, bleed and watch the queen cry.
"This is not encouragin' news, Wain."
He stared at her blankly. "Yes, well, it did not feel especially encouraging to be slain twice by your mother like I was a fly upon the wall."
"Do not hold her madness against her." Ranni's eyes narrowed over the book she read.
Owain sat heavily upon the edge of their shared bed. "I do not." He rested a hand on her middle. "Perhaps the two of us together would fare better, Starlight." He said softly.
The princess finally closed her book, he could read the tension in her motions, she did not wish to speak of this yet. "I fear for the moment mother realizes what I've done to myself. What if it only breaks her further?" Two of her hands folded atop his.
"To be frank, Ranni. I think the only thing that would yet snap her from this…malaise, would be the needs of her child. Let us go together, and see if we can not yet rouse the greatest sorceress to ever live."
"We take true risk, endangerin' this puppet body…." She leaned her head back against her pillows. "Together, Sunbeam. Our plan will not work without her."
Owain smiled thinly. He had little hope that Queen Rennala would aid them, but even little hope was better than none at all. "Then let us go forth anon, Torrent is well strong enough to ferry us both." He winked. It was fortunate that Torrent was able to change his size, else Owain would never have had any hope of mounting him. "I know that you've missed our riding sessions." Ranni pushed his face away with a laugh.
They stood before the great doors of the library, two of her arms gripping her beloved's. Though it would do little to stop mother should she become fullwroth, he walked before her as they entered. He had left his armor and weapons at the manor, lest she attack him again at the sight of them.
Ranni spoke first. "Mother! Mother! I hath come. Owain and I hath come to aid thee."
Owain swayed beneath her hand from the weight of mother's spell. The grand library was lit blindingly by an image of a full moon, the queen standing enraged beneath it. This was the first time Ranni had seen her so clearly since before the shattering, her hair was unkempt, cheeks sunken, her skin a deathly pallor, her eyes furious and red from her tears. Oh mother, her heart broke anew. She'd been a terrible daughter, leaving naught but a secret enchantment to keep her ailing mother safe.
"So thou hast returned, fiend. Profanity most heinous, this." Magica began pooling at the Queen's feet. "You dare force the voice of mine daughter into a doll?" Rennala whispered hoarsely.
Ranni had to stop her from destroying them both! "Mother no! Wait! Inspect me with thine magic! Witness true, the soul within!" Ranni flung herself before him, arms wide. Owain had been too shocked to move, he rushed to grab her but was frozen in place.
"I will tear you apart , abomination. Rennala of the Full Moon is not so waned as to-" The growing magica around the queen evaporated, and the woman dropped her staff. "Ranni? Mine beloved girl?" She breathed out, disbelieving. The illusory world around them fell away and only the noon light from the entrance lit the scene.
"It is mother, I-" Ranni's voice hitched, she would need to tell mother what she'd done, the horrific sins she'd committed.
The Queen rushed forward, throwing her arms wide around her daughter, whooping in joy. "Oh my sweeting! My darling, Ranni! Thou'rt returned to me!"
"A-aye, mother. I am here." Her voice broke though she had not even the lungs to sob. Such horrid confessions could wait.
Her mothers long, slender fingers cupped her porcelain cheeks as the woman reared back to regard her. "Thou art real, aye? Through this doll dost thou truly speak?" Her eyes were too wide; opened but unseeing. Ranni could hardly stand the electric mania she saw there.
"Yes, Mother. Owain is real as well. We have come to take you home." Ranni frowned at the odd little shapes that crept in the shadows of the library; the imperfect fruit of mother's mad magic, ever did they unnerve her. They crawled around the glowing amber egg that held mother's great rune. Ranni set the egg to hover behind them with a small spell, she did not wish to touch it.
The queen turned to pet Owain's cheek. Her Sunbeam only swallowed nervously. It was clear that he still feared her mother's wrath. "A pleasant dream this is. Strange, but kind." Mother laughed, a brittle, cracking thing. "Such monsters yet lurk in the shadows. Such terrible voices. Whispering the deaths of mine sons, of mine daughter; but you are here.~" She smiled with too many teeth, Owain shivered under Ranni's hand.
"Come mother, let us take you home to rest." Her sentinel took mother's hand with a gentleness he rarely showed, Ranni smiled despite her rising grief. She took Mother's other hand, slowly leading her out of the gloom of the library to the bright sun. The queen's skin gleamed almost translucent, she was even more sickly than they'd first thought. Ranni held back a sob as mother smiled vacantly at her.
Owain caught the queen as she stumbled, cursing softly when he realized she wore no shoes. Ranni flicked her eyes at him urgently, sighing in relief when he complied. He swept her mother tenderly into his arms, cradling her to his chest. "Such a gallant man, it is clear why Radagon favors thee." Mother's arms wrapped loosely around Owain's neck and Ranni held back a panicked laugh at his expression. Her Sunbeam was certainly gallant, certainly formidable, and certainly still terrified of her mother. If she did not listen too closely to the trailing murmuring from mother's lips, or look too closely at the anguish in Owain's face, she could almost pretend everything was as it should be.
They made their way slowly down to the academy stables. Ranni was grateful they had thought to bring the royal carriage, freshly repaired, from the manor. Torrent could hardly carry all three of them, despite Owain's insistence. Two sentinel's steeds were stamping their hooves impatiently. Their riders, atop the long bench seat at the front, stood to salute Owain as they sighted him. He only nodded to them before aiding Ranni in settling mother in the carriage.
Pale arms wrapped around her. "Even if this is but a dream and thou'rt but a doll; I hope I can yet linger here." Mother laid her head against Ranni's shoulder, closing her eyes. Ranni cast a spell of deep slumber on the weary queen. Owain watched cautiously from his seat across from them, amber egg beside him. To hear her mother's voice was a blessing after so long, but to hear it so broken, a curse. The princess began to weep silently, her tears were only in spirit, but they fell all the same. Owain knelt forward to enfold her and mother in his muscled arms.