The Dark Side of Power

Welcome Home

Spring had dawned, much to the relief of Awen, and even with the showers, the weather was still warming up noticeably.

Lanzijm finally had a clear ward, with everyone down with green flu or pneumonia finally recovered and back in their own beds, so he was using his time to teach Sion more about treatments and ingredients used in certain potions. Awen was sure that at some point, Sion would experiment with something again and blow them all up - again.

Even though it was still months away, Emyr was starting to become more and more focused on his daughter, specifically her coming out ball in the Autumn. Since his wife had died, Emyr had become almost obsessive over his daughter and anything to do with her and had often been overheard saying that he was dreading her coming out as he would never believe anyone would be suitable enough to take her off his hands. Awen had always cringed at that but never said anything. As she was involved with most of the planning, she desperately needed to keep her mouth shut about her opinions.

“I don’t think he means to be so overprotective about her, he just loves her,” Sion spoke softly as he decanted the medicine he’d been making into the vials.

Awen rolled her eyes, “men will always get away with love as an excuse for borderline abusive behaviour. He’s not doing her any good with it, she’ll end up unmarried and stuck with her brother for the rest of her life if he’s not careful.”

Lanzijm laughed, “there’ll be someone brave enough to take him on, don’t worry. Besides, Rhodri will want her to get married so he can make her leave as soon as he takes the throne. He wouldn’t let their father disrupt his plans.”

“You always talk about how cold Rhodri is, but you forget he can be quite a good person, too.”

Awen shared a look with Lanzijm; somehow, Sion had come to the conclusion that Rhodri wasn’t all bad, or at least, not as bad as Awen and Lanzijm often thought he was. “I suppose when you don’t have to worry about your life and livelihood, it’s easier to turn a blind eye,” She said softly, staring at Sion who was now refusing to meet her gaze.

“You know what I meant,” he mumbled.

Lanzijm watched nervously as Awen opened her mouth to make some sort of argument, but before she could, there was a sharp knock at the door. Sighing with relief, he called, “come in!”

Rhys opened the door, and Lanz raised an eyebrow. “Um…”

“Prince Tadhg?”

No, actually,” Rhys smiled a little at Awen, “King Emyr.”

The three all looked at each other in surprise.

“I’m on my way.”

She stood, stretching and tucking her hair out of the way behind her ears before following him down the stairs and through the castle to the main conference room, where she found the king along with his new son-in-law, which explained Rhys fetching Awen rather than someone else. She didn’t immediately notice Rhiantona stood by the window, only when she turned to acknowledge Awen’s appearance.

“King Emyr,” she curtsied, “Prince Tadhg, Princess Rhiantona, how may I be of service?”

Tadhg was watching her carefully, not quite hiding the smile on his face. “Awen, how are you today?”

Awen’s breath caught in her throat as she looked toward Emyr. “Very well, thank you, Prince Tadhg.”

Emyr threw a questioning glance Tadhg’s way before addressing her himself. “Awen, thank you for joining us. We were just discussing Rhiantona’s coming out ball, and the welcome for Prince Rhodri and Princess Elyn later today came up.”

Awen covered the frown on her face as quickly as it had appeared.

“I was just talking with King Emyr here about how highly Elyn spoke of your roses, and she might like it if there was a vase of them ready waiting for her in her rooms?”

“I still don’t understand why they don’t share rooms, they are married now” Rhian spoke with a sigh, walking slowly between the windows.

Awen stayed silent, staring at the hem of her dress.

“It’s something from home,” Tadhg explained, “even in marriage, couples don’t share rooms, but have them connected through doorways that can be locked on both sides. Elyn wanted to keep it as tradition.”

Rhian hummed but didn’t say anything more.

Emyr’s expression was neutral. Awen sometimes wondered if he’d practised it in the mirror.

“Ok, so the flowers would be a nice touch. I was thinking maybe a bit of a parade to welcome them home as the future King and Queen of Ostaria, with a banquet in their honour,” Emyr said, his voice rougher than usual. Awen hoped he wasn’t coming down with something.

“A banquet and welcoming parade, it’s quite grand.” Rhian frowned, looking down on the citadel below. “Rhodri will love it.”

Awen covered her laugh with a cough, “sorry, forgive me, Sire.”

Thankfully, Emyr barely noticed and instead carried on with his requests. “I wonder, too, if maybe we should get them something. Would Princess Elyn like anything, in particular, a horse or a new dress?”

Tadhg considered for a few moments. “I know it’s not particularly customary in Ostaria for women to hunt, but Elyn always enjoyed it back at home. Maybe a new hunting bow or outfit for it?”

King Emyr looked slightly surprised at the information. “Women hunt in Oce?”

“Only those from Noble or Royal blood, but yes. Elyn has gone with the Hunt since she could ride. I know she misses it.”

Awen held her breath, not knowing what Emyr’s reaction to that would be. The customs of Oce and Ostaria were, at times, polar opposites, and there was no way to know how the King would respond to it - especially now that it was married to his son.

His face gave nothing away, almost as if it was set in stone, until finally, he spoke, “ok. I’ll see what I can do. Though Awen, you might need to be on standby for adjustments needed, I don’t want to have to send it off to be altered when they’re back.”

Nodding quickly, she curtsied, eyes not leaving the hem of her dress.

“Thank you, Awen, you can go back to your daily tasks.” Emyr dismissed her, turning his attention to his daughter.

She curtsied again, turning and leaving, barely halfway through the door before Tadhg called to her.

“Awen!”

She turned, almost colliding with him as he was closer to her than she thought. “I’m so sorry Prince Tadhg. Um, what can I do for you?”

“Walk with me.” He smiled, leading the way down the hall.

Briefly looking back, Awen could see Emyr paying them no attention, so she quickly ran ahead to catch up with the Prince.

“I was in the library the other day, and I couldn’t find anything about werewolves or packs.”

“Oh? What were you looking for, in particular, Prince Tadhg.”

“You once told me that Emyr had to take you in if he wanted Lanzijm, because Lanzijm had bonded with you as your ‘Protector’?”

Awen hummed in agreement, “yes, what of it?”

“I was just wondering how that worked? Is there like a distance or something or… I don’t know, I’m sorry.” He laughed at himself, shaking his head.

Smiling softly, she said, “it’s ok, sometimes I don’t understand it either. You should speak to Lanz if you really want the details, but from what I understand, there’s a distance through which the bond works. And really, it’s not Lanzijm who’s my Protector, but his wolf, Nox. It means that he won’t ever be able to hurt me, physically or otherwise, and anyone that does automatically becomes his enemy. If he was part of a pack, they would be the pack’s enemy too. Depending on the bond and the wolf, sometimes they lose control and hunt and kill the perpetrator. If I’d stayed in Oce, and Lanzijm had come here, his wolf would probably have fought and killed to get back to me, as he was still young, and if I’d been injured, Nox would never have left me again and probably wouldn’t allow Lanzijm to have any control. He’d have become Rogue.” She paused, a little embarrassed at how much she’d rambled on. “Sorry, I didn’t realise I was talking for so long.”

“Don’t apologise, I asked. Besides, I find it quite interesting.”

Awen held back a laugh as they stopped outside Tadhg’s rooms.

“I might ask Lanzijm more about it. Or, you could and then tell me later.” He grinned, before thanking her and disappearing into his rooms.

Awen stared for a few seconds before shaking her hair loose from behind her ears and turning back the way she’d walked. She’d do the roses in a minute; first, she needed a break from Royalty.

“Spill.” Lanzijm cornered her as soon as she walked in.

“At least let me close the door and sit down before you attack me with questions!”

Sion was staring as well, almost neglecting whatever was brewing in the pot before him. “Why did Rhys come and get you?”

Awen sat on the sofa with a sigh, “they were having a meeting kind of thing about the coming out ball in the fall and about the welcoming later for Rhodri and Elyn. I’ve got to go to Elyn’s rooms soon to create a vase of those roses I did for the wedding. Apparently, they’re her new favourite thing.”

Lanz raised an eyebrow. “Sion, if that catches fire, I swear…”

Sion blinked, shaking his head as though he’d just been woken out of a trance as he stirred the liquid. “Was that it? Tadhg didn’t want anything personally?”

Awen closed her eyes momentarily, readying herself for the next part. “He asked about Lanzijm being my Protector. He wanted to know… well, everything, I suppose, there wasn’t anything specific.” She frowned. “It was quite… I don’t know. But he’s not entirely satisfied with what I told him, I think he wants to know everything about it.”

“No.” Nox’s voice came through.

Awen smiled softly at him, “I don’t mind. He’s not hurting me, and besides, the more questions he asks, the more I get to know myself, my abilities, and more about… well, this.”

Lanz closed his eyes, Awen assumed to regain control. “What you choose to tell him is yours. But if he tries to use the information against you-” again, he had to close his eyes, turning away towards the door and resting his hand against it.

“Lanz, it’s ok. I trust you.” Awen spoke softly, so Sion wouldn’t hear.

“I know.” Finally, he turned back to them, eyes still slightly clouded over.

“Is there any information he could use against me?” Awen looked over at him, doing her best to give the impression she wasn’t particularly bothered by the new information.

Sion looked between the two of them carefully, not entirely sure what to do.

Lanzijm hesitated.

“It’s better for her to know now if there’s anything anyone can use against her. If she’s caught off guard, how well do you think that will go down?” Sion spoke up. Awen nodded in his direction as a silent ‘thank you’.

“Ok,” he sighed, “ok. Nox being your Protector comes with a lot, on both sides. It’s never been done with a witch to our knowledge, but has been with a warlock, so that’s our baseline. The issue is that if you or Nox becomes stronger than the other, we can control the other without them knowing it.”

“So… Nox can control me without my knowledge? Like mind control?” Awen blinked, not sure how to process that information.

“It works the other way too. But there has to be a significant power imbalance for it to work effectively.” Lanzijm couldn’t quite meet Awen’s stare.

“How… how will we know?”

“Your powers, because you’re a witch, won’t change, so we don’t exactly have to worry. Nox won’t ever be strong enough to create a big enough imbalance, you’re way too powerful for that, but not powerful enough that you could control Nox.”

The room fell silent, Awen and Lanzijm staring at each other.

“I have to go.”

“Awen-”

“Rhodri and Elyn could be back any time. I don’t want Emyr to be mad at me that I didn’t get the roses ready for her.” She pushed past him, closing the door behind her and making her way through the halls.

It wasn’t far, but her mind was elsewhere, so it took her a moment to realise she was outside the Princess’ door. Without saying anything, she unlocked the door and slipped inside, opening the curtains with a flick of her hand so that sunlight spilled into the room. Awen shivered a little, though she wasn’t cold; it was a little eerie in the room by herself, she wasn’t sure how anyone could stand it, so she quickly settled into her magic and conjured a bunch of Astariyan roses on her vanity.

“Awen?” There was a small knock on the door.

She opened it, a little confused. Sion stood before her, not quite meeting her gaze, hands clasped behind his back. “Are you Ok?”

He nodded, “I don’t think…”

“Are you going to tell me I shouldn’t be mad at Lanz?”

“Are you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Awen looked up at him. “Did he send you?”

“No, I just wanted to make sure you were ok. It was a little… well, it was a bit of a shock to learn about that, I can’t imagine how you feel about it.” He turned away, rocking back and forth on his feet.

“We shouldn’t be having this conversation here.” She sighed, “take the long way?”

He nodded, stepping back a little so she could close and lock the door. “Are you ok?”

“I’m not not ok. I’m more upset by the fact that he never told me.”

Sion was quiet for a moment. “He hasn’t told you everything that his role entails. I don’t think even he knows everything.”

“But he knew this. And it’s pretty big, don’t you think?”

“Would it have made any difference? That bond you guys have can’t be broken, and it wasn’t as though it was voluntary, either.”

She didn’t answer straight away. “I don’t think so, but that’s not the point, not really. I would have liked to know from the beginning, even if it’s not entirely possible.”

“So you’re more annoyed because of the principle of the matter?”

“I guess so,” she sighed softly. “Do you think that’s wrong?”

He shrugged. “I can’t tell you how to feel about it. But I also think that we’re very different - not us specifically, but witches and warlocks. It might not be true. How many other rules are there that don’t apply to both of us?”

“Too many.”

“Exactly. This isn’t an exception: there may be similarities, but there will also be major differences. I don’t think you can be mad about something that might not even be true.”

Awen took a deep breath. They’d reached the main entrance of the castle, the side door to the Medical Quarters on their right. “I guess… Do you hear that?”

Sion frowned, then his eyes widened. “They’re home.” He raised his hand and sent the sound of ringing bells through the castle, alerting everyone that the Heirs to the throne had arrived home, the sound of hoofbeats grew closer.

The welcoming parade had been set up about a half hour ago by the King and his son-in-law down in the courtyard, so the two joined the rest of the Royal Servants there, though Awen stayed at the edge of it all, trying her best to be as invisible as possible. Lanzijm joined the group soon after they had, though still couldn’t quite look at Awen.

Cheers erupted as the couple rode into the courtyard, everyone clapping for them and welcoming them home again. Rhodri had a grin on his face, enjoying the attention, and though Elyn was far more reserved, her eyes gave her away.

He jumped off his horse, handing the reins over to the stableboy, and helped Elyn down from hers, gently taking her hand. Awen watched curiously; she’d never known Rhodri to be gentle with anything, so this was definitely new.

Maybe this marriage isn’t doomed after all.