When Valenreach Came to Lunareth
611 Words
Valenreach arrived with order.
The announcement came a day before the procession crossed Lunareth’s outer gates. Courtyards were cleared. Banners were raised—not in celebration, but obligation. Servants moved with measured efficiency, polishing stone that already shone.
Alice stood among them, dressed as protocol demanded.
She was not presented as a daughter returning home.
She was presented as an asset being received.
When the horns sounded, the courtyard fell silent. Horses stepped in unison. Armor caught the light in disciplined rows. At the center rode the heir of Valenreach, posture straight, expression carefully neutral.
Alex dismounted without ceremony.
He bowed to Lunareth’s officials first—deep enough to be respectful, not enough to concede. Polite words were exchanged. Titles recited. Expectations reaffirmed.
Only then did his gaze shift.
Alice stood a little apart, exactly where she had been told to stand.
Their eyes met.
For a heartbeat, the courtyard disappeared.
“You,” Alice said softly, before she could stop herself.
Alex exhaled something close to a laugh. “I was hoping.”
No one commented on the familiarity. Lunareth’s officials pretended not to hear. Valenreach’s soldiers pretended not to notice.
Formalities resumed.
Inside the reception hall, words moved around them like furniture being rearranged. Lunareth spoke of cooperation. Valenreach spoke of stability. Alice listened from her seat at the side, included without being consulted.
Alex noticed.
When Lunareth’s envoy addressed him, his responses were precise. When the envoy addressed Alice, his tone cooled—shorter, dismissive, efficient.
“She will be prepared for departure,” the envoy said. “Our arrangements are complete.”
Alice’s fingers curled in her lap.
Alex leaned forward. “Prepared how?”
A pause. A glance exchanged. “As required.”
Alex nodded once. He did not press—yet.
That evening, the palace grew quiet in the way only official places did after guests were settled. Alice found Alex in a side corridor, studying a map hung crookedly on the wall.
“You survived the welcome,” she said.
“So did you,” he replied. “Barely."
She smiled despite herself.
They walked together without escort, a privilege neither of them commented on. Lunareth’s corridors felt narrower at night, shadows stretching longer than the walls deserved.
“They treat you like you’re already gone,” Alex said quietly.
Alice did not deny it. “It’s easier that way.”
“For whom?”
She shrugged. “Everyone else.”
They stopped near a window overlooking the gardens. Lanterns glowed below, distant and cold.
“This window... Is it your way out, away from the palace?” Alex said. Alice froze.
"You know?" she asked quietly.
Alex glanced at the window, then back at her and smirked a little. "You always looked at it when you wanted to leave from the welcome before."
Alice blinked. "I didn't realize it was that obvious."
"It wasn't," he said, "Only if you were paying attention."
For a moment, they stood in silence—two people bound by a decision made without them, standing in a palace that belonged to neither.
Then Alice tilted her head, familiar mischief flickering. “You’re late.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “Am I?”
“You said you’d come back someday.”
“I didn’t give a date, and obviously I didn't think I'd found you here in the palace."
She hummed. “Still late.”
He smiled, small and unguarded. “Then I suppose I owe you time.”
Alice looked at him, surprised—then nodded. “I’ll take it.”
In Lunareth, where everything felt measured and withheld, it was the first promise either of them believed.
- Writer
