Those Violet Eyes

Lost, but not

Arwen

It is finally time. We have everything we need. I have left Nalaeryn in charge while Edrahil and I are away. He is my third in charge as well as a very wise and dear friend.  

“Is there anything else we need to go over?” I ask getting up out of my chair. Nalaeryn shakes his head. 

"No, I think that about covers it your highness” I cringe on the inside at the formality, I've never been comfortable with the title I was born with.

I can handle being called Sir by my soldiers. I have earned that title, unlike my uncle the General before me I have seen my fair share of battle. Over the last nine years, attacks from the wildlings have increased ten-fold and from every side of our lands.

****************

Nine years earlier 

My mother was beside herself when she first found out I had run away. I cut my hair and lied about who I was. I had a mission. I didn't want to be just a prince. I wanted to do more, see more of the real world. What better place than the army. The hardest part was hiding my eyes from anyone who knew me. My violet eyes are definitely a giveaway, lucky for me the captains above me took no notice of the new recruits, and I made sure to keep my eyes down whenever they were around.   I had been in the army for just over two years when my secret was found out. 

My parents had people looking for me all over but had never thought to look for me on a battlefield. We had just pushed back a group of wildings from a small village to the north when my brother Morgan showed up with my uncle the General. I come around a corner and walked straight into my brother, coursing him to stumble back.

 I was no longer the skinny kid who had first run away. At just over six feet and still growing, I was taller and boarder than my brother by a long shot. He had definitely taken after our mother, all my brothers had. They were fine-boned and delicate looking. At just six feet, Morgan wasn't short but had a softness about him. His long silver-blonde hair was elegantly braided at his temples and ran to the back of his head where they met and joined. He looked every bit the Royalty that we were born into. His beautifully made cream suit looked out of place in this tiny farming village. Not to mention the silver crown that sat on his forehead. Did he really have to wear it everywhere he went? 

I tried to turn and run before he had a chance to get a good look at me, but it was too late. His bright blue eyes shot up, filled with anger. He was about to give me a piece of his mind but stopped short. 

“Arwen? Is that you? What the hell are you doing here? Do you have any idea.......” I stop him short with a hand over his mouth. He looks down at my dirty fingers covering his face. The anger hasn't cooled, He starts to shake my handoff. I look around, trying to see if anyone had heard him. 

"Shhhhhh Morgan, no one knows who I am” I confess still holding my hand over his mouth. Narrowing his eyes on mine. I know the second I take my hand away he's going to let me have it. I return his hard stare before slowly removing my hand. 

"You little s**t, do you know how worried mother has been? She has been beside herself these last few years. So, what you can pretend you’re a big boy!” he is pissed. I square my shoulders bringing myself to full height. I am no longer the little kid my brothers used to pick on. 

I'm about to let him have it when the General and two of his lieutenants come around the corner. 

"What is going on here Soldier? Morgan?” He asks noticing the tension between us. 

“Uncle, I've just found Arwen. He's been under your nose this whole time!” my uncles head quickly turned to me eyes wide.  His face starts to turn beetroot red. Turning to his lieutenants he yells. 

"How is it that my lost nephew is here and why the hell did I not know about it!” he is raging now. I roll my eyes at the drama unfolding in front of me. I'll give it to my brother and uncle, they both have a flair for the dramatic. Shaking my head and rubbing the bridge of my nose with my fingers. 

"No one knew I was here. No one knew who I was or cared until this moment” I admit. The next few days were hell. My parents were told, I was stuck in "meetings” which really meant people yelling at me about being a prince. That this is no place for me.  Everything I had done in the last two years had been forgotten. Even the guys I had fought alone side were pissed at me for not telling them who I really was. But the real nightmare started when I heard my mother's voice on the other side of the door. 

“Where is my son! I will have your head if he is not in front of me in two seconds!” she is pissed, I can hear the mumbling of the poor soldier who just happened to get in her way. My mother is normally a very sweet, graceful woman but when it comes to me, she gets a bit feral. Her over the top love for me is the reason I ran away in the first place, it was smothering.

The door flies open and there she is. My mother is tiny, just over five feet but full of rage right now she almost looks like she has gained a few inches. Her silver-blonde hair falls gracefully down her back ending at her hips. She is wearing a cream suit with gold stitching, similar to the one my brother was wearing a few days earlier. She also has a cloak wrapped over her shoulders, it too is a soft cream with beautiful gold flowers embroidered all over. It should hit the floor but somehow floats just above it like she has her own breeze pushing it out and back. She really is a sight to behold. I can't help a small smile as I see her. 

"Don't you dare smile at me boy I am so pissed at you right now” I try to wipe the smile from my face but it doesn’t work and I end up grinning at her anger. She is yelling at me, her words coming fast. I'm amazed she hasn't stopped to breathe. She is just inches away and I hold out my arms. She gives me a death glare with her ice-blue eyes before stepping into my hug. We stand there for a few seconds. I really do love this crazy tiny woman. 

"You have grown so much. Where has my baby gone?” she rests her head on my chest. 

“I'm sorry mother” I start 

"You better be!” she cuts me off looking up at me. I hug her a little tighter. 

"Can I have a word with my son?” a voice from the doorway makes us both look up and over. My father is standing there with his arms crossed. He is a big man, six-foot-four, big broad shoulders. Muscles that you can tell are not for show even hidden under his well-made black suit. He looks every bit the king he is, strong and powerful. People used to always comment on how much I looked like him. I have his hair and face shape, the only real difference is my eyes. They are like no one that we know of.  My mother sighs as she lets me go and walks over to my father, she pats his forearm as she passes him. Looking back at me for just a second before leaving the room. My Father closes the door behind her and walks over to me. I try to swallow the lump that is suddenly in my throat. The last two years fighting wildlings has been a breeze compared to this moment. Standing here in front of my father waiting for his wrath. I centre myself, pull my shoulders back and look him in the eyes. I am not ashamed of what I did, I would do it again. He stops just in front of me, looking me up and down, really looking at me. It must be a shock, I've grown over a foot in height over the last two years, not to mention how wide my shoulders have become. I'm also the same size as he is. I am no longer the child that left the castle all that time ago.  

“I have spoken to your captain” this makes my eyebrow go up, where was this going? 

“I am not at all happy about what you did. Your mother has been beside herself, but I am proud of you” at his words my mouth drops open, am I hearing him right. He chuckles a little at the look on my face. 

"Come sit, we have a lot to talk about” my father gestures to the table behind me. We talked for hours about the wildling attacks and what my thoughts were on everything. I have missed my father. He is a great king. He is always open-minded and takes his time to look at all his options. He tries not to distance himself from normal people. But the last few years he has become worried that his brothers, his advisers, haven't been telling him everything that’s been happening to save themselves.  I had no idea that this conversation was going to change my life. Within a year I would be the General of my father's army much to my mothers and my uncle's horror.

****************

I shake my head at the memory. I do miss my days as a simple soldier before I was found out. Now I seem to have the world on my shoulders, lucky for me they are big shoulders. 

"Are you getting another marking?” Nalaeryn asks. We had a tradition in the army, before each adventure we would have a new rune tattooed somewhere on us. My chest and back are almost full, and the top half of my right arm is also pretty well covered.  

"Yep, this is going to be a special one” I pick up a piece of paper off the desk with the rune I've picked and hand it to him. 

"Good choice sir and good luck" he passes me back the piece of paper before we slap hands and give each other a one-armed hug.

I almost run out of the room to get the rune tattoo done before we leave.  

An hour later we are all loaded up and leaving the castle gates. Edrahil is on his horse next to me, with Aemma sitting behind him. Hostos is just behind us looking very uncomfortable on his small horse. His knuckles look white gripping the rains close to his chest. I'm guessing it's his first time riding a horse. I smile to myself at the thought. Bring up the rear is four of my best men. Three will be coming with us and the other will be helping Aemma take all the horses back after we have gone through the gate. 

A small crowd starts to gather as we make our way through the cobbled streets of the village, waving to us as we pass. Small children get excited at the horses and run alongside us as their mothers call them back. I can't help but smile and wonder how they will react when I come back with Everly and my son.