Elia looked over as Lear woke up. She placed her makeshift book mark in the pages and closed it. "A romance. I never pegged you for that sort of thing." She teased.
She took a look at the time then nodded. "Yeah, just about. He said he was doing a little bit better earlier but with having his sleep interrupted every hour, only so much can happen."
She stroked the prince's hair softly. "I'm worried about him. He thinks Calegon is completely his fault. He won't listen to me about it."
Lear gave her a tired wink. "You'll be surprised to learn, I do have a heart."
He nodded at her words about the Prince. "He'll heal better once he can sleep a bunch."
He looked down at Romulus, his face pensive.
"Well… it is his fault, in a way." He looked up at her. "That's the responsibility of royalty. Most awful thing I had to learn as his Lieutenant was how many people live and die on his commands." His face softened a bit.
"But even if that wasn't the case, of course he blames himself. He always does. I'll wager he's brought up his mother at some point today?"
Elia nodded. She looked down at the prince before shifting her focus to Lear. "Yes, he did. He said he kept dreaming of her and it felt off. Does this normally happen when something like this has happened?"
She didn't touch on the other part. She didn't need to get into an argument, especially not with Romulus trying to heal. She didnt see it as his fault. It wasn't something he could predict and he had his hands full with all the kids. It was a tragic accident, but it was an accident. He wasn't stupid. He was smart and calculated. He missed someone, and that unfortunately led to the city burning down. Just because that specific event led to the city burning didn't mean there couldn't have been something else that would have led to the same thing happening.
Lear nodded slowly, looking down at Romulus with a sad look on his face.
"He doesn't always dream about her, that's likely the head trauma, but… he always thinks about her when he feels excessively guilty about something else." He thought for a moment, before looking up at Elia.
"I'm going to tell you, because if you're going to help, you need to know this." He kept his voice lowered, not really wanting Romulus to wake in the middle of this story.
"When the King came through and took over, Romulus was 13. He didn't approve, though he couldn't have explained why exactly at 13. He just knew it felt wrong. So he wasn't excited when his father came back and told him they had a country now. He told his father that killing all those people was wrong, and they should stay in their place, and serve his uncle, the King in Harad. His father got angry at Romulus's lack of ferocity, and wanted to work the mercy out of him. He told Romulus if he was going to act like a weak woman, he'd make him a weak woman." Lear paused, his jaw tightening.
"He was in the process of emasculating, castrating, whatever you want to call it… he was holding down Romulus and taking a knife to his manhhod when his mother burst into the room and pulled him off. His father backhanded her, just once, before storming out. She seemed ok, but a little over 6 months later, she died." Lear shook his head.
"Romulus didn't process that and come to understand that his father had killed his mother for a long time. He was 20 before he put all the pieces together and saw the full picture." Lear reached down and traced the Prince's cast.
"He's blamed himself for her death ever since, saying if he hadn't been so weak and in need of saving, she wouldn't be dead."
Elia inhaled sharply and looked down at her prince. Her poor prince. He had been through so much already. Casteration? What kind of a father would want to mutilate his own child like that? Her heart broke for him to more that she learned about him and his past.
"No father should ever treat his child like that. And it wasn't his fault. How can he blame himself for such a thing? It's all his father."
She didn't understand why he couldn't see it. That everything that went wrong was because of his father. The king.
"You're right. No father ever should." Lear said quietly. "But the King did, and does. Which, by the way." He glanced at her. "You threatened Romulus once about cutting off his balls and wearing them like a trophy. This is why he reacted so strongly." He was thinking back to a couple nights ago, outside the meeting tent. She'd made an idle remark and Romulus had actually put a hand on her, for once. Never a good sign.
"As for why he blames himself… the Prince has never had good psychology. Would you, growing up with his monstrous father as yours? So there's that. But." He sighed. "It's also the fact that if he ever fully laid the blame for these things at his father's feet, he's afraid it would outweigh his love for his father, and he'd kill him outright. Romulus probably could… but then he'd plunge at least two countries into war. Venia, because his father's allies would come after him, and the Venians, if they didn't pick sides and oin the fighting, would get caught in the middle. Maybe one of them would make a power grab, which would make things worse. On top of that, Harad would get involved, because his uncle the King wouldn't be able to just overlook his nephew killing his brother. He would have to come after Romulus, and that would be a terrible outcome." He shook his head.
"So he copes this way. Unhealthy, but it keeps his world from war."
Elia looked down at her lap. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly before reopening them. "War might be inevitable. The king cannot continue to be in power. There must be something we can do."
She did not care what happened to her as long as Romulus was safe. That was a scary revelation, that he meant that much ti her she was willing to throw her life away. She knew he would be a good king, a great one. They only needed to get him on the throne.
Lear looked at her, his expression becoming that hawkish expression. "Be careful what you say. Not because I necessarily oppose the ideas, but because I have sworn allegiance to the Prince and cannot hide what yo usay to me from him." He watched her levelly for a moment.
"But I don' disagree with you. War might be inevitable, especially if the king were to die of causes other than old age… But why do you think Romulus has been trying to gain allies and put his own handpicked people in positions of power for 10 years?" He leaned towards her. "This is why he wants people back in nobility, because if it comes to it, he doesn't want to have to fight the whole court, just those who support his father, and while the Venian nobles may not like him, hey will not fight him to avenge his father."
Romulus stirred just then, and Lear cut himself off.
Elia only nodded. There was more she wanted to say but the prince had started to stir. She set her book aside on the bedside table. She leaned down and kissed Romulus' forehead. "Wake for me, darling. I need to see those pretty eyes of yours."
She repeated the phrase she had spoken an hour earlier to wake him. She could tell how much he liked it. It pleased her to please him. She pulled away just far enough to look at his face. She glanced at Lear briefly before looking down at the prince.
Lear nodded at her, tabling the conversation for now. He smiled at her compliment to Romulus. "he does have the prettiest eyes, but the ladies never comment on that. They're usually too busy noticing other features of his." He grinned down at the sleepily blinking Prince.
"Usually the scars." Romulus mumbled, smiling up at Elitia. "I'm glad you like my eyes, though." He would have squirmed if he hadn't hurt so badl and been so tired.
"Are you going to sleep now that Lear's awake?"
"Well, maybe someday you tell me about some of your scars. But for now, met me look at those eyes." Elia kissed him softly. It didn't bother her that Lear was watching.
"I might try to sleep in a little bit. Truthfully, I'm not very tired." She had too many thoughts running through her head. And there was that fear that if she fell asleep, something would happen to Romulus. Something terrible that would take her away from him. She wouldn't let that happen.
Romulus did flash those baby blue's at her. They were exhausted, but they both opened better than before. "You could sleep next to me if you wanted to…" he said softly.
Lear smiled at him, then up at her. "I'd swich you spots if you wanted to try to sleep." She had to be more tired than she was letting on, but he also knew that sleeping was a dangerous activity for her at the moment. Vicious nightmares combined with the emotional upheaval she'd had today was just… a terrifying amount of stress on her mind.
Elia stroked his cheek once, twice, before pulling her hand away. She shook her head at him. "I'm alright. I think im going ti try to finish my book. Then maybe I'll try to sleep afterwards "
She doubted sleep would come to her. Or if it did, it would likely be riddled with memories she had tried to hard to forget. She wasn't ready to face that. She would rather stay awake with her book and Romulus by her side.
"Eniygh about me. How are you feeling, darling?"
Romulus frowned. "…If you're sure of that…" he wanted her to rest, but he couldn't make her, so.
"I feel whiny, if you must know. Everything hurts and I just want to sleep." he grumbled, his slurred mumbling serving to make it almost funny.
Lear looked at her, understanding her reticence. He checked one of Romulus's bandages, nodding to himself. "If you go back to sleep, we can reapply salve. See if it will help things hurt less."
Elia giggled quietly at Romulus' words. Whiny fit hik just right at the moment. Though he had every reason to be. She just shook her head as she kissed his forehead. "Go back to sleep, darling. We'll be gentle reapplying salve."
She was trying to cover up the fact that she was worried about him. She hated that he was in so much pain. She wished she could take it all away from him.
Romulus kept muttering to himself as he drifted back off to sleep. "Doesn't matter how much salve… stuff never works… always hurts anyway….."
Lear nodded slowly. "I know, I know, but… let us anyway."
Romulus was back to his slumber too quickly to protest. So Lear went and retrieved the salve and more clean bandages. "It doesn't work for him like for other people. We've never been sure why though. It does help him heal quicker, so it's not pointless." He began undoing the bandages over the top of Romulus's body.
Elia frowned but didn't say anything on the matter. She started to undo his bandages and slowly unwrap them from his body.
"Have you tried finding a healer?" She asked quietly. "If you listen to the whispers, you night be able to find one. They could heal him. Or at least take care of the internal injuries so he's in less pain. If you offer sanctuary, it might be worth looking into."
They already knew she had magic. Not the type, but knew she had some. They hadn't tried to kill her for her. She was sure they would protect any other magic user.
Lear shook his head. "It's illegal, and Romulus tends to do things by the book. He's clever about how he goes about things, but he generally doesn't break rules, even though he seems like the type."
He wasn't sure if Romulus would want him to tell her that the Prince was magic resistant, so it wouldn't work even if he could find a healer.
"Besides, who would believe he's going to offer sanctuary? You didn't, and you weren't doing anything illegal." He worked fresh salve into the wounds, some of which looked visibly better. "And coercing someone to use magic on you is a bad idea, especially when you have no way of knowing what they're doing."
Elitia had noticed that. Romulus was quite the rule follower. It was a bit annoying. And it resulted in his injuries.
She wasn't sure how much they knew about magic. But being a magic user herself, she was very knowledgeable in the fact.
She held up her hand. Focusing, flames shot up in her palm. A small fire. Moving her hand, she let it dance around her fingers. She watched it, almost in awe. She hadn't truly used her magic in so long, it was relieving to use it. "Healers can only heal. They cannot hurt you ir cause further injury. Their magic won't allow it. Their magic encases you, finding the hurts in your body, and convinces your body to speed up to healing using their own energy. It can be quite draining, depending on the severity of their magic. I'm sure a healer could be convinced. It's in their nature to want to heal others. A little prodding and convincing and they will realize healing Romulus is in their best interest. Healers are the least of your worries if you're worried about someone harming him. In fact, the more Healers you have, the better for you and your army."
Her flam snaked around her arm like a ribbon. She watched it in fascination. "Now, it is us fire users you should worry about. Other magic is dangerous yes, but not quiet like fire. A little spark can engulf an entire forest in flames and destroy it. If not weld properly, it can cause extreme damage. We are dangerous and rare. And well sought after. In the wrong hands, devastation could happen." She snuffed out the flames and lowered her hand.
Lear had wondered about her casual reference to magic users, but he hadn't quite deduced her own characteristics.
His eyes widened as she exhibited her flames, and he sat very quietly for a long moment.
"….I really wish you hadn't shown me that…" he eventually said.
"And why is that, Lear? You both already knew I could wield magic. What difference does it make now that you know what I can do? What will Romulus do when he knows? Will he try to burn me for being a witch? I hate to break it to you, but I cannot burn. Your efforts would be in vain. You would have to kill me another way." Elia leaned back against the headboard. She started stroking the prince's hair once more.
(oh. so it wasn't secret. well. maybe stick that detail in somewhere earlier XD I shall adjust)
(I kinda thought they had no reason to think she was magical 😂 sid you say that and I just missed it?)
(Nah I just threw it in, lol. I can take it out if that makes it easier)
