Chapter 68

 

This chapter has been copied from the original and may contain typos and grammatical errors.

~*~

Liam felt ironic in his guard gear. It was a size or two bigger than he had once worn; age and contentment can make you need a larger size than you once measured to. But that he would wear something so... conformist - and to signify something so menacing as the king's guard - felt dirty. And shiny. So very shiny.

Romeo seemed to be having the same agitation. He had always wanted to be a good guard, but after years of living on the islands in loose, comfortable clothing and living a life he cherished, he no longer had the desire to ever don a guard uniform again. He had worn it to sneak in to talk to Gloria roughly two weeks ago, but hopefully this would be the last time. Liam didn't foresee any possible reason they would need to. Either this would go very wrong and they wouldn't have to wear this garb again, or things would go very well and they also would never have to wear it again...

"I wish I could dress like Anwyn," Romeo grumbled. "Midshore sure decked you out. You look so comfortable..." he whined teasingly. Anwyn wore a sensible pair of trousers and a belted blouse with a vest. She still had her hair covered and her face covered in a veil in hopes to hide her identity, but Liam still felt anxious knowing that she was going to be in the palace at all. She could be recognized, and if something went wrong they would have to worry about saving both her and Gloria, something that could become very difficult very quickly.

She hadn't fit any armor available, or else they would have had her look like a guard with them. A helmet would have concealed her face much better, but a woman just wasn't built like a man, especially not a pregnant woman, and she couldn’t fit men’s armor.

Midshore came up beside them. "It's getting dark, and I can see the boats coming closer to the shore. We should get into position. Let's go."

Liam and Romeo didn't hide themselves as they walked with what they hoped looked like purpose. Making their way over to the side wall of the Palace, they opened the little gate, ushering in Midshore and Anwyn who had followed in the shadows. Liam knew the palace grounds like the back of his hand, and he and Romeo led the way to the side door near the guards’ wing. It would be heavily guarded, but hopefully with the approaching conflict they would be able to get around without being noticed.

“Midshore, is there any way that you can hide us? Make them not think we’re here or something?” Anwyn asked as Liam peeked around the door.

“I don’t specialize in deception magic, so, no,” she said bluntly with a smile. She was stressed, so Liam wasn’t going to hold her negativity against her.

Romeo took a large breath. “Ok, I guess I’ll just go along and if it’s clear I’ll knock three times on the wall. Wish me luck.”

He walked down the hallway, and as soon as he got to the corner he looked, then knocked on the wall. Liam knew sneaking was only going to get harder, and with every minute he was in the palace and nothing went wrong, he was worried the danger was getting closer and closer to them. They just needed to get up to the old queen’s quarters and get Gloria free, then they could leave this whole mess of a monarchy behind them.

They inched through the palace like this, with Romeo and Liam playing leapfrog over and over, signalling when it was clear. The rebellion would be here any moment, and they had to move quickly.

The foyer was the most intimidating room to get through. It was a double story room with large windows and the possibility to be seen from the floor above.

“All right, I’ll go,” Romeo whispered only loud enough for the team to hardly hear him. He took a step forward, then another, casually looking to the balcony as he made his way across the room, nodding to a passing guard on the top floor. He was nodded at in turn, and once the other guard was gone Romeo waved the team over, not wanting to make a knock to attract the guard to look back.

Midshore and Anwyn, dressed in soft soled boots, darted over nearly silently, but Liam couldn’t be that quiet in his armor so he walked over as casually as he could.

Anwyn started to walk up the main stairs, but Romeo grabbed her arm, stopping her. “We can’t go that way!” he hissed.

“Why not?” she asked, pulling her arm free but setting foot back on the floor.

“Montoya told us that if we go that way we’ll be stopped by the guard outside her door. We have to go up the back way. There are stairs just like the ones on the King’s side of the palace; we’ll take the back way and go right up to her wing.”

“But that takes us through the Duchess’s wing, and we’ll be caught for sure,” Anwyn said.

“I’ll shield the door,” Midshore assured, “we won’t be caught by surprise. Our only foe would be ahead of us, and I only sense one person on this side. Most people are in the back of the Palace.”

Liam and Romeo looked at her as if she had grown horns. “You could sense if there were people, and we’ve been peeking around corners this whole time?”

She blinked at them, pulling in her lips. “It’s not the most accurate. But now that we’re more in the middle of the building I can tell which direction they’re coming from better. Ok? Let’s move. I don’t want to catch Illia.”

Nodding, Liam grabbed the knob of the Duchess’s wing and pushed it open. Immediately in the hall, pacing, was Blake. He was dressed in fine, clean clothes that were fit for a prince. He had always been clean when they were on the Islands, a bit more than the normal person, but seeing him in clothes like these it made perfect sense why he had never been comfortable being dirty. He was raised in a pristine environment.

Blake looked up at the two men dressed as guards, then he noticed Midshore and Anwyn behind them, but not recognizing them. “What is the meaning of this?!” he asked, facing them, a scowl on his face.

Midshore turned and placed a shield over the door, sealing them in. Romeo pulled off his helmet and showed his face, eyes narrowing in on his target. “I was hoping I’d find you,” he said. He remembered toddler Lucian, bumbling his way around the palace 19 years prior. If he had known then… He may have stolen him away with them and raised him right. He couldn’t have hurt a child, but he didn’t mind giving what this fully grown young man had coming to him. “I’ve got a fist with your name on it.”

A dawning look of recognition came across Blake’s face. “That’s touching, Fredrico Romeo,” he said, “But no matter how many times you put my name on your body it won’t make a difference,” he sneered, grabbing for his blade, only to find that he wasn’t equipped with one. With shocked eyes, he picked up a pot and threw it at Romeo, but Romeo was faster. Shattering the pot against his blade, he tackled Blake to the ground.

“We don’t have time for this. We have to go and find Gloria before we’re discovered,” Anwyn rushed. “Love, Midshore and I will go ahead and grab Gloria, can you stay here and make sure that Romeo doesn’t kill the poor boy? I’d rather he rot in prison to an old age than get out of this so easily as to die now.”

“Of course, we’ll watch this end, you hurry,” he said as Anwyn and Midshore hurried around them and up the hidden staircase.

Coming out the top of the stairwell, Anwyn was surprised by how tacky it was. It was nearly bichromatic, everything being white and red. All of the flowers were red, the curtains were red, and the wallpaper was busy and dated. Or maybe it was in style- how was Anwyn to know? She hadn’t cared about Mainland style for over 18 years now.

She remembered when this wing had been lush and teal, the colors that the previous queen had loved and cherished from her home. Now she wondered if she had loved those things at all or if she had been locked up like an animal in a synthetic enclosure on display.

She went to the door knob to the bedroom and tried to push it open. Though it wiggled a bit, it was very much locked.

“Oh, think I remember a spell to unlock doors, give me a moment to remember what it is…” Midshore placed her hand on her chin, wracking her memory.

Anwyn didn’t have the patience for this, her little girl was on the other side of this door and she was going to get her out. “Out of the way!” she hollered, picking up a chair and throwing it at the door. It burst open as if the lock had been paper, but the chair hitting the door and floor made a loud noise. Midshore jumped, cursing loudly, and Anwyn rushed into the room to find her daughter.

Midshore went to the window, pushing aside the curtain. She could see a skirmish already taking place on the front lawn of the palace, with guards pouring out of the front door to stop the rebels, but from what she could see, there were more rebels than guards. They had a real chance of winning this fight.

“Gloria! Gloria, are you alright?” Crouching next to her daughter, she went to wrap her arms around her, but Gloria recoiled. Her hands were bruised, her wrists too. Anwyn bristled. “If they hurt you, we’ll burn this whole place to the ground. The whole building. Make all of this marble crack and crumble.”

“I’m so happy you’re here,” Gloria said, trying to hold back tears. “I really needed this today. I can’t stand another day here, I just want to leave and never look back,”

“And you don’t have to, but we need to keep moving,” Midshore urged as she went to the other door, listening for footsteps. “That chair may have gotten us in the door, but someone’s going to have heard it and worried about the princess. We need to hurry before things get hairy.”

“Midshore? When did you get here?” Gloria asked, blinking away tears, getting to her feet.

“That’s another very long story that we don’t have the time for. Now, get moving,” Her eyes moved to the door again.

“Mom, can you take these things off of me? I can’t use my power with them on, and I can’t get them off,” Gloria held out her hand. It was shaking.

“Yes, I can definitely do that,” Anwyn looked at it a bit puzzled for a moment, then adeptly twisted a knob and the whole thing fell off of her hand. Gloria turned around for her to untie the necklace while Gloria fished the rings off of her hand, shuddering as they fell off, and Anwyn thought she saw the bruises already starting to rapidly fade. Gloria looked at her and gave a weak smile.

“Someone’s coming-” Midshore said abruptly, grabbing Gloria’s shoulder and pushing her out the rear door in the direction they had come.

Anwyn followed closely behind them, but her head scarf fell back and her face veil with it. She hadn’t had enough hair pins to secure it when they’d left the cabin, and she’d feared this would happen. As she scrambled to pick it back up, she heard the lock of the exterior bedroom door turn and click. Anwyn’s stomach dropped as she froze in place. It was too late, they were going to be caught.

“My rose?” came a deep voice. “My rose, are you all right? I heard a noise from my office in this direction, I wanted to check and see if you were-”

The king broke off as he saw Anwyn standing in the doorway. “My love, Annie, you’ve come back.” A smile spread across his face.

“My- my king,” she said, straightening her shoulders as her blood went cold and her stomach dropped. Signaling behind her back for the other two to continue on without her. With the same hand she drew a knife from her belt, out of view from the king.

“Annie, you’ve hardly aged. You’re still as beautiful as you were when last I saw you.” He wandered closer to her, closing the few feet between them. “My love, you’ve returned. Now we can be happy…”

He placed one hand on her shoulder and the other on her waist to pull her in gently, craning his neck to kiss her.

Knife in hand, she placed the weapon between the two of them, stabbing him in the chest as he closed the distance. She hadn’t expected it to work. He wasn’t wearing armor, just a fine shirt. She couldn’t simply kill him like this, could she? He had been such a horrible, unstoppable force, she hadn’t expected to be able to pierce him as easily as you pierce a fish. Was he really just a man, formed from flesh?

She stared him in the eyes as he stumbled backwards. “You can’t hurt me any more,” she said, “And my daughter will never be a part of your games again. My family will not be a part of your hatred.” The king sank to his knees, then fell back onto the floor.

Anwyn looked down at him, “There were times when you made me wish I was dead, but now, at the end of things, it is me who lives, and you who dies. I am finally free of you.”

“Annie…” the king wheezed, “I never wanted to… to…”

She blinked and took a breath, looking at his choking face as he breathed his last breath. Her aggressor- her demon- could never hurt her again. He could never hurt Liam again, and he could never hurt her family again. Could it really be this easy? To just walk out of here and never have to fear him again? It didn’t feel real. He couldn’t be dead.

She picked up her scarf from the floor, looking at the rough weave of it. Looking at the still body of the king on the floor, she threw it at his lifeless form. “I will never hide who I am again.”

~*~

Midshore paused at the bookshelf, pensive, scanning it. Gloria didn’t understand, she had been in a hurry five seconds earlier, why was she staring at a bookshelf? This wasn’t the time to read!

“Aha!” Midshore exclaimed softly and pulled on the spine of a thick leather-bound tome. Gloria gasped as the door swung inward, revealing a secret stairway behind it leading down. “Come on,” Midshore urged, pulling her along.

“These were here the whole time?” Gloria asked, baffled. “I could have left my wing at any time?”

“The duchess’s wing is directly beneath yours. You wouldn’t have gotten very far,” she responded. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she pushed open another door, revealing Liam and Romeo standing over a restrained Blake.

“Dad! Pops!” she ran to them and held them close. “I’ve missed you so much. This is all my fault, I should never have left. I was so scared that I wouldn’t see you again,” she let the words come out of her, not bothering to wonder if they were coherent or not.

“Hey, sweetheart, I missed you too,” Liam said softly. “But we’re not out of here yet. We need to get to a safe place so Midshore can teleport us away. She can take one of us at a time, and it’ll be hard, but we need to get out of the palace. Stay with me-”

“We have to get Seneca,” she said, pulling away from him. She noticed that Blake was unconscious on the floor. Oddly, she wasn’t used to seeing him asleep. He was always on high alert, watching. Now he was limp. She could feel his energy, so she knew he was still alive. She also realized she never wanted to see him again. “He’s in the dungeon, we have to save him.”

“Seneca, the son of the king?” Romeo asked. “You told me he had died in the fire.”

“He didn’t, though! Blake lied to me, told me that I was the only survivor. He captured Seneca and has him in the dungeon.” Gloria said. Liam shivered at the thought of the dungeon.

“His people are coming, they’ll save him for us. We don’t have to worry about him,” Midshore weighed.

“No! I need to make sure he’s ok. I owe him that much. He’s saved my life twice now, and it’s time I return the favor.” Gloria stared at the group.

Liam, Romeo, and Midshore looked at each other. “What’s one more stop?” Romeo asked.

“One more stop could get us all killed!” Midshore said. “We all have kids! None of us should go through any unnecessary risk. Especially not for a boy who has a whole rebelion here to put him on the throne. This isn’t our job!” Midshore pointed out.

“But the lad’s only a boy, and the dungeon can be hard to find if you don’t know where to look. What if he’s killed before he can be rescued?” Liam said.

“Romeo’s wife is taking care of five children by herself,” Midshore emphasized. “Anwyn is expecting another. We can’t risk our lives for the heir to a doomed line. We need to leave!”

Liam looked around, “Where did Gloria go?”

She was standing at the door, still shielded by Midshore, just short of pounding her fist on the barrier.

“Gloria! I asked you to stay by me!” Liam shouted as the group jogged over to her. “You can’t just leave us like that. You’ll give me a heart attack.”

“I will save Seneca if I have to break through one of Midshore’s impenetrable shields. I’m not leaving until I know he’s all right. Besides, I can summon fire so don’t try to stop me,” she said.

“Good luck,” Midshore said under her breath.

Liam tilted his head down at her, remembering her when she was a little girl. “I can see there’s no fighting you on this one, so we’ll go,” he said. Anwyn came up behind them, wiping the King’s blood from her hand.

“I highly disagree-” Midshore turned to look at him.

“If we don’t, she’ll go alone, and that’s even worse. We go as a group,.” Liam said. “Now, Midshore, please lower the shield.”

She glared at him, then dissolved the shield with a wave of her hand. Gloria pushed open the door, opening to the entrance. It seemed the rebellion had already come through here. The walls were marked, there was rubbish on the floor, and smoke hung in the air from a distant fire.

“Where are you going with my heir?” A woman’s voice came from beside them, and Illia stepped out of the shadows. “I need her, now more than ever. Once she has a child, I have no need for her, but I need a male heir!” Sparks flew from her hands, and Midshore blocked them.

“We’re taking Gloria home, and you’ll not stop us,” she said, measuredly. Her anger that she had been speaking with not two minutes before was replaced with eerie calm. “Illia, your crimes against humanity and the pain you’ve caused other spellcasters with your selfish use of magic is too much to be answered for.” she said with a face devoid of emotion.

“Mirri, your skin would crawl if you knew everything I was responsible for. But are you up for this? I can tell you’re powerful, but you're younger than I am, and you have less experience, less willing to take what you want, and to take lives.”

She lashed out with her power, reflected back by Midshore but blocked harmlessly. “Get going, I’ll hold her off,” Midshore urged over her shoulder. The trio darted towards the direction of the dungeon, but Gloria held back. She may not know the full extent of Illia’s power, but she knew that if Midshore, the strongest spellcaster the Islands had, was intimidated, it was going to be a hard fight.

“That’s quite a bit of illusion magic you’re using, Illia. How old do you really look?” Midshore volleyed an attack, hard enough to partially get through Illia’s defenses.

“In 200 years, you won’t look this good, darling. Nor will you have had as much fun!” She shot a strong spell at Midshore, a perpetuated blast that Midshore tried to fight off, but it just wasn’t enough. Illia’s spell was getting closer and closer to her.

“The amount of strings I’ve pulled over the years, the power I've tasted. I’ve influenced the most dedicated men to turn from their partners and lives to follow me to ruin, and I’ve savored every moment of it! I will have an heir to this line, if I have to use all of Blake’s hair to have it be done, then so be it! He’s so weak willed, it took me only three days for him to come to my bed by his own free will. Imagine what I could make him do over the next twenty years!” Illia crooned as the blast finally struck Midshore, knocking her to the ground.

“NO!” Gloria jumped in front of Midshore, shooting her own attack at Illia. It hit her in the shoulder, making her recoil. “I’ll not let you harm someone I love,” she vowed.

“Honey, you’re due for a rude awakening,” she said, rolling her shoulder. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to have your son by my side. No one I wouldn’t hurt. No one I wouldn’t maime. No one I wouldn’t pull every bit of life out of. Because in the end, the only person out there who’s going to get me what I want is me.”

Illia sent out a hail of fire, but Gloria deflected it easily but a pit was forming in her stomach. “Why do you need my heir, when you’ve known this whole time that Seneca is the true heir?” she asked, realization dawning across her face. “Why did you say that a new heir must be made?! There’s already an heir to the throne!”

“Even with your power restored, you can’t tell that lover boy is dead?” Illia sneered.

“You’re lying to me!” Gloria said, throwing an attack at her. “You lie about everything!”

“Just because a truth is hard to hear doesn’t mean that it’s a lie, dearie. But don’t worry, you can join him as soon as you give me a son!”

She volleyed a strong attack at Gloria, but she brushed it off as if it hadn’t happened.

“No, your time of power and villainy ends here.” Gloria said, steel in her eyes. With all the power she could muster, she shot a blast at Illia. At first, Gloria wasn’t sure she was seeing it correctly. Lines started to form on her face, then her posture started to sag. Her hair, already white, came out of its knot and wrapped about her. Her clothes, always so flashy and stylized, transformed into rags.

“What have you done to me?!” she shrieked in a warbling voice, that of an old woman.

“I’m protecting those I love, something that you’ve never done.” Gloria said, finally pushing through and breaking Illia’s last defense. She shrieked again before crumbling into a pile of dust.

With effort, Midshore pushed herself up off of the floor. She looked at the pile of dust on the ground. “I guess that’s what we’ll look like in 200 years,” she joked. “Come on, let’s get this done. Let’s go home.”

But instead of going out the entrance door, Gloria pushed towards the direction they’d been going, towards the dungeon.

Anwyn grabbed her hand. “Gloria, we all heard her. She said that Seneca is dead,” she looked at her with regret in her eyes. “Let’s go home, love.”

“No, not until I see it with my own eyes.” she said, pulling away. “I have to know for sure.”

“To what end?” Midshore asked.

“If you heard that Dad had died, would you leave without him?” Gloria asked Anwyn. “Or you?” she turned to Romeo. “Or if Everstar was down there, in the dungeon? I love him, mom. He wanted me to run, to get as far away from here as I could, but I couldn't do that. Not without him. And I’m the one who made this mess.”

“It’s this way,” Liam said, leading the way. The other three adults looked at him, spellbound, but he didn’t care. He knew what it was like to be parted from someone he loved, and the desire to do whatever it took to make sure they were safe. This whole mission had been one of love, who were they to decide where that love ended?

The two of them hurried down the corridor to the dungeon entrance. The door had been ignored by the rebellion, and it was unlocked. With no other prisoners down there, there was no need to keep the door secure.

They rushed down the stairs, and Gloria kept searching for him, for his feelings. She hoped that the distance and the thick walls between them had been inhibiting the sense, but the closer she got the more worried she was that Illia was right and that he was dead.

She blew open the door to his cell area, praying to whatever powers there were that he would be sitting there, and look up and smile at her when he could see her.

He didn't stir.

Surrounded in a circle of blood, his skin had started to change color and his chest drew no breath.

“No no no no no,” Gloria ran to the bars of the cell and disappeared a set of them, as if they were a toy from when she was younger. “No,”

She crouched beside him. The blood on the ground was dry, but the powder of it stained her dress. “I- I’m too late.” She pulled him up onto her lap, the way she had wished to hold Henry when he’d died. Blake had taken more from her than anyone had ever taken from her. He took her youth, her faith, years of her life, her trust, Henry, and now Seneca. Her Seneca.

“No, I was born for a reason. We are tied together for a reason,” she said to him, gently. Tears were starting to cloud her vision. “You are my other half, the one I've been inexplicably tied to since I was old enough to read,” she smiled a small smile, remembering first meeting Seneca in the greenhouse. “You were so full of yourself, demanding that I remember who you were. I was so horrible with names, so in my own world that I never thought you were important enough to remember. But you never forgot me.”

She closed her eyes, feeling calm come over her. “And I refuse to let you go.”

She had been afraid to love this deeply, to let it consume her, to fill her up like the way fire spreads through a firework, exploding and firing into beautiful shapes and colors. Or the depths of the ocean, where you couldn’t see the bottom, only imagine that it existed but unable to fathom how deep it was. She had been restored before. She had gone from dead to living, but the reason and source for her powers had never been explained. And what are gifts if you don’t share?

Illia was right to be afraid of her power, because for once in her life she was going to put it to good use.

With her hands burning from the intensity, Gloria pumped energy into Seneca’s limp body. I love you. Come back to me. I love you, Seneca, come back. Come back to me.

“What’s she doing?” Romeo asked Midshore quietly.

Midshore stared on in a mixture of awe and horror. “She’s trying to restore him. But there are no runes, there are no crystals. The Spirits aren’t here, how could she restore him? It’s hard enough for Everstar and I to do it together- Gloria is a rookie at best and has never trained in restorative magic.”

Queen Rosa and Barnabus stepped into the room, not sure what they were witnessing. She recognized Anwyn, Liam, and Romeo, but had no clue as to why they were here.

“Come back to me, my love. I have enough for the both of us.”

The lights in the room were all suddenly extinguished, replaced by an ember glow that seemed to have no source.

“I’ve seen this before, only once.” Midshore said. “When I restored Anwyn, the room shone gold. It has never happened that way before.”

“I thought that was part of the process,” Romeo answered.

“No, it was unique,”

The light intensified from the dim glow to a growing blinding light.

“Come back, my love.”

The audience stood, not making a sound, watching as the light began to fade, waiting to see if she had been successful, not wanting to breathe less they missed a sign.

With a sharp breath, Seneca arched his back, coughing. His skin started to blotch back to the correct color, and while his breaths were labored, they were there. He was breathing.

“Seneca, Seneca, is that you?” Gloria asked. She wanted to make sure she hadn’t restored a monster or demon instead of the correct soul.

“Who else would come back here?” he asked, turning to look at her with admiration.

Gloria grabbed him and held him tight, smiling like a child who had been given a puppy.

Anwyn, Liam, and Romeo all cheered, startling Rosa and Barnabus.

“What is going on here?” Rosa asked. “Why was my son dead? Who is responsible for this?”

“I’m- I have more details than anyone else here and I still have no idea, ma’am,” Romeo said, still applauding but turning his head to talk to the queen. “You’ve aged nicely. Good for you,”

Anwyn looked at Liam, love in her eyes. Her daughter was in love, she had pulled off a huge feat bringing someone back from the dead, and who knew what sort of consequences there would be, but right now, everything felt perfect. She pulled Liam into a kiss, smiling.

Midshore and Barnabus stood around, acting like they didn’t know what to do with their hands. Midshore wanted to go in and talk to Gloria and Seneca about what had happened, if they were feeling any different, any side effects from the experience, but it didn’t feel like the right moment to do so. They looked so happy as they were. It almost felt dirty watching them...

No one saw him come in, or knew how he had gotten out of his bonds, but with surprising agility Blake pulled Gloria away from Seneca and held her against him with a knife held out in defense.

“No!” shouted Anwyn and Liam in unison. Everyone else took a sharp inhale, not moving.

“Son, what do you think you’re doing?” Romeo asked.

“I’m leaving here with Gloria. You’ll let us both leave, without confrontation, or I’ll kill both of us, her then me.” Blake said with wild eyes.

“Son, you’ve lost. Let her go, we’ll talk this through.”

“No,” he said. “The throne must continue. The king must have an heir. I love Gloria, she loves me, we’ll run away together-” he was speaking as if he was stringing one thought to another, hardly making sense. Gloria tensed up in his hold.

“I don’t think so,” Seneca said, launching himself at Blake, hitting the table and falling to the floor. Seneca grabbed a blade from the table in the skirmish, and stepped on Blake’s hand to make him drop his own. He felt weak, not fully at the strength he had been before he died, and it was a fascinating feeling to feel your muscles rebuilding themselves, but he knew that with all of his strength he had to do this.

“Seneca-!” Gloria shouted.

“I’ve never met anyone who I’ve hated more,” Seneca said, standing over Blake. “You’ve been a thorn in the side of the rebellion, you’re the son of Lady Malice, you’ve killed dozens of people, but the worst thing you’ve done is harm such a pure thing. You told her you loved her, convinced her to leave her home for you, and all so that she could live in a cage. She had so many chances to kill you, and she should have, but she’s too kind to do that. Even with all of the pain you’ve put her through, she’d still probably want you to live out your days in prison. Gloria can’t bear the weight of killing you on her shoulders, but I can.”

With a plunge, Blake moved no more.

We did it! There were a bunch of bloopers in this chapter, so let me get to those!

^I don't magic duel a lot, and I didn't know that this was going to be the animation for a 'Heated Duel', and I thought it was hilarious because I can totally imagine Midshore mocking Illia like this.

^I thought this was a really pretty picture.

^Watching the trio as the audience was funny and I had to take pictures of it even if their reactions didn't fit the tone of the scene. More than half the time they were cheering for Illia!

^I had to have the spellcasters fight more than a few times so that I could get the proper endings to the fights I wanted, and Midshore won more fights than I needed her to, and Illia won more fights than I wanted her too as well, so when Gloria finally won the round she celebrated.

Also, I had to make a new entrance to the palace as a detached room because the original one is too small! If you look at the pictures, see if you can tell the difference.

^These are great pictures, but Seneca is wearing the wrong clothes! Thankfully I noticed before getting too deep into that scene.

^My little cinnamon roll.

This is the pose I wanted Gloria to use with Henry. When I said in the chapter that Gloria held Seneca the way she wanted to hold Henry, that was a wink at the fact I could finally use the pose pack that would have been perfect for it!

^I love the sims. They cheer when people kiss .

^Didn't use this picture because I don't know if I wanted Gloria to be sad that Blake was dead or not.

There are two more chapters I have planned for this story, then we're on to what ever comes next! I have plans, much more mundane plans than a medieval story. I've said before, but I want to do something more vanilla, take out all of the cc from my game, all of the poses. I want to do a bachellortette challenge and let my sims live normal-er lives! It'll be fun!

As always, I want to thank all of my readers for encouraging me to get this far. I would have never done it without you.