2 months later.
Thethia: Royal Palace, Hallway.

• Arell •

"Arell!"

Two loud, cheerful shrieks filled the hallway as two children ran towards his direction with their arms spread wide and bright, beaming grins on their faces. Arell burst out a laugh and lowered himself to receive two crushing hugs from either side of him. Their slightly damped blonde hair tickled against his cheeks when they snuggled tight into the curve of his neck. He laughed, "Why are both of you running around with light dressing and wet hair?"

"Evelyn! Emery!" Aunt Elizabeth was breathlessly chasing behind the twins, stopping when she spotted him and she heaved out the heaviest sigh of relief, "Thank goddess, my good nephew, you saved my life!"

"Aunt Elizabeth," Arell chuckled, greeting her with a light tone. Scooping the two munchkins who were stuck to him, he carried them up in his arms and walked towards his aunt. He poked fun, "Uncle Finneas ran away from bathing duties again?"

"Don't remind me of him," Aunt Elizabeth grumbled. "These two are already giving me a hard time."

"I'll give you a hand," Arell laughed, tugging the two four-year-olds closer to him.

"Finneas would be so jealous if he saw this," Aunt Elizabeth laughed without any reservations. "You know how much he dotes on these two but they are just so attached to you. In fact, every child is attached to you. Are you sure you're not gifted to be the best babysitter in the entire realm instead?"

"Aunt Elizabeth!" Arell groaned in a complaining tone, embarrassed by her comment. But her aunt only let out another peal of hearty laughter, causing the poor boy to grow red. 

"It's just too bad that Elianna couldn't bear a second child, you would've been the best older brother."

"It's really fine," Arell smiled. "I have enough little sisters to take care of."

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Thethia: Royal Palace, Garden

• Indira •

Her eyes were trained on some two annoying brats who kept following behind her brother. She sat in the garden chair, sullen with her hands placed on her lap and a small pout that displayed her displeasure to the scene that she was witnessing. A feeling of loneliness grew within her but that unhappiness quickly disappeared when she heard the lilting laughter from her mother, "Indira, you can go ahead to play with them." 

Indira stayed silent for a moment before refocusing her gaze on her mother, she stared right into her beautiful pale eyes as they sparkled with affection and adoration for her. The child smiled in return, "How are you feeling, mama?" 

"Mother is feeling fine, my darling," Mother reached for her hair to pick out a petal that had fallen in between her wavy brown strands. She commented, "Thethia is a nice place to be, don't you think?" 

"I don't really like it here," Indira mumbled, her gaze went back to everything that was upsetting her again. 

Mother laughed funnily when she tapped lightly on her lips, wanting to remove the slight pout. "Indira, you know, Mother have many brothers and sisters but I'm not close to any of them. In fact, my favourite brother is your Uncle Rowan and I used to be so envious whenever I see him always having fun together with your father and your Aunt Lyra." 

"That's how I'm feeling right now," Indira admitted, a sad expression pulled at her lips. "Arell forgets about me whenever he comes to Thethia." 

"I doubt so, my darling," Mother said gently. "Arell always thinks of you and he dotes on you the most." 

The child disagreed, "That's not true—" 

Her difference of opinion was quickly interrupted by a sudden light-hearted shout from far, "Indy!" 

Indira looked up to see her brother waving at her. Arell had Emery sitting on his shoulders and Evelyn clinging onto his leg stubbornly. Under the bright summer sun, Arell was laughing so brightly with warmth as he tried to catch her attention. Just then, Thunder had also appeared from behind her and he brushed his head against her arm. Indira turned around and looked at the panther while he signalled for her to follow. Looking up again to face her mother, a wider smile painted across her mother's face as she said endearingly, "Go ahead, my darling. Have fun!" 

Indira hopped off her seat and placed her hand on Thunder as she walked with him towards Arell. Emery grabbed a fistful of his dark hair and he groaned a little before trying to pull the child's arm away while he complained, "Emery, please don't pull my hair!" 

The twins tittered impishly and when Indira walked close to them, Arell stretched his arm out and presented her with an open palm. He grinned, "Let's go together, Indy." 

Happiness sparked vividly within her and she nodded, taking his hand unhesitatingly. The children made their way to the vast lake behind the garden with Thunder. That was their playground while the adults enjoyed their time in the vibrant garden filled with brilliant, impressive blossoms.

※

• Queen of Iftia, Elianna •

Seeing Naailah waving to the children as they ran into the shallow woods towards the crystal lake at the back of the gardens, Elianna walked towards Naailah and placed the tray of tea in her hands on the surface of the garden table. Concerned, she asked, "Naailah, how are you feeling?"

"I'm a lot better now, Elianna. Thank you," Naailah replied, she still looked slightly frail but her complexion was a lot better than the decade that she spent unconscious. She spent the past months recuperating before Elizabeth decided to invite everyone to Thethia for a relaxing retreat. 

Elianna raised the pot and poured tea into the cups before serving one to Naailah. The two ladies were just enjoying the breezy weather when Elizabeth joined them a moment later. Elianna looked towards her sister as she pulled on a chair and settled in, Elizabeth had let out an audible exhale before gathering her luscious brown hair up and securing them with a hair tie. She spoke with immense relief, "All thanks to Arell, I finally got the opportunity to take a break!" 

"My son is wonderful, isn't he?" Elianna chuckled proudly.

"Wordlessly amazing, what would I do without my good nephew?" Elizabeth grinned in return, continuing to ask, "Is everything alright here? Please do let me know if I could do anything more to make the stay more comfortable for everyone." 

"Everything's perfect, we really appreciate the hospitality that you're offering," Naailah smiled.

"Where are the men?" Elianna asked out of curiosity, suddenly remembering that she hadn't seen Rowan since noon. 

"Rowan and Matthias went fishing with Finneas," Elizabeth mentioned. "The children might find them at the lake." 

"How nice," Naailah enthused. "Come to think of it, I've never went fishing before."

"Rivia is too dry for that and Iftia is too cold for that," Elianna laughed. "Now that you're in Thethia, you should probably try it."

"Rather than fishing, there are many other interesting things you can do here, Naailah. What about horse riding?" Elizabeth suggested, almost disapproving of the idea of fishing and Elianna silently laughed while wondering what had Finneas done to her sister with his enthusiasm for fishing. 

"Naailah can't ride a horse yet, my dear sister," Elianna reminded as she needed to consider Naailah's health. 

"Fishing it shall be and I'm appointing you as my teacher, Your Majesty of Thethia," Naailah poked fun. 

"The guests shall always be right and anything for Your Highness of Iftia," Elizabeth sighed while returning the humour with a courteous nod. 

At the side, Elianna cringed and the three of them broke into jovial peals of heartwarming laughter. It was a pleasant afternoon, spending a good time with casual conversations and lovely company.

※

Later in the night, everyone gathered in the gardens again after dinner and with a flick of his fingers, Matthias lit all the delicate tealight candles that were placed around them. The whole place brightened in a soft, warm glow while all of them settled on the large garden mat in the middle of the vast garden. 

Elianna looked around. Naailah was leaning against Matthias, Elizabeth held onto Finneas' hand and all the children clung onto Arell and Thunder. From behind, Rowan had settled down as he circled an arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace. With her back resting against his front, he asked, "What are you looking at?" 

"Everyone," Elianna smiled happily. 

Alec and his wife were enjoying quiet moments sitting beside each other while Tristan, Ilias and Kiran were simply satisfied with each other's company filled with polite conversations. Realising that someone's missing, Elianna asked the group, "Where's Jana?" 

"Don't ask, Elianna," Tristan snickered playfully. "Didn't you realise that Kaylon is missing too?" 

"They—"

Feeling a sudden movement from behind, Rowan coughed out a laugh and Elianna quickly turned around and question, "Were you keeping it from me?" 

Rowan held her tighter to him by the waist and mentioned teasingly, "Aren't you a little too slow, my wife?"

"They didn't even speak to one another at all!" she gasped, still unable to comprehend this odd pairing.

"Kaylon is relatively good at hiding things," Ilias agreed. "But I guess he's at his limit now."

All of a sudden, a presence neared them and Kaylon's voice suddenly sounded, "What are you guys talking about?" 

"There, speak of the devil," Tristan burst out laughing and Ilias shrugged his shoulders. 

Elianna turned her head slightly to see Jana following behind him shyly. Her lady-in-waiting saw her looking at her and she tried to explain, "Elianna, I—"

"I approve!" Elianna said enthusiastically, quickly interjecting Jana's words. Facing Kiran, she asked, "Kiran, what about you?" 

"No, thank you," Kiran was real quick to reject the idea, as usual. 

Tristan piped in, "Kiran, you might be a good match with Ilias and your couple tag shall be 'hearts of stone'."

"No, thank you," Kiran and Ilias coursed in harmony and Tristan rolled his eyes at them.

"Who else isn't married here?" Elizabeth asked. 

"Well, Tristan and Ray," Matthias explained but throwing a wink at Tristan. "Though I heard that Tristan had an arrangement? Speak up, young man. How did you meet Lady Benett?" 

"Um, yes," Tristan rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "Well, Rowan kept insisting that we should also get married and start our own lives. Alec was the first amongst us to be married to Juliet and Kaylon had his heart on Jana since they met. Ilias was unwilling to get married no matter what and it was left with me. Rowan arranged for me to meet Aurelie and that's how I met her. She was lovely and we matched really well." 

"Shouldn't you try to pair Ray with someone?" Naailah asked Matthias. 

"I tried, precious. My first knight is as reluctant as Ilias," Matthias whined. "It's a first knight thing, I assume." 

"Not really," Elizabeth laughed. "My first knight, Tavion, is happily married. He and his husband adopted a child last spring. Mason is such a charming boy." 

"Our daughters are lovelier," Finneas stated in an almost absolute tone. 

The hearty banter continued for a moment longer before everyone quietened down and Indira took over the silence with a beautiful song. Silver dust and light surrounded the air around them and Elianna looked towards the empyreal night sky. Stretching her hand out, she waved at the stars. 

"Do you think they could see us now?" Elianna whispered. 

"I'm sure they're always watching over us, love," Rowan smiled, placing a gentle kiss into her hair.  

Elianna quietly thanked the stars before she looked around at everyone again. A wide smile painted across everyone's face as they enjoyed each other's company and her heart warmed. She breathed out a quiet chuckle and murmured, "After everything, we finally became a true family." 

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End of Book Three, Blooddebt.

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