In the stillness of the room, Eva immediately noticed the sound of the latch lifting on the bedroom door. Since she had not heard a knock, though, she assumed it was just her mother returning. Twisting around on the bench where she was sitting at the vanity, she saw someone slip into the room but could not make out any of the person's features.

"Did you forget something, Mother?" she asked quietly so as not to disturb Nadia.

"No, I don't believe she did," a masculine voice answered as the figure stepped into the lamplight.

When the light at last illuminated the man, Eva nearly knocked over the bench she had been seated on as she stumbled clumsily to her feet and clapped a fist to her heart. "Your Majesty, I apologize. I didn't realize it was you."

"That much is clear," he said with a weary smile. "I passed your mother in the hall, though. She informed me of your plans to remain here for the foreseeable future. I appreciate your thoughtfulness."

"Well, it didn't take much thought, really. I could never leave her like this; she needs me," Eva replied as she brought her hand back down to her side and turned her eyes to the bed at the corner of the room where the princess slept. Her voice was thick with emotion when she next spoke. "It's horrible what's happened, and she shouldn't face it alone."

The king nodded while following her gaze. Stepping closer to the bed, he looked down on the child and whispered, "How is she?"

Eva had to clear some of the emotion from her throat before she could answer. "Not well. She cried most of the evening before finally falling into a fitful sleep from sheer exhaustion. I think it will be some time before she's able to come to grips with this."

"No doubt," he agreed, running a hand down his face with a heavy sigh.

"How's the baby?" she thought to ask after a period of silence.

"He is fine. A wet-nurse was summoned, and she was able to get him settled. She and her small family will be staying in one of the guest suites with him until he is weaned."

"Have you named him?" she asked but then quickly regretted it after considering all of the day's happenings. "I'm sorry. Surely you've been too preoccupied to think of such things..."

"Actually," he began as he moved away from the bed and closer to where Eva was standing, "Linarra had already picked out names ahead of time. He will be called Orin."

"It's a fine name, Your Majesty. Very suiting for a prince."

"Please," he said with one hand raised and a shake of his head, "no more formalities. This day has been hard enough as it is; I cannot bear to hear you address me by titles." Hanging his head, Justian's shoulders slumped forward, making him appear to be an old man hunched with age. Gone was his regal composure, and in its place, was one of a simple man whose heart was aching.

"What would you have me call you then?" Eva asked as the weight of her own emotions pressed down upon her. With tears in her eyes, she took a shaky breath and dared to speak the one word she'd longed to say all her life, "Fa?" Her voice sounded breathless and brittle in her ears as she whispered the child's word for "father," but she determinedly kept her gaze fixed on the man in front of her. She had taken the leap. There was no turning back now.

When her soft whisper registered in Justian's ears, his head shot up and his eyes widened in a look of surprise that was quickly followed by a surge of elation. She knows? His thoughts sang in wonder. Barely had that spark of excitement flared up, however, before a wave of uncertainty rushed in. What if I heard her wrong? Could she have said something else? Replaying through his mind what he'd heard, he tried to come up with any other possibility for what she'd said. No, there's no mistake. Nadia has called me by that same name countless times. I'd know it anywhere. Sufficiently reassured, the king allowed a small flame of hope to burn in his chest.

"You-you know?" he managed to get out. Her subtle nod gave him the courage to continue. "I'd always assumed she would tell you eventually, but I never knew for sure... How long?"

"Since I was ten."

"That long?" His brows rose at the new information and he unconsciously took a step closer. "Did she tell you why? Why I couldn't be there for you? It's not because I didn't want to..."

For once deciding to act on impulse, Eva cast aside her reserved demeanor and sprang forward to wrap her arms around her father for the first time, halting his rambling flow of words. "I know," Eva whispered. "You were protecting me."

Stunned by her sudden action, the king didn't immediately respond, but as his muddled thoughts finally stilled, he was able to regain his motor skills enough to bring his arms up to return the embrace. With one hand pressed to her back, he wove the fingers of his other through her loose tresses and held her there as if she were still a little child and would slip away if he didn't hold tightly enough. "It was the only way we knew to keep you safe. I don't regret our decision, but I swear to you, it was the hardest thing I have ever done."

Eva wanted to say something-to tell him it was all right and that she understood, but her unruly emotions wouldn't allow it. They had formed a large lump in her throat that seemed permanently lodged there, and the harder she struggled the faster her tears fell and the tighter her throat became. Deciding at last to give up on trying to speak, she offered him a silent nod instead, hoping he would understand its significance.

After a while, the two finally pulled apart, but Justian still couldn't let go. Using one hand, he wiped away the moisture from her cheeks then simply held her face in his hands and looked her over. "You know, I held you once when you were just a baby."

"You did?" Eva asked with a sniff.

"Yes. You were much smaller then," the king commented with a chuckle. "I could fit all of you in these two hands." He shared a brief smile with her before continuing. "Now look at you. You've grown into a beautiful young woman and become an outstanding Warrior. I want you to know that I am proud of you, and I'm glad that Nadia has such a great role model to look up to. It was a fair bit of genius when I came up with the idea to appoint you as her guardian. It solved so many of my worries. For one, it allowed the two of you to get to know each other, which was something I deeply longed for. Also, it allowed me to see you nearly every day and finally be a part of your life. And lastly, it granted me the peace of mind knowing that Nadia would be well protected."

"I am glad to be her guardian for those same reasons. It's quite a gift that I get to spend so much time with the little sister I thought I'd never know. I couldn't imagine doing anything else." Here, her eyes traveled back to the sleeping form curled up on the bed nearby. She could see in the way the girl's brows were furrowed and her hands twitched that she was enduring another nightmare, and Eva's joy over being reunited with her father quickly fell back to the harsh reality of the present circumstances. Though she wanted to continue speaking with her father, her heart urged her to go and comfort the little one.

Seeing the change come over his eldest daughters features and understanding her conflicting emotions, the king withdrew his hands and stepped back. "Go to her. She needs you now and will so even more when she wakes. I'll bid you good night for the time being and leave you to your rest. We can talk again soon."

"Promise?" she asked softly as her blue-green eyes, the same color as her father's, returned to him. It wasn't that Eva doubted her father's words, but she needed the extra reassurance that this would not be the last time she would be able to speak to him so candidly. A lifetime of waiting made one unwilling to let such a moment go.

"You have my word," he stated resolutely.

Appeased, Eva gave him a timid nod before embracing him once more. "Sleep well, Fa."

"I'll try, my daughter."

With one more flash of a smile, Eva lightly stepped over to the bed and sank down onto the edge of the downy mattress to begin running her fingers through Nadia's hair. The calming rhythm of the gentle motion soon drove the young girl's frown away as she relaxed into more peaceful dreams. A few moments later, the soft click of the latch signaled the king's departure, and Eva allowed a light sigh to escape her lips. So much had transpired throughout the day that she hardly knew which emotion to deal with first. The longer she sat in the quiet room and thought about it, however, the muddier everything seemed to become, and her head soon began to throb from the effort. Realizing that she was too tired to sort out and analyze everything that had happened and her feelings thereon, Eva rose from the edge of the bed to slip into her nightgown. Once she had done so, she extinguished the lamp and crawled beneath the warm, heavy covers beside the princess.

"Good night, Nadia," she whispered before placing a delicate kiss on her temple and curling herself around the sleeping girl. Within seconds, the black waters of sleep began pulling her under, and she allowed herself to sink into the soothing depths of dreamless slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day carried with it dark, low-hanging clouds that matched the somber mood of the city perfectly. Nadia had said and eaten very little throughout the day, and although Eva was concerned, she decided not to push her and allowed her the space and time she needed to grieve. Preparations for the birth celebration of the new prince had been postponed until the beginning of the next week to accommodate the queen's funeral. Linarra would be laid to rest just like every other monarch, of Royal blood or Common, before her-she would be placed upon a funeral pyre that would be carried out past the breaking of the ocean's waves where it would be ignited and allowed to follow the current away from Elysia. At dusk that evening, the time came for the Royal family to gather on the beach beside the queen's pyre to say goodbye. They were joined by the Officer Superiors of each division, King Oberon and Queen Tana of the faeries, and representatives from both the dwarven and elven kingdoms. Above them on the cliffs, nearly all of Elysia had come to watch the proceedings. Everyone wanted to show their respect to their beloved queen.

Eva stood at attention by Nadia's side, staring out at the crashing waves in front of her. She barely noticed when the bishop began his long eulogy, and she doubted Nadia did either, judging by the blank gaze that filled her eyes. Eva had tried throughout the morning to discourage the young princess from attending the memorial service. She was worried that such a somber gathering would further upset her, but Nadia had surprised her by her fervent insistence that she be present. "Death is a part of life," she'd said, "and I must show our people that it's okay to mourn." Such a wise statement from one so young had left Eva at a loss for argument, and so she had ceased her objections.

As she stood silently on the sandy beach now, Eva felt a warm pressure in her right hand. Looking down, she saw that Nadia had slipped a hand into hers and the other into that of the king on her other side. They were all three linked hand-in-hand. That realization forced Eva to swallow hard and take slow, deep breaths to keep her emotions from overflowing. When she noticed Nadia's eyes were beginning to moisten, she had to look away and return her focus to the tumultuous surf in front of her. It was a relief, then, when the bishop at last finished his speaking and motioned for the Officer Superiors to carry the pyre out over the water.

The Officers stepped forward as signaled, and in four flashes of light, the four Officers merged with white doves that had been provided for the ceremony. All four emerged from the bright light having acquired identical sets of pure white wings, and then each stepped up to the funeral pyre to grasp a ring that was attached to each corner. Just as they were about to take flight and lift the pyre from the ground, however, a voice rang out and brought their movements to a halt.

"Wait!" the princess called frantically. "Wait! Don't take her yet." Snatching her hands free from Eva and the king's grasps, Nadia rushed forward to stand next to her mother. The young girl held a hand out to the ocean waves and summoned a palm-sized sphere of water to her. Everyone watched in a mixture of confusion and sympathy as she worked the sphere in her hands, desperately trying to shape it to her will.

As Nadia continued to struggle without success, Eva glanced over at the king for his permission to intervene. He granted her silent request with a nod, and she readily stepped forward kneel beside her charge. "What is it, Nadia? What are you trying to do?"

The princess's hair blew wildly in the wind and stuck to her cheeks as her tears flowed freely down her face as she continued struggling with the liquid in her hands. Finally, her frustration got the best of her and she looked up with a pleading gaze into her guardian's eyes. "I want to turn this blasted water into ice in the shape of a heart so I can give it to Mum before she leaves, but I can't get it to freeze. Why can't I do it?"

With her features softening in understanding, Eva brought her hands up to cup Nadia's. "It's not working because there is salt in the water that's preventing it from freezing like it normally would. Here, let me help." Reaching within herself, Eva called upon her magic to connect with the troublesome mineral in the water Nadia held and began drawing it out. "You have to separate the salt out of the liquid like this." When Eva withdrew her hands, a chain of salt grains followed. She caused the particles to form a pile in the palm of her hand for Nadia to see before letting them fall to the sandy ground between them. "Now try to freeze it."

With the salt grains removed, Nadia molded the sphere of water into the heart shape she had pictured in her mind and then lowered the temperature until it had solidified. Smiling through her tears with satisfaction, the princess then placed the heart in her mother's folded hands and took a step back. "Okay. Now you can take her," she said to the Officers.

The four saluted her with a fist to their hearts before taking flight with a mighty thrust of their wings and lifting the queen and her pyre into the air. Eva escorted the princess back to the king's side as the Officers bore their precious load past the breaking of the waves and out into calmer waters. Once they had reached their destination, they lowered the queen down onto the ocean's surface and used their magic to ignite the pyre. As the flames and smoke rose into the sky, the elves that were present began to sing. Their solemn voices rose and fell with the foreign words of their dirge, blending with the sound of the waves crashing along the shore and the mournful wails of those watching from atop the cliffs. The haunting melody carried along the wind high into the heavens to bear their heartfelt, sorrowful goodbyes to the other side of eternity.