When they mentioned food, I was fortunately able to conjure enough strength to avoid the same tasteless gruel I experienced when I first arrived. As soon as I was done eating, I passed out in short order, finding myself in the presence of Idir and my other self. "It seems we can't afford to leave you unsupervised." Idir spoke with the calm exotic accent I knew from my origins, as comforting as the first time he joined my inner circle of compatriots. Then he frowned as he approached, placing a hand on my shoulder and saying "I'm sorry, I assumed you detached from your actions, I know better now."
"Don't coddle us Idir, we need to grow stronger, not spoiled." I'm not sure whether I spoke however, or if it was the other me, it could even have been both of us, but Idir chuckled, removing his hand and stepping back as the other me approached, headbutting me to the strangely hard nothingness we stood upon.
"All your talk and you came a hair's width from shattering the first time you get upset. Do you want more us'? I've held dandelions less likely to fall apart." I held up a hand as I sat up to apologise, but I kicked myself in the face, as void of forgiveness as ever.
"Don't kill yourself either, you need to grow strong, not cold." Idir's softness showed, tempering the me he knew, as he once tried.
I groaned as I scraped myself up. I asked them how this was possible and they told me that Idir left enough of his soul in me to learn the whole unfiltered truth, whilst the other me was unable to fully meld because of my own weakness as well as the gaps in my memories.
"Well, as sorry as I am for keeping you prisoner in my head, can I assume I'm here because you have something to tell me?" My words provoked the merciless me and Idir had to hold him back.
In the end he settled for throwing some very colourful slurs at me, some very dark threats and finally an answer to my question. He told me that their primary purpose was to tell me that they were watching, having to prey upon my weakness to drag me into this inner world.
When the other me lost temper again and threw a punch Idir couldn't prevent, I punched my fist head on, breaking both our hands and then kicking myself in the gut. "Do you really think I'll keep letting your assaults slide? You burned half a world you cared nothing for. I burned several in the name of an unwanted duty. You killed what, three billion? I killed thirty times that and more, so don't act like you had it tough, at least you were able to ignore the weight of what you did."
Idir sighed, and turned to the other me now scraping himself up, as I had done a moment before. "Birds of feather? Apple doesn't fall far from the tree? Perhaps a new proverb is needed 'a reflection can be warped but it's still you'. How does that sound?" He spoke with the voice of a teacher well aware he wasn't making any progress with his students.
I asked what was going on, and Idir enlightened me. He said they had put together a "baby-step plan to toughen me up mentally" and the first step was getting me to acknowledge the strength it took to get me this far without breaking again. As he continued to detail the main goal of their plan, the world began to fade and he explained that I would only be able to remain there whilst exhausted in every way.
"Idir, please watch. The next time you tell me I'm going too far I'll end it for good. I promise I won't fail you again."
As they faded away along with my inner world, I awakened to my reality, Askel trying his best to defend me from an angry Eve, who was yelling at him to get out of the way. I asked them to keep it down and Askel coiled around me, his tongue lapping at me during the gaps in his nuzzling, Eve seemingly satisfied as I gasped for air in his crushing grip.
As I reached my limit of asphyxiation, Askel released me, which apparently meant I hadn't suffered enough. Eve dashed in whilst calling me an idiot, punching me in the face and rending us both immobile and cursing at the pain. "How long was I out? You and the savage should have been a day behind us." I asked Askel.
One of the commanders who accompanied me stood forward to restrain Eve, whilst another stood forward to answer. He told me Eve and Askel came ahead of the others, arriving half a day behind us, the rest arrived as scheduled and I had been out a day and a half in total. He then added that after a very brief exam upon their arrival, Eve just started hitting me and Askel immediately tried to defend me, resulting in the lengthy stalemate I awoke to.
"Okay, let her go, I'll accept punishment." The demon commander let her go but she only huffed, telling me my rationality ruined it, then running over and hugging me instead.
"I felt it, you know, your pain. Askel did as well and that's why we arrived so quickly. Idiot." I tousled her hair, apologising to Askel for worrying him, copping a hit when I failed to offer one to Eve. I asked if women in love were always so violent and she told me that only when they're in love with idiots.
I don't know why I told her she should fall out of love before she gets an ulcer, even I thought it was stupid, but I don't think I deserved the countless volts of electricity she shot through me.
With reunion time over, I stood up and glanced around, then a sound I had yet to hear in this world echoed through the new mining camp. The sound of galloping, I thought it strange and prepared for a fight, but Eve told me to relax and explained it was likely Halsan arriving on her father's gift to him.
A short while later, several creatures appeared, mounted by the three closest friends I had in this world. The creatures were a lesser form of chimera, the frontal body of horses along with two heads to match and the hindquarters of birds with small flightless wings growing from their rear hips. It would be more accurate to call them a hippogriff variant by my origin life mythos.
As the heavy creatures galloped hard enough to leave deep hoof prints in the hard ground, I wondered if they would stop in time for a moment, but when Eve stepped in front of me they skidded to a halt immediately. "You're lucky I was the one who trained these, they would have trampled you otherwise."
"Thank you for loving an idiot, as unrequited as it is." The words fell out of my mouth awkwardly as I tried to swallow them first, but the lingering annoyance at the electrocution was strong enough to force them out as a bitter retort.
"Apologies for blocking you, you can trample him after all." She spoke as she stood aside and for a moment the creatures padded their hooves as though waiting for the order but Askel was quick to back me up.
Halsan, Byurik and Leeson dismounted, the former headed directly to the graves of those lost, the other two saw fit to tackle me to the ground. A far easier feat than they expected, but rather than get up and apologise like decent people, they kept me pinned under them. "Halsan insisted we ride out you know, he said he didn't want to be the lord that sits idle."
"Then he is a fool, he's no fighter, and I'd quite like to see a ruler with no blood on his hands."
Eve interrupted to ask if they intended to hog me all night and I embraced them as we ignored her. Then she asked if they really left Newland, along with its guests and what the plan was if this was a diversion.
"It wasn't a diversion." They all snapped back to me. "Sil sent them, told them to kill the snake, she wanted to hurt me." The men rolled off of me and Eve pulled me up and embraced me, I could feel anger bubbling inside of her as much as she desired to remain calm for my sake.
"What are we going to do?" Leeson asked the question despite his demeanour omitting his wishes, hand on hilt, veins bulging. Every piece of him was clearly driving him to seek a confrontation, his pride as our fledgling nation's sword practically demanded he seek retribution regardless of logic.
"A girl too powerful for you to beat, has just declared war on us, I'll tell the adventurers to be wary of her along with a strict policy of avoidance. I know you'll carry the weight of any dead on your shoulders." Byurik added, speaking to me, but phrasing it so Leeson would recognise the folly of a confrontation.
"She hasn't declared war on us, she declared war on me, I'm responsible for the men that died here. I shouldn't have let her run." My words were true, though they were unwilling to admit it as they scolded me for taking responsibility. In truth I didn't know what I intended, so I just shrugged as I pried myself free from Eve's arms.
Askel then slithered up to me and bowed in submission, I could tell that he felt responsible for what happened as well, so I patted him reassuringly. I knew how he felt and I had an Idea of how to help him, but without believing he understood I would feel awful proceeding. I asked him to lap at us all in a specific order and he did so, then asked him if he knew what I meant by pain and he writhed around to show he did.
"I can make you stronger Askel, but it will hurt a lot. I need you to bite my arm if you understand, okay." I held out my arm and he hesitated a few times before biting down, releasing me immediately.
Eve slapped me, then healed me, asking why I would do something so stupid. I apologised, leaving them all speechless, then told them to stand back as I did the same for him as I had done for Fala.
When it was done I patted him and apologised for hurting him so badly, he nuzzled at me weakly until I told him to go and rest until morning.
"What will that do? I thought it just expanded mana capacity."
"In humans yes, but we reached the end of our evolutionary line. In animals, surging their mana restructures genetic material, depending on how they lived it can have various effects. Monsters, creatures like these mounts and even the dragons are made by this occurring naturally." As I looked back at them I fell silent, they clearly didn't understand a word I was saying.
"So he's going to use magic or become a dragon?" Byurik said, letting me know that he followed on better than his expression suggested.
"He's going to make sure this never happens again and nothing that hurt him before will hurt him again." I smiled, knowing he would be safer going forward was relieving, but I knew it was going to be a dramatic change. I would also need to implant some mana cores to improve his magic resistance which wouldn't be pleasant for him.
Suddenly Halsan returned, the melancholic expression of a truly compassionate leader adorning his pallid face. A stark contrast to his usual phlegmatic exterior which had been tempered in years of politics. "I need advice, Byurik, Leeson, could you join me. They nodded before asking me if I was coming. "No. I need your advice." They were shocked to say the least, my exclusion rendering them disarmed as they plodded after him.
"What…" Eve began to shout furiously, but I grabbed her shoulder to interrupt and bowed, leaving them free to remove themselves. "What are they thinking excluding you?" she began to rant, but was left more disarmed than the others when I hugged her.
"Thank you, for being the first since Ever to try defending me. I am responsible though, do not be blinded by emotion, I let Sil go." She wrapped her arms around me to enjoy the moment, despite the sadness that was extinguishing her anger.
Rather than sit idle as we waited, we helped those establishing the new camp, though Eve pestered me to rest the whole time. Regardless of her overbearing concern, I kept working until curiosity made me stop.
Byurik and Leeson's voices began barking before it was followed by the rumbling footsteps of the guards present. Interested in whatever was happening I made to exit the tent, where it seemed they were all heading towards me. I couldn't blame them, I would want justice as well, but I was concerned about how Eve might react and returned to her side.
"I'm sorry Eve, but whatever you do, don't hate anyone for what happens next." I paralysed her and layered several mana restricting glyphs. Laying her down as Byurik, Leeson and Halsan entered. "Don't worry, I merely made sure she couldn't act recklessly."
"I appreciate that, this is painful enough, I still consider you a friend. I am truly feeling the weight of my responsibility to the people at this moment." He made a gesture. "Now, you will be arrested, I cannot decide your fate alone however, so you will be tried by the conference. You are an international asset." As he finished, I was chained like an animal, so happy that they were just enough to put their feelings aside. I saw Haslan kneel and whisper to her, I knew how hard this must be for him, but he still took the time to at least try with her.
"Byurik, Leeson. You better take damn good care of Fala and treat Eve with the care you would your own daughter." As they hooked the chains to the back of the carriage, they took the opportunity to give me the same shoulder touch and pat on the back we would give each other as a greeting and farewell. Byurik then mounted the carriage as a passenger, trying to rest, whilst Leeson mounted and got it moving.
Nature truly did mimic emotion in that world, barely half an hour later it began to rain and my exhaustion quickly caught up to me. For a while I was able to shift my bodyweight and use the carriage to drag me without falling, but after an hour that stopped and I fell, left to drag behind by my arms. With nothing better to do, I chose to sleep, luckily the rain had softened the ground and there was no resistance as I was pulled.
When I finally awoke I was no longer being pulled by a carriage, I was in some kind of cell, unable to resist laughing at sleeping through the whole trip.
"Laughter, really?" Vedna spoke softly. "I have come to hear your confession personally, payment for treating my daughter so well and not taking advantage of her feelings as most would have." His words were thick with sincerity, it was a shameful waste of occasion.
"I won't belittle your faith, but the day I seek absolution in God's eyes I'll run myself through, that bastard is the only one even more sinful than me. You can repay me by being there for them, Eve and Ever both, they will surely grieve and I'm sorry but it will be a thankless hardship that burdens your shoulders."
"Evelith's mother died before she knew her, the girl grew up helping me through decades of grief. My only regret in doing so for her will be that she never even experiences the joy of having her love returned."
"Go Vedna, waste not a second, tell them Adam will die how he lived. Doing what he thought right and being an idiot." I gave the biggest and most sincere smile I could. Then rushed over and made a memory orb from them. "Give them this, let them see I didn't hold a grudge."
He took the orb, waving away the guards I hadn't even noticed, then left.
I then returned to where I woke up, I conjured a pen and some paper, then began to write up as much as I could about healing.
When I got bored of that, I began writing ways to improve security in the cells.
When I got bored of that I began singing songs the earth hadn't heard in eons.
When my throat grew coarse I returned to writing.
When I grew bored of that I wrote up notes on metallurgy and metalworking techniques.
When I grew bored of that I conjured a blade bearing Sil's name, attuned it to Eve, Leeson, Byurik, Haslan, Tyrland then kicked it over to one of the guards and told them to take it to Haslan. The guard panicked, looking at his support. "You do or I do, but it happens now." With that he scampered off and I couldn't help but snicker as he tripped over himself on the stairs.
I was restless, exhausted, ignorant of time passing and desperate to leave them with as much knowledge as I could.
I thought about writing personal letters to everyone, but it was ridiculous and the moment I tried to I realised that I didn't know how to write about such things, the idea of putting feelings into words seemed to dilute them. In the end all I could do was write two letters.
The first letter was to Eve and Ever, a desperate hypocritical plea for them to not do as I did when I lost someone precious, a plea for Eve to make the most of her life and a promise to Ever that if I continue to reincarnate I will find her again.
The second was a letter to Sil, a warning to similar effect. "Make the most of your lives and try to be happy, because the moment we meet again I will erase you. I will do as I promised and make you the best judge you can be, one who can never bring unnecessary suffering into the world."
As I finished writing the second, Byurik and Leeson entered, they stood tall as they told me it was time for my sentencing. Looking about, both of them seemed shaken by the piles of tomes and missives I had scrawled, turning to one of the men on watch. "Has he slept at all these past seven days?" The words surprised me, I had never worked so tirelessly for so long before.
"No, sir. All he's done is write, conjure materials with his strange magic, sing a bit and roll around complaining about writer's block."
"I also conjured a small divine beast to go tell Askel to continue helping you all, or leave if he can't." As I spoke, I flicked through a pile of missives to find what I had written on improving security, adding 'More regular shift changes, to keep them alert."
"He hasn't eaten, nor drank anything. He hasn't slept, yet somehow he is more productive than he has ever been." As Leeson spoke, him and Byurik both clenched their fists and I stood and embraced them.
"Don't mourn me, just promise you'll stop her, I'll do my best to finish the job if I keep reincarnating."
"If?"
"Truth be told, not sure I will. I grow weak, body and will both."
They pushed me off of them, then led me to my sentencing. The streets were abandoned, I expected the families of those who died shouting insults or hurling stones, they truly were good people.
As I looked up, the sun was blinding, but warm and inviting.
Before I knew it the sun was blocked out by the roof of the lord's manor, which was when I felt the mana crackling in the air, something was trying to cast a spell but being interfered with. The only person I could imagine doing it was Eve. "Take me to Eve now. I don't know how but she is trying to cast and the mana is reacting."
My escorts quickly redirected themselves and we soon found ourselves standing next to where she lay. I kissed her on the forehead and said goodbye, then reapplied the same level of magic interference I had originally.
With Eve secured we finally reached our destination, the conference hall. The space reorganised so I could stand at the centre of their circular arrangement, the various leaders all equal in the decision, backed by their retainers.
Haslan began proceedings, addressing me directly. "You have willingly allowed your confinement, can I assume you will willingly agree to our sentencing and subject yourself to it?"
"You can, I promise to carry it out myself if you can't." It was strange, but even though I looked directly at him as I spoke, I could scarcely make him out.
"Perfect, in spite of everything, I still believe you would never break a promise. We have decided to give you a choice in your sentencing." It was strange, whilst the moment was rife with gravitas, his response was a hint chipper.
"A choice?" I asked, my voice torn between curiosity and ignorance.
"Indeed, after extensive dialogue and debate, we are unanimous that only two outcomes can come from recent events. Before that however, an apology. We came to our decision several days ago, but you were so focused on your work, we couldn't bring ourselves to interrupt."
"You… Interrupt?" My head was a mess, no surprise after a week without sleep, but something felt off. It felt more like one of our breakfasts than a sentencing.
"Your first choice is trial by combat." My eyes blinked rapidly, then I focused my vision as I turned to see each smiling face. "Should you win, you will earn your absolution in the eyes of men, not gods. The second is you do what we wish and become ruler of Newland, sharing your strength and wisdom with the people of this continent. The only one capable of fighting this battle is you, cease your selfish slothfulness and impart your ideals into this land and its people."
I could feel rage flicker through my eyes, as I moved to object, but was cut short of vocalising my objection when everyone stood.
Haslan then asked if isolation had made a promise breaker of me, words which made me reduce the wooden box I was standing in into splinters.
"You leave me no option Haslan, you have me cornered. I cannot break a promise." The implication cut deep, Halsan knew it, he had me completely cornered. Achieving what no monster, mage or army of men had done before with nothing but faith in who I was.
"I know, my friend. As I know you will not allow yourself to accept absolvement for your failings. Hail to his majesty."
"Prepare yourself, I hereby name you my prime minister and fully intend to work you like a dog."
"What's a dog?" The question robbed me of my rage, and the wind from sails.
Vedna then interrupted, asking me to please release Eve before anything. Of course I had intended to, but when he mentioned it, I found myself terrified by the prospect. As she was carried in on a kind of stretcher, a thought came to mind of how we might avoid disaster upon her resurrection.
It was desperate, as much so as the situation, it would essentially put our fates on a coin toss. I conferred with the others, briefly but urgently.
When we were all in agreement that it was the best course of action, I released the spells holding her. She rose with a fury that dwarfed the demon army's onslaught, I could feel the mana bursting into life with newfound purpose.
The moment of truth, as she rose, I fell to my knee. "Would you be my queen?" The words were spoken with sincerity, I could imagine no other at my side, though I recognised the cruelty given her unrequited love.
She hesitated, I could feel the mana do so as well. "Are you mocking me? You were willing to let me suffer the pain of losing you, you left me trapped as a prisoner in my own body… You don't…" She hesitated, fighting against the lifetime of learning to hide vulnerability. "You don't love me. Ever is angry too, seeing you just give up."
I stood and looked her in the eye. "Do not tell me how I feel, my love is different, yes, but equal and true. Yes I left you trapped, but only because I recognise your love and know the grief such emotion can bring. As for Ever, I didn't give up, I did as I taught her and accepted the weight of my failures."
In several lifetimes, they had a form of entertainment which involved making decisions to gain the affections of others, I found myself strangely reminded of them in the moment and wishing I had actually tried them.
"Why should I agree to a sham marriage, don't you know how cruel that would be?"
"Yes I do, but as a newly appointed monarch, there will be those who seek to foster relations through marriage and whilst I doubt the idea of monogamy will stop everyone, it will reduce the number. It will also send a clear message to everyone that you are the most important people in the world to me." I could feel the mana relax even further, but wasn't ready to count my chickens before they hatched. The term temporarily distracted me as I wondered if they had chickens in that time.
"I understand that, but still to have people call you my husband, whilst you keep me at arms length…" Her entire demeanour changed suddenly, I could tell she was fishing for something more, but as to what I couldn't begin to fathom and just asked her to name it. "I said I wouldn't ask you to change how you act, but that was unrealistic, it hurts. If you want me in your life, you need to accept me and at least not consciously tell yourself not to fall in love with me… Also, we have to do the stuff that couples do to bond when we have time."
Her request was reasonable, the simple fact was that emotions change like tides, I was not too oblivious to know that the fact mine hadn't meant I was holding them in place. I had started doing so when I found them turbulent as a result of Sil, but could only admit that I continued to do so out of fear of growing more attached to this world. The time I had spent judging worlds also made controlling my personal feelings a matter of habit.
"I promise to give myself the freedom to fall in love with you, but make no promises it will happen…" I wasn't granted room to finish and found myself glomped once again and engaged for the first time.
Haslan attempted to start a cheer, but Eve turned her eyes on him, reminding herself that he had imprisoned me. She released me and began yelling at him relentlessly, the rest of us were reluctant to speak up, until she revealed that he had divulged his plans back when I was arrested.
The revelation that this was planned from the beginning made everything click into place. The fact that I lacked any injuries from being dragged for two days behind a carriage, the fact that I rested soundly, the fact that I didn't sense animosity from the guards, the empty streets. It was all mere theatre, designed to get me to accept the punishment.
That was when I turned my eyes on Haslan, approaching him and placing my hands on his shoulders, gripped tightly as I applied ever increasing weight. "So, you concocted this ruse all the way back then did you?" I laughed somewhat maniacally. "How bold, to play your would be king for a fool, I admit I underestimated your gall."
"As prime minister I must advise you that executing your prime minister will adversely affect the day to day running of our lands, to great effect." Halsan's disappearing spine act was enough to wash away the tension and with the momentum depleted my own fatigue caught up with me.
As I fell, Eve caught me, suggesting that we all find seating and have food served. Byurik and Leeson took my weight, insisting they help me to my seat. I wanted to refuse but allowed it in the end, deciding to let them unburden their consciences, though I did use magic to make myself heavier as they did so.
When I was seated, Eve sat next to me and slipped her hand into mine briefly, releasing when it triggered a headache for us both. We each looked to the other and smiled, silently making it a matter for future us to deal with, so we could let the others present enjoy the moment. "This is technically your engagement dinner, perhaps a certain young lady should be present?"
I nodded and smiled, adding that Kriel should also be in attendance so he knows things will be changing at home.
One of the other attendees commented on the implication we would be remaining in our current residence and I responded by telling them that letting the position change who I am, would make me unworthy of it. Of course I knew that one day I would likely have to, if even to make fulfilling day to day duties more efficient, but I wanted to stay put for a time.
Everyone laughed as they spoke about how interesting a kingdom Newland would become under my reign, which irked me, not because of the phrasing but because I couldn't stand the would-be nation having such a slapdash name.
"My second act as monarch, I hereby name the nation Eden, from the same story I received my name." I was slightly sad, having my name as something personal between those close was nice, but I would need to be close to all my citizens and allies. I stood and reintroduced myself. "Friends, from now on, use the name Adam when addressing me. I'll consider the use of any title a sign you wish to remain at arm's length."
Halsan stood, raising the glass of water he was given for the trial, before anyone knew this would become an engagement dinner, but I told him to wait until Fala and Kriel were present. I also realised there were others who deserved to be present, adding Kildra, Valo, Doran, Rein.
I imagined there would be several celebrations for the engagement, the guild certainly, the garrison, the labourers I had gotten to know during the construction of the infirmary (providing they weren't intimidated by my new station).
Whilst Leeson and Byurik went to round people up, Halsan set the household staff to work on preparing food and bringing in some more celebratory libations. The atmosphere was filled with revelry, but I could tell it was as much to overwhelm me into forgetting that I didn't actually want any of this, nor could I allow it to continue smoothly.
I spoke up, saying that the celebrations could wait until preparations were complete and in the meantime I wanted to know what they were contemplating for the first three days I was in a cell.
Eve made a comment about me being a mood killer, but then she realised I made a good point, her father apparently having told her the first day that they had agreed I would be best suited to lead during this time.
Halsan sighed and sat down, asking if we truly weren't going to enjoy the moment after all the drama, but when I reminded him that everyone present was the cause of said drama he relented. "The truth is, we weren't deliberating, we were hoping Sil would catch wind and appear to rescue you. Our faith in you unwavering, we knew you would not run from punishment and would take the opportunity to try fighting her. That is why all the citizens were relocated from anywhere near your cell and only volunteers were assigned."
It wasn't a bad strategy, he knew that I had rested well at that point, would be eager to wipe her out and would check for nearby civilians first. The moment I sensed no one nearby I would have put two and two together.
I let out a burst of laughter that trailed off, then rubbed my chin in thought. "Good, but not enough, she declared war on me. She knows more about me than we know and anyone who knows me knows I will never forgive what happened. She would have hit hard and fast and we'd all have died before we knew it."
Eve shook her head, not to disagree with what I said, but because she had a correction. "No, she would have killed all of us and left you broken, then stayed one step ahead of you as you hunted her. She told me at the first summit that she wished to have more "alone time" with you."
Everyone looked defeated, being told that their plan would prove fruitless was hard to hear, the only one not left despondent was Halsan. When asked why he seemed unfazed, he simply replied with pragmatic optimism. "We got Adam to focus on work for an entire week, I call that a win."
Eve seemed perturbed by his unapologetic thinking until I cleared my throat to get everyone's attention. "Speaking of my work, as prime minister your first job will be implementing everything, as well as giving the instructional materials to our dear chief librarian for copying prior to free distribution." I then sat back, basking in the ambience of his despair.
As the chatter wore on, the final guests arrived and I asked if everyone would kindly stand and move to the side of the room. As they did so I began to wave my hands in the air, as though a strange mix of conducting an orchestra and moving a puppet. Tables and chairs flew into the air, danced about briefly as they repositioned, then landed gracefully. With their positions set, fresh decorations formed to adorn them.
"I won't commit further cruelty by robbing you of the grand occasion every girl dreams of their engagement being." I spoke as I gave Eve a smile, conjuring one final embellishment, a silver ring adorned with a small diamond. "Eve, will you be my queen." It came as more of a statement than a question, the ring sliding onto her finger before she had responded.
Eve gave me a skeptical glance, before putting her hands on her hips and leaning down to scold me. "No, I will not accept this to be your queen. Why don't you try asking me to be your wife? We can see how that goes instead."
As I awkwardly rubbed my head and looked around, I noticed Fala looking exceptionally excited and lacking the heart to disappoint her, I rephrased my proposal as requested.
"Will you be my wife?" The proposal was followed by a groan, as I retracted and reextended the hand still holding the ring.
Eve pretended to hesitate on her response, leaving me with no alternative other than to feign rejection and force her to end the farce, grabbing my wrist and making it clear that trying to retract would see me short handed for the near future.
I smiled nervously as I released the ring I had placed on her finger, calling Fala over to us, I gestured to everyone to take a seat whilst warning Fala not to panic when Halsan gave the speech he attempted earlier. My warning inspired only confusion in her, which lasted until we found our seats and we seated her between us on our own table, giving her a front row seat to the whole affair.
When everyone had found a seat, Halsan clapped for the drink to be brought in and when everyone had been supplied, stood with his goblet raised towards us. "As I was saying earlier… All hail king Adam, first king of Eden and his betrothed, Eve, first queen of Eden."
"Hail" the crowd cheered in chorus as Fala sat with her head darting between us as we smiled down on her. When she started stammering and straightening her uniform we pinched her cheeks as she held back a groan of discomfort.
"Ignore the titles Fala, We're uncle Adam and Auntie Eve, always have been always will be." Despite a fleeting moment of inner turmoil, she quickly adjusted and nodded in response to Eve's words.
I then stood. "Indeed, for those just joining us, I will not be a king detached from his people. I will live amongst you for as long as possible and stand beside rather than above. I lead only to be the first to meet any approaching threat, so cheer and celebrate for the peaceful future we will shape together."
It was a joyous occasion born of desperation and pain, the dawn that follows twilight, or that's how everyone else saw it. Personally I saw it as just another calm before the next storm, but for the first time I didn't feel I was in it alone. I had weathered the tumultuous sea of life without help for so long and feared I would soon succumb, but having such stalwart friends who put such unshakable faith in me filled me with hope I thought beyond my reach.
The meal served was delicious, though given I was the one who taught them to cook it I was hardly surprised. It was nice however, to see such relatively minor effort bring joy to so many.
When everyone was done eating, the subject turned to the official announcements and planning the ceremonies, but I told them the planning of official ceremonies seemed like a prime ministerial duty, the wedding a personal affair for Eve and I and finally that I wanted those from other kingdoms to look forward to the surprise of it all.
The foreign dignitaries suddenly remembered they weren't actually residents of Eden or Newland, a realisation that made them laugh at the ludicrous situation.
"I can't believe our time here has been so short."
"True, they certainly pack a lot into the course of days don't they."
"Indeed… Makes a week seem like years."
I stood to speak. "I must apologise, I appreciate we have wasted your time in the terms of the conference, more so that I must cut it short but it seems the main topics have been rendered both mute and outdated in short order. Whilst I certainly won't request you leave, it seems I must unfortunately put my administrators to work and focus resources on internal affairs."
Eve stood beside. "Thank you all for your time and attendance, we appreciate you all sharing in this joyous occasion with us, but we must not forget the sorrow. Our engagement may be mere hours, but I must insist my fiancé rests, his strength is our kingdom's afterall."
I have no idea what expression fell upon my face, but I do remember gravity pulling my face in her direction slowly, as well as the anger that unknown display of thought and feeling inspired in her. What was the correct response in the face of such uncharacteristic softness though? To have her attempt to kill me with electricity, blades of light or physical violence was common. Kindness though, was a murder weapon completely alien in her hands, and it robbed me of any omission of shock.
"If I kill him, will it be mariticide, regicide or common homicide. I guess it only matters if he doesn't wipe that grotesque look off his face." Eve's question to Halsan would become the first open assasination plot to earn laughter.
Fala on the other hand was well aware of Eve's tendency to employ violence toward me, leaping into my arms to dissuade her from that course. I didn't particularly like Fala's innate choice to put herself in danger for others, but I respected the heart that young girl possessed greatly, not to mention how happy it made me to have someone so ready to literally leap to my defence.
I hugged the young girl tightly, for a second I feared I might cry, but the moment passed when she complained I was squishing her.
"Rein come rescue my niece before her uncle crushes her, it seems the lout is in greater need of rest than I believed." Eve then ripped her from my arms before hooking one with hers, then leaned into a bow and bid everyone good day. I thought she seemed a little too intent on retiring to privacy for a moment, but when Kriel made a comment to the same effect of my concern, she admonished him with harmful sincerity.
Knowing she had pure intentions made me more relaxed in her determination, though I was sensing a certain measure of unease, the nature of which was now entirely unknown to me.