I woke up with a different feeling in my chest.
It wasn't tiredness. It wasn't worry. It was that silent awareness that something was coming to an end.
I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before getting up. The room was still quiet. The girls were sleeping spread across the bed, each in an impossible position. For a moment, I thought about how that had become normal for me.
I got up carefully so I wouldn't wake anyone and went to the window.
The dwarves' city was already awake. The smoke from the furnaces rose steadily into the morning sky, and the shine of the constructions reflected the sunlight in an almost blinding way.
Today we would leave.
I felt that with more weight than I imagined I would.
Elara was the first to wake up.
"You're already up?"
"Yes."
"Today we're going back, right?"
"Yes."
She stayed silent for a moment, then simply nodded.
One by one, the others also woke up. Vespera complained about the time. Liriel said she would rather stay a few more days. Rai'kanna started organizing things without saying much. Lyannis was strangely quiet.
We went down together for breakfast.
King Durgan was already waiting for us, but unlike the other days, he wasn't speaking loudly or making jokes. He was sitting, leaning on the table, with his hands clasped.
"So the day has come," he said.
"It has," I replied.
Breakfast was quieter than usual. There was still conversation, but it was different. Less lively. More restrained.
Briena was there too, but she barely spoke during the meal.
After we finished, Durgan stood up.
"The carriage is ready to take you."
"Thank you for everything, Your Majesty," I said.
He approached and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't thank me yet. Just come back alive."
I nodded.
We left the castle accompanied by a few guards only until the main gate.
Briena came with us.
When we stopped near the carriage, she stood in front of me in silence for a few seconds.
"So this is it," she said.
"It is."
She took a deep breath.
"You will come back."
"I will."
"Not as a guest."
"As what?"
She smiled lightly.
"As someone from the family."
I didn't know what to say.
Elara cleared her throat behind me. Vespera crossed her arms. Liriel watched with a neutral expression. Rai'kanna was clearly not enjoying the scene. Lyannis just observed with curiosity.
Briena took a step forward and held my hand for a moment.
"Take care."
"You too."
She let go slowly.
We got into the carriage.
Durgan was a little farther back, watching everything with his arms crossed.
When the carriage started moving, I heard Briena's voice.
"Finish off those demons already!"
I looked back.
She had her hands around her mouth, shouting so I could hear.
"So we can get married!"
I felt my face heat up.
I waved back without knowing exactly what to do.
The girls inside the carriage stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Are you collecting marriage promises now?" Vespera asked.
"I didn't do anything," I replied.
"You never do anything," Rai'kanna said.
Lyannis laughed softly.
The journey began.
Unlike the trip there, the road felt shorter.
Maybe because now I was quieter, thinking about everything that had happened during those days.
I looked at the sword resting beside me.
It was still strange to think that it was mine now.
I thought about the conversations with the king. The walks through the city. The mines. The missions. The laughter. The light moments.
That kingdom had shown me something I hadn't realized for a long time.
The world wasn't only war.
And maybe that was exactly why it was so worth fighting for.
I leaned my head against the wood of the carriage and closed my eyes for a few minutes, just listening to the sound of the wheels on the road.
Elara leaned against my shoulder.
"You're very quiet."
"Just thinking."
"About what?"
"About coming back."
She smiled lightly.
"Me too."
The rest of the trip went peacefully.
When we finally saw the lands of Vaillor in the distance, I felt a sense of familiarity return to my chest.
That feeling of arriving home.
We arrived at the beginning of the night.
The mansion was just as we had left it. The staff came to greet us, happy to see us back.
I greeted everyone quickly.
The fatigue from the trip hit all at once.
We went up to the rooms without much conversation.
Before lying down, I paused for a moment in the middle of the dark room.
I took a deep breath.
We had returned.
But something inside me knew that that calm wouldn't last long.
I lay down on the bed.
The girls settled around me as always.
I closed my eyes with the feeling that that rest was only an interval between two much greater things.
And I fell asleep thinking about the shine of the dwarves' city, still vivid in my memory.