The Things We Do

Chapter XXIII: Tage

The day of traveling had finally arrived. Nearly three weeks had passed since Tage and Chloe had received a letter from Xayah telling them to come to the bridge, and they were ready to go. They were to leave the captain of the guard in charge, seeing as they would be back in only a day or two. After they had changed into more comfortable clothes for travel and grabbed their bags, they set out. However, they only made it to the throne room when a servant approached them. "Your majesties," he started. "You have a visitor. He refuses to tell us his name, but he seems harmless. We have guards holding him right now, shall we bring him in?" Tage and Chloe looked at each other. They nodded their heads and beckoned the mysterious stranger to come in.
Two guards walked on either side of the odd man. He wore long purple robes made of fine silk, and wore five wedding rings, making his ring finger impossible to see. "Who are you?" Tage asked. "I am Calxyan. I was married to King Ryaxleb, six times." he showed them the rings. "After True Queen killed Lost Queen I fled in fear of joining my late husband in the afterlife. I have heard of the recent conflicts, and how many of the others who were of nobility during my marriages are dead now. I wish to visit their graves, and so when I heard that the son of True Queen and the daughter of General Charlotte were going I thought you two would be good guides." Tage and Chloe looked at each other in disbelief. "Of course, all are welcome, but especially you." he smiled as Tage ordered the guards back to their normal posts. Calxyan joined them on the small cart that was to transport them to the bridge, where Tage listened to Chloe and Calxyan's conversation. "So we don't call her True Queen anymore?" Calxyan asked.

"No, not after Scheven tried to kill her and called her by Anastasia again."

"Scheven? The blacksmith? The goblin blacksmith tried to kill Anastasia?"

"You've missed a lot. Oh, and my mother is no longer general. Tage actually was for a time, but when Scheven betrayed us someone had to take over Mirirejar."

"Too much has happened since I've been away. In grief of Ryaxleb I married a man named Wesxtyn, but I divorced him. Then I married Ashxton, but then I divorced him too. They ended up getting married to each other after, but I've been alone ever since."

"Rielweth seems wild."

"I barely ever took anything out of the palace whenever Ryaxleb divorced me. Just the necessities, I hid everything else until we got married again. Oh, how I miss him."

Calxyan studied the rings on his hand, telling Chloe why each one didn't last. The first divorce was because Ryaxleb had grown bored with Calxyan, as was the second and third, the fourth one was because Ryaxleb thought Calxyan was only with him for the money and power that came with being the husband of a King, and the fifth and final one was because Calxyan was rude to Luna. He blamed himself for Ryaxleb's death, as he had told Arlie where to find him. He hoped that by visiting the graves where Arlie, Anastasia, Soleil, Luna, Ideus, and Ryaxleb were buried he would finally get the closure he wanted.
They traveled all day but soon realized that they would have to stop for the night. They had planned for this, as the day Xayah told them to meet was tomorrow. Tage had warmed up to Calxyan, and enjoyed his company. Though a bit odd, he was still fun to be around. Chloe obviously felt the same, as she invited him to stay in Imperial City if he so wished. He said that his heart was in Rielweth, however. He said that he planned to go back there after visiting Ryaxleb's grave to meet with Masxvia and his family. Tage and Chloe told him the rumors that had spread about him soon after the end of the war, and he enjoyed the fact that after all that had happened his disappearance was still notable. The night was a pleasant break from everything, and they got a good night's sleep too.
As soon as the sun pierced their eyes open, they were on their way again. Xayah had not specified a time, but they wanted to get there as quickly as possible. A bit into their journey it had begun to rain, but they kept going. They finally reached the end of the track, where they climbed out and locked down the cart before heading towards the bridge. Xayah sat on the ledge, multiple frogs hopping around her enjoying the rain. She was talking to Foja, Leod and Dadokes who had not been invited but seemed to have gotten comfortable back in their old home. Xayah noticed them and ran over. She immediately recognised Calxyan and the old friends hugged each other. "Where have you been?" she asked as they drew away. "I ran away after Arlie's death. I got married, then divorced. Then married again, then divorced. I'm here for closure on Ryaxleb, though." Xayah nodded grimly, as if she knew something Calxyan, and Tage, didn't know. "Well, you three are the first here so we'll still have to wait on the others. Xayah sat back down on the ledge, mindlessly watching her frogs hop about as she thought. She seemed to be in a deep trance, not looking up even when the frogs moved out of her sight.