Hiraeth

Chapter 39

Queen Astra

Prince Vincent the third, a man of so much dignity and grace and with all his various accomplishments, I never valued him half as much as I valued his brother. I remember the first day I met him like I remember my own name. He was kind, indeed, the sweetest with the best tactics to charm any woman, a nice smile, the best conversations, anything at all, you name it. He'd done everything for my comfort, listened to my every need and provided all even before I thought of it. Vince never did me wrong at the beginning. In fact, he had done so much good, he could've tricked me into thinking him better than his brother. He wanted me charmed, very well, but his brother already had me wrapped around his finger even before I was pronounced future Queen.

I hated that Accius was always in the shadows, I wanted so much more for him. I needed everyone to see him and his capabilities just as much as I did but his brother had done so much for the family and the land, everyone saw him superior to his brother. I didn't know when it went wrong, I had no idea why it was that way but all we knew as commoners was Prince Vincent and his wonderful deeds and his brother, definitely somewhere.

The reason I never liked Vince is because I loved his brother and so, I didn't just show lack of interest, I showed despise and it was obvious in the way I faked a smile at every event and how I pulled my hands out of his the moment the public was out of our view. It wasn't just that, his mother wanted Vince king and I wouldn't blame her, Accius never gave her more to think of. She wanted a good continuity of power, one to continue the legacy she and the King had made and no one really know of Accius' capabilities because he never showed it.

I knew Accius was great on the battlefield, the most spectacular. His wolf was the strongest I'd ever seen, swift and extraordinary and the way he gained mastery with his powers, it was like none other. While I'd seen Vincent provide for the poor of the land, uphold equity, handle the palace business well, he could not compare with his brother in terms of power and strength.

The tribe is Bellum, our function is to protect all seven tribes, our land and people are to fight to protect the others and Accius was, in every way, a better fighter than his brother but the question is, how many people know it? It's not like he got the chance to, there's been peace and we'd gotten so lost in who gets the crown, we forgot the purpose of it.

One can say I choose Accius because I loved him but it's my decision to make. It was said to me the moment I was pronounced future Queen that my decision should not be influenced by any, that I was the answer to who would be king not just because I would be the queen, it's because I was made to choose and my heart chooses Accius.

As I cleaned the blood on his wounds, it made me wonder how tomorrow would be. It was the day Queen Irene had so desired to see but she didn't live to. She died trying to save us from the fall, she along with her husband and the elders, sparing one or two and my father, sadly, was one of the first to go. I guess her death happened for a reason because if she was alive, my decision would be influenced by her, seeing I lived every day of my life trying to impress her.

"You don't need to choose me as King because you love me" Accius said, breaking the silence "If you believe my brother to be better than me, I will not question your decision. He will raise our child as his, whether or not it so mine. It is still the same royal blood and she will always be heir to the throne"

"Do you think your brother superior to you?"

"Everyone thinks him superior to me, does my thoughts and belief really matter?"

"I guess at this point only my thoughts matter as this is my decision to make"

"I say this so you wouldn't make the wrong decision"

"And are you the wrong decision? You always acted like you didn't want to be King"

"It's not just that, you do realize that after you choose king, there is no turning back"

He pulled the wet towel out of my hands and stood up, so he was hovering over my average figure. He looked down at me, his eyes glowing like the morning sun and eyebrows furrowed in worry. He'd never looked better than he did at that moment and I may have forgotten we still had issues concerning the child.

"I love you Astra, but this is a decision of the land, the future of our people"

"Your brother is selfish, he watched Marianah use magic on me because he wanted to be king, he made the people see you less because he wanted to be king, he hid my child away from me because he wanted to be king, he doesn't want the good of the people. All of this is to have a crown on his head and you know that, you're just doing this to show you support and want the best for the people and that, my love, is what a king truly is"

Arms around me and a kiss to my forehead, Accius held me close. So close, my head rested on his bare chest and I could hear the sound of his thumping heart. It was fast enough to prove he spoke words like a man on thin ice. It had been so long since I'd been so close to him or any man at all, I forgot what it was to have someone to make me feel dependent.

I found solace only in one man and even after everything had gone against us and years went past without one another, wasn't it all for us to come back? United and stronger, as it was always supposed to be.

"Accius, after this we have to find our child"

"My brother knows where she is"

"And so does your sister but neither would tell me because he wouldn't be King and she wouldn't be Queen"

"There would always be a way around this. Don't forget you would be Queen, you can speak to anyone one of our neighborhood tribes, that makes six pairs of Kings and Queens ready to help, you have thousands in your command, don't forget you now hold power,my love, you will find the child"

"And if we don't?"

"Then she will find us, one way or the other. A true blood of the land cannot stay amongst humans for long, afterall, that's the reason she ran away from Katherine, isn't it?"

"She will never find peace until she finds us"

"Correct, something will bring us together again, sooner or later"

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter!