Part 7 – Salvation
Of
course, there were no words that could describe the situation when everyone who
could clearly view the stage, the commotion, the event gasped in utter
surprise, as Lady Freiya removed her veil and stood in full view.
“Lady
Freiya of Revelia, now second-in-line to the throne after Darius, daughter of
the late Lord Harrison, brother to our late king,” added Lord Michael Parsat.
“NOW tell her, if you’d still bow before this man, Gregor Ivar, the same way
you’d bow to Darius, when here before you stood a true-blueblood of this kingdom?!”
None
of those not from our side held such shocked, surprised expression like those
widely found in the citizens and of course, obviously and definitely, on the
faces of the five ministers. Sometime passed when the first layer of the
citizens began to drop on their knee, and the rest followed, but even with that
much, I still saw hints of doubt on their faces. Of course, it was expected,
for Lady Freiya herself had been labeled as traitor when she left disappeared
together with Lord Ban after the first invasion by Lord Ladir in his mission to
save Lord Ban. It won’t be easy to convince the masses, who had all thought
they had been duped by yet again another member of the royal family, thus their
willingness to submit to Darius’ insane rule and live in uncertainty.
“I
have come, and returned from my exile by this man and his corrupt king, cousin
Darius, to save this kingdom and restore peace, to what Revelia once were, what
Revelia should’ve been…” voiced our princess, “but I couldn’t have done it
without all of you, the beloved citizens of Revelia…”
And
to the respond of Lady Freiya’s heartfelt simple speech, a man rose from the
masses. I recognized him as a member of the justice, formerly a judge, and was
said to have been fired by the current ruling court for his action of denying
Darius and Gregor Ivar’s rule. His name was John, once a Sir, yet now stripped
to his core of being off honour, wealth and power. As he neared the stage,
tears began gleaming in his eyes and he began to cry.
Lady
Freiya smiled as she gave him her hand, welcoming him, “Uncle John…”
“I
am glad you are still alive, Freiya,” he muttered, “For a second I thought it
was true, that you’ve abandoned us all, according to Darius and this man, Ivar.”
“I
wouldn’t, and I couldn’t. With cousin falling to pieces, my father and family
dead, there will be no other to fix this mess. In the end the responsibility
will fall onto my shoulder, being the last survivor of Darius’ madness…”
“But
you loved Benjamin so much I thought you’d never ever look back when you left
for Norath…”
“True
I loved him, my dear husband, but my first love had always been this kingdom.
Not ever in my lifetime will I be able to abandon it as it is, Uncle John. Now
rest assured. I have returned to restore this kingdom to its former glory, but
I couldn’t do that without you, or the other. Please, uncle, swear me your
loyalty, and I shall have the courage and will to do this, and ultimately, end
this horrible war of personal gain…” she pleaded, as she kissed the back of John’s
hand with such genuine love that it took everyone’s breath away, including
mine. The ragged man that he was, Lady Freiya gave no thought to this and that
made it even more special. “And this kingdom needs you, a man sided by justice,
as many as we could find, those who had escaped Darius’ grip and death by his
sword…please uncle…”
Yes,
nothing much was done soon after. With John’s help, Lady Freiya quickly
regained her people’s trust, and before long, the capital fell under her grip.
The five ministers were stripped off their title and were executed, and the
justices that were stripped off their title and honour were recalled to again
helm the institution. One by one of the regions, under their rightful local
leaders, swore their loyalty under Lady Freiya and within a week, the 19
provinces of Revelia all joined her under the revolutionary movement that, in
consequences, threw Darius off his own throne the while he was away trying to
invade another man’s land. Along the way, Lady Freiya successfully defended
Revelia from outside threat, to which she completely nailed down two invading
force that attempted to take advantage of Revelia’s chaotic political scene. A
full month after we first waged our campaign against Darius, a messenger
arrived from Norath that speaks of Darius’ defeat at sea, after three of his
five generals surrendered themselves to the last elf kingdom. Darius was
captured, but by Lord Ban’s mercy, he was allowed to set sail again with his
two most loyal generals. It was a merciful attempt, at the same time rather
cruel, for he had not heard of his own defeat in his own land in which his very
cousin had taken control whilst his devious generals executed, stripped off
titles and all. I asked Lady Freiya how would she respond to that, and she
cheerfully told me that she will, of course, detain him, and he will forever be
her guess, put forever under house arrest at the same mansion she was
previously arrested in. it was odd for her to say such thing with such cheerful
ways, but I guess it was very well her way of putting things together. And
there need not be any telling the situation within the kingdom – it was better,
although not yet 100% recovered, everything was better. It amazes me at how
easy it was to destroy things that it took merely weeks to bring something very
glorious right down onto its kneed but to rebuild it, everything takes
considerably longer. Anyhow, with the rate of Lady Freiya’s effort, Revelia was
set to recover to its best, and most probably, strive to be in such even better
condition in the future…
Indeed,
it was a happy ending for most of the residences of Revelia and perhaps, for
Norath as well. Seth Frederich soon enough took his father’s place as the head
of the great le Beaumont hall, while his father, Seth Harris continued to
remain in Norath, helping Lord Ban or now, King Admarith, adjust to his
newfound duty, newfound identity, newfound dedication. Lord Michael Parsat,
although still quite bitter over the death of his wife and her family in
relation to his brother-in-law’s action in defending the one justice he swore
his life upon, he actively participated in the dealings of the court. For Sir
Joshua Peace anyways, he decidedly chose to remain in Norath, together with his
best friend Lord Seth Harris as an ambassador of Revelia as per Lady Freiya’s
decree. Jared de Blanc decidedly stayed by Lady Freiya’s side and became one of
her most trusted advisor while Lord Ladir and half of the elven soldiers, too,
decidedly stayed behind and build for them an elfish settlement on a part of
the land that belongs to Lord Ban, as bestowed by the now ruler of Norath. And
Lady Freiya herself was installed as ‘Queen’ by the citizens with great and
widespread support by every living soul on the blessed land that once suffered
under Darius’ claws. She was called Queen Freiya Noel, a name that supposedly
chosen by the dukes and earls of the nineteen provinces. In my part, I was
knighted, among every other thing, together with Seth Frederich, which carries
the title ‘sir’ before our name and on the day that the kingdom’s court certify
and validates Lady Freiya’s joining to Lord Ban, I am officially recognized as
their first son, although to my name I bear not any automatic legibility to
inherit the throne, not especially should these two souls produced heirs in the
future.
But
yes, like mentioned earlier, this cross-kingdom, cross-race, cross-ocean love
weren’t meant to last and last beautifully.
