Chapter XVI

King Arden hardly slept that night, he turned from side to side thinking of what his little son looked like. When he finally did,  it wasn't long before it began to dawn towards the next day.

Zedicus was up early and got the carriage ready. King Arden woke up not long after, quickly he took a shower and put on his regalia. Telling the guards to finish up and catch up with him.

Zedicus rode with the King. First they headed to the King of Menot's palace to thank him for his generosity and informed him of the birth of his son. He congratulated King Arden and wished his son all the goodness in the the world. They were escorted to their carriage with gifts and set off for Dralde.

Meanwhile at the palace, Queen Ara and Marcella gave the little prince a bath. His cries sent shrills down his mother's spine. Marcella brought his clothes and his grandma dressed him. When she was done, she picked him up and took him to Maya.

"Aww don't cry," Maya said.

"My little Prince, don't cry." Queen Ara said as they petted him to stop.

"Now that's a good boy," Maya said and smiled as he'd stopped crying.

"Alright go to Grandma," Maya said.

Queen Ara smiled at her little grandson as she held him and played with his little fingers.

"Mother," Maya said.

"Yes dear," Queen Ara returned.

"The mage said something about two rare powers..." Maya said.

"Ah, yes she did." Queen Maya said with a keen smile.

"Marcella please put him to sleep," she added.

"Okay your highness, hello little Prince." Marcella said as she took the baby into her arms.

"Maya dear, come sit." Queen Ara said patting the space right next to her.

"I'm all ears mother," Maya returned.

"Many years ago, the King of Dralde, Achilles, was gifted with the ability to control fire. For many years he was married to Lula, the Queen of Frolwor. Her sister, Tia, was indeed the one that caught his eye first. He loved Tia and wanted to marry her. But Lula's charade of wanting him to form an alliance with her kingdom lured him into marrying her.

It hurt Tia so much she remained in her chambers for days. The more sadness she felt the colder the weather grew each day. The lakes, rivers, everything began to freeze. Tia had the ability to control ice. But she kept her powers hidden as she knew her sister since childhood was one very jealous and greedy person.

He wasn't happy with his marriage to Lula and made plans to elope with Tia. When the news of his plans got to Queen Lula, she ordered for her sister to be killed before the King could reach her. Drained from sadness, she did her best to fight the killers but didn't succeed as she was stabbed from behind with a dagger and fell to the floor.

When King Achilles reached her castle, he went straight to her room. He pushed the door open only to see her lying helplessly on the floor. His heart began to pound, shaken as he ran to his beloved. Smiling as she touched his face with tears dropping from her eyes she breathed her last. Achilles's poor heart couldn't take it, the weather grew hotter as he stared at her in pain. Enraged he shouted sending flames everywhere.

Achilles and Tia were consumed by those flames and since then it was rare to find anyone with the powers fire and ice," Queen Ara said.

"If only they had controlled their emotions, maybe things would have turned out different..." Maya said.

"If only my dear, if only." Queen Ara said.

"I pray our little Prince never suffers a fate like that of Tia and King Achilles," Maya returned sadly.

"Amen," Queen Ara said.

"Since then, whenever anyone is born with such powers, a mage is assigned to train and help them," Queen Ara added with a smile.

"As they say; everything is fair in love and war. This story has made me a little hungry," Maya said

"Alright dear, I'll order for breakfast to be sent to your room." Queen Ara returned.

"Thank you mother," Maya said.

Queen Ara left the room and met Madeline on her way to the kitchen.

"Your highness," she bowed.

"Oh thank goodness Madeline, please take some food to Maya's room," Queen Ara said.

"Alright my Queen," Madeline said and turned to leave.

Queen Ara was exhausted and needed to rest. Her little Prince was a handful and she loved every bit of the trouble. She noticed her dandelions in the garden as she walked by the balcony, they looked wonderful. She smiled and continued to her room after admiring them.

When she reached her room, she closed the windows and pulled the curtains to reduce the whistles of the cold wind. Queen Ara loved winter and how her blanket made things cosy as she slept. She turned to her closet to change into something more comfortable to sleep in; ribboned her hair and laid down to take a nap.

King Arden and his men were very close to Dralde now and all his thoughts danced around his little son. His joy was just out of this world.

"My King worry not, Dralde is just one river away," Zedicus said.

"Right now he's all I can think of," King Arden said with a smile.

"We're almost there," Zedicus assured.

They rode for two hours and finally, finally they arrived Dralde. The people cheered and some even followed behind the King's men. The entourage increasing as they rode further. They had missed their beloved king.

When they approached the palace, Demetri rode fast to the gates shouting, "the King is home! King Arden has returned."

"Open the gates, sound the drums, the trumpets..." The chief guard on the palace wall ordered.

Maya could hear the drums from her room.

"Is it what I'm thinking?" She thought.

Her heart began to race. Quickly she got down from her bed and moved to her window, pulling the curtains to see. Tears welling up in her eyes as she saw it was King Arden's carriage.

"Arden! Arden's home!" Maya said.

She couldn't run as fast as she wanted to because she was still week. So she walked gently to Queen Ara's room.

The sound of the drums woke Queen Ara up. She got up, put on a robe and headed straight for the door. She only walked half way when she saw Maya.

"Maya you should be resting," Queen Ara's said.

"Mother it's Arden, he's home." Maya said happily.

"I heard the drums too, gently now let's go to him," Queen Ara smiled.

King Arden got of his carriage and everyone bowed as he stepped on the stairs at the entrance of the palace.

"You may rise, thank you for the warm welcome," he said.

Queen Ara and Maya reached the lounge when the guards pulled the doors open for him enter. His heart melting at the sight of his queens, hugging queen Ara when he reached them.

"Mother," he said calmly.

"Welcome home son. We've missed you." Queen Ara said.

Then he turned to Maya and hugged her tightly.

"I missed you so much," Maya said.

"And I did more," King Arden said wiping her tears.

"Someone's waiting for you," Maya said reaching for his hand and walking him to her room.

Queen Ara watched them both and smiled. She missed seeing them happy, this happy.

"Mother won't you come with us?" Maya turned to ask.

"I'll just get dressed you two go ahead," Queen Ara said.

Madeline opened the door and bowed to greet the king as he followed behind his Queen. King Arden's eyes began to water as Queen Maya lifted the little prince out of his cradle.

"Hold him," she said.

King Arden stretched out his hand and carried his son.

"My son... he looks just like me," he said, happiness evident on his face as it glowed.

"What did you name him?" He asked.

"Ayaan." She said.

"But I wanted to wait for you so we could name him together." She added.

"Ayaan..." he said and held the baby's little fingers.

"I love it, Ayaan it is." King Arden said.

"A mage came, Emress that's her name." Queen Maya added and King Arden smiled.

"What did she say?" He asked cognizantly.

"He's gifted just like you," she said.

"But his is a rare gift," he said assuringly.

"That's what she said," she returned.

"Which of the powers has he been gifted with?" He asked.

"Ice," she said and he looked at the baby with a smile on his face.

"Why are you smiling?" She asked keenly.

"Because I just thought of a nickname for him," he said.

"Really? Let's hear it. What is it?" She asked excitedly.

"Winter Bear." He smiled.

"Hahaha oh you. Winter Bear, I like it." Maya said and hugged him.

They watched their little Prince with so much adore and King Arden's heart was beating again like never before, after all these years his heir was finally here.