Promises were made to visit again, before the three left for one of the Royal Gardens, settling down at one area with cushioned chairs to talk further.

“I wasn’t able to say this while inside, Healer Ceade, but I do need to thank you for what you’ve allowed my father to do once again,” the Crown Prince said not long after the three had settled down. “It was a real fear of ours that we would see our father slowly fade away as an echo of his former self, but you’ve allowed that not to be the case. For that, you have my gratitude.”

“If you wish to thank me, just call me Elijah. Being called Ceade feels wrong,” Elijah requested, the prince relenting without a fight. “And, as I have told Alin already, I was brought into this position to help the King and that is what I have done. Before you try to give me a hill of gold, as a certain Earth Mage already offered, I am not interested.”

…

The Crown Prince laughed. It was a deep laugh, lasting several seconds, and ending up with the man wiping away a tear from his eyes.

“I see he stole my idea before I could make the offer myself,” Phillip commented, Alin raising his hands in surrender. “But, truly, your lacking lust for gold was understated by my dear sister. I was already prepared to send the person who saved her more money than they could spend in their lifetime, but she explained how you only accepted the minimum of 50 gold for your troubles.”

“The costs I suffered to make that happen was four silver worth of healing supplies,” Elijah replied. “If she wished to have shown off her gratitude, she would have paid the worth of the ingredients and my hourly premium wage of five silver. Anything more than that was a mistake that the law forced upon me.”

“Well, if I can put in the cost of the ingredients necessary to let my father stand on his own feet again, an Idun Apple should let me grant you a small hill of gold.”

…

Elijah’s left eye twitched, and the two others laughed at his misfortune.

“If you wish for nothing other than my gratitude, then that is all you shall have,” Phillip assured him before he could start again. “I want to give you more, but if the gratitude feels lessened with gold or gifts other than my word, then there is no reason for me to give it.”

“I’m happy to hear it,” Elijah replied, allowing a smile to reach his face as he found somebody with some level of decency. “But there should still be an understanding here. I did not save your father from death. He will still die. There is nothing I can do to prevent it.”

“And I ask you to do nothing of the sort,” the Prince said. “You have changed a death he doesn’t deserve to one that the people can remember him by. They know him as the man who founded the country, the man who brought them hope, the man who helped start it all. They do not need to remember him as the man who died not being able to raise his hand into the air.”

A nice way of looking at it all, though Elijah was a little perturbed at the focus on the image other than what was best for the King himself. Image meant little after death. All the son should’ve cared about was whether there was pain at the end.

“But… if you don’t want to be given more gold for your current duties, perhaps you would consider an addition to your daily agenda?” Phillip questioned, making Elijah raise an eyebrow in reply. “My dear sister told me that you supply the Dungeon Guard with medication to deal with cuts, burns, tears, and anything else they could need and that you have been doing this for many years now.”

“I won’t deny it, though I have always preferred to keep that deal quiet,” Elijah confirmed, knowing the truth to already be known to most that mattered. “My shop already has plenty of customers. Having another hundred trying to empty out my stock would help nobody.”

“Too right, though I have to admit that I might be hoping to squeeze into those dealings of yours,” the Prince, leader of the Royal Guard, warned. It was just as Vera had explained. “While I know that you are very busy with your work in the castle and that the Dungeon Guard is already a burden on top of these duties, would it be possible for you to supply the Royal Guard in some limited fashion? Not for every guard under my banner, of course! Even full-time, a single man would struggle to do such a thing, but for just a dozen or so men? Would you consider it?”

The Crown Prince wanted to hire him? Elijah wasn’t surprised, with Vera’s words about Phillip wanting the quality of Healing Pastes that he’d provided the Dungeon Guards for these past years.

“Honestly? If not for the duties at the castle, I would have accepted this offer of yours,” Elijah began, the enthusiasm of the Prince already drained as he listened to the words. “But, I must prioritize the agreements already in place. And, when the time comes when your father’s condition worsens, it would be best if I don’t have to let go of other duties to attend to him. Until the hour of his final breath, he is my highest priority.”

Not a lie but neither was it the complete truth. Not that it mattered, the meaning conveyed just as well either way, as Phillip nodded and looked down.

“I suppose I can’t judge you for that. Truly, Elijah, you are the type of man that isn’t seen in this world often,” the Prince said. He didn’t sound angry. He sounded happy, in some sense of the word. Happy to see the dedication, happy to see a trustworthy person watching over his father, and happy that it was somebody not so easily swayed. “While I love to continue chatting, I already spent an hour too much with my father. My men are waiting for me at the training grounds.”

He excused himself, both Elijah and Alin wishing him luck with his efforts on the field before they leaned back in their chairs and enjoyed the silence for some minutes.

“There is something I need to confess to you, Elijah,” Alin said, as they together observed one of the few clouds in the sky slowly going out of view.

“Oh?” Elijah replied. “What is it you need to confess?”

“This morning, before I went to your workshop to escort you to Mason, I had already spoken to him,” came the confession. A frown was sent the Earth Mage’s way in response. “He called for me after the maid had seen him by the window. Wanted to talk about his dreams, about what he’d experienced while spending so long within the confines of his mind.”

“... What were the dreams about?”

“Memories of the past. Not the far past, never further back than the day when the war officially ended and he went down on one knee to propose to Lissandra. They’d already been together for so long, but they thought it would be best for the public to see the first proper step,” Alin explained, the old man taking a moment to do nothing but breathe. Elijah did not blame him, staying silent so composure could be regained. “Lissandra was my apprentice, the one who convinced me to defect and join Mason on his side of the war. I still thank her every day for that, as it allowed me to witness the love that came from it. Mason thanked me as well, so many times.”

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“The dreams focused on her?”

“On her, on their kids, on the times they all spent together as a family. At least as much as they could, since only the oldest two lived during those happier times,” the Mage continued, needing another moment to breathe. “I take it you already know the reason for her death?”

…

“Complications during the delivery of the third child,” Elijah answered. “Her powers were too great to be suppressed by her body for a third time.”

There was a reason that the legendary Mages of old had either no children at all or limited themselves to one or two. When pregnant, they couldn't use their powers, as even the mildest wave of energy could kill the life within. Early stages gave them the ability to do so if they truly wished for it, but the last month removed that freedom entirely.

Having one’s Core sealed away once was not a problem for most. If done with diligence, and only done for a limited time, any accomplished Mage could go through it without any long-term issues. Twice? Well, it would be a little harder on the body, and some months of rest after wouldn’t hurt. Three? That was when the line started to be drawn, the body not taking the separation well.

The average Mage could perhaps still survive the ordeal, and some very much did, but the risks weren’t equal for all who carried Affinities. The more powerful you were, the more risks and dangers the separation carried.

And for somebody like Queen Lissandra Newell, the legendary Pyromancer known for summoning grand dragons of pure fire? It had practically been a death sentence.

“Lissandra knew what could happen, but she went through it regardless,” Alin explained. “Mason supported her, as he knew how much she wished for a third when the potential for it arose, but he dreaded the risks as well. It was… He told me how he regretted not being by her side when Louis was born.”

Louis Newell, the second Prince and third in line for the crown, known for his temper and being blamed for the death of the Queen, a woman he was never able to meet. A curse.

“But you were,” Elijah offered, when the air grew quiet. “You were there, holding her hand.”

“I could do little else for my old apprentice and dear friend,” the Earth Mage confirmed. “And it was good that I did, else nobody would’ve been there to hear her final wish while she held her third child.”

Elijah frowned. He hadn’t heard of this before.

“What was her wish?”

“It was a request for me to help keep her family together, to preserve what she could not,” Alin revealed. “I didn’t tell Mason about it at the time, as he already had enough on his plate, but I revealed it to him this morning. He didn’t blame me for that secret.”

…

“It has not been easy for the family, for the past many years,” he continued. “Some have received more blame than they have deserved, some have kept it all hidden inside, and another has taken up traditions to keep themselves composed, all while the father was unable to do anything but feel hollow. I feared that it would keep being that way until both Mason and I were gone, but you’ve allowed the family another chance to rekindle the love that once was.”

“I was just—”

“Oh, no, I am having none of that!” Alin exclaimed before Elijah could try to deflect the thanks. “It might mean little to you, but it means the world to me. And because of that, I grant you a boon that I have kept safe for 25 years! Cherish it well, Elijah, because there is nothing like it left in this world.”

With a strength that somebody halfway through their 80s shouldn’t have been able to possess, Elijah’s hand was pulled closer to Alin, the Earth Mage depositing a golden ring with red lines on his palm. It had a red ruby embedded in it, with enough Mana inside it that Elijah could feel it passively radiating a soft warmth through the metal.

This was an artifact of the highest caliber.

“You will accept it,” Alin just about ordered as he closed Elijah’s palm for him. “Whether you wear it, toss it, or gift it to another doesn’t matter. The only thing I require is that you accept it here and now.”

Elijah looked the other Mage in the eye and knew that there was no other option but to concede and accept the artifact. With a sigh, he opened his hand again and looked upon the ring in question again. Even without letting the energy hidden inside be revealed, he could feel the storm of fire that begged for an outlet. Fire that could burn or protect. Fire that could act in his stead, when the time came where he couldn’t.

“Lissandra made it a few months after Vera was born, as a gift for when the child would grow up to be a grand woman as fiery as her mother,” Alin explained. “When that little sprout grew to be rather mild-mannered, the intention didn’t fit as much and another ring was made for Vera. The first one, still needing a home, was given to me as a thanks for my many years by their side. It is a last defense, able to summon a mighty being of pure fire. It can only last for a short while, and you’ll need to spend a week to attune it to yourself before you can use it, but it will have the full power of the woman who crafted that ring.”

The fire of the Queen, for him to summon when pushed into a corner. Elijah… had no words for what he felt.

“Thank you,” was all he could say, not sure what else could possibly make sense. “It means a lot that you would trust me with this.”

“If you wish for a better reason to be given this than just my gratitude, then take it because I refuse to let it waste away as one of my possessions,” Alin replied. “I am old, I don’t fight, and I will have no use for it.”

“As opposed to me, another old man who long since abandoned the more exciting parts of life?”

“From what Phillip has said, you haven’t left all the branches of excitement behind just yet,” the Earth Mage countered. “You allegedly have a habit of late-night Dungeon Diving, something very few your age would even consider.”

“... I suppose I can’t refute that point,” Elijah admitted, putting the ring on the left index finger. As he adjusted it on the digit, the size changed to accommodate him perfectly, to the point where he could barely feel it was even there. “Fine craftsmanship, I must say.”

“She would’ve scolded you for sounding so surprised about that fact,” Alin commented, chuckling at the thought before looking up at the sky as well. “I have enjoyed this talk with you, but I believe my duties at the Academy must be attended to as well. While I look to ignore the stack of paperwork on my desk more often than not, deadlines for many of them need to be respected regardless. I hope to see you tomorrow at lunch.”

Elijah promised to be there before the Earth Mage rose from his chair and left the Royal Garden behind. The cane could be heard hitting the stone path with each step, announcing the precise moment when the door was closed and he was alone in the garden.

Or at least as alone as anybody could be inside the castle.

“You might influence the area directly around you to make it look undisturbed, but the grass you walk away from still contains the prints of well-crafted boots,” Elijah commented into the allegedly empty air, looking unimpressed when a certain Princess’ assistant appeared before him. “I take it that Vera would like to meet with me?”

“In discreet fashion, if possible, which is why I have arrived to bring you there without being seen by others,” Harper confirmed.

“So it really is possible for you to hide more than yourself under that invisibility of yours,” he concluded, rising from his chair before stretching his arms to the side. The lack of proper rest was making the limbs so quick at falling asleep. “Nevertheless, you can lead the way. I’ll follow without complaint.”

It wasn’t as if he was in a position where he could say no.