Here, I will skim over the seven years since the Siege of Khmer and the Peace of Khatulistiwa.

To the surprise of absolutely none who paid attention, King Aron of Dun-a-din married Lady Paradisa of Puncak. The real surprise was their location of marriage, the Tomb of the Patriarchs, now Paloean territory. A strange location but made sense due to its history.

More importantly, King Aron had a business to settle. Before his wedding to the lovely Paradisa, he entered the Tomb and returned the Isildur back to the Borromeo Block. I remember well my lord’s words to me on this subject: “I was not meant for the Isildur, and I will pay for my disobedience with my life. That is why I must return the Sacred Sword back where it belongs, until it can find a master truly worthy of its power.”

Thankfully, the grand and cheerful air of the wedding was able to paper over this feeling of dread I had for Lord Aron.

With this union, Paradisa became Queen of Dun-a-din, and the happy couple returned to that desert kingdom in the Australis Continent. The bride’s father, the Lord Protector Davit gave his blessings to this union. However, he also offered the hand-in-marriage of his elder daughter Inferna, who readers may remember held feelings for the King.

King Aron, for his part, was adamant in only taking one wife, and not “multiply wives to himself, lest his heart turn away” (to quote the Book of Borromeo). This, surprisingly enough, was received poorly by the Yakobinians at large. In those days, there was only one other sovereign who would outright refuse to take multiple wives: the Dragon Emperor himself, the long-lived dragon was known to only take one wife, though he would inevitably outlive her, leading him to take another wife. The Dunadinian king was not swayed, though, perhaps because his own father had also refused to take another wife or even a concubine.

Often, I wonder what would have happened had King Aron took multiple wives. Given the events that engulfed Santara after the Padri War, I suppose one can make the argument that Aron should have taken Inferna to wife as well. On the other hand, one (such as myself) would argue that things would have been worse.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Speaking of Inferna, she was not one to be slowed down. She accepted Lord Aron’s rejection with a surprising amount of grace. Then, she gave her hand-in-marriage to Kochba, becoming the Sultana of Paloe. The two made for a strange pair, though they definitely deserved one another.

In any case, it was a clear boon for the Lord Protector to have one daughter be the Queen of Dun-a-din and the other be the Sultana of Paloe. Ironic that the country known for its warriors and mercenaries gained such influence not by war but rather marriage.

The other marriage I shall cover next was that between Despot Drusus of Leste and the Nodian Livia. As to be expected, there was some pushback in Leste on the idea that their Despot would wed a strange girl. But Drusus was adamant; thankfully for Livia, Drusus’ brother Claudius (who was the commander of the Lestean force that rescued us in Khmer) sided with the happy couple. It was Claudius’ influence which led the Lestean nobles to accept this marriage.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Another factor in all this was Livia’s knowledge of the Lesteans… and their dark secret.

As for the others, I will speak of them briefly. Readers may remember Rus Delapore, Livia’s cousin. The Nodian was actually the one who gave away the bride. And after that wedding, Rus lived in Leste, having been granted a rank of nobility by his cousin.

There was also the Tiongoa who sided with King Aron. Many of them ended up living in Dun-a-din after the war. Some, like the Hitams, became soldiers and seamen in service of Dun-a-din, this included the young Daqin Heian. Then there was Tian Tian and his cannon crew: they formed the artillery corps of Dun-a-din.

I can go on, but I want to be brief and finish this part with Arphaxad and the Riders of Dun-a-din. They… simply returned home. Though apparently, Arphaxad was very much popular with the ladies of the desert kingdom. Unfortunately for these poor damsels, the cavalrymen simply ignored them. But they kept coming in the hopes of finally winning over the young captain.

As for me, a lot had happened. First, I was made to be Dun-a-din’s Royal Tactician. This meant I was given a lot of leeway with what to do with the kingdom’s army. But even more important was my adoption into the Royal Family of Dun-a-din. Yes readers, you heard that right. King Aron and Queen Paradisa adopted me as their son.

From this point on, people now knew me as Prince Yuanxi of Dun-a-din.

Words cannot express how grateful I was, how grateful I am, for what Lord Aron and Lady Paradisa had done for me. Of course, as an adopted son, my right of succession was subordinated to any blood children the king would have.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Speaking of children, it actually took a while before the three couples I mentioned started conceiving. In the meantime, Sultan Kochba had begun taking concubines. I didn’t feel sorry for Inferna, but I felt Lady Paradisa’s sorrow for her sister. But the Sultana’s fortunes turned quickly. Out of the three women, Inferna was the first to finally conceive. And she gave birth to Barabbas bin Kochba Hamshur about two years since the Siege of Khmer.

A year after Barabbas’ birth, Paradisa followed her sister and gave birth to a son: Josue bin Aron Borromeo. But the birth of the prince led to a great uproar, for upon his birth his left hand was covered by flames. Yet that fire didn’t burn him. Holding his newborn son, King Aron immediately knew the significance of the mark. It was the Machabe, the Mark of Borromeo. The High-King’s return was at hand, and Prince Josue of Dun-a-din was to be the fulfillment of that prophecy.

I wish I can end on that, but I must also mention another birth, one in Leste.

After six years of marriage, the Lestean couple was still unable to conceive. It was clear that El Shaddai had closed Livia’s womb shut. Predictably, the Lesteans pressured Drusus to either take a concubine or put away Livia entirely; some even claimed that she was cursed for being a Nodian. However, the Despot remained steadfast to his beloved. And years later, El Shaddai rewarded Drusus’ patience by finally opening Livia’s womb. About seven years after their marriage, the two finally welcomed their first child, a daughter: Agrippina boru Drusus Marius.

But little Agrippina had a horrifying truth about her, one so horrifying that all Leste kept it a secret. In fact, I didn’t know about it until much later. And to be honest, I do not begrudge them one bit for doing so.

Agrippina, daughter of Drusus of the Marius Tribe was born with a white dragon’s tail.