The Way Forward

Harlyn

We spoke for a while and discussed the way forward. I don’t want to wait months before we move forward. Stefan agreed. Our first task is announcing that the pups are his.

No one other than those close to us knows about it, but everyone in the kingdom will be made aware of the pups and who they are. Then, we can focus on moving forward. I’ll be moving into his room, but Lotta will have a room close to us for the days Lucy stays at the manor.

I don’t want her on a wing all on her own. The boys have each other, but Lotta wouldn’t have anyone once I move into Stefan’s room if Lucy isn’t there.

We arrived back at the palace in time for Lunch. The pups are laughing and talking, and even Thorin is relaxed and having fun—something I rarely see. I wonder if it was the magic that suppressed everything.

“Okay, pups, lets go!” Lucy skips over, and I turn, confused.

“Court, and they shouldn’t be there,” Stefan explains, and I watch as they walk off with Lucy. “Are you sure you want to be there?” he asks, and I nod.

Standing, he guides me the way, and we walk in. He shows me where to sit and walks off to the throne with his parents. A chair is empty. Lucy?

Should Lucy be here? I don’t get time to consider as I see my mother, Samuel, and Colton walk in and sit, along with other people I vaguely remember as being very close connections with the royal family.

A moment later, my father walks in and sits. The room is mostly silent, and I see Volkaros walk in as well. I assumed he left?

“Okay, Volkaros, you may begin.” Stefan looks at him, and he moves to stand at my father’s seat. Taking his hands, he stays quiet, and I sit confused.

“Magic is used, so they can’t lie. Whatever he says will be the truth,” a soldier says. Well, at least he spoke as I have no idea what is going on. I didn’t know that my mother, Samuel and Colton were part of the court.

I know that the queen has her own court, where someone is on trial in front of her alone, but this is different. I listen as they speak and explain why he is there.

What he did wrong, and such. Everyone is listening and taking notes.

“Is there anything you, yourself, would like to say, Earl Harold?” A man looks towards him.

My teeth bite against my cheek as I consider what his words will be.

“I apologised to him, although apologising isn’t enough, and I realise it won’t ever be enough. There is no excuse for what I did other than utter madness, and therefore, I want to step down and give up the title of Earl and take whatever punishment is seen as appropriate.”

My eyes widen at his words. Is he going to step down? There’s a chance he will keep his title.

“I hate myself for what I have done; I didn’t even consider the fact that the boy was family or royalty, which proves I wasn’t in the right state of mind. For my actions, I don’t deserve any title within the kingdom. I have his forgiveness, and that is all that is important to me.” His head lowers.

He doesn’t even look like my father anymore. He doesn’t look like the monster I faced daily. He looks almost weak and pathetic, and I’m now wondering if the magic being removed has had a bad effect on him.

I don’t know much about it, but I need to ask. He looks seriously ill, worse than my mother had when I arrived here. How is that even possible? He was the strongest in the kingdom but doesn’t appear to be anymore.

I listen as they discuss everything and talk about an appropriate punishment.

“Harlyn, would you like to speak?” Stefan looks at me, and I glance around. Somehow, I feel sorry for him—not for whatever is going to happen here, but because he looks weak.

Standing, I force my eyes to look at him. If Thorin was here I know what his response would be, so I push down my own issues. “Thorin has accepted my father’s apology and forgiven him. For this reason, so have I, but only because I know that even our forgiveness won’t ease the pain he feels caused by hurting his own family.”

It won’t. Now that he’s accepted that the pups are family, he will replay that moment for the rest of his life. “That is punishment enough. He will no longer have the title to use as power, and his own torment is punishment enough. I don’t believe he needs to be punished more,” I say before sitting. Stefan’s eyes widen in shock.

I know whatever punishment is placed on him will also hurt my mother.

They sit and discuss and come to the agreement if he gives up his title, nothing more will be done, purely because Thorin has forgiven him. We’ve got enough enemies without making new ones that don’t exist anymore.

I watch as people walk out, and Stefan comes to sit beside me. “You didn’t ask for him to be punished, so why?” I should have known he would want to know.

“Thorin forgave him, and I saw him speaking with my father last night at the celebration after they spoke. Me agreeing and asking him to be punished more after giving up his title would make Thorin push him out for me, and it’s wrong.”

He needs to be able to make up his own mind about people and not have me behind him making him feel like it’s the wrong choice.

“What happened to my father, Stefan? He looks like he’s aged ten years in a week,” I ask.

“The ring locked his true feelings away. You know how it feels; now imagine that for over twenty years. Whenever he tried to reach out to you in a way that wasn’t with anger, the magic quickly twisted his feelings,” he explains, and I nod.

“You felt guilt for the few times the magic made you lash out at me. The amount of guilt he will have could very well kill him. It’s not like Volkaros could remove a small bit of the magic at a time, so when the ring was removed, your father crumbled and begged for the ring back because he couldn’t cope with the guilt.”

As I go to reply, I hear someone approaching us. Turning, Lucy smiles at me. “You’re coming with me,” she says as she reaches for my hand.

“I will see you later, Harl,” Stefan says. Congratulations, Lucy. Let me know when you want to announce the pregnancy,” he kisses her cheek.

“There will be a lot more congratulations coming for us both later,” Lucy says. I look between her and Stefan, confused.

“Because it will be announced the pups are mine, that’s all,” Stefan say before he walks out and leaves me with Lucy.