Dawn of Lumna

It wasn't long after Heron had gotten a letter from his sister that the queen of Lumna came to Amriel.

Elswyth had been with Heron in his father's study talking when a knock sounded on the door. Heron turned to look and called almost lazily, "Come in." He didn't even bother to remove his feet from the desk.

This was why she loved him. He was so wonderfully casual and it was great. She loved how he always treated everyone much the same, with only differences on how close he viewed them as. That she was one of his closest confidantes filled her with satisfaction. After all, that would be great for once they were married!

It was also good to notice that ever since that wonderful letter from his sister had come, he seemed just a bit more conscious of her as a woman. Just a little.

Happily she reached up to stroke Sun's feathers as he sat on her shoulder.

As the door opened, Elswyth regarded the woman who entered. She was taken aback by the sheer beauty of the woman.

For this was the most beautiful woman she had ever lain eyes on. She had long golden hair that fell to her feet, and vibrant golden eyes. There was a grace to her movements as well.

After a moment Heron removed his feet from the desk and sat up straighter. Elswyth was pleased to note he gave no sign of being fazed by this other woman's beauty. "Ah, Queen Dawn of Lumna. Welcome to Amriel." He spoke to the young queen as he removed his feet.

He turned to Aklane who had walked the queen here, "Aklane, go and bring Kion, would you?"

Aklane respectfully bowed as he said, "My prince," before leaving.

Heron explained to the queen as he turned back to her, "He is one of the knights that I am going to lend you. I sent him to get the other one."

The queen said, "Thank you. Sending your best knights is highly appreciated."

Heron smiled wryly at that, "Oh, neither one of them is Amriel's best knight. Second and third best though I would hazard." Elswyth could tell that he was proud of them, though he delegated them as not the best – but from what she had heard that was undisputed. As Heron was quick to continue to explain, now almost bursting with suppressed pride. "Our best knight is named Asrar, but he is not in Amriel at the moment. Protecting my sister. I am sure you know of our custom."

Queen Dawn gave a tight-lipped smile, "Ah. Are you worried about her?"

"Hazel is in Carendlus." Now Heron's face was utterly filled with affection. "I miss her but she is much safer there. Especially as she is with Asrar. He would never let any harm come to her."

"You seem quite sure about that." The queen had a note to her voice of dismissal, "Many people might talk a good talk but when-"

Heron quickly came to Asrar's defense, laughing at the sheer absurdity of the idea of Asrar failing to do his all to protect his sister. "Asrar… is fairly simple to understand. He does not really care if he lives or dies but is totally devoted to my sister. They are best friends, and, well I would not be surprised if he ended up my brother-in-law."

In her own mind Elswyth silently added that thus Asrar would end up her brother-in-law as well.

It seemed to almost strike the queen dumb. She cleared her throat and changed the subject, "I am sorry about what happened to your father."

"He will be alright." Heron sighed and gave the woman a look of pity, "It is far worse what happened to your husband, my condolences by the way. I met Arrion once a long time before he became king. He was a good man."

"Thank you." She smiled grimly, her eyes watering just a bit, "I miss him very much."

At that moment, another knock sounded on the door and Heron bid the two knights enter. He told the queen, "Aklane and Kion volunteered for this. They are very dedicated soldiers and some of the best for this kind of thing that Amriel can offer. Please take good care of them, Queen Dawn. I am rather fond of them."

What he left out was that the reason they were so good for this kind of thing wasn't just their skill with the blade. But the fact that they could work very well together with spellcasters.

"Of course. I thank you. I will take them with me back to Lumna before we leave for Nix'Ryl if that is alright with you."

"If they are willing to go immediately than that is fine."

The queen left, with the two knights, leaving Elswyth once again alone with Heron. He sighed and leaned back, "Poor woman. There were rumors she didn't love him but its obvious she did."

Elswyth nodded and then moved over to hug him, suddenly just wanting to be close to him. He was surprised but accepted her quiet affection.