Nature of Kingdoms

Being king was not the hardest transition. It was easier than Heron had expected. He had already been more or less filling the role, there was just more pressure now.

But he was getting better at it. And he realized it. Serving as Prince Regent for a while had helped prepare him for actually ruling.

He did not have much in the way of advisors. A few of his father's that he had kept on with the addition of Elswyth and Luth. He wanted the wiser heads of the older men, as he did not want to fall into the dreadful mistake of thinking himself wiser than he was. It was good to have people who would curb his youthful ambition rather than just feed it.

Ruling was as his father had always taught him a balancing act. Both keep the people happy while curbing unruly conduct. (his father and him had different definitions of unruly conflict but in general Heron thought it not a bad way of saying it.)

Heron wished he could see the day in which Amriel became as easy to rule as Lumna. But the Lumna people loved their king with a devotion that was unrivaled in any other kingdom. Amriel did not have that devotion. Nor could it copy the circumstances that led to this love for their shapeshifting king that Lumna had.

But it was the role model Heron would choose. Varenduil would be easier for Amriel to emulate but…Heron was not thrilled at the idea. Carendlus would be okay, but difficult in a whole different way. Jarenkul… he liked the place and saw the allure, but one nearly lawless place on the continent was enough.

No. They would have to forge their own path. Though it would be quite difficult and he wished to be able to ask for advice. But he couldn't ask his father. Nor could he really ask anyone else as this was a time of turmoil in all the kingdoms. He would have felt comfortable writing Kur but…Kur wasn't in a good state at the moment.

Hence he was a bit on his own. With only some knight's club to at all rely on. Well, he had Elswyth as well. Which was a great relief.

He didn't know what he'd do without her support right now. It was stressful to have the weight of an entire kingdom on his shoulders, though he tried not to show it. And just having a good friend at his side to support and encourage him was a blessing.

He was glad Elswyth had come with him. He really was. Even when she teased him, he would never wish her away.

It was strange to him to have someone like her have become so important to him.

…He cared for her a lot. Almost as much as he did his sister. Perhaps as much. It was hard to tell. Elswyth didn't require him to go to great lengths for her happiness – at least not that she had let him know. But he thought that if he could do something to make the ranger happy, he would gladly do so.

His relationship with Elswyth was far different than any other relationship he had ever had. He always thought that he got more than what he gave in their friendship and he wasn't used to that. Unlike with his sister, he wasn't being a good older brother who only wanted his younger sister to be happy. And unlike with Asrar he didn't feel a constant need to protect her – she could probably protect herself better than he could. Though he would be willing to take a hit for her.

Kur was the closest to a similar relationship but even then he felt like he had ended up giving Kur a bit more in the way of friendship than what he had to offer Elswyth.

Elswyth…was the only person in which he actually felt that she was treating him with a desire to protect him – instead of him protecting the other or just having friendly conversations with. It was an odd feeling though not one he actually disliked.

It was nice how much he could relax around her. Though she teased him in ways he wasn't used to being teased he didn't mind too much – even when he complained.

He just had to remember never to take it too seriously. It would be quite terrible if he ended up falling for her. Nothing against her as a woman he just knew there was no way she could be serious! She just liked teasing him for some reason he couldn't fathom!

That… was all there was to it.