Chapter One Author's Note: Aiden is the narrator, and Katie is his girlfriend for the first small part of the book; Kings Egan and Ilmatar are the Kings of the Fire and Earth Realms, respectively; in the same way, Amethyst and Brook are the Queens of the Air and Water Realms, and the respective wives of both Kings. This makes Egan the King of the Air Realm, Ilmatar the King of the Water Realm; Amethyst the Queen of the Fire Realm, and Brook the Queen of the Earth Realm. Enjoy the story! Also, If I can add anything, let me know, please!

Now that the journey is over, I can finally settle down with my beloved Katie. But I must also brave asking her the most important question there is: I must ask her if she will marry me. Before you freak out, know that it is perfectly normal for an eleven-and-six-year-old boy to want to marry this girlfriend at this age.

Besides, even if she does say yes right away, we would still have to make save-the-date cards. The format is something like this:

[Name of groom] and [name of bride] are getting married on [Date of wedding] at [location]. Formal invitation to follow

It goes something like this, anyway. I have already given her my heart, so I may as well give her everything else I have. When you find the one you love, the one you truly love, they become the center of your world; nothing else means anything to you anymore, nothing else matters, except for the sole happiness of that one person.

That, in a few short sentences, is how I feel about my Katie, how she feels about me. As I enter the house I share with her (we moved away and nearly dragged Melissa with us) I know what is going to happen. Just as I suspected, the moment I enter our small cottage Katie wraps me up in her arms and kisses me, her plump, ruby-red pout caressing my own lips in a sort of rhythm. I run my fingers through her cocoa hair, and she leans forward into the kiss, deepening it.

This catches me off guard, but I do not back away. When she finally pulls away, I hold her to my chest and murmur in her perfect ear “Miss me much, sweetheart?” She looks up at me again, and says, her eyes shining like luminescent liquid topaz, “Yes; I missed you more than you will ever know, Aiden...” It isn’t until I embrace her again that I notice a sheet of parchment paper on the table.

Upon closer inspection, I also notice the seal of King Egan, our Royal and Katie’s father, at the bottom of the letter, directly under his scratchy writing. Curiosity takes hold, and I read the letter, highlighting key ideas as I go. What I read was this:

Dearest Katie,

I write this letter with sadness in my heart and my crown at my feet. I hate to inform you that your mother is not faring well. I fear she is on her last legs. She has been retching more often than when you had visited last, and her complexion has whitened considerably. As is customary, I must get another Queen before the imminent death of the current one, but I honestly couldn’t bear to see another woman sitting in the throne your mother used to enjoy lounging in, her dress outspread on the floor, her beautiful pink lips always smiling, never downturned. Don’t hate me if I choose to do so.

On to lighter things: Ilmatar and Brook have decided that they need another baby. I can see why; without River here, it gets lonely, especially for Brook. As of today, Brook is three months pregnant with a daughter, Jubilee Rose. Please come to see me; I long to see the face of my little girl, if it shall indeed bring comfort to the situation.

Signing this letter with a depressed hand,

King Egan

Here are some of the reasons why I highlighted certain things: for one, if a Royal’s husband or wife, therefore their King or Queen, is dead or dying, the healthy Royal will place their crown at their feet as a sign of grievance; another reason is that Egan is normally not this depressed. We all knew this day would come; we just hoped it would not come so soon.

Katie looks at me again and asks “Can we visit him, Aiden; and Mother, too? They need us, honey; especially Father.” I look up from the letter and say “Yes, my love; we can visit them, if you are happy with doing so.”

She nods, then stands on tip-toes and kisses my cheek as lightly as a feather. I copy the gesture, but kiss her forehead instead. As always, she smells of sunlight and cinnamon. She knows just what to do to please my senses. I smile as I pull away and head for the telephone.

“I am going to call the other boys; see if they’ll come with us. His Majesty will need all the comforting he can get, by the sounds of that letter.” She nods and smiles, and then she heads for the kitchen; this leaves me wondering what dinner will be tonight, but also felling compelled to help her.

I am not the kind of person who expects women to do everything on their own.That description better fits Adam. I once set aside a whole day for helping Melissa with her gardening, when I could have gone out with Katie. The first one I call is Adam; someone picks up on the first ring.

I don’t realize it immediately, but after a little while I know who it is.“Hello?”

“Um... Adam?”

“Yeah; what do you want, Aiden? I’m not feeling well.”

“Ah, nothing; I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to the palace because King Egan seemed depressed in his letter to Katie and needs comforting.”

“Ask the other guys, Aiden; I can’t go out. My girlfriend forbids me. She’s too busy stuffing me with ‘healing herbs’ and other preposterous stuff.”

“Wow...”

“I know, right? It’s stupid.”

“I was wowing the fact that you actually used a smart word this time. Dare I say it, I am proud, Adam.” Click. Phone still against my ear, I distort my face so it is more of a smirk, to which Katie responds “Did he say something wrong, honey?”

“No, but I think I just did.”

“Let’s go anyway. I want to find out if Father is going to survive the night.”

“Alright, sweetheart; we shall go, then.”

The drive to the palace is quiet, for the most part, until Katie says something that reminds me of what I had previously, if not recently, aimed at doing.

“Aiden?”

“Yeah?”

“When will you propose to me?”

“Damn it! I’m sorry, sweetheart; I was going to as soon as I walked into the house, but other stuff happened, and-”

“You forgot...”

I put the car in neutral and tell her “You distracted me, sweetheart. I was so utterly captivated by your breathtaking beauty that it had slipped my mind. In that case... will you marry me, Katie Carlinson? I need you like your father needs your mother, like we need Inferno to live, like the Water Realm needs Vodi to live.” I state the sun/moon of our Realm and the Water Realm’s moon/sun respectively.

She looks at me, her brown eyes shining brighter than they had when I'd walked into the house. Her answer is not entirely what I had expected.“Can I think about it, Aiden? You kind of jumped at me when you popped the question. Besides, does my father know?”

I nod, speechless. When I finally muster up the courage to respond, all I can think of saying is “Yes, he does know, Katie, my sweetheart. He didn’t respond in the way I had thought a father would. He told me he didn’t care, as long as we conceived in the end. ”

 “Did he really say that, Aiden? That doesn’t sound like something my father would say. But, I guess, since he is grieving, it would really make no more of a difference to him than if my mother were, in fact, in good health.”

“I know it wouldn’t; when we visited him last, he seemed even more despondent than now.”

 “Oh, stop it, Aiden...”

I stop staring at her (again, please do not think that I fantasize about my girlfriend) and respond. “Katie; please say yes, my sweetheart. If I have wronged you, just... just let me know, okay?” By now I have already restarted the car, and we are pulling up in front of the entrance to the palace.

As I walk to the door and raise my hand to knock, a voice, sounding closer than even Ilmatar’s was not too long before now, says “Just come in... don’t bother with the usual formalities, whoever you may be.”

Katie and I walk through the door, and what do we see? The king of the Earth Realm crouched on the floor behind the door.“Ilmatar, what are you doing on the floor? Shouldn’t you be out terrorizing your Realm?”

“Yes, but, in case you didn’t read the letter Egan sent to you, he isn’t feeling very well; and the same with his wife. They share so much, Aiden.” Next I hear a quiet voice speak. I acknowledge the speaker as King Egan.

“So many memories unmade, so many things still left undone, so many days spent by her bedside... I do hope she survives, Aiden. I hope it with all my heart.” He sighs and tries to stand, but falls down again.

Ilmatar reaches down and helps my disheartened king and future father-in-law to his feet. King Egan stands and brushes off his tunic. Another sigh escapes him.

Katie walks over to her father and says “Egan, you listen to me. You are going to go over to your throne and place your crown on your head right now, or I swear to the tiny planet of Earth, Mother will not get better.” King Egan sighs again and says “Alright, my dear; whatever you wish.”

At that moment, Katie’s mother walks out of the large bedroom she shares with Egan and frowns. “Egan, what are you doing?”

“A-Amethyst, my lovely... I had thought you were ill.”

Ilmatar speaks up. “No, you didn’t; you thought she was dying.”

“Egan, I’m fine; I was just tired, that’s all. I promise you that I am getting better.” Then King Egan does an unusual thing; he grabs Queen Amethyst’s shoulders and shakes her hard enough to give her a headache (or dismember her; one of those two), a frown now masking his face instead of hers. The next thing he says comes out in a hiss.

“How dare you tell me lies, woman; you’ve had that disease for ten years, Amethyst! For ten damn years this... this virus, this infection has plagued our good cheer, our happiness!”

“Egan, I-”

“Now tell me another lie, Amethyst; tell me you love me...”

“Egan-”

“Say it!”

“No! I don’t care if you’re grieving, Egan; I am getting better, and I do love you; with all my heart. Now you look at me; does my skin look as pale as you professed it to be in the letter you wrote to our daughter?”

“No; no, it doesn’t... oh, my lovely... I am so sorry... I-I didn’t realize...”

“Forget it, Egan. Just forget it... just forget I even exist, like you’ve been doing for the past month...” Queen Amethyst begins to turn away, but he grabs her hand, pulls her toward him, and kisses her fingertips. He is probably hoping to regain some sense of returned passion in their relationship.

“Please, my lovely; do not turn yourself away from me... When we got married, I told you I would love you for the rest of our lives. Was I not right, Amethyst? ”

“Yes, my dearest love; do you want to know why I have been in the bedroom for so long, Egan? I have been waiting for some signal, some indication that you want to give me another child, and yet I have not seen one.”

“Oh, Amethyst, my lovely; if you wish to have another baby, we can try again...” He kisses her shoulder and nuzzles her neck, a sign that their tiff is now patched up. “Do you still want us here, Your Majesty?” I ask this with a hint of curiosity.

“No, no; it’s alright, Aiden. Now that I know my wife is feeling well once more, I can stop worrying.” Katie walks closer to her father and embraces him. “See you later then, Father. Be good for Mother.”

“You know I will, Katie.” He kisses her hand and wishes us well in our future attempts to procreate. As we leave the palace, my stomach starts to churn. I moan in pain, and Katie notices that I am feeling uncomfortable. She says “Take some medicine when we get back, Aiden.”

“You want me to drive for two hours while I’m in unbearable pain?” She frowns; not an angry frown; more like an upset frown. “No, I don’t; I’m going to drive this time. You just rest in the passenger seat.”

“You know, Katie, we really should try for a baby. I think it would make both of us so happy.”

“I’m not ready yet, Aiden; let’s wait until we get married.”

“If we ever do, that is...” It suddenly dawns on both of us that she hadn't actually responded to my proposal. “Oh, that’s right; I technically still haven’t said yes, have I?”

I shake my head. Whatever; she can take her time. “No; I love you, Katie, and I hope to give everything I possibly have to you, sweetheart.”

“I will say yes, then, my love; for your sake. I think you’ve been waiting for an answer for far too long.”

“I asked you a little over half an hour ago, sweetheart.”

“I still think that’s much too long to wait.” More kissing commences, and she sits on top of me. When she starts to unbutton my shirt, I make some low guttural noise, a cross between a spitting sound and a groan, which was probably supposed to be a moan, but somehow ended up not being one, and she pulls away, breaking the kiss. I can see some whitish substance on the corner of her plump ruby lips. She frowns and says “You threw up in my mouth!? Why, Aiden?” The first thing I think is Oh, that’s what it is.

“Katie... sweetheart...” I hold her to my chest and stroke her beautiful auburn hair, feeling its downy softness against my fingertips. “I swear I didn’t know it was going to happen...” She smiles and kisses me again, this time on my neck, then places one long, beautiful finger on my lips. “Shhh; it’s alright, Aiden. I know you’d never intend on doing something like that.”

“We should probably-”

“Get going.”

“Yeah.”

That night, I research symptoms of pregnancy in Air Realm females. Turns out that, when a female from the Air Realm wants to be pregnant, or is ‘in heat’, she will display symptoms akin to those of Stelman’s Syndrome.

“Hey Katie?”

“Yes, my love?”

“How much do you know about Stelman’s Syndrome?”

“A little; why?”

“You mother’s, ah, display, for lack of a better and less offensive term, may have had something to do with her being... in heat.”

“What are you saying?”

“Didn’t you hear what she said before we left? She said that she’d been waiting in their room for a while because she was searching for some sign that your father wanted to give her another baby.”

“I didn’t notice.”

“What do you notice these days, Katie?”

“Was that supposed to offend me, because it’s starting to.”

“Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t; how the hell am I supposed to know if it offends you?” Tears start to stream down her face as she screams  at me.

“You’re supposed to know because you said it, Aiden, and it hurt my feelings! Do you know how hard it is for me to go about daily life without wondering whether today or the next might be my mother’s last day on this planet? She says she’s getting better, Aiden, but how are we all supposed to know without some confirmation from my father, or Ilmatar, or even Brook?”

“Katie-”

“How, Aiden!?”

Ten minutes later, she has confined herself to our bedroom; I walk over to the door and knock lightly. “Katie?”

“Go away, Aiden!”

“I just wanted to, uh... to apologize for what I said. I’m so sorry, sweetheart... I never meant to say that. Tell you what; I will make us dinner tonight.” She opens the door a crack and apologize; glad to know she still trusts me, if only to an extent at present. “Sorry I snapped at you, Aiden... do you forgive me?” Now she opens the door fully. I kiss her forehead and whisper “Yes, my love.”

She crawls into my lap and curls up against my chest. “That was our first fight, Aiden; I will always forgive you, my love.”

“I think that deserves some celebration.” Another kiss on her forehead, and then I make my way to the kitchen. She follows me and asks “You sure you don’t want me to help, Aiden?”

“Yes; I’m sure, sweetheart; take the night off from being a housewife.”

“I’m sure this is just my opinion, but shouldn’t celebration mean that more than two people get together to do it?"

I agree with her.