Whilst Spring, for most of the country, was often sticky, Ardeena held close to it's almost frigid nights. A hearty welcome home by my family had led to a local gathering that following Friday. An event mostly led by the women's community at my church, there was much food to be found and many smiling faces to see. I was demanded of stories by both men and women alike and children ran around the campfire as the embers danced into the night. My shoulder was healing well. Still aching throughout the night and whenever I walked for long period of time. To my frustration, I still couldn't lift much more than an apple.

Alas, the gathering was full of fun. I was allowed to re-count my story several times over. A story that'd been picked up by the media as well! Brave consultant risks her life to save Prince Casmir-Stefan from brutish insurgency fighters. While Cas and I had agreed that I wasn't to ever appear even close to the spotlight, I still relished the re-count every time I told the elderly men of the church community. Their gasps and wide eyes! How awesome was that! That young Sofia saved the life of the prince!

"If you'd stepped up to the spotlight, this town would do more than name a park after you!" One of the older men chuckled.

"And that's why it's important to keep it just here," I nodded, "I don't need reporters showing up at my door,"

"It'd be great tourism, that's for sure!" One of the others, a manager of the only legitimate hotel in town, joked. Everyone burst out in laughter. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head.

"Sofia," My mother called from the doorway. In the months that I'd been gone, Mum had managed to push her strength to be able to stand for most of the day. However, I'm sure that tonight was still all a bit overwhelming for the both of us.

"Coming," I stood with a bit of a struggle, my arm still in a sling for the night. She pulled me away from the general party commotion into the hallway of our small home. It was almost dark.

"There's someone for you at the door," She whispered, nodding past me, I turned.

Expecting another community member to add to our almost, sixty guests, I threw the door open with relative ease. On the other side, however, I was not expecting to see.

He still had the same chaotic green eyes and dark hair then when he'd left. He was taller now, a lot taller than I remember. And in the partial light there was a sort of gaunt shadow to his face. Was those military trousers? I couldn't be sure.

I couldn't stop myself.

"Alek,"

And in a moment we were in one another's embrace. He smelt like the soft hint of smoke, men's body spray and a few other things here and there that denoted long nights and distant travels.

What am I doing? I scolded myself, suddenly pulling back, a blush folding my cheeks.

"Sofia," He spoke it with intense care and consideration, I bit my tongue.

A tense moment. His hair was longer, I noted, too long for military standard. Maybe he's on a break?

"I was ahem, dropping by," He gestured to the general direction of the town.

"Nice of you to stop by," I managed, though my heart was raging.

"Do you want to, go for a walk?" He nodded, I turned to spy Justek peering around the corner, "I'll protect her," He called, chuckling when Justek narrowed his eyes.

I stepped out into the street-lit gloom. The two of us shuffling up the path of the house, through the streets until we reached Southside Ardeena. Soon enough we were tipping back and forth on the rusting set of swings, re-counting memories from a less-complex childhood. It was sweet. Perhaps a little melancholy. We'd gone through the general small talk; Alek had left the military and over the past six months been working with some friends. He'd only done a single tour throughout his time but ended up specialising in engineering. According to his superiors, he had a natural gift for leadership and optics but wasn't too keen on pursing it. There was something else that he wanted to tell me. Something that he was just aching to get out.

I'd told him about Mum, and Justek starting a new year level, on Feodor leaving for university, on Hanna travelling the world. I told him some things about my new job- painting it with very broad strokes. Alek wasn't normally the one to simmer and there was something that shifted each time I mentioned any kind of government or military.

With my shoulder, swinging wasn't a massive priority and Alek wasn't in a boyish mood, thus the two of us drifted aimlessly back and forth. The swings sending ghoulish creaks into the night.

Despite the generally shifty neighbourhood and the frigid, almost supernatural chill, I remained unafraid of the night. Some nights I'd woken up screaming. Sometimes I flinched back at a moments notice. Sometimes, while lying down, I could see Cas' tear-streaked face hovering over me, screaming words that a dead body couldn't hear. I'd reached the conclusion that with Christ, nothing of the spiritual world could harm me in the same, nightmarish ways that had occurred by a human hand.

A demon could stare me in the face and I would shrug.

If my shoulder allowed it, of course.

Lost in my boldness, I almost missed Alek, "Should we make our way back?"

Had I been expecting something? I forced myself to ask, aware of the sting of disappointment wrapping itself around my core. Had I been expecting a kiss? A profession of love that'd matched my childhood dreams? Or even to address the underlying attraction for one another that'd been at the forefront of most of our childhood lives?

No, I realised, I just wanted an apology for the night he left.

"The military was interesting," Alek almost confessed, "it was definitely, what I needed,"

"Good," I kept my words short, thinking of the throbbing in my throat and the undeniable disappointment that I felt.

"There was some pros, and cons. But I don't think it's for me,"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah," He breathed out, we were on my street and his pace slowed, "Sofia, I, this is a terrible spot to do this," He chuckled, surveying the street around us. In the background, I could hear the community chatter a little ways down. Most of the houses were murmuring or completely silent. It was only the two of us in the darkness. Fondly, I went back to the first time Cas and I met.

"Sofia, I realised something while in the military," My heart soared. Would this be the moment I'd been anticipating, that I'd been waiting for? "Sofia, my family isn't what it initially seemed,"

His family?

I remembered his mother, a single, but strong woman, often pressed with the ailments of the world. She was kind when she could be but Alek had always longed for the guidance of a father who he'd lost when he was young.

"What do you mean?" I asked almost immediately.

Alek looked around, as if the shadows themselves had ears, "My mother, she's the long lost older sister of Miezko,"

"King, Miezko?" I asked, foreboding stirring within my stomach.

"Yeah," His green eyes were alight with this revelation. I tried to work my way through it. What did this mean?

"But, the birthright isn't carried through women," I spoke uncertainly, "I don't get what you mean,"

"No," Alek's words almost curled into the air, "the birthright is carried through women, especially when they have male children, though it's overruled by a male birth in the family unless that line proves to be fruitless,"

Something coiled within my stomach. Despite the efforts of Prince Artur and Cas' other siblings, there hadn't yet been a grandson to take up the royal line. It was fair game to determine who would be the next king of the nation. However, if the line proved to be fruitless of a male then the birthright must revoke back a generation to...

"Your mother would be proper holder of the birthright which means that you would be-,"

"The rightful heir to Apolia," My mouth dropped slightly in shock, I shook my head, "I can't believe it,"

"I don't want to be a king," Alek murmured, "I want to be a rightful ruler. Tell me this, Sofia, why aren't we helping those in need overseas?"

I narrowed my eyes, "Because they made those decisions to get them there. Our citizens come first. Meddling in international affairs is a Western practice that we don't need to pick up,"

"No," Alek shook his head, "there are people dying that we can help. It's our duty as humans to help our fellow man,"

"What are you trying to get at?" I was ready to snap. Alek had led me out here, around our childhood memories and dropped a bombshell onto me about his family. I was still waiting for a two-year-old apology. Then he starts spouting globalist talking points. I was ready to throw my hands in the air and leave.

Alek sighs, choosing his words. Unlike him, I noted, "I want to do things right, to do things better. The world deserves better, Apolia deserves better. You've seen it firsthand, the people suffering on our streets, walking into Chesno Forests. All this happens as millions are poured into the pockets of the ultra-rich to manufacture more and more efficient killing machines. How many people could that save, Sofia?"

He pauses, taking in a deep breath. I keep silent, waiting for him to finish his proposal. He takes this as a sign to continue.

"Sofia, I know you want to work to a better world too. So I want you to be there," Then he begins to lower himself to the ground and it takes me a few, long seconds to realise that he's kneeling. That he's proposing.

What? My mind managed to process. He's holding my hand tenderly, as if it's a gift. His grip is firm. Don't go, it says.

But there's something pulling deeper. The way he formed his words. I'd heard those words before.

Then it clicked, the scent of smoke lingering upon him, the sudden disenfranchisement with his country, the way his words were spoken, as if he'd been told them over and over again.

Alek was a part of the Insurgency.

Not only that, he must've been there on the night of the wedding.

It takes everything I can to stay standing and not stagger to the ground. So, as only to buy myself a little more time, I say;

"What?"

Alek lets out a chuckle, "Will you marry me?"

I pause, as if to think, though the only thing looping through my head is the realisation that Alek is on the other side of the war that Cas is inadvertently fighting. That Alek is on the same side as the man that shot me.

Something stirs within me. My shoulder cries out in pain.

"I-I don't know," I admitted. My voice is downcast, my shoulder throbbing, "maybe- maybe a little while ago I would've. I don't know, things have changed. I just need to think about it,"

Alek nods, letting this settle in, "I get that, it's a big thing that I just told you," He stands, and there's still an undeniable atmosphere of disappointment around him. We stand for a moment and he nods back to my house. The two of us walk in silence. Eventually we reach the front gate, I close the picket fence. Now it's a dividing line between the two of us.

"See you around Sofia, I'll be back for my answer," There's a boyish smile on Alek's face. The exact same one from well over a decade ago. I nod, then turn and make my way up to the house. I drift past the house guests, indulging one another on the same topics that they all do. I ghost past my siblings and the other children. I slip through the shadows, avoiding my parents. I confine myself to my room. My shoulder in a dull roar of pain. I want to scream into a pillow.

Instead, I take myself through some breathing exercises, and recognising the importance of maintaining face as well as assuring my hyper-worried family of my safety, I make my way back into the public eye.

I don't even tell my Mother of my revelation.