Warm light woke me up from a long sleep. I groaned as I sat upright, feeling soft sheets glide off my bare arms. I smelt the river and felt the moisture in the air, the soft breeze flowing through my hair. My head was throbbing and I still felt naeseous. Still, I savored the feeling of the warm sun shining on my face. 

"You're awake." Stefan's voice disrupted me. He sat on a chair next to my bed, smiling softy at me when I looked at him. He'd changed his armour for a white button up shirt and some loose dark brown pants that fitted him nicely. I saw the bags under his eyes, but the kindness remained.

"Stefan." I greeted him as I slowly threw my legs over the edge of my bed. They felt numb and weak like I'd been lying still for weeks.  The pain in my head got much worse, making me rub my hands against my head as I pressed my eyes shut. "How long have I been out?" 

"A few days." He answered. "How are you feeling?" 

"Like I've been hit by a mountain." I groaned and opened my eyes. But I wasn't hit by a mountain, I remembered, I was hit by Arthas Blackwing. He escaped. We lost. My father is dead. My thoughts were racing as the memories all returned.

Stefan saw my expression change drastically. "I'm sorry, Lyanna." He tried to comfort me. "Your father he... He sacrificed himself-"

"For what?" I stood up abruptly. "For me?" I snapped and walked over to my closet, throwing it open while searching for my armor. "For his people?"

"Lyanna, I-"

"Well they were pretty quick with accepting their next leader." I snapped and changed into my armor quickly, fiddling with the belts around my waist. "It's almost like they don't even care about that they lost their king!" Stefan only sighed and walked towards me. His calm demeanor soothed my outburst and I quickly came to realise it wasn't him who was at fault here. 

"I'm sorry, Stefan." I stopped with the armor and turned towards him. 

"Here." He softly smiled at me as he opened his hand, revealing the necklace that my father gave me. "He wanted you to have this." He placed it in my hand.

"You have any idea what it means?" I said after a while, twisting the pendant around. The symbol looked like a dragon and the pendant was green with a few hints of gold here and there. On the back was a small encrypture;  From the ashes, we shall rise. 

"I don't really." Stefan said. "I thought that it might be a sigil, but I couldn't find it in any of our records."

"Father said that it would lead me to my true parents and my destiny." Bouncing it up and down in my hand, I then put in around my neck and hid it under my chestguard. "I guess I'll have to do my own research." Collecting the rest of my things and ignoring the pain in my head, I realized I had missed one vital thing. I turned back towards Stefan with a thoughtfull look on my face. "Where are the jedi? Where's Obi-Wan?"

He immediatelly coughed awkwardly and shuffled on his feet. "I thought you might ask that." He sighed and rubbed his head.

"Stefan?" Worry started to build up in my stomach. "What happened?" 

He continued to shuffle awkwardly. "I was given strict orders not to say. Now, If you'll excuse me." He stated and darted for the door. Just before he could open it, I pushed it shut and kept him from leaving.

"What did Aidan do?" My voice was stern as I looked at him directly. I waited patiently as Stefan collected his thoughts and sighed deeply.

"He locked them up." He answered as he looked at his feet. When I didn't say anything, he continued. "He still thinks that they are our enemies." My gaze turned sour as he continued to struggle with the right words to say. "They're locked in the servants' quarters together with the  remaining clones. They're awaiting the sentence from the council."

"Which sentence?"

Stefan bit his lip and nodded, knowing that he'd have to tell me. "They will be excecuted in 2 weeks time."

"For valhalla's sake!" I cursed and threw my hands in the air. "He's in charge for 2 days and he's already killing people!" I was seething as I stood there in my room, thinking of how to handle this best. "Fuck it." Storming out of my room, I made my way towards the throne room with large, furious steps, passing some servants who looked at me with fearfull eyes. When I arrived I threw the door open with all my strength and stood still as they banged against the wall on the other side.

All 8 remaining members of the council turned to look around immediatelly but my gaze remained on Aidan who was sitting on my father's throne. "Aidan." I growled. "How dare you." 

"Sister, you're awake." His eyes widened ever so slightly, but he remained seated. He waved one of his servants away when they tried to offer him a drink, leaning forward to try and get a closer look of me. "You must be so distraught, please, take a seat. We'll talk about everything that's happened." He motioned towards the advisor's chair where previously my uncle Derik was seated.

"I will not sit next to you." 

Aidan's eyes narrowed slightly when he noticed the anger in my eyes. "Leave us." He didn't even look at the other council members as he waved them away.

"No, stay." I commanded with my gaze fixed on Aidan. "I want them to hear what exactly I have to say."

"Lyanna, you're not in the right state of mind-" His discomfort was clear to everyone in the room. He didn't want to lash out, but he had trouble containing his anger. He probably didn't want to let  them know that he was feeling threatened, not in his first few days as king.

"You locked them up." I growled and interrupted him, stepping forward. "You go against one of the few last orders father gave in your first day as king. Tell me, how does it feel to betray him in such a way while his body isn't even cold yet?"

"My decision was for the people, and for the people only." His mouth was set in a thin line, his hands glasped together. 

"No it was for yourself!" Everyone slightly paled at my outburst. "Everyone knows that you hate the jedi. But your hatred blinds you from the simple truth." 

"And what's that?" His eyes seemed to warn me not to continue, but I wasn't having it. 

"That they've done more for Valeria in the past few days than you in your entire lifetime!" I yelled at him. Everyone gasped loudly and their gazes switched between me and my brother continuosly. He only sat there, watching me as he clenched his jaw. "If it wasn't for them, Derik wouldn't have been exposed in the first place and the republic would've attacked us full force. Our planet would've been destroyed in a matter of days and all you would've done is sacrifice our people in a desperate attempt to fight them. Now I'm not even going to mention the obvious close relationship you have with our traiturous uncle or the fact that you wanted to free Arthas, before we're going to have to decide if you're even fit to be king right now!"

Everyone held in their breath as they waited for Aidan to react. For more than ten seconds he seemed to think about what to say, but the anger was clear when his fists balled at his side. He stood up, pushing his chest forward as he looked down on me. "Stefan, take my sister back to her room. She's not feeling well."

"No you can't do this!" I protested as Stefan reluctantly tried to contain me. "Those jedi are our last hope at defeating Arthas. You need to free them!" Stefan gave up and instead looked to his new king, the expression on his face telling him that he agreed.

 "Tell me, sister." Aidan walked down the stairs that led to the throne. "Are you saving them because of what you're telling us, or is there something else driving you?"

"What are you implying?" I spoke through gritted teeth as he came to stand still inches before me. 

"You seem to carry great fondness for one certain blond-haired jedi." He narrowed his eyes at me. "All I can do is hope that these... feelings you have for him aren't clouding your judgement when it comes to doing what's best for Valeria."

"My judgement is perfectly fine, thank you." I didn't back away. "All I can hope is that your ego doesn't get us all killed. We both know how that went last time." 

That hit a sensitive spot. Aidan lashed out, striking me on my face. The guards immediatelly grasped their swords and pointed them at me while the other council members only watched in bewilderment. My hand slowly went up to my now red, bruised cheek as my eyes slowly darted towards Aidan's.  

"Stefan, take her away. That's an order." Aidan said as he glared down at me. "She's to be confined to her quarters till she's come to her senses and apolagizes for her words of treason. Untill then no one is to see her." He walked back towards his throne as multiple guards grasped my arms.

I could cause a scene, but how far would it get me? I'd be branded enemy of Valeria and become an outcast. Finding out what the symbol means won't be easy without acces to the library. I sighed, not even protesting against the guards. "What about Arthas?" I asked when Aidan was seated again.

"We will find a way to defeat him." Aidan grasped the sides of the throne tightly.  "Just like we did last time."

~

The next few days were spent reading old, rusty books Stefan had brought me. I was skipping through the pages, searching for the symbol that was hanging around my neck. I read about the long lost families of Valeria, about their sigils and their words but none seemed to fit with the one I was searching for. Frustration was building up when I threw the 42th book on the ground, my hands running through my hair as I took in a deep breath.

"Having trouble?" Stefan smiled at me as he picked the book up from the ground. 

"With what exactly? Because I seem to have trouble with a lot of things right now." I groaned, pulling on my hair as I clsoed my eyes. "I've been locked up in here for days and I haven't even found a single clue. Nor did I hear anything from the jedi." 

"Yes, well, they are just as locked up as you are." Stefan threw the book on the pile I had collected. "Only you can do something about it."

"I'm not apolagizing to my brother." I stated, staring out of the window. I could see the two guards guarding my balcony, making sure I wouldn't fly out of my room. "Not while he's still putting the jedi on deathrow."

Stefan chuckled lightly. "Stormrages." He shook his head but then his eyes turned sad. "Sir Paul is on duty, by the way, and all the guards are stationed near the council chamber. Aidan is holding a very important meeting today so even I am not guarding you. The halls of the castle will be quite... unguarded." 

I narrowed my eyes and turned towards the army's commander. "Stefan, what are you trying to say? I'm not going to run away."

"I'm not talking about running away." His blue eyes met mine. "You should see the jedi."

Casting my eyes down, I sighed deeply. "Why? It's not like I can do anything for them."

"Because it will do you good." He knelt down before me, taking my hands in his. "You've been locked up in here for days, Lyanna. You're grieving still. You shouldn't be alone right now. Besides, with the upcoming doom they're about to face they could use a friendly face."

"Aidan was right, you know." I looked right at him, but he didn't even flinch. "Obi-Wan, I care more about him than I should." Stefan softly smiled, squeezing my hand a bit. "I know I shouldn't, and I know that it would never work out but..."

"You can't help it." Stefan finished my sentence. "He's a good man, princess."

"I know." I chuckled. "That's what makes this so much harder. With him being excecuted in a few days and such."

Stefan nodded, the smile remaining on his face. He stood up and gathered his armor and weapons. "I'm pretty sure you won't let it get that far." He chuckled. "The guards guarding the jedi will switch in about half an hour. You'll have to hurry if you want to make it."

"Stefan." I called his name just before he could leave. He turned around slightly with his back turned towards me. "Why are you helping me?"

"Your father once told me you'd be the one to save us one day." He mumbled quitely. He then turned around completely, looking right at me. "Above all; you have a kind heart, Lyanna. Strength and wisdom are all good, but compassion is what we really need in a leader right now." He smiled softly. "I believe in you. And I'm sure that one day you'll find a way to defeat Arthas."

"I just hope it doesn't take too long." I smiled back, my heart warming. "Thank you, commander. Really." 

Stefan bowed slightly before leaving through the door. "Always a pleasure, princess."