All Things New: Chapter Thirty-Three

So, we start heading out of happiness...but there is still fluff!

CHAPTER THRITY-THREE: DRALDEN

“You think she’ll start talking soon?” Esben asked, looking at his little niece who was now one years old. She had clear blue eyes and the curliest black hair. She looked undeniably like Artham, and Arundelle didn’t mind at all. Though every time Artham was told that, he would just laugh and say, “I see her mother in her every day.”

Things were going very well in this Annieran household. Everyone was happy. Except for Emerald. She seemed to be feeling anger. She was irritable, not as sweet as she used to be, though she hadn’t been for years. She was now sixteen years old, and she was thinking she might just move away! But of course she could not because she was the Song Maiden, and to do that would leave the kingdom in jeopardy.

One day, she went out for a while, and Artham and Esben were left to talk about her.

“Do you think she’ll be okay? She’s been acting weird,” Esben said.

“She has been for years. Ever since we returned from the Hollows when I turned sixteen. I guess I did something wrong.”

“You can’t blame yourself for everything. I mean, I know you would love to, but you can’t.”

Artham smiled slightly. “You think I like taking blame?”

“You sure like to blame yourself.”

Artham laughed, and at that very moment, Emerald walked back in. There was a sparkle in her eyes, a smile on her lips, and a blush on her cheeks.

‘Oh no,’ Artham thought. ‘I know that look.’

“Welcome back. How was your day?” Esben asked, looking at his sister with a smile.

“It couldn’t have been better! I have never had such a lovely day.”

“What made it so lovely?” Artham asked, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He knew what was coming.

“Oh, I met the most wonderful young man in the market! He was so handsome and polite. Oh Artham, can we invite him over to dinner this sixth day?”

“This sixth day! Did you forget what day it was?”

“No. I know exactly what day it was.”

“I thought we agreed we weren’t doing anything but spending time as a family.”

“Oh, Arthie, what’s one more?”

Artham sighed. “What’s his name? So I can find him if I decide.”

Emerald smiled. “His name is Dralden Fanshawe.”

“That name sounds oddly familiar. Well, I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you, Artham!”

Emerald practically danced out of the room. “What do you think I should do about this?” Artham asked, looking at Esben.

“You could maybe invite him. It might be nice for Emmy.”

“Hmm. Well, I got a challenge for this week then. To find this Dralden.”

“This sixth day. Let’s just act like it’s a normal day.”

“Not like it’s the day our lives were wrecked?”

“Right.”

“Deal.”

The next day, Artham found himself strolling through the streets of Pennybridge, nodding to passersby as he walked around. After hours, he found the Dralden Fanshawe, politely introduced himself, and, after some small talk, invited him over to dinner. The third stone is in place to cause the avalanche’s storm.

At dinner, Emerald had stars in her eyes and roses on her cheeks. She only smiled all night. Arundelle and Arthra were themselves, everything was normal there. But for Esben and Artham, a protective switch clicked in their brains, and they had the sudden urge to throw Dralden out of the castle.

But they had no cause too. He was painstakingly kind, sweet to Emerald, polite to all of the ladies, and perfectly respectable. He claimed to be a Follower, which was even better for him, but every good thing Artham and Esben saw about him made them slightly irritated. Not to say they were mad that he was a Follower by any means. It was just the fact that he was…was…him! There was not a flaw to be found on surface level.

And they had many chances to see if there was something wrong with him. He was over for dinner many nights, and Emerald was thrilled with it. It became clear that those two young people liked each other very much. And that bothered Artham very much.

One day, Artham was studying in his personal library/study. It had been his father’s, but now that he was gone, it went to Artham.

“Fanshawe…Fanshawe…I know the name!”

He heard a giggling behind him, and he turned slightly. He smiled to himself. “You know what would be really bad,” he said, “was if someone were to pop out right from behind that desk and attack me. That would be truly disastrous.”

No sooner had he finished speaking then his little daughter scrambled out from behind the desk and attacked him. He cried out in an over dramatic voice and crashed to the ground. Arthra took full advantage of this, and she jumped right on his stomach (which did hurt a little bit) and fell to attacking him. After several moments, when she exhausted herself by battle techniques and laughing, she lay flat on top of Artham. Artham smiled and kissed the top of her head.

Artham also stopped laughing finally, and then he sat up, collecting his little girl in his arms and continuing to scan the shelves.

“Ah, there it is,” he said, grabbing a rather large looking book. “Looks like getting attacked was exactly what I needed,” he said, kissing Arthra’s cheek. She just giggled and blushed.

He walked over to a table, sat down, with Arthra on his knee, and started pouring over the book. Arthra copied him and stared at the brittle pages. Artham smiled when he heard her deep breaths of concentration on something she could never understand.

“There it is,” he said after a few moments. “Fashawe. Huh. Different name, but very similar sounding. They were people who lived in Yorsha…right…worse than Stranders…yeah, yeah, yeah…ahh! Here it is! Legend says they used to have a kingdom in the Places Beyond the Maps. Hmm. I doubt Dralden has anything to do with these people. But he does look familiar. Hmm. Maybe I’ve just seen him somewhere in Rysentown.”

Artham leaned back, stroking his chin in contemplative thought, looking more like his father than he knew.

Arthra just stared at him with those big blue eyes of hers. “Papa,” she whispered, placing her little hand on his chest. For a moment, Artham didn’t react. But then his eyes widened, and he looked down at his daughter. “What?”

“Papa,” she repeated, in her childish way, smiling up at him with all the trust in the world. His eyes widened, and before Arthra knew it, her father had thrown her up into the air, and caught her, laughing and smiling, with his eyes watery. Arthra just smiled and laughed as well, unsure what she had done to make her father so happy, but she was glad that she had done it.

Sooooo...I don't know if anyone knows who Dralden is, since he popped up in my First Well story. If you know, you know. And if not...you will find out...soon...muahaha...but on a side note I had to have Arthra's first word be Papa :3

She's a daddy's girl 😌💛