Out of the Ashes Ch. 26 - Epilogue

Everyone already had silently given both their blessing a long time ago. Under tears of joy and sadness Sybilla and Lucilla, with two more ships, set sail and were at last set free for pursue the future they wanted. Margaret almost caught herself envying her younger sister in that very moment.

The palace felt emptier by the day, now that Sybilla and Anastasia were gone and Euridike turned increasingly often to the gods for comfort the older she got. Consequently, Alexia and Margaret spent more times with their human friends, especially Gretchen who really made a name for herself as the one person that helped human visitors and new nobles settle in at the palace. But like seemingly everyone around Margaret and Alexia, she eventually also found someone to rather spend her time with than her king and queen. The eccentric tailor at last found someone who matched her energy... and obsession with her three cats. A young hunk so far from the east Alexia had to ask him three times to repeat his name so thick was his accent. He must have other "qualities" Gretchen enjoyed Margaret thought and wished her the best nevertheless, even if that meant departing with another friend as she headed east.

Both Alexia and Margaret slowly reached an age in which they saw their friends and family depart one by one, some by natural courses others out of their own choices. They could not decide which option hurt more. Until they were met with another news that broke their hearts.

Manuel, by now re-elected mayor multiple times had passed away. Unlike Anastasia he wasn't plagued with disease or pain, he gently glided into a soft slumber from which he never awoke. A part of the Alexia and Margaret rejoiced knowing he felt no pain, but they were devastated they did not have the chance to say goodbye. Overwhelmed from their emotions both king and queen cried like the many people that accompanied them on Manuel's funeral. They listened to many tales of the man he was before the war and most speakers had the compassion to avoid any stories of the war. When it was Alexia's turn for her words, she showed emotions she had suppressed for years, even during Anastasia's passing. She described it best what he meant to them. That he was the one person, who proved that there can be forgiveness in this world as long one works for it. That he was the one who showed them kindness when they did not deserve it, she in particular. Alexia broke down after she thanked him. Although Margaret's tears were flowing long before Alexia's did, the image of a massively muscular and imposing woman reduced to tears stuck a chord with everyone at the funeral, even those who at first objected against her invitation.

Ricky and his family, by now consisting of him, his wife, two sons and a girl, took over the "Princess' mug" shortly after Manuel's death. Sadly, this was also due to the fact, that Agatha could not cope with his passing. Despite Margaret's and Alexia's best efforts, did she remain lethargic and depressed. They always knew she and Manuel were close, but only then was revealed that both saw each other as the last soul that truly understood them and the pain they endured. Ricky and his family took care for his former boss and gave her the warmth she needed in those dark days. Surrounded by Ricky's children and with the help of regular visits from Alexia and Margaret with the princesses her strength returned bit by bit. Seeing their friend this broken was a brutal experience, but one that left Margaret and Alexia wiser. They learned how to deal with grief and when they needed the warmth of their people around them, especially when they would not want to admit that. That one lesson would prove to be one of the most important and one that would be more valuable than gold in the later stages of their lives.

At last, a new sun was rising on the horizon, one that shone bright and came entirely unexpected. After years of expedition and only after hearing rumours about her adventures a familiar sail approached the palace. Sybilla had returned and brought with her tales of unbelievable adventures and never before seen treasures. The most valuable one though, was the daughter that Lucilla gave them ... on the middle of the unfathomable endless ocean. The life on boats remained her playing ground and the only place she knew until she met her aunt. She was barely old enough to stand and already traversed the deck like an experienced sailor. Little Euridike looked just like a perfect blend of her two mothers. The softness of Lucilla and the emerald eyes of Sybilla. She would undoubtedly be a true queen of the sea, just like her mother, who by now was renown as "Sybilla the Navigator". Not only did she traverse the western passage, but she discovered countless isles, inhabited with people and tribes nobody had ever heard before. Some of her stories were so bizarre that Margaret and Alexia almost distrusted their ears. Sybilla was also convinced she discovered a greater landmass; one she was more than eager to return to after she told the world about her discoveries. Little did she or her sister know at the time, that she was about to be the first soul setting foot an entire new continent. A new world. In her quest to write her own story for the ages did the former princess achieve what no one deemed possible: Rivalling Anastasia's fame and place in their people's history books. Margaret and Alexia were enthralled to have her back, even if only for a few weeks before she, her family and her grizzled crew returned into the embrace of their mutual mistress. The sea.

Would Sybilla have waited for another month; she would have left with the knowledge of becoming aunt once more. Unlike the two times before, Alexia would no longer find herself waiting outside and enduring Margaret's cries with Anastasia and Sybilla on her side. Instead, she was flanked by both her daughters who joined her in her silent prayer - which was thankfully once more answered. Margaret's and Alexia's third and last daughter was named after a woman who taught them as much and one, they thought earned the highest of praises -- during her lifetime and not only at her funeral. Agatha, ironically the naturally strongest, of the three princesses was first introduced to her namesake when the rapidly aging chef fully settled in her new role as "granny" to Ricky's children. Never did Alexia and Margaret see her happier like when she held little Agatha in her arms. It would remain a moment she often mentioned with pride to all her friends until her final days.

The years passed by and the royal family aged with wisdom and experience while the world changed around them. Familiar faces they knew from their youth turned old and wrinkled and with every new winter the world seemed to keep moving faster. One day they congratulated Ricky to not only inheriting the "Princess' Mug" but also to following in Manuel's footsteps as Mayor. On another they had to bury Queenmother Euridike, who chose to live out her last few years in the service of the gods. Although Alexia and Margaret convinced her to care for her at the palace as she undertook her final journey. She joined the love of her life in her final resting places. In the crypt of kings, as well as under the elder tree -- the favourite playing ground of her grandchildren. Just like her wife predicted many years ago. Euridike often recited her oath to Anastasia, back from when they were young. She swore to never be parted from the woman that conquered her heart, and she honoured that promise even in eternity.

Finally, Alexia and Margaret entered an unfamiliar chapter in their lives. They were no longer the new generation taking over from the steady and experienced hands of their mothers, but were supposed to be the beacon of wisdom and strength for their people. Just like Anastasia and Euridike were before them. It had been a slow and creeping process and while they never felt truly prepared to take up that mantle they did so splendidly.

The realm flourished under Margaret's and Alexia's enlightened rule. The ditch that was dug between both people at last started to fill up, shovel after shovel, day after day. The royal palace was no longer just a sinister fortress to humans. The visits of human envoys were almost as frequent as those of the hermaphroditic nobles. Margaret's dream had begun to take shape and materialise into the world she was building, but there remained one voice loudly opposing her rule.

Alexia's efforts silenced any discontent within their own people, especially after the failed coup attempt, but the human opposition remained mostly out of her reach. While Ricky took over many duties from Manuel and became the king's most outspoken supporter and rallied countless voices behind him, there remained some standing strongly against Margaret IV and her people. Their numbers were dwindling, but their devotion was only growing. Just like their leader's.

Margaret and Alexia only heard rumours about that illusive man. He seemed to have worked his way up from very humble, troubled origins. Some said he was merely a bastard who carved his path out of the slums he was born in, others tried to depict him as a once noble man who lost everything and whose family always fought their "oppressors". A very few even insisted he was once a known outcast, and had to earn back his honour by being the hardest and most zealous in their entire organisation. Whoever he or his followers were, they were highly capable in threatening peace. They started with merely plundering some depots and outposts, but soon they came closer to seizing weapons that would have allowed to reignite the fire of revolution. Only after long, excruciating campaigning and ongoing skirmishes did Alexia find their hideout and dealt with that threat once and for all.

After years of rule and doing what needs to be done to secure stability there was not much left that could unsettle Alexia. When she entered the ancient ruin with her sisters in arms, they braced themselves for the unexpectable. She still did not expect to be faced with a ghost from the past. A ghost she almost forgot about despite being reminded of his act of betrayal every single day. When Alexia returned in triumph and led the prisoners to their king, an unsettling grimace graced her seasoned face. Soon Margaret shared the same anger and disappointment. The rumours proved somewhat true after all. He was indeed a man that rose from nothing, the lowest of lows. From being a traitor to a fanatic who hid his personal hatred for Margaret and Alexia behind fighting for freedom and patriotism. He somehow had tumbled even lower.

Margaret and Alexia talked to Remy for days on end in their dungeon. They treated him fairly, better than he deserved after his crimes, hoping there was still a pathway to speak him with logic and reason. Afterall, there was a time when at least Margaret felt like he was someone she could talk to. A naïve and cunning boy yes, but also capable of being compassionate and communal. That boy was long gone. They remembered him as the young man who screamed and kicked desperately after he involuntarily kickstarted Margaret's and Alexia's ascension to the throne. A boy who wore regret on his face and swore on everything that was holy to him that he never wished for what followed next. No, this man was what remained of Remy and turned it into crooked, twisted caricature of a freedom fighter. One who sent countless people into certain death for beliefs he did not even truly hold. They were nothing but pawns to him to be used to reach his ultimate goal: Getting revenge on Alexia and Margaret who he deemed robbed him of his life.

To Margaret's surprise did Alexia offer to pardon him if he left for the new world Sybilla kept on unravelling. She wanted to keep that part behind and leave it knowing she was the better soul, but Remy did not grant her this victory. He declined and explained in detail how there was no grimmer end for him than to live at the mercy of Alexia, Margaret or any of their kin. So, he met his final end, like the rest of his comrades by Alexia's hand in front of the eyes of Ricky and his citizens. There were neither cheer or lamentation -- only silent acceptance and disappointment.

Margaret and Alexia, by then shrewd administrators and experienced tacticians, had to answer questions that tormented any monarch. The uncertainty of their succession. While their reign was already widely regarded as a blessed one, their efforts would have been for nothing if the kingdom returned to the savage divide, they spent their lives patching. No, they had one final decision to make and it would be their most controversial one. They waited for that moment for many years. Ever since their hair started to grow silvery and their forms less plump and firm. It was a choice they made for themselves under the condition of one promise: They would only go through with that dream of theirs once they knew they left their duty fulfilled.

On their last parliamentary session, Margaret and Alexia proclaimed to the world that their reign would come to a sudden end. Not out of necessity or ancient custom, but out of choice. Their abdication shocked every citizen in the kingdom and even reached Sybilla on the other side of the ocean. Their abdication was unprecedented in both their people's history, but the king and queen did not stop there: They also ordered their subjects to vote their successor.

Admittedly, only both people's representatives would do the voting, but both sides from that day onwards were equal in deciding which capable pair of hands ruled over them. And to almost nobody's surprise those hands would end up belonging to Elisabeth and by extension those of her sisters too.

"The rule of the three kings" was not met with the same suspicion as Margaret's early reign. The outrage over claiming power merely by blood or by force were vanquished due to this final reform. And both people were proven that this decision was as wise as their abdicating king.

The three sisters were raised for this exact moment when they would come together as one to carry that burden from their mothers. They were equally tutored with the virtues of ancient warriors as well as the more compassionate teachings of modern philosophers in mind. Unlike most of their people, they were not raised to outdo one another, but to bundle their unique strengths into achieving the common goal: Leading both people with wisdom and unconditional love. History would remember "Elisabeth the Wise", "Anastasia the Philosopher" and "Agatha the Bold" for fulfilling that one holy promise. And so would their children after them.

And what happened to Margaret and Alexia once they handed the quill of history to their daughters? Many legends twine around their final fates, but all start at the day of Elisabeth's coronation. The day Alexia and Margaret vanished.

Some bards already sang ballads about them travelling to Sybilla's new world and joining her in another quest for the ages. Others believed the reason for their abdication was fatigue and sickness, that slowly brought them to their knees. Only few knew the truth and even less knew where to find it.

Not many would have searched at some beach for the former king's and queen's whereabouts. A beach which had housed the final resting place of the royal guard for many decades. Of soldiers who were put to rest by a princess and who gained the strength to rise by their sacrifice. A place where swords replaced tombstones as the sole indication of which warrior rested underneath it. All but one grave. An infamous sword that was no longer even associated with its initial holder had returned at last. To the sole grave without a tombstone.

A sword with a round golden pommel and ebony grip which still shone bright in the scorching summer sun while all other blades long had turned dull and old. It remained pure and untouched by blood and death during its years of absence and symbolised the fulfilment of one holy promise. A debt that needed an entire lifetime to be repaid.

Those who knew who this sword belonged to would not have to look much further to find the king and her queen. To everybody else that mystery would forever remain unsolved. The stuff of legends, that would lead countless souls onto grand adventures and left them dreaming about unbelievable feats -- worthy as the final chapter to the legacy of Margaret and Alexia.

To those who were in the know, that final chapter would not be written with the ink of heroism or on some distant shores, but in the soothing presence of simple wood and salty sea, as mere commoners among friends. Not as king or queen, but as waitress and bouncer, under the roof where they learned to become the women many people rightfully regarded as true Greats.

The End