Just outside the castle's door, Beatrice, Alvion and the other three noble dark faes were already waiting. The queen was obviously restless despite her outside appearance of being graceful and just calmly standing there. Alvion and the three other nobles who were accompanying her could just feel it and it made them happy that at long last, their queen was finally meeting with her long lost son again. He had left the Under Lands for such a long time and their queen's longing for her son's return was not something that was being kept a secret. They had witnessed how Queen Beatrice had struggled over the years to cope with the fact that she will never be able to see her son anymore as he was not allowed to return to the Under Lands. And it almost killed her that she could not leave to visit him on the surface as she was not able to leave the Under Lands.
But now, here she was, finally by some miracle, was going to see the prince again. They were all curious at how the prince even managed to overcome the restriction placed on him and make it back to his homeland, making what was supposed to be impossible actually happen. They had an increasingly growing respect for this long lost prince as it almost seem that what he had done was heaven defying.
Sensing that they were finally approaching, everyone's attention fell to the queen.
A man then landed on the ground, with the light fae queen held like an exquisite and priceless treasure in his arms. They watched him gently put her down with so much care.
And when the man finally turned and faced towards them, Queen Beatrice's hands flew to her mouth, stifling the gasp that escaped her. Slowly, she walked forward, her eyes filling with unshed tears as she approached Gavriel. She could feel her heart overflow with so many emotions that it was not clear what she was truly feeling right now. But the one thing she knew was that her son was finally back!
Evie moved to her husband's back and gave him a gentle push forward. He was a bit stiff, as if he did not quite know what to do or how to react. At all. He simply looked at the queen and again, that same feeling he felt towards King Belial bloomed within his heart. There was that faint familiarity tugging at the edges of his memory. The longing. The nostalgia. And something more.
He did not remember a thing about them, not even their faces. But he just felt as though he had seen them before, at some point in time and had been with them before. There was not even a hint of them feeling like strangers.
"My son…" she cried, spreading her arms wide as she stood before him. Her grey eyes that were identical to his were twinkling with tears, overflowing with so much emotion.
And before he realized it, Gavriel had already moved and embraced her.
Beatrice immediately sobbed hard, trembling with so much emotion as she hugged her son tightly to her. Those looking on could see her knuckles turning white as a testament to how tightly she was clenching his clothes, as though afraid he would just disappear as smoke, and this was all only her dream.
Her emotional cry tugged at everyone's heart, that some men even looked away, while Evie and the nobles teared up as well. The love of a mother for her child truly transcends realms, time and reason.
Gavriel on the other hand, found himself automatically comforting her. His throat weirdly hurt, as did his chest too. He did not like seeing this woman crying like this. He could feel all the pent up emotions, the longing in her sobs, and he felt guilty. He knew that it was he who had caused her all this pain.
For a long while, Beatrice just sobbed in Gavriel's arms. But eventually her sobs faded, and she pulled away and wiped her tears, a wide smile now plastered across her face as she cupped Gavriel's with so much tenderness.
"I'm so happy son, thank you…" she said lovingly, "thank you for coming back here. Thank you for letting me see you again, my dearest son."
Gavriel averted his gaze and looked down. "I'm sorry. I… I…"
"I know. Please do not worry about that, dearest son," she reassured him while her wide smile did not fade. "Just you being back here again, looking healthy is more than enough for me." She already knew what he wanted to say and comforted him.
And she hugged him tight again, as she began to try calming herself down.
"Your father, he didn't scold you upon seeing you, right?" she asked hastily when she pulled away, suddenly thinking how her husband would have seen him first when he arrived back here.
Gavriel shook his head. "He welcomed me… I think he'd seen me recently. So he didn't look that surprised at all at our meeting."
Beatrice chuckled. "You are right, that father of yours had been sneakily going to the surface to check on you once in a while. If he didn't scold you, then I'm very relieved. He always tells me he'd skin you alive for making me cry if you ever return." Beatrice rolled her eyes as she told Gavriel that before laughing out loud. Her laughter rang out light and unburdened, now that her beloved son is back.
A soft chuckle came from behind Gavriel as well. It was Evie, laughing at what the queen said. There was only one thought in Evie's mind now. It seems, it's from King Belial whom Gideon had learned and picked up all that threatening talks to their own family.
Gavriel reached out his hand to Evie and held hers tightly in his, before smiling as he felt his heart settle at the feel of her warm and small hands in his.
Then he took a step back from Beatrice along with Evie. "Mother," he said. It happened again. Him already calling his parents this way, like it was something so natural that he has been doing all his life. Last night, he did not even realize he had called King Belial 'father' until he repeated the word twice.. "I know I am late with the introductions, but… meet my beloved wife, Queen Evielyn."