He stayed forever young, but his heart grew infinitely older.
He had always accepted his rightful place in Lireo. Welcomed it, in fact, as his love for the kingdom extended to the Queen in the same way one bears attachment to home and family. As the Leader of the Lirean soldiers, he had vowed to remain loyal to every Queen that will rule over this land; and from Queen Cassiopeia to Queen Mine-a, he had never broken that oath, never doubted that this is what he is meant to be doing, and who he is meant to be.
He had always believed that he will spend the rest of his immortal life this way, at least until Emre deems it time for him to pass on to Devas.
That is, until Sang’gre Danaya is born.
He had never given voice to this belief, lest he incur the wrath of Queen Mine-a, but out of all four of her daughters, he has always thought that Danaya would be the most fitting successor for the throne. Though all three of Danaya’s sisters each have their own strengths to govern as Queen, they each have their own weaknesses as well, as he had witnessed them all grow: Alena is too soft, Amihan is too indecisive, and Pirena is too self-serving.
Danaya, however, is something else.
She may have been the youngest of the four sisters, but she has always been the most motherly of all of them, even when she was still a youthful, bright-eyed Diwani; fiercely protective and nurturing, unrelenting and firm, and just this side of a little bit too stubborn, Danaya had all the innate qualities that Aquil had always admired in a Queen. He had always secretly believed that the Gemstone of the Earth was fitting for no one else but her; he had no doubt in his mind that Lireo will flourish under her strong, capable hands.
He tells himself it is merely disappointment on her behalf when it is Amihan who rises to the throne instead. And though he bows his head in deference to the new Queen of Lireo, he finds his gaze straying to the youngest Sang’gre by the sidelines, the genuine happiness for her sister dimmed somewhat by her sadness in being overshadowed once more.
Aquil feels something inside of his heart twist, the look of defeat in her eyes so foreign in her otherwise blossoming features, like a shrivelled leaf; he misses the fierce spark in that gaze, the mischievous glint whenever they’d train together, the way her entire being seems to glow when she talks about all her plans to make Lireo a stronger kingdom – one which gates will always be open to all Encantados and Encantadas, as a true symbol of a home in Encantadia.
Aquil had been the right hand soldier to all the Queens of Lireo, but never had he felt his entire being fill with so much pride than he does at that moment, looking at Danaya as she watches over the kingdom with a fascinating dichotomy of protectiveness and tenderness.
He once said a long time ago to a stubborn little Diwani that he pities her future husband. Now, gazing at the most beautiful Sang’gre he has ever seen, he finds that he deeply envies that theoretical man.
And that is when Aquil suddenly realises that he is in grave danger, not from the greed of the Hathors and their vengeful King, but from an enemy he doesn’t know how to defeat.
Because for the first time in his immortal life, he wants to spend the rest of eternity by the side of one woman… and one woman alone.
And it is not the Queen of Lireo.
For the first time, there is one thing above the Four Gemstones, above the Queen, even above Lireo and Encantadia itself, that he is willing to give up his eternal life for to protect.
Danaya looks at him then, the unfurling petals of her smile all the more beautiful in its rarity, and like an arrow that has pierced straight through his armor, his heart stops at the power of that gaze, as the youngest Sang’gre has finally succeeded where no Lirean, Sapirian, or Hathorian soldier ever did: make him accept and concede defeat.
Because for the first time… Aquil finally surrenders.
And it is to Sang’gre Danaya that this Lirean soldier finally surrenders his heart.
gracieabrams
blakekathryn
kianamaiart
baratheonpilled
amandla
