#post-twk

Description: I'm really going a bit crazy with the 'Jurdan can control the weather' thingy...

Synopsis: Cardan was a good King and Husband. Cardan WAS a good King and Husband. Well, times change. Or -- In which Cardan doesn't get the ending that he wanted.

Tags: Major character death || Alternate Universe - I created it but I hope it never exists || It doesn't end well || I warned you.

Word count: 3, 767

Dark clouds had been coming and going in the Kingdom of Elfhame. Almost every day it looked as though rain was threatening to fall. It never did, at least for the first two months. Today was the end of those two months.

Everybody has their eyes on the High King. Well, their eyes had always been on him. Perhaps to look for a weakness, an opening to slay him. Maybe a way to charm him, to climb up into a high rank. Currently, however, they are looking at him to see if he feels dissatisfaction.

The storm must be caused by the King's displeasure. His subjects thought as one.

Still, when they looked at him. He showed no sign of irritation. He looked the way he did as a princeling. Only more powerful, intimidating, and a tad more regal.

Thunder shook the ground. Women and children at the revel exclaimed.

"My King!" The doors to the throne room opened, revealing a royal astrologer whose face was blanketed in horror. Horror that was not at all there, even as he prophesied an ill-starred prince. Whatever news he carries, it most probably is not a good one. Seeing such a sight made the boy King, as some refer to him, sit up straight in his seat. An action he jumps to do only when his wife is the one barging-- no, entering the room.

The royal astrologer takes long strides, not of pride but rather of urgency. He stops just in front of the dais. "My King, please forgive my impertinence. I --" He tries to apologize, only to be cut off. "Get to the point." The High King demanded. Baphen glanced behind him. He needed not to talk about his concern; his King understood. He was, after all, a good leader. "I am saddened to end our revel so early in the night, but alas, it seems to me that something urgent has come to happen in my leisure. If you will, my dear subjects, Will you allow me to postpone our revel at a later date?" Cardan asks his people. For a bit of time, there were only murmurs. Cardan kept his eyes on his people. It was soft, really, the way he looked at them. It was only with time that his gaze hardened. One of the Fae seems rational enough to want to keep his body and head intact. He bows, and as if willed by the action, the others follow. In no time, only Cardan, Baphen, and the King's knights remained in the throne room.

Cardan sat back down on his throne. "Now tell me," He said, "What urgent news you wanted to tell me so badly that you interrupted my revel."

"I truly apologize, Your Majesty." Thunder shook the walls and the bright lightning illuminated the knights' armors. "I'm afraid this storm is no ordinary one." The royal astrologer stated, peeling his eyes from the King, instead looking out the window, into the murky view outside of the palace.

"Hmm... It seems so." Cardan told the astrologer with a mocking tone.

"It is, Your Majesty. I had read the stars just tonight, out of curiosity about what is happening to our beautiful land." Baphen looked at his King again.

"I see you have also heard about the dying lands." Cardan tries to mask his worry. He is alright. He is doing fine. He longs for her, sure. Yet, even though the words' long for 'is an understatement of what he feels, it is not enough to turn the lands into this. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. JUDE. He repeats her name in his head like a mantra or a prayer. As if doing so would alter what he worries about.  Jude got hurt. The land had already chosen her as its Queen the second he put the ring on her finger. When they lay in their bed, sharing chaste kisses, things they hadn't known about the other. His Faerie sight showed him red flowers blooming once, twice, thrice, many times on the bedpost. A sign of passion, excitement, and love. When he exiled Jude the next day, they were replaced by thick vines that had thorns. Hatred. He angered Jude. Jude hated him. Jude even when banished, had affected the land. If it is not him causing this, then it is her.

Baphen only nodded. "A clock ticks for three fortnights. Separated, the land rots in preparation for mourning. The stars had told me so." Baphen tells his King.

"There is a third part that stated;  a new High Queen of royal blood shall be gifted to Elfhame shall we persevere." Baphen continues. Despite delivering good news, he does not appear to be happy.

Cardan's heart dropped. He didn't feel joyous at the news either. Had there not been anybody besides him in his rule, it would have been better news than it is now. It won't be good news then, but it would make for a better instance than now when he still has a Queen who was chosen by the land itself. A Queen who vowed to be beside him until life ends.

"I'm heading to the mortal realm." He had stood up so fast that the knights and Baphen had no chance to stop him.

The storm was at its strongest. Traveling now would mean risking his life. Unfortunately, love made him blind.

~~~~~

As he arrived at Vivi's apartment. Even far away, he could hear an ear-piercing sound that went up and down and up and down. Red and blue tinted almost everything.

He went closer to the crowd surrounding a metal box that seemed to be used for transportation.

He was taller than the mortals that surrounded him, so he saw. He saw, with nothing blocking his view, that terrifying scene in front of him; Jude. His Queen, one chosen by the land. His wife. A woman obstinate as a bull, persistent as a sword. Lying on a bed of some type, bleeding from her side. Gashes and bruises all over her body. Seeing her bleed is nothing new. Seeing her covered in blood isn't new either. Seeing her covered in her blood is.

Red starts to overpower blue.

He spots Vivi talking to a man. She had tear stains on her cheeks, some more in her eyes threatening to fall. Oak held onto her, shoulders shaking, face buried in his step-sisters' stomach. He comes closer. "V- Vivi... What happened--- What happened to Jude?" The High King seldom stutters. Right now, however, he feels not ready to hear what happened to his wife, even so, still wants to know. The Faerie raised her head at the familiar voice. Her expression instantly turned into one of wrath. "You, it was because of you!" The tears in Vivi's eyes finally fell. Oak looked up. When he saw Cardan, his face lit up. Hearing what Vivi says next makes Oak look at him with almost the same amount of anger as Vivi had. "You crowned her only to humiliate her, you piece of shit!" "Why did you do that, uncle Cardan?" Oak didn't have too close of a relationship with Jude. Saying that he didn't love Jude however, would be a big lie. "Is that why Jude always cried? Because you hurt her?" Oak continued. Hearing that Cardan almost stepped back. He was not ready. Not ready at all... "Jude went on suicide missions every day to forget you and your selfishness. If anything happens to her now, I will not hesitate to kill you." Vivi looked ready to do that now but it seems Cardan could do so by himself. Had he not exiled her this would not have happened. Had he at least explained, this wouldn't have happened. "We're heading to the hospital." a man in a white coat told them. "May I go with you?" Had the Fae in Elfhame heard that they would not believe it is the same King that had made another island rise from the sea. The Faerie holding onto her brother's hand only stared at the King with tears running down his face. She just turned to the metal box where Jude was getting put in. Cardan tried to follow, waiting for a reaction, but nothing came. He continued into the transportation. He was thankful that the Faerie let him go with them. Vivi, on the other hand, didn't feel pity, it was so that if Jude died she could kill him too.

~~~~~

The three waited outside until they were called into a room.

Cardan hated to see Jude connected to those machines. Cardan hated that Jude's hair was not as shiny, that she had lost so much weight, and that it was him that caused her to look like this. Cardan hated what he did to Jude. Cardan hated himself.

Oak didn't like to see Jude like this. To Oak, Jude is strong. She was never in pain and even if she was, Oak never felt it because even when she cried, she was strong. Even as she came home with bruises, she was strong. Now, Jude seemed vulnerable. Not weak, just very, very, incredibly vulnerable. He didn't like that. If such a strong person looks like that, it can only mean they are in great pain. Then for it to be the creature he favored that caused it, he didn't like either. Oak felt no more affinity toward Cardan.

Vivi saw Cardan clasping Jude's hands. She had never seen Cardan bawl his eyes out that much, but nonetheless, it did not change her desire to do away with him. She liked Cardan, at least a bit. But she cares about Jude. She didn't know that Cardan had climbed over the walls of her sister's heart. Walls that block even her and Taryn at times. When she did discover, however, it had already been too late because Jude, who showed up at her apartment, eyes puffy and visibly worn, had almost no emotion in her eyes. After a few days, she started going out, coming home with bruises if not injuries.  When she doesn't do that, she's holed up in her room. The Jude Vivi saw was unrecognizable. The ambitious Jude became desperate simply because a wit-less, dry-brained, over-grown boy like Cardan broke her walls down to shatter her next. Vivi, more than ever, felt the blood of a redcap running in her veins.

~~~~~

Jude saw a glimpse of black beside her, two figures on a sofa beneath her; one sitting up with their heads bowed and the other laying down on their lap. Jude felt weak and very tired. Her whole body was aching. She had just been kidnapped by the undersea, only taking a few days to heal, before she started to brawl with degenerated Fae in the mortal realm. She shouldn't have done that. She still wanted to see Oak grow. To protect Taryn from Locke. To see Vivi and Heather. To tell Cardan she loved him. Really, she should've taken the chance to tell him about that... She didn't like the tightening in her chest. She didn't like feeling dizzy and short of breath either.

I don't want to... Not yet...

~~~~~

The three Fae were woken up by the continuous beeping of the heart rate monitor.

The lines started to take more likeness to waves rather than the jagged edges of a cliff. Cardan panicked, Oak cried, and Vivi called for a doctor. The waves started to become smaller, smaller, and smaller. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. Jude. JUDE. JUDE. JUDE. PLEASE. JUDE. PLEASE. NO. JUDE. His wife's name came out of his mouth like a wish for his fear to not happen. But then only Oak and Cardan's sobs filled the room. When Cardan looked up at the machine, all he saw was a straight line. He heard Vivi tell Oak that the green strand that was like an unevenly serrated edge of a knife was Jude's heartbeat...  If it did not look like such, what would that line mean? Doctors came in. Cardan swears he saw a tinge of pity glide over their faces. Vivi told Oak and Cardan to get away from Jude. Though she also had tears in her eyes and that she might even be the one sobbing the loudest. Everything goes fast. They use a needle to inject some type of liquid into Jude. Another doctor pushes her chest down. When the panic goes down, Cardan can't process anything. Only that Vivi was on top of him shouting inaudible things at him, the doctors were trying to stop her, and Oak had gone to Jude's side, shaking, crying, sobbing more than ever.

Jude died.

His dearest undoing won't be there anymore. Gone, she seeped through his hands like fine sand.

~~~~~

Jude, oh, Jude, The precious High Queen of the Fae. -The wind blew. The poison to High King Cardan's wine. -The land shook. Life to the corroded lands of Elfhame.  -The sea grew wild. Has perished. - The wind, land, and sea chorused, showing respect to their befallen queen.

Blowing, bringing clouds of storm; You showed no adherence to your Queen. The wind raged. Rotting, a plague taking over; You jest of your Queen. The land split. Flooding, drowning all life in its way; You have shown disregard to your Queen. The sea spilled You killed your Queen. The wind, land, and sea chorused, showing their anger in the stead of their befallen queen.

The subjects of Elfhame suffer the consequences of their negligence.

~~~~~

Cardan didn't know how he escaped the wrath of a redcap but in a matter of hours, he is back in Elfhame. Back in their Kingdom. Now, only his Kingdom.

The King feels numb.

His shoulders heavy, his chest constricting, his feet leaden, his recollection blurry.

It must be a dream. Right, it is but a dream. A bad dream to help me realize the value of my Queen.

And so the King heads to his chambers. Ignoring the cries for help coming from his 'dear' subjects. He notices not the difference in the Kingdom he rules over. ~~~~~ The King wakes up, cold sweat lining his limbs. He had dreamed that Jude had been alive and that she woke him up from a nightmare terrorized slumber. He almost rejoiced but even in his dreams, Jude bled to her demise. The undersea. Invite the undersea for a revel. A voice in his head told him. It was a warm voice, the voice he heard when his Queen said her vows. Charming. Cardan's shaking lips formed a lopsided smile.

~~~~~ "My respected Queen of the undersea, Rejoice we must. The..." He winces as if writing the words hurt him physically. The traitor has died at the hands of a mortal disease. He had wished to write. He couldn't. It hurt. It was his wife he was writing about. She was his demise sure, still, the fact just made her so much better. So much more lovely. He crumples the paper and throws it in the fire. How dare he. Jude Duarte shan't ever be spoken about in that way. Not even by him. He sighs, tears falling down his cheeks. Cheeks that once upon a time, felt Jude's warm lips... Cold it is now. He wants to joke and laugh. The thought, however, only made his sorrow burrow deeper into him. His sobs start to fill the room. Even as he covered his face with his hands the sobs were ever so stubborn -- Like Jude -- Oh, oh, how he hated it. "Your Majesty? Are you alright? You have been screaming and striking at things since a while ago." Only when The Ghost asked him did he feel the soreness of his throat, the pain of his fist, the sting of his neck, and the damage to the table and handrest of his seat. "I feel as good as a tree in winter." He wanted to say he was fine, since it won't leave his though, it must be a lie. The Ghost says nothing more. The High King of Elfhame goes to the mirror. He sees himself more worn out than paper filled with words front and back. His eyes rimmed with red rather than gold, black tracks running down his face, scratch marks on his neck, blood and ink mixing on his right hand. Behind his reflection, he saw what has happened to their formerly green land. He turned and walked over to the window. It had not been raining anymore yet the scene he sees before him seems gloomier than when he left. The land was devoid of color, soil full of cracks, trees only twigs. What has he done? To himself, his Queen, and their land? Why did he exile her? Why did he have to ruin what they had? Invite the undersea for a revel. The voice told him again. This time it pushed him to finish. "My respected Queen of the undersea, Rejoice we must. The former Seneschal of mine, Jude Duarte. Has reached the end of her mortal life in the mortal realm..." It hurt him, those words. Still, he had to continue. "My respected Queen of the undersea, Rejoice we must. The former Seneschal of mine, Jude Duarte. Has reached the end of her mortal life in the mortal realm. I invite you to celebrate with me. I would also like to accept the precious princess Nicasia of the Undersea as my Queen to show my gratitude toward you and your people.

With all due respect to the venerable Queen of the Undersea, Cardan Greenbriar, High King of the land" He expects not the sea Folk to accept his invitation. Just the same, he had everything prepared. While what he asked for was getting readied he talked to his people, calming them down and reassuring them. He attended more meetings than ever, listened to all the problems of those underneath him and started calming the mourning land. ~~~~~ The day of the revel quickly approached. In no time, the King is already preparing to face his subjects. ~~~~~ "I greet the Folk of the Undersea. Welcome back to the magnanimous lands of Elfhame. I believe our last meeting has not been pleasant and so I wish to correct my mistake. Let us all celebrate the acceptance of a new High Queen." He gestures over to Nicasia. "And the..." He pauses, "The death of my traitorous former Seneschal. Let us drink in commemoration to such a special day." He raises his glass, the folk following. The revel went on. Nicasia went to the High King's side. "It was smart of you to dispose of that mortal refuse." Her voice proud as ever. It took Cardan all his might not to slam his goblet of wine onto Nicasia's head. "Truthfully." His voice came out more guttural than he anticipated. He is talking to the woman who hit Jude. The shrew who bruised his wife. The traitor who harmed the High Queen's body. He peeled his gaze from Nicasia. Instead focusing in front of him. His eyes landed on the Queen of the Undersea. Their eyes met, He smiled at her. She's the Fae who brought Jude back, thin, pale, and unhealthy... Cardan tries his best not to scowl. ....... The..... He.... No murderer...

He is no murderer... But what exactly counts as murder? The sea will only be receiving the punishment for causing the loss of his wife, their Queen. It is not murder. It is merely an execution. There was a sudden gust of air to his right, then the smell of iron filled his nose, liquid falling down his cheeks. He hasn't moved yet? "THE PRINCESS!" He looks beside him. Oh. A thick vine from the ground pierced the princess of the Undersea. He didn't do that. The land must've heard his thoughts. "It seems the Undersea angered the land." Cardan stood up. "Harming it's chosen Queen doesn't seem to be such a great idea now does it?" Orlagh opens her mouth. A branch from a tree outside broke the window, stabbed her right in the heart, and went back out. The Queen of the Undersea falls. Her blood spilling on the soil. The Sea Folk try to rush out of the room but a thick bush covered the door. It was the only thing Cardan commanded the land to do. He sat back down onto the throne as he watched the ground break in half to ingurgitate the Folk. Amidst all the screams, some tried to get to him, as retaliation. The knight's tried to slayed them. "At ease!" The King commanded. He is no murderer. He is only executing the antagonists who went between him and his Queen, personally. He took a sword from one of his knights, swinging it rather recklessly towards his foe, but nevertheless, killing them. He felt unlike himself. He felt that all he wanted to do was slay those in front of him. To spill their blood the way they did to his Queen. He swung and spiked rashly at his opponent, sight going black with rage. By the end of his spectacle, even his knights, he had done to death.