Politics

Things get really troubling when Harald's past misdeeds are brought to light, but things seemingly settle down when John gets married successfully. Or do they?

By evening, the news had spread like wildfire the length and breadth of both Nomiris and Novidia. Nobles from both realms put aside their ongoing angst with each other to discuss the new happenings, and it was concluded, at the end of a very long night of drinking and talking, that Prince Harald was an a*s. That he was distantly related to the thief who had stolen the dragons' original treasure mattered little; it was his other practices which had his countrymen up in arms against him.

Already knowing his fate, the Prince Regent retired in disgrace, but the High Queen wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. He was executed at dawn, and his son Josef was elevated to the regency of Novidia in his place. Josef was, thankfully, a much more sensible man than his father, and it wasn't long before he and John hit it off. Within hours of their meeting, they were talking as easily as if they'd known each other all their lives, and it boded well for relations between the two kingdoms.

Margaret had also retired in disgrace, but she was exiled to the most remote of her family lands with a small pension, just enough for her to live on day by day, but not enough to fund her previously lavish lifestyle. Her daughter Helena, who, like Josef, had a good head on her shoulders, was elevated to the regency of Nomiris, and soon a "power trio" was formed when John and Josef met her two days after the failed wedding. Before long the three were in deep discussion of how best to mend the rift between Novidia and Nomiris, and within a week they'd decided what to do.

"I must say, it is not a plan I would have enacted," the High Queen remarked on that fateful Sunday, when the three young people came to her with their suggestion. "But since it neatly ties in all the loose ends left behind, I think I can see my way clear to it."

"It's unconventional," John agreed, sharing an affectionate smile with Josef and Helena. "Though I have to say, what other recourse do we have?"

"None," the High Queen admitted. "Very well. Since your custody reverted back to me on the event of your cousin's retirement, I give full and free consent to this plan of yours."

John bowed deeply. "Thank you," he said. "You're a very wise woman."

The High Queen laughed and displayed some of her wisdom by giving him an affectionate cuff. "Get on with you," she chided, and John grinned as he led his friends out. The High Queen smiled sadly after he was gone.

"He is a good man," she said to the empty air. "But what will happen when the truth comes out?"

At Midsummer, the world's nations gathered for another wedding, and all were relieved to hear that this time, no random dragon would come to abduct the bride or the grooms. No one wanted a repeat of the last disaster, although heads were scratched when it was realised there were two grooms! For John was to marry Josef and Helena, thus uniting Novidia and Nomiris properly. Neither of the two regents were related to the houses of Hanover or Angevin, which was actually considered a good thing, but John had declared the day before, with his future spouses' permission, that the first two children born to them would refound the houses anew. Distant cousins could be found and legitimised to kickstart the new rise of Hanover and Angevin, and thus finally put the old, outdated feud to bed once and for all.

The wedding and feasting went off without a hitch. But after midnight, once most of the guests had gone to bed, servants noticed John standing by himself, looking up into the bejeweled night sky, a sorrowful expression on his face. Putting it down to pining for his lost bride, the servants wisely left their prince be, deeming it best not to say anything. And it was well after three in the morning before John finally went to his bedchamber, alone.

Much talk followed in the weeks after the wedding. John was distant and withdrawn, preferring to leave the talking to his spouses. Ideas were thrashed about, and a concrete alliance was finally drawn up after thousands of years of endless bickering. John only bestirred himself long enough to sign the decrees declaring that, from this day forth, Novidia and Nomiris were no longer at war, and that a lasting alliance had been entered into. In light of this landmark decree, the High Queen announced that the reunified realms were now their own independent kingdom, causing much joy, but some sorrow as well. Josef and Helena promised that things would be fine, and that they had a good government who would easily navigate this new and uncertain time, and that put the worries of all to rest.

John, however, still remained silent, and did not partake of the celebratory feasting that commenced afterwards, instead withdrawing to his chambers. No words of entreaty could convince him to emerge, but Josef told the worried folk to leave his husband alone. "He aches," the Prince Regent told them firmly, and such was his commanding manner that no one dared gainsay him. Helena gave the same answer when the more tender-hearted tried to appeal to her natural compassion, and whispers were quick to start.

But such were the busy weeks which followed that no one paid John's angst much mind. However, four months after the alliance had been formed, John turned up missing. Old resentments bubbled to the surface, but Josef and Helena quelled whispers of dissent with stern words. Fears were allayed when it was discovered Helena was pregnant, and the promise of royal babies soothed the worries of both Novidians and Nomirisans. Six months had passed since the disaster which had kicked off the renewal in the first place, and it was decided by all that John was probably having a rather protracted case of the miseries. He'd be back, the two realms told each other.

But one month became two, three, four, five, six. It had now been a year since Meghan's disappearance. Helena was due to give birth to triplets. But where was their father? What madness had taken him that he could disappear for so long?

The birth of the triplets did not make matters easier. Josef stomped the whispers down, finally telling the worried realms that John had decided to leave the combined kingdoms in the hands of his spouses. He had suffered excruciating heartbreak after Meghan's disappearance, and could not countenance a life without her. Older citizens were wont to dismiss his lovesick sufferings as no more than just a teenager's thwarted longings, but there were those who sympathized with the prince. In the end, Josef's explanation was accepted, and the rumblings died down once and for all. The unified kingdoms settled into their new life, and Helena's triplets soon provided a great deal of entertainment. The two eldest were consecrated to the houses of Hanover and Angevin, as per John's wishes, while the youngest was bequeathed some substantial titles which would make her a very rich young lady when she grew up.

In all, things had finally reached a level keel, and the two kingdoms got to work on long-overdue friendship. Sometimes there were wonderings about how John was doing, but not enough to concern anyone overmuch. In time, he faded into the background as his sons and daughter gained prominence, and soon he became all but forgotten.

After all, why worry about a missing prince when there were two princess and one princess who had their whole lives ahead of them? 

Author's Note

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