"Better you than me," Fioren agreed. He knew of Merien's love for Gwyn, and he knew that Merien would take it better from her than he would from anyone else. Of course, Fioren would rather not be in the room once Merien received the news. They should have been more careful, more considerate of any possibility that Atdros would be rescued. But now, Atdros was gone, and there was nothing they could do about it.
(( Time skip and to Thea? ))
sure!))
They had come back by morning.
Fieredros and Veris were the ones to come get Thea. "Queen Thea! You must come outside!" Fieredros exclaimed, her voice heavy with shock and relief and elation. Veris looked just about the same as well, and he looked as if he was at a loss for words.
Thea saw the look on Veris’ face but she hardly dared to hope. “Is... is it?” She asked softly, rising quickly so she could follow them outside.
Veris and Fieredros couldn't bother to answer, but instead Veris took her hand and lead her outside toward the front of the palace. And there was Celicus, with Atdros resting upon him, his eyes closed and an arm missing, with the stump bandaged over. Alia got off of Celicus as soon as she saw Thea, and she gave her a teary smile. "We did it," she said. "We came back."
Thea let out a soft sob, running over to embrace her friend. “You fool... you absolute fool... you saved him.” She pulled away after a moment, looking to Atdros then, still worried. “We need to get him to the infirmary.”
"Of course," Veris said, and then he and Alia went to gently haul Atdros off of Celicus. Atdros was still unconscious, having passed out from losing his arm, and his body didn't look as if it was in any better condition. He looked absolutely awful, and if it were not for his distinct red hair, he would be nearly unrecognizable.
"I'll go tell the rest of my family," Fieredros said, and then she ran back inside to go inform them of what had just occurred. Atdros was back. And the family would be overjoyed to know that he wasn't dead after all, and that he had finally, finally been saved. Fieredros herself had looked as if she had been about to burst into tears at the sight of her brother after so long.
Thea worried after Atdros, but she stayed out of Veris and Alia’s way as they brought him to the infirmary. She didn’t realize she had yet to stop crying, so absorbed in the fact that he was back.
They brought Atdros to the infirmary then, where Atdros was soon set into a bed, allowed time to rest. Veris watched over his friend, but as Alia watched him, she soon glanced back over at Thea. "Are you okay?" she asked her friend with some worry on her face.
Thea nodded, wiping her eyes. “Yes... you came back to be and you brought Atdros as well.” She sniffed softly before pulling Alia into another hug. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again. Either of you.”
"Alright, alright, I won't," Alia promised. She returned the hug. "I'm sorry that I scared you so badly." Of course, once Alia had an idea in her head, she was the one to usually act on it, whether or not she told anyone. She supposed that this one was no exception, but she still felt sorry that she had scared her friend like that.
Thea nodded, pulling away from the hug after a bit and moving to sit next to Atdros. “I’ll leave when his family arrives.” She murmured, wiping her eyes. She doubted they’d want to see her.
"I understand," Alia said with a murmur to her. She smiled at her. "I'm just...I'm just hoping that he recovers well. Whatever they had done to him, it was cruel...and..." Alia's eyes suddenly grew warm with anger, but she tried not to let it show. "I'm just hoping that he'll be alright by the end of it all, that's it."
“We’ll care for him as long as his family lets us.” Thea murmured, taking his remaining hand gently. “Hell come back to us.” She glanced to Alia with a small smile. “He promised he’d come back to me... he can’t break that promise now.”
"I know he won't," Alia said. And then in came Atdros' family. Atarunn, Uadros, Finedros, Taladros, Fieredros, Eredros, Celidros, and Anadros. Uadros and Anadros made a run toward their brother, while the others slowly approached him. Veris moved to make room for them, and Atarunn looked down at his unconscious son, his eyes seemingly welling with tears.
"Who brought him back to us?" Atarunn asked.
Thea let go of his hand when his family entered, stepping back to make room for all of them. “Alia. Alia went out and brought him back.”
Atarunn looked at Alia then, and he thanked her for what she had done. "It was the least I could do," Alia murmured with a smile. The rest of the family thanked her then, and once they were all done, Alia turned around to look back at Thea. "We can go visit him later, once his family is gone, if you want to."
Thea nodded, leaving the room to give his family the space they wanted. “I would like that.”
"Good," Alia said. She hoped that Atdros was going to be alright. But after seeing his body there, unconscious, unmoving, so unwilling to even make the slightest movement even while he was still breathing, she wondered if he would be.
(( Time skip? ))
sure!))