“No,” Zarian sighed, trying his best to stay on his feet as I stood behind him, Antoni holding his hands, “move.”

“Zari…” Antoni groaned, “If we move, you’re going to fall. You’re pushing yourself too hard. We have time.”

“There is no more time!” Zarian shouted, “Stop babying me!”

“We aren’t. But your legs are still too weak. Celeste healed you perfectly but you can’t walk yet. The muscles need practice. That means standing before you even walk. You’re trying to skip steps.”

“Go away,” he growled at Antoni and Antoni sniffled, angrily kicking a water bucket we had sitting on the floor to help wipe sweat from Zarian’s face before running out of the room, “I…”

“He’s not going to come back today,” sighing softly, I lifted Zarian and set him into a chair before picking up the bucket and wiping the floor as best I could, “I get that you’re angry that the physical therapy I started for you isn’t going as quickly as you wished for. But you’re taking that out on Antoni and he deserves better.”

“Myran has declared war,” Zarian whispered, “without me, without my abilities, we can’t hope to stop him.”

“He’s been declaring war for years. You were aware of this while you were trapped in Alanin. So I have no idea what more to say. We aren’t at any risk of him invading now, which is why I wanted to keep working to get you on your feet, help you walk, and finally feel free again. You’re trapped in bed unless I come to get you. That isn’t fair to you. I’m trying to give you your freedom, Antoni and I want nothing more than to walk through the village and forests with you. But you refuse to listen to anyone. To any advice we give. I can’t keep being the buffer between the two of you. We all love each other, why are we fighting so much, Zari?”

“He… I…” Zarian hung his head and I sighed softly, squatting down in front of him, “I am so sorry. I just… I think I feel jealous. You two can attend dinners together properly. Go down the stairs arm-in-arm like you should. I can’t join. I want to be there too and it…”

“Then you have to listen to me,” I hummed gently, “we have just started the process of me properly courting the both of you. So that we can marry. I have yet to give you your gift because you refuse to take it until you can walk. But I have given Antoni his to show my intention and he accepted. I understand that you’ll take it soon, I swear to you I will help you get onto your feet and walk again. But I need you to work with me.”

“So… what do I do?”

“Give me your hands,” I stood and held my hands out and Zarian placed his in mine, allowing me to pull him up carefully, “Okay. How do you feel?”

“Unsteady. I don’t know why though. I can stand, we know that. But I just feel off balance.”

“Hm,” I knelt and had Zarian pull his pants to his knees, studying his calves for a moment before standing, “Ah. Okay. Hang on,” I whistled and the door cracked open to reveal one of the chambermaids, “Aneira. I need an extra set of socks. The thickest you can find until I have Oleano create a shoe lift.”

“As you say, My Liege,” Aneira nodded and rushed from the room, leaving Zarian confused.

“Your left leg is a bit shorter than your right from what you went through. Celeste can heal broken bones, wounds, and illness. But she can’t fix this. You feel off-balanced because you are. From having your legs atrophy like they did. The muscle isn’t equal anymore. But if we add two extra socks to that side, it’ll give a bit more lift. I’ll have Mads make a special insert for the inside of all your shoes. I can explain it to him.”

“Are you sure you were a cook?” Zarian laughed, gripping my forearms as he rocked onto the right side, “because I would have sworn my prince was a doctor before he came back to us.”

“I just know a lot about knee and leg issues. When I lived in Arizona, I had a brother. Adoptive, I know that now. But he had a condition called hypotonia. It meant that all of his muscles were weak. So he needed help moving. With crutches and a wheelchair.”

“Is a wheelchair a carriage?”

“Yes. Similar,” I nodded as Aneira returned with woolen socks, handing them to me with a nod, “thank you.”

“Is there anything else I can do for you, your majesty?” Aneira smiled, crossing her hands in front of her.

“Ah. The sitting parlor. Can you have someone prepare tea for Lord Zarian, Lord Antoni, and myself? We will be there in about two hours. Someone will need to inform Antoni. Based on the time, he is in my chamber cleaning. He may be frustrated when found but he will join us for our snack.”

“Of course.”

Aneira left and after I had Zarian sit and put the new socks on him as well as his shoes, he stood once again, his eyes wide as he stared at me.

“Better?” I smiled, fixing his hair.

“Absolutely. C-can you let me go for a minute?”

“I can,” nodding, I let go of his arms, smiling when he was able to keep his balance, “See. I knew that was it.”

“Can I… please don’t get mad at me but I want to try and walk to you. For a few steps.”

“Alright,” I took four steps back and Zarian began to walk forward, taking hesitant, shaky breaths before he reached me, collapsing into my arms, “you did it,” I whispered in his ear, “you fucking did it!”

“That was so hard,” he panted, “but it felt good. It doesn’t hurt, my legs just hate moving.”

“That’s why we practice. Do you want to keep practicing?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.”

Zarian and I spent the next two hours in the empty ballroom. He would slowly cross from one side to the other as I walked behind him in case I had to catch him for any reason. By the time we were done, sweat had formed along his entire body but his steps were more sure, the memory of how to move them returning to his body.

“That was amazing,” smiling, I gently cleaned his neck and arms, washing the sweat away.

“I wish Antoni had seen. He would be so proud of me,” Zarian closed his eyes, relaxing in his chair.

“Well,” I hummed gently and pressed a kiss to his forehead, “why don’t I carry you to the parlor and you can walk inside? Surprise him.”

“Oh! I love that idea, thank you.”

Once Zarian felt clean, I helped him onto my back and made my way through the castle, nodding at everyone I passed who would bow politely. After being here for two months, I had finally adjusted to my status as the prince, grateful to have support within the castle from the staff, and had slowly started to introduce myself to all of them. They were wonderful, all remembering me from my childhood and while many of them were strangers to me, I was grateful to hear stories about myself running around the castle with Leon and Zarian. 

Celeste had started learning alongside the other children that lived in the castle, education a priority to my father regardless of status and we had discovered that Celeste was nearly as agile as Red had been when she was young, quickly jumping from pillars in the training yard without help and catching anything thrown to her, even when she wasn’t looking directly at it, she could sense that it was coming.

Sidra still hadn’t woken up from the curse she was under, nor was she growing, and the apothecaries and anyone with magic were trying their best to figure out why. However, Leon had found the answer before anyone and only shared it with the council. It was due to Zarian being unaccepting of her as his daughter. Until he could see her in this light, she would sleep. He had taken to spending as much time with her as possible now that he felt safe, but the emotions were still hard. He simply looked to her as a family member, not his child and no matter what happened, he couldn’t bring himself to accept her. Zarian had told me this was due to Sidra nearly killing him due to draining his magic and while he knew that she wasn’t at fault, he was struggling without the full strength of his gift and I was unable to strengthen it still, my blockers forcing me from being able to do so.

“Here,” I set Zarian down before poking my head into the parlor where I found Antoni at the table near the window, gently playing with the locket I had given him when I asked to properly court him, “Antoni?” I called softly and he smiled at me, pulling his braid around his shoulder.

“Hello,” he nodded.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“Truly?”

I fully pushed the door open and Zarian took a small breath before coming around me, gripping my arm for a moment to keep his balance. Antoni immediately jumped up and started to rush over and Zarian shook his head, crossing the room slowly and wrapping his arms around Antoni’s neck.

“Hi,” Zarian whispered and Antoni sniffled, a tear rolling down his cheek, “I did it.”

“You did,” Antoni let out a tear-filled laugh, pressing his forehead to Zarian’s, “Oh I am so proud of you. Did it hurt?”

“No. But it was exhausting. Antoni? I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“I know. It’s okay. I overreacted too. I just want to help you. I want to be here for you.”

“I know.”

We all sat at the table, looking out at the forest where the children were spending the day learning about various plants and animals that were native to Nouvelle. Celeste was the brightest amongst them, quickly raising her hand to answer questions.

“Look at our girl,” I whispered and Antoni laid his head on my shoulder.

“Have you talked to her about us?” Zarian took a sip of his tea and I nodded, “How does she feel about it?”

“She loves you both very much. So she wants us to be happy. If that means happy together and she gets three dads, she wants it. There is one thing that disappoints her.”

“What’s that?”

“Sidra. She wants a sister. So she’s upset but understands as best a five-year-old can that your heart is conflicted on how to feel about her. They share a room after all. Celeste watches her sleep.”

“I-I’m trying, Ez,” Zarian sighed, “but I just don’t know what to do anymore.”

“We know,” Antoni reached over and squeezed Zarian’s hand, “we won’t force it.”

“I know.”

The parlor door burst open and Leon came in, anger and concern blatant on his face.

“When did it happen?” Leon spit out and we all stared in confusion, “Sidra! Where is she? What the hell did you do with your daughter?”

“She’s sleeping in the nursery with the other children until Celeste comes in for the night,” Zarian tried to scramble to his feet but his legs were officially exhausted after our practice, “why?”

“We can’t find her anywhere and there was evidence of someone sneaking into the castle!”

Zarian dropped his teacup on the floor, the porcelain shattering before he started to wail, digging his fingers into his legs. I immediately rolled my shoulders and stood, planning to head to Sidra’s crib to grab one of her blankets.

“Wait!” Zarian grabbed me, “please.”

“I will bring her home,” I whispered and Zarian’s eyes glistened due to the tears, “because I can now see how much you truly love her. You’re simply scared. That’s okay. It’s okay to be scared of who she is and what happened. But she doesn’t have the power to drain you. It’s the curse on her. Your love for Sidra will break it. But I have to bring her back so you can. Trust in me,” I kissed his forehead gently, “I will get our daughter back. Antoni will watch over you. Leon, take Zarian to his room. Antoni can’t carry him up the stairs.”

“You’re going alone? For all we know, the princess is in Alanin,” Leon tried to stop me and I pushed him away, “Jesus. You’re terrifying right now.”

“I want her back,” I growled and climbed the stairs to Celeste’s room, grabbing a blanket from Sidra’s crib and slowly pouring my energy over it, a small strand of energy leading down the stairs, “there we go.”

After changing into riding clothes, I rushed outside and jumped onto my horse, grateful that my memories of riding and practicing with Red meant very few could actually keep pace with me. I shot off into the forest, chasing the string through Nouvelle, finding that it led to nothing. It stopped at an opening in the forest floor, one that I recognized and I hopped off of my horse, my heart racing as I started to cry.

“N-No!” I smacked the dirt, realizing that the soil was still warm.

“Prince,” the White Rabbit suddenly appeared and I lifted my head, looking over at him, “the princess can still be brought back. She is not far down the portal. But the napper will be gone. Forgotten. Would you like me to go for her? I can do that.”

“How?”

“You made me,” the rabbit hopped a few times, “to watch the portals. I can bring you things back, pass with no problems. But she will be the right age when she comes back. A toddler. She would have woken up as soon as she went through.”

“You’ll guide her here?”

“Yes. I’ll guide her to you.”

“Then do it.”

Rabbit immediately entered the portal and I sat on the ground, playing with bits of grass as I waited, my heart racing. It took hours, the suns going down and the mushrooms along the bases of trees and surrounding me began to glow blue, giving enough light to ensure I wasn’t in total darkness. The portal slowly started to glow yellow and Rabbit suddenly appeared, a toddler I knew would be Sidra toddling after him, a bright smile on her face. Her hair was as deeply black and curled as Zarian’s, barely coming to the top of her ears, her eyes bright red and rimmed with orange. She was a twin of her birth father, something I was prepared for but had never expected to see again.

“Hi baby,” I sniffled as she came closer to me, “Oh you look like Daddy.”

“Dada,” Sidra nodded, sitting on my leg and I wrapped her in my cloak, my heart breaking to have such a small girl naked in the cold, autumn night.

“Come on,” I carried her to the horse, tucking her close to my chest, and started the ride back to Nouvelle, Sidra giggling the entire time.

I knew she should be scared of me, I was a stranger even if I spent time with her every day, but instead, Sidra inherently trusted me, gripping my shirt as she smiled.

Another daughter.

I love you, Sidra.

Let’s get you home.

We reached Castle Nouvelle as the suns slowly began to rise, the distance I had gone startling me as I hadn’t realized how far I had ridden to find her. Leon came running out to the stable as soon as I arrived, Antoni behind him with Red, Peri, and Celeste. Zarian was sitting on the balcony of his room, staring down at me and I smiled, climbing off of my horse.

“W-who is that?” Red stuttered as I pulled the hood of my cloak back for Sidra, “Oh…”

“She was kidnapped. Taken through a portal, I don’t know by whom. The White Rabbit went and led her back to me,” I kissed Sidra on the nose and she giggled again, “She’s okay. She’s awake now. She needs a bath, clothes, and food. But first, I want to take her to Zarian.”

“Absolutely.”

I headed inside, Celeste and Antoni following me and as I reached Zarian’s room, the door swung open, tears streaming down his face.

“You did it,” Zarian whispered.

“I did. I brought our baby home, Zari.”

“Our baby. Oh, I was so worried,” he continued to cry and his arms slowly glowed orange, spreading to his shoulders, “huh?”

“You accept Sidra as yours. Your concern was genuine. Your gift is back, Zarian. We did it.”

“No. You did it.”

“For us.”