Chapter Text
“Emma, you’re going to wear right through your shoes at this rate.”
Hal perches his chin on his hand, watching his sister pace madly around the room as she checks her own bags for the umpteenth time. She’s all worried glances and furtive movements, eyes flicking back and forth behind the smooth panes of her glasses.
“I have to make sure everything’s ready— what if I forget something! Or what if we need something along the way— Hal, I know Raiden’s capable, but we can’t predict everything—”
She reaches up and fidgets with the metallic sticks in her hair. They’re just a plaything of carved silver and inlaid jade, but she had always loved to use them to keep her hair up, and as she pulls her hands back down, Hal catches sight of a magical spark darting between the pair.
He stands up, brushes himself off. The sun falls thick and golden from the high windows, illuminating the motes of dust hanging in the air. “Emma, you’ll be fine. It’s just the Fell, it’s only a few days north. You’ll be back before you can miss us.”
She whirls around, ready to admonish him, but before she can there’s a knock at the door that draws both their attention.
“King Hal? Princess Emma?” comes the voice from the other side, and they both know who it is. “Can I come in? Or you could come out.”
Hal looks at Emma pointedly over the rim of his glasses, and she huffs, grabbing her bag from the long table on the far side of Hal’s room. She shoulders it. “We’re coming out, Raiden!”
They open the door, and there’s Raiden, standing as tall as he can muster, gleaming in brand-new armor. Emma squeaks with excitement and gives him a thorough look, investigating every panel and every gleaming pauldron. He seems insufferably proud of himself, and Hal has to resist the urge to fondly ruffle his hair, although he probably wouldn’t mind.
“You look wonderful!” Emma says, pulling back and bouncing slightly on her heels. “When are you getting the title?”
They begin walking, Raiden’s new boots loud in the hall. “Meryl says it should be next month for sure, but she’s still talking with the king—“ he shoots Hal a loaded gaze— “about the exact date. But soon.”
“I’m referring to her on this,” Hal replies. “And David. They’ll know when you’re ready to really be Snow Lynx.”
“Snow Lynx! I love it!” Emma crows. “A real knight, our Raiden! He’s come so far!”
“Yeah, yeah. No thanks to you.” He pushes open the door to the courtyard, and holds it open, inclining his head. “Nobility first...”
The afternoon is piercingly bright, even in mid-autumn, when there are normally heavy clouds lying overhead. Hal shades his eyes with his hand in the brightness, looking over the small group assembled. Meryl’s standing next to Emma’s horse, checking the straps; she waves when she sees them. Mei Ling is nowhere to be seen, but she’s probably around somewhere, and approaching from the far side—
“Auntie Emma!” She halts halfway to her horse and turns to see David, holding one of Sunny’s little hands as they make their way across the courtyard. She picks her up easily and spins her around, David grinning widely.
“Are you go— going somewhere, Auntie Emma?” Sunny asks, as Hal approaches and slides in next to David. He is rewarded with a warm hand between his shoulderblades.
“Yeah, I am!” Emma replies cheerfully. “Auntie Emma’s going to go and find something really cool to help her do magic better.”
“Can— can I see it when yo— you get back?”
“Of course!”
Sunny giggles as Emma kisses her on the cheek, and hands her back to David. She grins briefly at Hal before turning her intense eyes onto the preparing pair.
“Try not to make too much of a scene!” Meryl calls as Raiden mounts his horse. “You’re just going to fetch something from under a hill. Be careful though!”
“We will!” Emma’s shuffling through her bags, a last-minute check as Mei Ling emerges from the door to the barracks, and is instantly pulled to her fiance’s side. Meryl grins and kisses her cheek.
“Be back in time for the wedding, too!”
Raiden rolls his eyes. “Please. It’s in a month! We’ll be home before you can even miss us.”
“Just don’t get distracted, Raiden,” Hal replies, breaking from David and Sunny to gesture for the gates to rise. “Be safe!”
“Promise!” Emma calls behind her as the gates are cranked up and the horses trot away. Sunny waves wildly at them, the townsfolk looking up briefly at the princess’ small procession before continuing with their days. The sun glints off Raiden’s pauldrons, and the sticks in Emma’s hair, and Hal watches them go and sighs when they disappear out of sight.
David’s thumb rubs his back, a small, comforting movement. “They’ll be fine, Hal. The Fell isn’t too far.”
He laughs and shakes his head, the gate slowly beginning to grind down towards the ground. “I was just telling her that ten minutes ago.”
“Still, you were stressed,” David replies, shifting Sunny on his hip. “Relax. They’ll be back before you know it, with Emma’s magical whatever in tow.”
“Daddy, can yo— you te-tea-teach me some magic today!” Sunny butts in, shoving her head up between them. “Miss— Miss Mei has been busy all day! Please!”
Hal laughs and catches Mei Ling’s eye as she passes him by, throwing him a sneaky wink. “Sunny, you know I’m not very good at magic like Auntie Emma or Miss Mei...”
“B-but you can still teach me! Pa-papa says that yo-you’re the bestest magici-magician in the world!”
“David. ”
David shrugs, hiding his grin in Sunny’s hair. “What. She wanted to know the story about Sahelanthropus again.”
“Your papa,” Hal shoots David a quick glare, “wasn’t being totally truthful. But I can teach you something if you really want to know, how’s that sound?”
Sunny’s eyes glitter and she clasps her hands together. “I-I do! I do! Than— thank you, daddy!”
Hal’s face hurts from grinning as they head inside, his worries about Emma and Raiden almost gone. But just before the door closes behind him, Hal looks outside, and even though the day is bright and the world seems soft and whole, there’s a flicker at the edge of his vision.
He blinks and it’s gone, and he shrugs it off moments later. He could have sworn he saw a dot of dark on the horizon, just for a moment before the sun caught his glasses. But it’s nothing.