In the days that followed the battle of Mt-Sorg, ?thelwulf became filled with the greed of Balthrorth. This combined with his refusal now that Réalwaldr had been reclaimed by Léon, to hand it back to Gwilherm and his second exile of the man from those lands served only to anger Queen Elena. Who never again bore much love for her husband, and never returned to his bed save one in the years that followed, left him a deeply bitter and greedy man. Keen for the lands and wealth of others, he overtook Ergyng, and then attempted another conquest of Cymru which paid him liege-homage for respite. Thence his gaze turned to the north, where he pushed and pushed for war, until he had many a wars with the Caleds who wished little to do with him yet had no alternative choices than to defend their rightful lands.

  The reign of ?thelwulf which had begun in such joy, pomp and glory descended thusly into continuous violence and warfare, until his subjects groaning beneath his exactions wished him gone. In time they would have his eldest sons for kings, and they proved weak and greedy also, with an outside one day stepping in to claim the throne and reunite Brittia under a just, fair and good hand. That usurper though was far-off, and though he was not to permanently displace the line of Elena, he taught valuable lessons to her latter sons who learnt to rule better than their predecessors.

  Where was our heroes in all of this, you ask? What became of them, was the stuff of legends, with Vladin being utterly overjoyed to hear that ?lffl?d and her daughters lived, even as his joy turned to pain to see her so enraptured by Léon. Pity him not though, as he remained in Falsveal, which he helped to rebuild into a glorious, twenty-meter high stone-fort with twelve parapets, and fifteen meter high-walls, just as he did the same for Réalwaldr. Save that keep was thirty-meters high, and thus became the most glorious of all the keeps of Estria. This he did at the request of Gwilherm and his son, and became rich in the process, marrying in time a human girl from Jorvik, who came with her master-builder father. Whereupon she heard of the great valour of the Dwarf and came to love him, win his love and mother for him the half-dozen sons of Vladin, who became great builders, and smiths in their own rights. His eldest son, wed the Dwarf-maid Ghalla, and together they fathered the renowned black-smith Wendaln Fiery-Beard, the greatest of all Dwarven black-smiths to ever live on the Lordly-Isle. A near-full Dwarf, whom would sit on his grandfather’s leg as he told him great tales of old, yet this was far-off, long after Vladin became mayor of the town just outside Réalwaldr.

  His story was the happiest of all the heroes, who joined with Gwilherm in his quest. Eahlstan for his part, melancholic, depressed and unable to find joy in living in Falsveal, especially without Wulfrun or his staff, which he explained to Gwilherm days after his wedding to Elena, “A sorcerer’s staff is forged by him, and is part of him. Our souls go into the very wood and crystal-ball, therefore to lose it aggrieves and breaks us.”

  “Can you not forge a new one?” Gwilherm had asked stupidly, not understanding the difficulties that lay within the laws and doings of sorcerers and magic.

  “Hardly, not without the Order and I have long left them.”

  “Why not rejoin the Order?”

  At this Eahlstan had stared at him, then laughed which embarrassed Gwilherm greatly, as he felt fairly stupid because of this laughter. “I was but an apprentice, when I left to teach Wulfrun illegally, and they swore to never take me back until she was foresworn… I doubt the sentence much matters, now that she is deceased.” At this he became mournful again.

  Much as Gwilherm and Elena attempted to convince him to stay, they could not. As days later he declared his intent to depart, claiming it necessary for him to do. “If ever I wish to wield magic again, as I wish to, I must go to South-Agenor.”

  “But you cannot Eahlstan!” Bada pleaded with him, seated next to Elena who likewise burst into tears, where she sat also in the grand hall of Morcar.

  “But I must, and fret not dear ladies, this is not farewell forever!” Eahlstan said in as cheerful a voice as he could manage, though this was rather offset by the mournful manner in which he carried himself and the air of sorrow that entered his eyes.

  He departed after a tender farewell with Gwilherm, early the next day, with the latter asking him as he escorted him to the edge of the Falsveal lands, “Will I ever see you again?”

  “I hope so lad, hope so,” Eahlstan answered with utmost warmth and sincerity in turn. “But it may be many a years before my return, and the road will be very dangerous- most especially once I undertake the forging of a new staff…”

  He thus departed and was not seen for many a years, in Estria, whereupon his return it was to be amidst triumph and tragedy, as he returned thirteen years hence.

  *****

  As to Galen, his body was carried south upon the shields of the huscarls of ?thelwulf and cremated in the manner that all heroic knights of Neustria were. Cremated on a mighty bier, with all the knights who served Aymon in attendance, including Gwilherm, it was his honour to begin the fire by pressing the tip of a torch upon the gathered wood alongside the prince himself. From there the ceremony was carried out first in Romalian so that Gwilherm could not understand a word, only for several of the knights to begin to sing in their native Neustrian tongue. A language he well-understood, with the song proceeding as follows;

  “Lo! Ere long we gallop to glory!

  Lo! Death to he who says tarry!

  Behold Ziu Sun-Sword rides thither,

  Ere sword-fall we shall tell high tales to her,

  Our Turan Moon-Bright who shall spin all we hath told,

  Lo! Our steel shines bright as those of olde!”

  Once the flames had abated, and the suns had begun to rise, Bernard offered to take his ashes, to bring them to his own family necropolis in Neustria, with his prince giving him leave at once to do so.

  Gwilherm saw the man off at the quay, where they made peace, with Bernard saying to him politely, “I hope we leave not in bad blood, but rather in good spirits as maybe not friends, but at least not enemies. Galen you see always had my admiration and affection, as a nephew might hold for his uncle.”

  “But of course,” Gwilherm answered in the man’s native Neustrian, doing so to be respectful though he spoke with a slight accent, this response pleased the Neustrian, who gave him a warm smile and a nod.

  After this separation, he said farewell to his beloved sister Elena, who had by this time forgiven him his marriage to the other Elena and made him promise to return. When he asked her if she might need him to return soon, she merely smiled a little wetly at him, unshed tears in her eyes as she told him, “Please? It shall be dreadfully lonely without you, and the children will miss their favourite and best uncle.”

  “They have almost four others,” Gwilherm teased her lightly, only to see the irritation in her eyes at the mention of the others, he knew she despised them. “I swear to return with Elena, and shall return with a new song for you.”

  “Thank you, and do bring her, I have since her breaking of that dreadful curse grown a little fond of her, and of her young sister Leoffl?d, so do bring her and Mildburg also.” Elena stipulated sweetly, before she took him in an embrace, whispering to him, “Eadwin would be so proud of you, as would father and mother.”

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  These words were the kindliest thing she ever did to him, he thought then full of warmth and fondness for her. To the end of his days, he would be as dutiful and good a little brother as he could be, he would also be a hero to her little daughter, to her two younger sons and would visit her often, always with a new song and a new tale to tell.

  However when gone, she would be terribly lonely, as her husband grew steadily madder. Upon his death, it would be she who would prove the true power behind Brittia’s throne for a time, until her good-brothers and two eldest sons were deceased, with Elena then going off to live in Estria, taking her young daughter with her whilst her two younger sons were banished for a time only to return. Upon their return, she would live with them, rather than her beloved nephew, and would live to the ripe old age of eighty, dying happily and thrice honoured and beloved in all the lands, above all other ladies and men of the age.

  *****

  The next hero I shall tell you of was Roparzh. Naturally he wed Mildburg, whom he fathered six children with, most lived to adulthood, one did not which was very sorrowful for the two of them. For they loved each of their children very dearly, with Roparzh proving himself a great councillor to Gwilherm, whom he served as steward of Falsveal, after Beorhtsige stepped down, as he wished to take monastic oaths. His retirement timing itself well with his sons and daughters ascension to adulthood, with each of them coming to love the knight in time as a brother. Though he did tease them dreadfully and depended on them for much wisdom, and in time his eldest son, Guilhèm or ‘Gwilherm’ wed the eldest granddaughter of Beorhtsige, thus tying the two lines of stewards together. This brought much joy to the then old man, who would bounce both children upon his knee in his latter days, and later did so for their first son, Leofstan.

  As to Roparzh and Mildburg, they grew old, loved one another and their other children were Morcar (after Mildburg’s uncle), Galen, Mildburg (named by Roparzh), Wilburg and Cerdic. Sadly Wilburg lived but for three years, but such was the way of the world in those days, they were also something of a father and mother to Gwilherm’s only son.

  *****

  The reason for this has its roots in how Elena and Gwilherm sadly did not live to see any of their children come to adulthood. They were happily married together, though the latter was somewhat unhappy with how he had been cheated of his heritage once again by his King. He did however come to love Falsveal, and swore to lead it as lovingly, and faithfully as Morcar had. This pleased Elena who was ever faithful to him, and before the end of the following year, bore him his son; Eadwin.

  Named after the brother he had worshipped so, it was said that the spirit of Eadwin must have returned to incarnate himself once more, this time into this boy. For he bore a great resemblance to mighty Eadwin the Good, in his hair and eyes, both of which were not like those of his father or mother. He did however have his mother’s warm smile, and father’s mighty courage, though he was perhaps a tad more tactful in his songs and manners than the said father.

  However, it was but a few years later that though she had hoped for a son, to name Morcar after her much beloved father, Elena bore a daughter. One she named after her eldest sister, following in the custom set by her husband of selecting a sibling name instead of a parental one. This daughter was named Eadgye. And she was as radiant and intelligent as her mother and father were, though hers was a more timid nature.

  The birth taxed Elena a great deal, and she perished shortly afterwards due to illness. Gwilherm was bereft, and grief-stricken and never remarried, for he could not bear the thought of doing so. Regardless of the urgings by his friends and family to find happiness once again, so that he poured all of his love and remaining years of joy into his children.

  However, ?thelwulf had grown no less capricious, and hearing of how Gwilherm loved his daughter more than his heir, and given how the baron had refused to march out to war several times, by then, he grew full of anger. He also grew jealous of the bond between his younger children and good-brother, and ordered that Eadgye be raised at court which meant the separation of Gwilherm’s beloved children.

  She bore this punishment nobly; Eadgye however became all the more timid. In time, Gwilherm took to traveling more frequently between court and his home in those last years of his life. Terribly ill one winter, he fell from a horse just outside of Auldchester, having brought his son with him, his illness worsened and he thus left to go rejoin his beloved Elena in the after-life. His sister sought to have both children sent back to Falsveal, but her husband was intent upon separating them.

  Elena never forgave him this, yet she was as a mother to Eadgye who came to revere her. And later, Eadgye became a great Queen herself, the greatest in the history of the kingdom of Amarante, where she was canonised as a Paragon and where she lived a very troubled if happy life for a time.

  Though this funeral was the last time the siblings saw one another, and as they did not really know one another, they grew sadly apart. None felt greater sorrow at this than Eadwin, who was raised in a loving home, by Roparzh and Mildburg who treated him as their own. Just as Beorhtsige’s children did, this did not make up for his great loss for he had loved his father. It was at about this time that Eahlstan returned, having heard of Gwilherm’s passing, having been away for many years to reclaim his magic, he returned not a ‘staff-magi’ but a ‘hand-magi’, capable of using his hands now as conduits for his magic rather than needing a staff (which he still kept simply because he was accustomed to such things). Eahlstan was older then, more bent and far sadder with the passing of his great friend, he was also wiser and would become to his joy known as ‘grandfather’ to Eadwin who thought of him as such. He served as tutor for the boy, and lived out the remaining ten years of his life, by the lad’s side, teaching him a great deal of what he knew and being the grandfather, the boy had sadly never had.

  In time though, just after the death of his uncle, the King, Eadwin marched upon Réalwaldr at sixteen years of age and installed himself there. And as kings, his cousins had forgotten about the lands of Réalwaldr they hardly cared initially, and when they did care he hardly paid them much mind and convinced them to forgo their vengeance.

  Eadwin the Reclaimer as he became known or Eadwin the Poet in other parts became the greatest lord of Réalwaldr of that age. A fine poet, he completed his father’s song of Cormac, rose to become the richest man in Estria by dint of his efforts. It was he who also helped to plan a new city near Réalwaldr alongside Vladin, and he who invited his aunt when her sons were dethroned to come live with him, which she did for a number of years. Living comfortably and happily with him, and coming to love him as though he were her own son.

  Thus though many troubles came to hassle Eadwin, he became a reasonably happy, successful man. One who married the daughter of Ethel, who had wed her own childhood sweetheart, and this daughter was named Elena after her personal heroes (for she had come to love and admire the Queen as much as Morcar’s daughter), was the fairest and kindliest maiden in all of Estria. With her he had a number of children, with his eldest son Morcar even traveling outside of Brittia on pilgrimage to the great Neustrian city of Armand to pray before the remains of éluan the Golden-King and his daughter the Princess of Poetry!

  *****

  Such was the fate of the kinsmen and kinswomen of our heroes- oh you wish to hear of Remus and ?lffl?d? The latter fell into a terrible love for Léon, whom she in time bore a daughter to, and though he was unaware of this daughter being alive, she was named ‘Morcan’ or ‘Morcanne’ in the Neustrian style in honour of ?lffl?d’s first great love; Morcar. This daughter was beautiful, fierce and proud, and was to live out her early years alongside her half-sisters for a time, before they and their mother hearing of Léon’s ascension to the kingship of Neustria departed to join him there, where they were well-received and became princesses. Sadly his wife did not take well to them, and neither did his lover, and they sought the death of poor ?lffl?d, who lived for a time, coming close to even surpassing their positions and becoming Queen of Neustria, when she fell ill. Her remains were returned to Falsveal, to be buried with the first love of her life, Morcar. Her daughters though married very fine Neustrian men, who were well-beloved also by their stepfather, who doted on them and their sister for the rest of his own days, being better to ?lffl?d when she was passed, than in life.

  *****

  As to Remus, he was to outlive his beloved Gwilherm and Elena, to the ripe old age of thirty! Which is quite old in dog-years, but something of the magic of the dragon must have gone into him, as he remained a stout and majestic fellow even in his last years. Being the principal hero of our tale, he carried on the name of Dragonslayer, ‘Ankle-Biter’ and Baron-Breaker, all lovingly given to him after the battle of Mt-Sorg, by Gwilherm. Who stayed by his side until a druid arrived to utilise his healing arts, upon the poor dog and Vladin, with the former going on to serve and be the closest friend of Eadwin.

  He fathered a healthy brood of pups of his own, with a local hunting-dog, whom was a husky herself, one by the name of Bernette, and of his puppies, all were well-beloved by Eadwin. He doted upon them, and in the time of Eadwin’s grandson, one of the great-grandsons of Remus even crossed the Channel to go become a Neustrian King’s hunting-fellow! Well-beloved that dog was named ‘Aymon’ after the King’s famous ancestor Aemiliemagne, and this dog became the ancestor of many a Neustrian kings’ pets and hunting-fellows.

  Thus Remus lived out the rest of his days rightfully pampered, well-beloved and the kingliest of dogs, fathering a great dynasty of canines and chewing happily on mutton, venison and with many a cuddles and hugs given to him by happy children and proud, and stout men, and fair ladies.

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