Editing Arrivederci (section)

== CHAPTER 5: Secrets to be Revealed ==
It was about a month in to living with April that they finally finished the castle. They all had watched as Raymon pushed the last pillar into place, securing the castle from any more damage. Saurmont stood and smiled at it, nodding in approval. The palace was finally back into it’s beautiful previous state, the floors no longer holding plants, sunlight no longer leaking in from the roof. Each room was restored, each hallway brought back to the old corridors they knew. And yet somehow, they felt brighter. They felt more alive than they had in years.

April had called all of them into the throne room, sitting on the still untouched throne. The throne room really got back it’s shine, the chandelier casting the room in the glorioius yellow hue that would be present during balls. The floor shone a beautiful pearly white, gold lining the spaces between the tile. She watched as Zaion and Saurmont walked in, assuming that Raymon and Treyon were following behind. Zaion opted to stand, Saurmont sitting cross-legged with a Raymon-sized gap between him and Zaion, and she noticed Zaion’s right shoulder dip a bit, so she could only assume Treyon was leaning on it.

She took a breath. It was about time they knew the truth about why she left. She wasn’t sure if she was really ready, but she didn’t know if she’d ever truly be ready. She felt their eyes on her and told herself that it was now or never, that either she told them now, or it would be a secret she’d have to take to her grave. She decided to speak.

“I bet you all are wondering why I called you here. Well…” She took a breath. “I’m finally going to tell you why I left for 13 years.”

She watched Saurmont tense up and could only imagine Treyon and Raymon did the same.

“There’s really no easy way to say this. I had gotten a letter in the mail. It was from my real hometown. It was from my sister, informing me that my parents died.” She watched as Saurmont supposedly reached at air, but watching him close his fingers around it meant that he was probably holding Raymon’s hand. “I decided to go and visit, but I come from humble upbringings, so I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself. I arrived in my hometown a few days later, reaching the address my sister had left on her card. We exchanged greetings, and I settled in. I expected to only be a year, but it took 4 years to arrange a funeral.

“I tried to convince them to shorten the time, but they wouldn’t listen to me. My sister, my brother and I got caught up on old times during the four years I spent there. But, not long after my parents funeral, my sister fell ill. She too eventually died after three years. Again I had to wait four years. It then took me two years to get back.

“I wish I had come back sooner, but I just couldn’t leave my family. I’m sorry.” She finished her story and stared at her hands. The four of them were so quiet that she wasn’t sure they had even heard her. It wasn’t until she felt a large hand in hers that she finally looked up, locking eyes with Raymon. His blue eyes lulled her into comfort, seeing his short brown hair, his muscular stature, that all to familiar knights armor. She smiled, tears welling in the corners of her eyes as she lunged forward to give the giant a hug.

She felt Saurmont hug her on her right side, and felt Zaion place a hand on her back. She spared a glance to her left side where she imagined Treyon to be. Oh, how she wished she could see and feel all of her friends again. She truly didn’t know what she would do without them.

She pulled out of the hug and sighed.

“I’m sorry-” She had started, but got cut off.

“Don’t be sorry. It was something that was out of your control, and we don’t blame you for that.” She felt Raymon put a hand on her shoulder. “To be honest, I expected it to be something worse than that, like you had gotten kidnapped or soemthing. It sounds wrong, but I’m glad it was something like that, where you could at least see your family again.” She looked up at him and saw him smile. She smiled back.

“Yeah. We should probably start working on the town now, though.”

She was met with silence, and looked around to see them all staring at the space to her left. Raymon and Saurmont eventually laughed, Zaion shaking his head. She frowned, clearly missing something. Saurmont turned to look at her, noticing the frown on her face.

“Oh- uh, Treyon just said that ‘since we already finished the castle, we should take a day or two to just rest’, but he said it super dramatically.”

She huffed a laugh. Yeah, that definitely sounded like Treyon.

“Alright, I agree. We really should take a few days to just take a break from working so hard.”

She received responses of agreement and smiled.

“So it’s settled! Why don’t we all head to bed now, and then gather in the morning to decide what to do?”

They all nodded, and she nodded back.

“Well, goodnight!”

She turned and walked off to the queen’s quarters. It reminded her of the first day she arrived, checking the king’s quarters and seeing it destroyed, then walking into the queen’s quarters to see it perfectly maintained. She learned soon after that it was Zaion who kept the room in tact. She smiled at the thought and opened her door.

She stepped inside and looked around at the spacious room, bringing back not only recent memories, but memories from the past, memories from when she first arrived here.

She walked over to the closet and got changed, walking over to the bed and laying down. Tomorrow would be a fun day. And the day after that. And the day after that. And the day after that.