50- In Which Everything Ends

The last royal wedding Elena attended had ended in disaster and terror, though she was certain that wouldn't happen this time. She was seated with Phinn in their private balcony, overlooking the ceremony. Gently, she rested her hand on his, which made him turn his head slightly to her, and then glance briefly at her hand. He turned his hand over so she could take hold of it, intertwining their fingers. Relaxed, she leaned up against him, resting her head on his shoulder, trying to anticipate when it was time to stand up and applaud.

Eventually, the ceremony concluded, and everyone in the entire hall got to their feet and clapped feverishly. Phinn even managed to smile a little bit as his youngest brother leaned in and kissed his new wife.

In the six years following the defeat of Isaac, things had been happy and peaceful. Elena got to see the other Sons all the time, but it was fairly rare to see them all together in one place like this aside from when they gathered to remember Turner. She imagined that was perhaps one of the reasons why Cole had decided to arrange a royal wedding as opposed to conducting a small and private one like most of his siblings had done.

The loud applause woke up Ray, who had fallen asleep a few minutes after their introduction at the beginning of the ceremony. The child was only two years old, but he took after his father when it came to his sleep pattern and did not like to be woken up on anyone's schedule but his own.

"Can you take him?" Elena asked as Ray whined to get picked up.

Phinn nodded and picked Ray up off the chair. Almost immediately, he rested his head on Phinn's shoulder and tried to go back to sleep. "Should we let him go to sleep again?" Phinn wondered. "You want him to sleep through the reception, don't you?"

"He's not going to sleep through the entire reception anyway," Elena pointed out. "Just let him. He'll tire himself out playing with the other kids."

She went ahead of him to open the door. They went down the stairs and were escorted out into the street by a couple of soldiers that Elena didn't recognize. An Executive was stationed by a car, ready to travel with them to the reception.

She tried to be friendly with the young Executive, but he didn't seem interested in small talk. Phinn rolled his eyes at her, and Elena sighed, remembering when she used to consider the people in the Executive positions some of her best friends.

She tried not to be too offended when he dropped them off, bowed in a very formal sort of way, and then dismissed himself.

"I don't like that change," Elena sighed.

"Keep in mind that things are really different now, right?" Phinn reminded her. "Back then, you were an unmarried Chaste Beauty. Now you have a kid and a husband. Why would any young guy bother talking to you?"

Elena laughed and hit him on the shoulder. "There are plenty of other reasons to talk to me," she said. "Though I see what you mean."

"Hey!" came an excited voice from behind them. "Hey, hey! Wait!"

Elena turned around in time to see the next car come to a stop just as the previous one sped off. The small boy hanging out the window was excitedly waving both his arms, trying to prevent them from entering the building without him.

Phinn stopped as well, and looked to Elena, who shrugged happily, deciding to wait. The door opened before the car had even come to a complete stop, and Sage and Garrett's oldest son bounded from the car, running up the stairs to meet up with his aunt and uncle. He mostly took after his mother, with his petite frame and platinum blond hair, plus the shiny blue eyes. In that way, he truly resembled his namesake, Turner.

Phinn had said once that it was a bit difficult to refer to the boy by that name, especially since he resembled Turner more and more as he got older. Still, Turner seemed to always be excited about something so it was impossible to feel sad when he was around. "Is Ray sleeping?" he asked as Elena gave him a hug.

"Yes, for now," Elena said, ruffling his hair. "You can play with him later."

"Turner, come over and help," Sage instructed from the car.

Turner ran back to the car, and Elena followed as well, figuring that maybe they had the same problem with their own young kids falling asleep. "Can I help too?" Elena asked.

Sage immediately pulled one of her two-year-olds from the car and passed him off to Elena before he woke up. "If you want to change him, then feel free to do that too," she suggested.

"No, I'll leave that to you," Elena said, holding the child delicately.

"Come on, Garrett," Sage instructed, holding out her arms for the next one.

"Which one is this?" Elena asked Turner, pointing to the baby she was holding. "I can't tell them apart yet."

"That's Graham," said Turner. "If it was Dillon then he wouldn't be sleeping."

As soon as Turner explained this, Sage sighed following the sound of a child starting to cry as she pulled him from the car. The twins were absolutely identical in their appearance, though Graham tended to be much more docile.

"I swear," Sage grunted, trying to bounce the child back to sleep.

"Do you want me to take him?" Garrett asked as he got out of the car as well, cradling a bundle of blankets with their youngest child, Sophie, sleeping inside.

"No, it's fine," Sage said. "You can take care of him when he cries later."

"What can I do?" Turner asked.

Garrett handed the bag of supplies to Turner and instructed him to keep it safe.

"Good evening, Elena," said Garrett. "Thanks for the help."

"It's no trouble," she said, glancing back at Phinn to make sure he was still patiently waiting, which he was. "Let's get inside."

"Everyone else is probably already there," Sage said. "A baby makes everything go a little bit slower."

"Or four babies," Phinn said, raising his eyebrows.

"I'm not a baby," Turner interjected.

"We know that, Turner," Garrett assured him.

"But Lawson and Faye have new baby now too, don't they?" Sage said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, they just did," Elena confirmed. "They named her Anne."

Sage groaned at the name. "Adrianne and Anne?" she questioned. "Are they insane? They practically named both of them the same thing."

"Anne was Faye's grandmother's name," Elena explained.

"Still, it's absurd," Sage said, looking to Garrett for agreement, and he reluctantly nodded to show maybe it wasn't the best idea. "Though, knowing them, they're having no trouble. Just flying through. I didn't hear any crying from their balcony. Or yours, for that matter. What's wrong with Ray? Does he ever cry?"

"He slept through most of it," Elena rationalized. "Trust me, he cries plenty."

They had come to the same building six years ago for Hayden's wedding, so it was almost a little strange to be back there again, going into the small room to wait for introductions.

Sage had been right when she predicted Lawson would be there already with no apparent trouble. Faye was on her knees in front of the three-year-old Adrianne, who had black hair and green eyes like her father. She smiled when she saw all the new people come in, lightly tapping Lawson's leg to get him to turn around. He was taking care of his newborn daughter on the table provided, likely changing her, but when he looked back and saw everyone, he nodded to them, indicating he was almost finished.

Faye stood up and hugged everyone individually, encouraging her daughter to do the same. By the time Elena got through the line, Lawson had turned around as well, holding his infant on one shoulder as he leaned over to hug Elena.

"Congratulations," Elena said quietly, not wanting to wake up either of the sleeping babies they were holding. "Can I hold her at some point?"

"Of course you may," Lawson said.

"So the only people who aren't here are the people who don't have babies," Sage said, sounding irritated as she came over and hugged Lawson in passing, though her real intention was to put Dillon down on the table to change him. She quickly waved Elena to bring the other boy over to change him too.

"Do you need help?" Garrett asked her.

"No, it's fine," Sage said. "Turner, come here. I need that bag. Where are Quentin and Ryder? What are their excuses for showing up after us?"

"There could be circumstances," Lawson rationalized, mostly just trying to calm Sage down as Turner came over to give his mother the bag.

"Here they come," Phinn commented with a sigh as he checked out the window, still balancing Ray.

Within a minute, Quentin came in the door with Jenny on his arm and Danielle, the oldest of all the cousins, in front of them both. She was looking like a very responsible and polite young lady, though that was quickly quelled by Turner who immediately ran over to play.

"Turner, did you even say hello to your aunt and uncle first?" Garrett questioned as Turner pulled on Danielle's arm.

Turner looked up at Garrett and had a distinct look of shame in his eyes that made Elena laugh for some reason. He turned to Quentin and Jenny and mumbled an apology and then a greeting.

Quentin slapped his forehead and told him not to worry about it as Jenny patted Turner on the head appreciatively. She reminded Danielle to say hello to everyone too.

"Sorry about that," said Garrett.

"Don't be," Jenny insisted. "They're kids."

"Graham's awake too," Sage called from the changing table as more cries were heard.

"That's okay!" Ryder exclaimed, pushing past Quentin on her way inside. "I'm here! I can hold him!"

"Hurry up," Sage urged.

Ryder quickly said hello to everyone as she ran to the changing table and her voice changed to high-pitched and excited as she lifted Graham off the table, trying to get him to calm down.

"I'm going to take Ray outside before he wakes up too," Phinn said.

"I'll come," Dane announced as he entered the room and heard all the crying children, immediately spinning around and following Phinn out the door again.

"Take Danielle and Turner," Quentin said, urging the two oldest kids to go outside as well to get a little bit of chaos out of the small room.

"Elena, do you mind?" Garrett asked, handing over his only daughter to Elena.

Elena took the baby as Garrett went back to the table to help Sage. Lawson gave Anne to Faye, then lifted Adrianne up off the floor. "We're all here," he commented. "Can't we start so we can at least get out of this room?"

"Lawson, seriously?" Sage demanded. "Half my kids have no clothes on. Do you really think now is the best time to start?"

Lawson rolled his eyes and moved away from the table to give them more space.

"See, I like just being an aunt," Ryder declared, stroking Graham's blond hair as he settled down in her arms. "I get to play with them and then give them back to you guys. Then I can get a full night's sleep."

Everyone else in the room had a moment of silence, barely remembering what it was like to sleep all the way through the night. "You are going to have your own kids someday, aren't you?" Sage questioned.

"Why?" Ryder said, shrugging. "You have enough kids for the both of us. Are you pregnant again yet?"

"No, not yet," said Sage, looking over at Garrett with a disappointed expression.

He laughed out loud. "Are you serious?" he said in disbelief. "Sophie has been alive for two months. Let's wait a bit."

"The two little girls will become friends when they get older," Jenny said, gesturing to the two infant girls.

"You said the same thing about Ray and the twins," Quentin reminded her. "But he's better friends with Adrianne than with them."

"Well, they have each other," Sage interjected. "When they get older, they'll get sick of each other, and Ray can be friends with them then."

Elena laughed at this whole conversation, still occasionally having to remind herself that these people who were mapping out their children's friendships used to sincerely try to kill each other.

Eventually, when Sage confirmed that all of her children were changed and clothed, they alerted the soldiers standing by that they were ready. Phinn and Dane came back inside with the kids, and they all organized themselves to make sure they were standing in the correct places. Ray was half-awake, which was when he was the best behaved because part of him was still asleep, so it was perfect for the introductions. Phinn put him down on the floor, and Elena quickly straightened out his hair, but it was a hopeless endeavor.

The introductions began: "Lord Lawson and Madam Faye, with Young Adrianne and Young Anne."

"It does sound ridiculous," Phinn whispered to Elena as she took Ray's hand and stood up.

"Shh," Elena hissed at him.

"Lord Quentin and Madam Jennifer, with Young Danielle."

Elena was next in line with Phinn but, by that time, she was ready and accustomed to the process. They weren't going to be going blind like last time. Plus, if they really got lost, then they could just follow Quentin and Jenny, who always seemed to know where they were going.

"Lord Phinn and Madam Elena, with Young Raymond."

"Is he going to walk?" Phinn questioned, taking his other hand and trying to urge him along, but it seemed like he had decided just then to be defiant and refused to budge.

"Carry him," Elena said.

Phinn lifted Ray off the floor and they went into the room for the party. As they entered and the announcer began to list Sage's extensive family, Elena scanned the room for Cole, and immediately spotted him at the main table, up on his feet and applauding with the rest of the people. He was beaming, and eagerly waved to her when they made eye contact, his eyes lighting up and reminding her of when he had been so young.

She knew she was going to run over and greet him properly as soon as she got the chance but, for now, they all had to sit down. The seats had all been arranged already, with an appropriate amount of taller chairs for the children. Phinn sat down next to Jennifer with Ray still in his lap. As soon as Ray's mood improved, he would sit in the empty chair in between Phinn and Elena.

Sage slumped down in the chair next to Elena's, holding Sophie, who she quickly handed off to Elena without even asking. Elena smiled, watching her take one of the twins from Garrett, who had been balancing both of them, and the two proceeded to arrange them in the highchairs as Turner sat down next to his mother.

And now it was time for the King to enter. Elena stood up and cheered for Hayden as he was announced: "The King and Queen, with Young Fiona and Young Lily."

Hayden and Emma came through the door, looking quite regal only in their attitudes, because they were dressed modestly and almost humbly, which was certainly their style. Their two daughters were young—Fiona was almost six and Lily was just a little bit older than Ray—but both were awake, well-behaved and walking with their parents. Elena happily applauded, and watched Phinn encouraging Ray to join in on clapping, but Ray was still sour and pouting, refusing to do it.

Hayden's hair was completely grayed by that point, but he wore it well. Elena found she had a hard time even remembering him when he used to be blond, though both of his daughters were, so that was a reminder of what the color used to be. Emma clapped for him as well as he made a few announcements about the wedding, congratulated Cole, and then urged everyone to have a good time.

As soon as Elena saw people getting up, she jumped to her feet. "Phinn, I'm going to say hi to Cole," she said.

"Go ahead," he said, but she was practically sprinting to Cole by that time anyway.

She pushed past anyone who tried to get in her way. Cole was actually in the midst of talking to someone who had apparently been closer but, once he saw Elena approach, he promptly ditched whoever it was and cheered for her. She jumped into his arms and he easily lifted her.

"Congratulations!" she exclaimed once he let her go. She happily put her hands on either side of his face to hold him steady, and he laughed at her enthusiasm. "I can't believe you just got married!"

He playfully put his hand against her forward and lightly pushed her away like she was a little kid. In the end, Cole wound up dwarfing Phinn and climbing up a few inches taller than even Lawson. Quentin was still the tallest out of all the Sons, but Cole was a close second, though he was much leaner. "Thanks for coming," he said. "You want to meet my wife?"

He gestured over at the table to where Cole's new wife awkwardly began to stand, laughing nervously. Elena apologized and went over to her. "Sorry, I just got over-excited," she said. "I'm Elena."

"I'm Sarah," she said, but then she waved her hand, "though you knew that."

"Congratulations," Elena said.

"Elena, you said?" Sarah repeated curiously, and then looked up at Cole. "Is she the one who saved your life?"

"More than once," Cole said. "But specifically, this one time she killed an Other that had be in a stranglehold, and I actually died—I drowned—but she brought me back, didn't you, Elena?"

"No, not really," Elena reminded him. "Hayden did that part."

"But you helped," Cole said.

Elena looked to Sarah and explained, "He was just a little kid back then. He was my height with a little round face."

"Come on," laughed Cole, putting his arm around Sarah. "I was never a little kid."

"You're still a little kid," Sarah said.

Cole laughed out loud, but didn't argue.

"You're a Chaste Beauty, aren't you, Sarah?" Elena asked.

"The first one to Awaken in six years," Cole interrupted.

"That's what they keep telling me," Sarah said with a shrug.

"I was one too," said Elena. "They never stop telling you so get used to it. Quentin's wife was a Chaste Beauty too. There's so much I want to talk to you about, but not today. You should be having fun on your wedding day."

"Elena, will you have a dance with me later?" Cole asked, leaning on the table.

"Do you know how?" Elena questioned.

"Better than you, I bet," Cole challenged.

"Well, fine," said Elena. "I promise you a dance later."

"Come by again," Sarah said. "It was nice to meet you."

"Have a great night. Congratulations again!"

Elena felt very happy about all that. Of course, she couldn't help but wonder if Cole had been waiting specifically for a Chaste Beauty to marry, which was why he chose to wait. But, whatever the reason for choosing Sarah was, they both seemed very happy with kind of an adorable juvenile aura about them that seemed very genuine and organic.

Then Elena continued her excited streak when she saw who had come over to the table to say hello specifically to Ray: Irving and Irena.

Ever since Professor Steinorth passed away last year, Irving had decided to take over his father-in-law's research in the lingering abilities of Chaste Beauties and their offspring. Elena had always promised to allow Professor Steinorth the opportunity to examine any potential sons she and Phinn had and, although he had never gotten that opportunity, Irving stepped up.

Ray liked Irving, but was way too grumpy to even pretend to look happy. It helped that Irena and Irving had a son, Edward, who was Ray's age, so the two could play without Ray even realizing that he was being studied. When Elena came back over, Irving turned around and happily greeted her. Because of the research, they saw a lot of each other ever since Ray was born, but even before that, they had always made time for one another.

"Where's Edward?" Elena asked. "If he comes over, I bet Ray will want to play."

"He's with Robert at the table," Irving answered, gesturing towards the other side of the room.

"Is he studying?" Elena questioned, squinting over at the table to see Robert, at eleven years old, trying to get Edward to leave him alone so he could continue reading his book.

"That's all he ever does," Irena said, crossing her arms. "They found out recently that he's magically compatible with Clinton."

"Oh really?" Elena asked, looking to Irving. "That means he's magically compatible with you too?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't care about that," Irving said. "He wants to do a double blessing with Clinton. That's all he wants to do."

"What's Clinton say about that?" Elena asked.

"He's all for it, of course," said Irving, shaking his head. "But, thankfully, they can't legally even attempt it until Robert turns sixteen."

"Not that it'll stop either of them," Irena pointed out.

"Unfortunately, that's very true," Irving said.

"I'm going to take Ray over there," said Phinn, standing up. "I'm tired of holding him."

"I could take him," Elena offered.

"No, I'll get him to start playing with Ed," Phinn said.

Elena smiled apologetically at Irena and Irving, knowing they didn't like their son being called by that name.

"Where is Clinton, anyway?" Elena inquired.

"Over with Hayden, probably," Irving said. "Have you said hello to Hayden yet? He was saying he was looking forward to seeing you."

"No, not yet," Elena said.

"If Ray and Edward get playing, then Robert will get really antsy," Irena said. "I'll go back over."

"I'll come along," Irving said. "Good to see you, Elena."

Elena waved to him as she scanned the room for Hayden. He was, of course, sitting at the biggest and most important-looking table, speaking with one of his closest friends, Alexander Wood. Hoping she wasn't imposing on an important conversation, Elena ran over to them and forced them to pay attention to her.

Once she was at the table, she found Clinton was there too, looking bored, though he stood up when he saw Elena had bounded over. He leaned over the table and was the first to hug her, and then Hayden took her.

"I don't get to see enough of you these days," Hayden said.

"You're so busy," Elena pointed out. "You should come to Dorn sometime."

"I hear most of you hang out there," said Hayden.

"Mostly for the kids," Elena said. "They like to play. I'm sure they'd love to play with Fiona and Lily too."

"We'll try to go over there," Hayden said, nodding to the other people at the table to encourage them to talk as well.

"You look great, Elena," Wood commented.

"Thank you," Elena said. "How's Olivier?"

"She's very well," said Wood. "She told me to tell you she's sorry she couldn't make it."

"I'm surprised you made it," Elena said.

"Well, she insisted. She's not due for another few weeks, so she wanted to make sure at least I came to tell everyone she was thinking of them."

"And how about you, Clinton?" Elena asked.

"How about me what?" Clinton said, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know," said Elena with a shrug. "Is there anything new with you?"

"Are you asking me if I have a girlfriend?"

"I guess."

"Then just ask that."

"Fine. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Clinton, you have to get out more," Hayden said. "You'd be able to get a girlfriend then."

"It's not about not being able to get one," said Clinton. "It's just about finding a girl who's worth my time."

"Right," said Hayden skeptically. "You also spend every day and every night just trying to perfect your techniques."

"It's what I'm going to be remembered for," Clinton pointed out.

"Where's Sir Winter?" Elena asked, checking around the immediate area.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Hayden said questioningly, glancing at Wood briefly. "He's retired."

"He is?" Elena said, impressed. "Because of Katherine?"

"She said she wouldn't marry another King's bodyguard," Wood replied. "He retired the next day."

"With honor, I hope," Elena said.

"Of course, Elena," said Hayden, grinning at the mere notion. "It's sad to see him go, but also very happy. He deserves it."

"Is Wade here?" Wood asked Elena.

"No," Elena answered. "At least, not that I know of. He didn't come with us, anyway."

"What's he doing?" Clinton wondered, sitting back down in his chair

"He's doing something different every time we talk to him," Elena said. "But he seems happy. I don't think he'll ever settle down and do just one thing."

"And how does Anya feel about that?" Hayden asked.

"I think she's all right with it," Elena reasoned. "Though, we don't see much of her either. You guys probably see her more often than I do."

"She has proven to be very good at perfecting the Chaste Beauty system," Hayden said with a slight nod. "She takes her job very seriously."

Elena was going to respond, but she abruptly stopped, listening to the music that had just started up. She recognized it right away, though she couldn't place where she had heard it before. Something smooth and happy, but somehow made her feel incredibly sad at the same time.

She looked back to Hayden, who had also become attentive when the song began. As soon as she saw his face, she remembered where she had heard the tune before. He nodded. "Turner's song," he said.

"The lullaby on his music box," she concurred.

Hesitantly, she looked back at Cole, who had also noticed, and was pulling his bride to her feet and softly explaining what the song was to her as he took her to the dance floor. Then, she looked over at the table where the rest of the Sons were sitting, and they all appeared to be coming to the same conclusion.

Elena searched for Phinn in the crowd, catching sight of him handing Ray off to Irving, and then making eye contact with her. Phinn didn't dance, but everyone knew the best way to honor Turner's memory would be to have a dance—and thoroughly enjoy it.

Elena hastily said goodbye to the people she was talking with, and they allowed her to leave without any explanation. She met up with Phinn on the dance floor, where Cole already was, and Sage was in the process approaching with Garrett in tow, tears already in her eyes. Within a few more seconds, all six of the Sons were on the dance floor, each with their spouse, silently and contemplatively remembering Turner and the sacrifice he made.

Elena leaned her head up against Phinn's chest and listened to his heartbeat. So much bad had happened six years ago, but there was also so much good. She wished she would be able to look back on that time without regrets, but she knew they all wanted to change some events. She knew they all wanted Turner back.

But, in this moment, and during this song, she could feel almost like Turner was there with them. In a distant sort of way, but the notes were like his voice. Maybe, if she closed her eyes, she could imagine it was him playing it on the piano.

The entire party had gone rather quiet during this moment of remembrance. And, when the song was over, there was a polite and respectful applause, and then a lot of bowing. Elena kept her body up against Phinn's, looking around the dance floor at the other Sons: Lawson smiled sadly at his wife, Quentin urged Jenny to come back to the table with him, Sage clung onto Garrett without bothering to hide her tears, Ryder softly wiped hers away as Dane rested his hands on her shoulders, and Cole whispered something to Sarah, which maybe was an anecdote about Turner.

Elena finally released Phinn and then looked up at him. He rested a hand on her cheek and nodded his head. "I'm glad I'm here with you," she said.

He kissed her forehead and lightly stroked her hair.

It was strange. Something as awful as a disastrous war could bring all these people together and result in happy times. But, it wasn't perfect.

It was the pretty colors coupled with the gooey insides: like a butterfly suddenly smashing against a windshield.

There's something so horrific about a butterfly's wings splattered across the windshield, dead and in pieces, that just brought Elena to tears.

A/N: Okay! That's the end! I honestly can't believe it either. I had a hard time making it end because I just wanted it to keep going. I want to thank everyone who read, and especially to everyone who reviewed because it always inspired me to update faster. You stuck with me for a long time, and I appreciate that.

I have another story in the works that I'm formulating. I hope when I start uploading it in the coming months, you'll all read that as well. Thanks again, everyone! I'll have you know that if you read from start to finish, you read almost a combined total of 2500 pages in the "Kingdom of" series. So, anyway, see you next time!