The Welcome Return

Conrad stopped in front of the palace of Estrenbridge. He held his arms out at his side, his hands empty, doing his best to establish himself as someone who wasn't a threat. Two members of the royal guard stationed at the front held out their hands to halt him. They approached Conrad warily, eyeing him for any characteristics that they could identity as suspicious. Conrad merely stared ahead steadily, unflinching.

The guard on Conrad's left piped up first. "What is your business at the palace today, stranger? Don't believe I've seen you in the capital before."

Conrad responded calmly. "Good day, sir. I am here to visit her majesty the queen today. I seek no quarrel. If it should put you at ease, please search my person to your satisfaction. I have left all weapons in my possession at the home I hail from."

The two guards glanced at each other, confused. The queen had not sent word of any visitors arriving at this hour. They turned back to Conrad, eyebrows raised. "That's news to us, traveler. We have not been informed of any folks that her majesty was planning an audience for."

Conrad nodded. "Admittedly, my presence was unplanned. I have a single request. I beseech one of you to go and inform the queen that a man named Conrad Walters is here to visit her. I can assure you both that my presence will be welcomed."

The guards were silent a moment. Then, the leftmost one that had spoken first turned to his associate. "Keep an eye on him. I'll inform her majesty."

He turned and entered the palace. For the next several minutes, Conrad merely kept his gazed fixed ahead, not budging an inch.

Ten minutes later, the guard returned, walking back into position with a quizzical expression on his face.

"Queen Carmela has instructed me to allow you access immediately, and will provide you an audience at once. I don't know what strings you've pulled to win the queen's favor, sir, but please understand that this is a privilege granted to extremely few. You may enter, but do not give the royal guard a reason to act in the queen's defense."

Conrad bowed slightly. "Thank you, sir. I certainly won't."

Without another word, Conrad headed into the palace, the guards no longer moving to obstruct him. Walking down the main hall, several court officials glanced at Conrad as he passed, muttering and surprised. Who was this vagabond, and why was he granted a blessing to walk unobstructed within these walls?

For the first time in either this life or Jeremiah's, Conrad knocked on the door to the throne room of the capital. A strong, familiar female voice responded immediately. "You may enter."

And Conrad did exactly that. Stepping into the throne room of Estrenbridge, Conrad glanced down the room and beheld an imposing, elegant, regal figure of a woman filling the throne.

Queen Carmela Ingram was staring down at him, her expression entirely tranquil and still. Conrad did not break eye contact with her a single time as he walked closer, covering the length of the throne room after about half a minute. He stopped a respectable distance away, staring up at one of the most important people in his life, counting both worlds he had visited. To say that she had aged well would be a profound understatement. This woman wore authority tremendously well, whether she was on the front lines or not, and she looked carved from marble. Carmela slowly leaned in, resting her arms on her legs, inspecting Conrad closely. 

Then, she addressed the members of the royal guard present, shattering the fragile silence. "All members of my staff present, you are excused for the next hour. Please leave us."

Every member of the guard was struck with astonishment. Carmela's advisor next to her even turned to face her and began to protest. "Your majesty, I'm not afraid I understand your decision here. First you allowed this vagabond unrestricted access to walk this palace without an escort, and now you're asking your guard to leave you. What if this man is an assassin? He wouldn't be the first to attempt to kill the ruler of Estrenbridge."

Carmela merely stared back at him without speaking another word.

After several seconds, her advisor merely stared off to the side, disheartened. "As you say, your majesty." He turned to the members of the guard gathered, nodding at them and leading them out, but not without shooting Conrad a filthy look as he passed.

And then, suddenly, he and Carmela were alone.

Conrad stared at the ground, red in the face and somewhat uncomfortable. What was even the best way to open this conversation?

Conrad heard a sniff. Glancing up, he witnessed Carmela stepping off her throne, walking to Conrad, just as red as him. She reached him, and without warning, she pulled Conrad into a deep embrace, placing her head in the crook of his neck.

"What kept you, fool?"

Choked laugher mixed with her tears, and immediately, Conrad could feel his eyes mist over in turn. He hugged Carmela back, squeezing her slightly, overcome with joy for this moment in time. The two friends separated by the power of divinity itself were reunited. Carmela shook in Conrad's arms.

Eventually, Carmela forced herself to break apart, smiling into Conrad's face as she did. "Tell me everything."

The two of them were sitting in Carmela's personal lounge, enjoying herbal tea together. Conrad had filled Carmela in on everything relevant. Details about Nana, the time he had been away, the training he had undergone, and the most recent time he had seen her. Carmela listened earnestly, her eyes wide with astonishment.

"You held me back when I was a baby?"

"I didn't realize it was you until the end, and that was by far the shortest amount of time I've spent in someone else's body. I was incredibly grateful to see your mother again. I'm not sure if Nana set that up as a means to reward me for all of my effort and trials, or to reinforce that I still needed to be tender and caring after all that violence. Frankly, I suspect it was both."

Carmela nodded, stirring her tea absent-mindedly. "I'm glad you filled me in about Nana. Knowing that she's been controlling your journey makes me feel a lot better about how you vanished after mom was killed. It wasn't your decision."

"That was why I was so glad to see you again when I arrived here as Jeremiah. I wanted to help you, in any little way I could. Even if that help came late. I told Nana the same."

Carmela chuckled. "Conrad, you're too kind. But please rest easy. All things considered, I believe I'm doing quite well. I've built myself up extremely well and don't allow myself to have many moments of vulnerability. Yes, that period after my mother's death was one of those, but you returned and stood by me again."

Conrad smiled slightly, touched. "And thankfully, I'm here again."

"That you are. It pains me somewhat that you must leave yet again, but I must simply accept that your fate is not like that of the average man. Even I have no power to keep you here. I imagine it will just be a matter of time before Nana whisks your soul away again. But Conrad, if it turns out that Nana is not planning to send you off again immediately after you find this prophecy, please return to Estrenbridge. I will ensure you are taken care of, and can help you find a living here in the capital."

Conrad nodded. "That I will, if possible. But please, tell me, Carmela. There is something I am curious to know. How did you become queen? I was under the impression Estrenbridge operated as a hereditary monarchy, not an elected monarchy."

"It WAS a hereditary monarchy. After the assault on Estrenbridge where the two of us parted, fifteen years ago, the people protested and demanded civil reform. The government's struggles in supporting the settlements outside of the capital had become too great an issue to ignore. The brigands we fought were extremists in their push for reform, and could not be tolerated. But the holes in our system, our failures to help prevent monster raids in their homes, were a legitimate issue and a failure on the king's part. After years of protests, former Chief of Staff Peters stepped up and replaced the king after was pressured out of his position."

Conrad's eyes widened. "And then you replaced him?"

Carmela winked. "I replaced him as Chief of Staff, then replaced him as ruler of Estrenbridge. While you were learning magic in Granmeta, his majesty King Peters and I were tearing our hair out, working towards reform. Would you like to hear more about it?"

Conrad leaned in, grinning. "It's not like I need to find that prophecy this very second."