’Why does he look so much like him?’
Stella didn’t know how to describe what she was seeing, but she knew for certain that she had never met the man sitting in front of her before. This man was definitely a stranger, and yet the similarities she could see between him and her King were nearly unbelievable. There was a strange surge of hope that rose from deep inside Stella’s heart as she looked at Jason. If Stella’s theory was true, then there was still a chance that she could be saved. There was a chance that she could fix her greatest ever mistake. Stella began to walk forward slowly, and both Jason and Gina turned once they noticed her approaching.
Jason had been talking to one of the tribal leaders and helping him figure out the best route to take out of the desert when he felt Stella’s magic, and he turned to see Stella approaching him with a look of disbelief. Jason calmly stood up and gave Stella a small smile. Jason had heard about Stella’s past from the tribe, and he knew that she was a trustworthy person, so he didn’t mind talking to her now that she had calmed down. Once Stella came close enough, she reached up and touched Jason’s face desperately, and Jason’s smile widened as he spoke.
"I’m not the person you’re looking for, Stella. But I can only assume that you knew my father from a long time ago. My name is Jason Marc. Richard is my father."
Stella’s eyes widened when she heard this! The fact that Jason was standing here in front of her could only mean that Richard had survived. The King was alive. Stella had lived the past twenty years with the guilt of abandoning her king in the middle of the Avaran battle. Stella had once been part of the Castle Guard responsible for protecting the royal family, but when things had gotten too dangerous, she had been too weak to help her king, and she thought that her cowardice was what led to the King’s death! But now Stella knew that she was wrong. The King wasn’t dead! Stella’s eyes immediately grew wet with tears, and a terrible sob wracked her body before she began to cry in pure desperation and relief!
The entire campsite was quiet at this time, and none of the Nazins could believe what they were seeing. They all knew Stella to be the powerful, emotionless warrior who could defeat any enemy that came her way, so seeing her in such a vulnerable state was unbelievable to them. One of the older female Nazins came forward and made everyone scatter so they would stop watching Stella, and Jason put one arm around Stella’s shoulder and pat her gently to tell her that it was alright.
It took a few long minutes, but Stella eventually stopped crying, and she managed to take a seat opposite Jason and Gina in front of the fire. The moon had already begun to set in the sky, so many of the Nazins had gone to bed, and the others were standing far enough so that Stella and Jason would have enough privacy. Gina was sitting beside Jason, but she was resting her head on his shoulder and sleeping softly since she was tired from travelling for so long. Stella had her head bowed, and Jason was silent as she told him her life story.
Stella told him about her time as a member of the Avaran Castle Guard, an elite group of soldiers that were responsible for protecting the Royal Castle from attacks. But on the day the Primordials attacked the Avarans, the Castle guard and Royal unit were overwhelmed by the sheer power of the Primordials. The Avaran Royal Family had been evacuated from the castle, but Jason’s father stayed back and fought along with the other guards to make sure the rest of the family could escape. Things had gotten very dire after a long period of battle, and at one point, Stella found herself fighting side by side with the King himself. But when they were hit by a particularly dangerous attack, Stella blacked out from the shock. The next time she opened her eyes, there was nothing but dead bodies all around her. The castle had been destroyed, and everyone had been killed, but somehow Stella was still alive.
There was a small part of Stella that had told her to go and look for the King back then. Her subconscious pushed her to try and see if she could see him anywhere, but the larger part of Stella looked around at all the dead bodies, and the only thing she felt at that moment was fear. Stella was terrified of what the Primordials had done to them, and that larger part won against the smaller voice and pushed Stella to preserve her own life and run. That was the single most shameful moment of Stella’s life that she could never forgive herself for, even to this day. The fact that she chose to run away rather than search for her king meant that she was not fit to be a Royal Guard. She was nothing but a coward.
Stella grit her teeth as she remembered that moment, and she used the back of her hand to rub the tears threatening to come down her face. She looked over at Jason and saw his calm expression as he waited for her to continue, and Stella gathered herself back as she spoke again.
"After I ran for a while, I stumbled across the Nazin tribe in this world, and they nursed me back to health and helped me with my injuries. Throughout my recovery, I felt shame fill me every day. I thought about going back to help the king, but I continued to convince myself that no one had survived that massacre. I was so foolish. And now that I know the king survived..."
Stella felt another choked sob threatening to escape from her. The mere fact that the King had survived only made her feel even worse about her previous decision. It meant that there had been a chance to help the King back then, and if she hadn’t run away, then she might have been able to reach him!
"I’m sorry, my prince. I don’t deserve to show you such a pathetic sight, and I know I don’t deserve any forgiveness, but the fact that you are sitting in front of me brings me great joy."
Jason hummed as he finally looked away from Stella and studied the tribe of Nazins around him. From what Jason heard from the Nazins, he didn’t think Stella was lying, and he was sure that the emotions were real, but Jason didn’t know what to do in this situation. Stella was a broken woman who was punishing herself for the crime of surviving when others didn’t.
"You’ve been through a lot, Stella, and I won’t sit here and tell you that I understand everything you’ve been through. But you know something. Even though you think you’ve committed the greatest crime, I don’t think my father would see it in the same way. You fought till the end against a much more powerful enemy, and even after everyone you once knew had died, you still found a new purpose in protecting these people. As my father’s son, I cannot condemn you for what you’ve done, and even though my words may not mean much, I know that if my father saw you now, he would be very proud."
Stella looked up at Jason with wide eyes when she heard all this. There was a strange knot somewhere deep in Stella’s stomach that had been holding her tight all this time, but the moment she heard Jason say that Richard would be proud of her, she could feel that knot slowly begin to untie itself, and a surge of gratitude filled her entire body!