Samantha Edwhan

End of the Winter Star

Chapter 20

Two months later, Gerold woke up feeling worse than ever before. He knew in his gut that this was his last day. He was struggling to breath and could barely move his legs. He had been bedridden for the last week, but at least then he could still stand up briefly. Now, just moving his limbs felt near impossible.

His nurse came into the room shortly after he woke up. She smiled at him as she entered.

“Get my family,” Gerold wheezed. “It’s time.”

The nurse’s smile fell and she nodded solemnly before rushing out of the room. Adelaide’s head popped up from beside the bed. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Gerold.

“Darling,” Gerold breathed. “I’m sorry I won’t get to see our egg hatch.”

Adelaide’s eyes filled with tears. She got up, wrapped her wings around him, and pressed her head into his shoulder. Gerold attempted to raise his head, but after a considerable effort, his head dropped limply back on the bed. Adelaide pulled back after a moment.

“I love you, Adelaide,” Gerold said.

“I love you too,” Adelaide’s voice was choked up. Gerold felt her sorrow wrench at his heart.

Markos came rushing into the room, closely followed by Luana. Their eyes were wide and their faces distraught. It was all Gerold could do to hold it together for them. He needed to get through his goodbye's before he would let go of the tears that threatened with every breath.

“Markos, Luana,” he said quietly. “Come here.”

They approached the bed slowly. Markos looked like he was trying not to cry too.

“Dad…” he choked out.

“Please don’t die,” Luana sobbed.

“I’m sorry, Luana. But every life comes to an end eventually. It’s just unfortunate that my end is here so soon.” Gerold paused to take a wheezy breath. “But remember, you can do anything. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.”

Luana nodded and ducked her head. Jakob quietly entered the room as Markos stepped closer to the bed.

“Dad… please don’t go,” Markos pleaded quietly. “I still need you.”

Gerold blinked tears out of his eyes. “I wish I could be here for you. But you are an adult now. I trust that you’ll move past this with time. Look after your family, both the ones here now, and your own future family.”

Markos squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his head into Gerold’s neck. Gerold rolled his head to the side in an attempt to rub his face against his son’s.

When Markos stepped back, Gerold turned to his youngest son. Jakob’s eyes were overflowing with tears.

“Jakob.” Gerold managed to smile at him, though his heart was breaking. “Be strong, son. I’m sure you’ll be a great historian one day. Keep up with your reading.”

“I will,” Jakob managed to say, though his voice shook. “And I’ll never forget you.”

Gerold’s tears spilled over. He couldn’t hold them back anymore. He knew his family would miss him. If there was an afterlife, he would miss them from there too.

That was the moment that Griffin came crashing into the room. Everyone turned at the commotion. Griffin’s icy blue eyes locked onto Gerold and he pushed his way toward the bed.

“Griffin,” Gerold wheezed. “Be a good High Caln.”

“How am I supposed to do it without you?” Griffin asked.

“You will. I know you will,” Gerold told him weakly.

Griffin sat down and hung his head. Adelaide sat on one side while Markos, Luana, and Jakob were huddled together on the other.

“I love you all,” Gerold said. He could feel his strength seeping away. “Never forget the good times we shared. Those will keep me alive in your hearts.”

Luana sobbed and pressed her head into Markos’s shoulder. Markos wrapped a wing around her and stared at the floor. Jakob was fully crying as he watched Gerold with desperate eyes. Griffin and Adelaide stared at the floor as tears rolled down their cheeks.

Gerold took a moment to remember his life. He had gone from a simple life with his father in the Northern Districts, to the High Caln for the entire Calndom. Had he ever thanked Rana for choosing him as her Prinze? He struggled to remember but he was sure he did at some point.

He had made a good life here. He married Adelaide, made Griffin his Prinze, and had four amazing young dragons. Even though he would never meet the hatchling in the egg, Gerold was certain they would be a talented Fire Dragon.

As his vision faded into darkness, Gerold felt a premonition. Suddenly he could see Griffin and Modesty, though they were several years older. Modesty had a wicked grin and a foreleg plunged into Griffin’s chest. In an instant, he knew what would happen, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Oh no, I’ve made a horrible mistake, he thought to himself.

He should never have made his best friend Prinze. Now, Griffin was doomed to die by the will of his own daughter. Gerold could only hope, as his consciousness faded away, that Markos could fix this massive blunder somehow.

~ ~ ~

Markos stood in the gardens. It was cold and the snow was deep. But he had a job to do. One that he didn’t want anyone else to do. He was standing in front of the two flowering plants at the end of the pathway. One was strong, with multiple beautiful blue and white flowers on it. The other was dead. The leaves had shrivelled up and turned brown, and the flower petals had wilted until they fell onto the snow.

Gerold had been gone for a few weeks now. Markos had done everything he could to coax his father’s plant back to life, but nothing worked. It seemed determined to die with Gerold. Markos finally had to admit that the plant, and Gerold, were gone and never coming back. All he could do now was dispose of the dead plant and prepare his own to be moved to their new home.

Now that Griffin was High Caln, the Everhart family would move into one of the manors near the castle. The Rain family would be moving into one of the smaller manors further from the castle to accommodate the move. Markos had already picked out a new spot at the manor for his plant. He would make sure to care for it to ensure it didn’t meet the same sad end that Gerold’s plant did.

“I miss you, Dad,” Markos whispered, staring down at the dead plant. “We all do.”