The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Noble made the trek from the Jade Palace and across the bridge toward her home as the sun was beginning to set.

Her body was starting to heal, but the damage to her leg had been extensive.

Even for her Ascended body, it would take time for her leg to completely mend, especially since she was also simultaneously trying to replenish her essence.

'At least I don't need a crutch. That would have been problematic on this snow and ice...'

As Noble reached the mundane settlement of Ravenheart, her heart sank a little. 

Part of her hoped that Fort would be waiting for her on the far side of the bridge, but the whipping wind made staying in the elements inhospitable. If he had been out there at some point, he would have needed to head home by now. 

The professor much preferred Fort safe instead of frozen. As she neared her home, her senses told her that her husband and two sons were indeed within. 

Noble could feel their worry. She instinctively used what little essence she had to send them comfort while she still approached. 

Fort's emotions spiked under the foreign influence. Suddenly, he opened the door to the house and began running down the street. 

"Bee!" His elated face turned to one of concern as he took in the brace on his wife's leg. 

"Fort," Noble smiled. "I am so happy to--"

 "You are hurt!" His worried face turned pale.

"Mostly my leg, but it will heal." The woman touched the brace lightly. It was already doing better than before, but that could have been the Awakened-level painkillers they gave her. "I can barely feel it right now, so there is no reason to worry." 

With a furrowed brow, Fort swept up the woman in his arms and cradled her. "Let's get you home." 

Noble laughed lightly. "I don't need my leg to move, sweetheart. I can get home on my own." 

Fort eyed her seriously. "Who said I was doing this for you?" 

Holding his wife, Fort returned to his cottage before sitting on the couch with his wife in his lap. 

Blaze and Brock were startled by the development at first, but they quickly overcame their shock. Unable to hold in their curiosity, they asked Noble every question they had been wondering since she left. 

Noble was honest with her responses, speaking to her boys on a level they could understand. Fort would get a more detailed explanation later, but for now, he listened as he cuddled his injured wife. 

The barrier, the unexpected discovery of Fir, the interaction with Harlow, and the final confrontation with the Skinwalker's vessels–all of it was explained to three sets of eager ears. 

"So this Harlow lady killed Grandpa? I don't mean Grandpa Julius. Our first grandpa." Blaze stumbled over his words. 

"Yes. That's right." Noble hadn't told the boys this before, so she had expected them to have many questions. 

"Then the Skinwalker was right to take her...she was already a monster," Blaze crossed his arms. 

"That's one way to look at it, I suppose." The mother wasn't sure what else to say. 

"But Master Chip is also dead. Or at least missing in action. Even if we ignore the other million people, that alone is very wrong." Brock wasn't so quick to see his brother's point of view. 

"The corrupted creatures of the Dream Realm don't care about right or wrong. They only care about consuming what is uncorrupted." Fort hugged his wife tightly. "That's what makes people like your mother so special. She and so many others help to keep the corruption at bay." 

Noble nodded slowly. "The Skinwalker's nest is contained, at least for now. We can rest a little easier knowing that those million vessels won't spread all over the waking world." 

"When I get older, I'm joining you, Mom." Blaze placed his hand on his heart. "Once I start fighting, I won't rest until there is no corruption left." 

"That's a good goal, but maybe you should start a little smaller. Perhaps..." Noble paused a moment before the door opened. 

A pale girl with dark hair stood there with two bags in her hand: one large and one small. She was wearing her usual jacket that was heavily lined for her protection. A large bruise was forming around one of her eyes and her cheek looked more than a little swollen. 

Yet the young woman was wearing a huge grin on her face. 

"Mom, you're home! I am so glad you are already safe! I never doubted you!" Rain leaned against the doorframe with a delighted expression. "I want to hear everything!" 

"I will be happy to tell you, but first…what are the bags?" Noble shifted to l get a better look at her oldest child.

The girl was ready to burst with excitement. 

"I have big news! You'll never guess what I did today." Pushing off of the doorframe, Rain stepped forward with a minor limp.

Fort and Noble rose from the couch to aid their daughter, but she refused their help, opting to hobble to the table instead. 

She threw the smaller sack on the kitchen table and the contents poured out with a decisive clink.

"What is that?!" Fort's eyes widened. 

"Payment," Rain straightened her shoulders, wincing slightly as her muscles screamed. 

"For what? Who paid you and why?" The father tried to remain calm. 

"For this!" Pulling a page from her coat, Rain unrolled the paper on the table. A drawn picture of a Nightmare Creature was on it with a reward posted beneath it. "I killed an Awakened Beast. I just collected my first bounty!"

Noble eyed the larger bag. "That's... not its head, is it?" 

The professor had seen enough detached body parts for one day. 

"No, I left that at the bounty office when I collected my reward. This is meat that I'll make into jerky. Awakened meat should be even better than dormant, right?" Rain asked her mother.

"I guess we will find out," Noble answered, processing her daughter's words.

"You killed an Awakened creature as a mundane?" Blaze still seemed skeptical. "How is that possible?"

"With proper tools, planning, and ingenuity, anything is possible," Rain tilted up her nose like the answer was obvious. Her good eye lit up. "Oh! I forgot to say the best part. When I absorbed the shard…I felt it—I mean really felt it!"

"Felt what?" Fort finally removed his gaze from the table to look at his battered child.

"Essence. I can sense it in my body. I was almost able to move it too!" Rain ran her hand up her arm along where her vessels brought blood to her body.

'Circulating essence? Is that the breakthrough Sunny warned me about?'

What else could it have been? It was no wonder that the older brother was eager to move forward with the hunt.

Noble could sense the subtle change in her daughter. She couldn't explain what was different but there was a shift in Rain that was undeniable.

People didn't usually gain control of their essence until after returning from the Winter Solstice. For Rain to have that Ability as a mundane—she had already achieved what was previously believed to be impossible.

"That's astonishing!" Noble wasn't sure what else to say.

"It is," Fort agreed. Noble could see the wheels in his head turning.

The way forward was an exciting opportunity, but also a perilous prospect.

The ambassador forced a smile. "It has been an eventful day for both the ladies of this family."

Rain noticed the brace on her mother's leg for the first time. "Mom! You are hurt!"

"I could say the same about you." Noble accepted a container of salve that Blaze had graciously retrieved. "Seems like we will both be laid up for a little while."

"Good," Fort realized belatedly that his comment had been aloud but he didn't take it back. "I will be glad not to have to worry about either of you for a bit."

"Fair enough." After stowing Rain's meat in their icebox, Noble motioned for all of them to return to the couches.

Rain propped up her ankle and placed a bag of fresh snow against her eye.

Noble made herself a chair of air and mimicked her daughter's pose by floating her brace.

What a pair they made!

Each had tried to accomplish something that they had no business doing.

And yet they had come out on top.

Looking around at her family, Noble couldn't help but reflect and wonder.

So many incredible things had happened in the past few years—especially the last one!

How much more would the future hold?

Perhaps Rain was right. Maybe—just maybe—anything was possible.

After all, was she not the Inheritor of Hope?

Noble hoped for a brighter future, and that future included the three children in front of her.

But that future could begin tomorrow.

All Noble wanted now was to spend the evening with her family and then rest in her own bed.

After the day she had had, a quiet night would be a dream come true.

That dream, thankfully, was granted.