488 The Family Hug
With the program having finally ended, Xenia now had the chance to finally meet her family after so long. Turning to Darius, she asked him for permission to leave, and he simply nodded at her before leaning in to kiss her.
“Spend some time with your family, my love,” he told her, his breath mixing with her own as they shared one more kiss before parting. “I’ll always be one telepathic message away. In the meantime, I’ll oversee the next part of your victory celebration.”
“My coronation then,” she giggled. “You don’t have to make it too extravagant, you know. I can just wear the crown and sit beside your throne and I’ll be fine with that.”
“Well, I won’t,” he scoffed. “Anything less than what you deserve would be an insult to you, your efforts, and your family. Just go, Xen. Let me handle things on my end.”
Rolling her eyes, Xenia gave Darius one last loving kiss and hug before jokingly waving him away. It probably looked disrespectful, but with the way the crowds were streaming out of the arena, she could probably get away with a bit of teasing as his Queen now, right?
pAn,D a-n0ve1,c-o-m “Big Sister!”
But just before she could start planning her first move as Queen, Mineah’s voice brought her back down to earth as she and her family greeted her with open arms.
“Congratulations!” Mineah cheered, tears coming out of her eyes as she hugged her. “We knew you’d make it!”
Xenia chuckled as she hugged her little sister back. “Of course, I would. I’m strong, remember?”
“That, you are, my dear sister…”
Xenia blinked at the familiar voice. Almost immediately, her own tears started to well up upon the sight of her long-lost elder brother. It had almost felt like years since she had last since him, and she almost felt lost between wanting to continue hugging Mineah and hugging Ezekiel.
“Go, Big Sis. I’ve had my fill of hugs for now,” Mineah chuckled beneath her.
Nodding, Xenia broke away from her sister only to wrap her arms around Ezekiel’s familiar body. She sobbed into his shoulder, relief washing over her as she hugged him tightly.
“You’re back! You’re alive!” she cried out. “Big Brother!”
“It was a feat to bring him back, you know,” Mineah chuckled. “Mother and I had to wrack our brains together just to come up with a solution to bring him back to us.”
Breaking off from her brother, Xenia turned to look at the rest of her now extended family. Sure enough, her parents were looking at her with pride and joy in their eyes, and her new brother-in-law, King Nikolai, was standing close by to her sister as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
“Thank you for coming, You Majesty,” Xenia quickly thanked the Vampire King. “I’m sure that you took time off of running your kingdom just to come with my sister.”
“Oh please, we’re both in the highest position of the royalty now,” Nikolai chuckled. “You can call me Nikolai, Sister-in-law. We’re family now. Also, I’m sure my people can do without me for a little while.”
“Nikolai it is then,” Xenia nodded. She then finally turned to her parents, both of which quickly opened their arms wide for her to run into. Snuggling into their embrace, she couldn’t help but cry out. “Thank you… For everything…”
“We’re proud of you, Xenia,” her father, King Stephan comforted. “We couldn’t ask for a better daughter.”
“E-Even after I ran away?” Xenia couldn’t help but ask.
“Even after that,” her mother, Queen Dana, sincerely smiled. “You only did what you thought was best for you. If anything, we should be the ones apologizing for putting you through such a decision in the first place.”
Hearing her parents needlessly apologizing to her, Xenia couldn’t help but sob harder as she melted into their embrace. Somewhere along the way, she felt her siblings join in on the family hug, the five of them sharing a moment of warmth and comfort despite still being in the middle of the arena.
The Royal Family of Ebodia seemed to be content in not moving from their chosen spot, all of them relishing the precious time they had left. Minutes ticked by, and if it weren’t for someone speaking up in between them, they probably would’ve remained in their hug for a while longer.
“We should be moving,” Prince Ezekiel reminded them all, having broken off from the group hug albeit with a bit of reluctance. “King Darius has invited us all for a family gathering later tonight, and we still have to situate ourselves in the Cordon castle for the night.”
“I agree,” King Stephan nodded at his son’s words. “We have a schedule to keep, and I’m sure that Xenia here will want some rest after everything that happened.”
Xenia lightly blushed, but she quickly shook her head. “I’m fine, Father. I only need a bit of rest before I’m good to go again.”
“I doubt that, Xenia,” Queen Dana chuckled. “I know for a fact that keeping your wings out for that long took a toll on you. You should rest, my child. Some time in the future, I’ll have to teach you more about your angelic heritage.”
Xenia opened her mouth to speak, but a wave of fatigue suddenly washed over her. Before she could stumble, she felt a pair of arms catching her from falling.
“There we go,” Ezekiel smirked as he caught her by the shoulder. “I guess I’ll have to carry you just like old times?”
“Just act as my support, Big Brother,” Xenia weakly scoffed. “I’ll be walking soon enough.”
Sharing a good round of light laughter, the Royal Family went ahead towards their carriage to make their way to Castle Cordon. Along the way, Xenia noticed something as soon as she had recovered enough.
“Where’s Tarah?”
“Her? She said she was visiting a friend,” Ezekiel replied. “Don’t know who that friend is, but I trust that she’ll be back with us soon enough.”
Xenia hummed, satisfied with the answer she heard. Looking out the window, she couldn’t help but feel excited for the next coming hours. Soon, she would be Queen, and she couldn’t wait to see what her husband had in store for her.