The day after Malnar’s coronation came too quickly for Arsha’s taste. Sadly, she wasn’t in a position to offer Malnar a lift. What made it worse for her was that she knew of Gorfanth staying behind too. She was talking to him before she had to return to the Endeavor. “You’re sure you need to stay?” she asked.
“I know I helped in my home’s reconstruction,” replied Gorfanth, “but Malnar will need help too and I need to learn a few more things about royal life. I can’t exactly do that on the Endeavor. I’m sorry, but I need to stay here.” Arsha sighed.
“I guess I’ll see you later,” she mumbled. Gorfanth then took her into his embrace. They hugged for a good minute. Just then, Malnar found them.
“Can I get in on this?” she called. Arsha and Gorfanth saw her, then they opened the embrace to let Malnar in. She joined and smiled. “…I’m gonna miss you, Foxy,” she mumbled.
“I’ll miss you both, Bonfire, Hooves,” replied Arsha. They all sighed with a mix of happiness and longing. The hug then ended and Malnar looked up to Gorfanth.
“I’ve already got my Queen’s Portrait,” said Malnar, “now it’s time for yours.” Gorfanth winced.
“Do I need to?” he asked.
“If I had to suffer through holding a pose for hours on end, so do you.” Arsha laughed a bit at Malnar’s teasing.
“Very well,” muttered Gorfanth. Arsha stepped back, holding their hands for as long as possible.
“Goodbye, Malnar and Gorfanth,” she said. “I’ll see you soon!”
“Goodbye, Arsha,” bid Malnar and Gorfanth together. Their fingers finally slid off hers. Arsha turned quickly so she wouldn’t be tempted to stay forever. She still had assignments for Realmfleet.
Arsha returned to the ship, a little saddened and eagerly awaiting the next time she would see her Under-realm lovers again. Lardeth, Foresna, and Falnii were waiting by the landing ramp. They saw her face and hugged her. “We miss them already,” sighed Lardeth.
“And then you have your own coronation,” muttered Arsha. “Then you and Falnii will be leaving us.”
“We’ll come back to you when you’re Queen,” assured Falnii. “Our separation will only be temporary.”
“She’s right,” agreed Foresna. “You and I will still be together.” Arsha chuckled.
“Yeah, I do have you for the entire trip.” She then recentered her thoughts. “For now, we need to leave for the Drelda Forest. I’ll be on the bridge.” Arsha ended the hug and headed to the bridge.
She sat in the Captain’s Chair and looked around at her bridge crew, smiling at how they displayed courage during the Final War both when she was on the bridge and when she was absent. She then looked to Shalvey. “Ms. Shalvey, what’s the word?” she asked.
“We’re cleared to leave the Citadel,” reported Shalvey. “We can go on your order.”
“Mr. Nazay, set course for the Under-to-Over Realmgate, then take us to the Drelda Forest’s Capital Tree,” ordered Arsha.
“Course laid in,” reported Nazay.
“Nice and easy.”
The Endeavor fired up its engines and rose into the air, retracting its landing struts and raising its landing ramp. It went higher and higher, then turned southwards to the Realmgate floating above Realmgate City once again.
Malnar and Gorfanth saw the ship depart from the landing pad and waved goodbye until they lost sight of it. Malnar then rubbed her arm. Gorfanth saw this and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “We’ll see them again,” he promised. “We’ve lost Arsha once and she came back to us all. This will be nothing compared to what Oyed did to us.”
“It’s because of what he did that makes me miss her even more,” mumbled Malnar. “After he hurt her, I was about ready to fall into despair without her. I know you and the others were in the same boat, but still…”
“Well, this time, Oyed’s not part of the equation. We know she’s in perfect health and we’ll see her again once she is crowned Queen and Foresna learns of his future duties.” Malnar nodded, then a wicked grin crossed her face.
“Speaking of a consort’s future duties as King, there’s something we need to get out of the way.” Gorfanth arched an eyeridge.
“And that is?”
“Well…how did Daddy put it…society wants us to start our reign looking good.” Gorfanth got the hint, and a look of panic crossed his snout.
“Wait a minute-!” he gulped.
“Come on, Hooves, if I needed to suffer through a portrait sitting, so do you!”
“But I’m not King yet!”
“I wasn’t exactly Queen when I had mine done! Come on, Hooves!” Malnar grabbed one of the ends of his belt and led him away. Gorfanth didn’t resist. There was no point to it.
Arsha sat in her ready room as the ship traveled through the Realmgate Vortex. She lightly stroked her desk as if it were a pet, her thoughts looking towards the future. The door chime then rang. “Come in,” she called. Bashoon then came in.
“You wanted to see me, Captain?” she asked.
“I did, Bashoon. Tell me, why did you turn down Penshek’s offer of being his Secretary of Goblin Finances?”
“…I saw no real growth in that position. I have a bit of a wanderlust, and that position won’t satisfy it. I was thinking that, after Realmfleet, I’d be a Freelance Captain. The Realm Freelance Board’s always looking for experienced officers.”
“You’ll need training in that regard,” remarked Arsha. “You see, I called you in for a reason. You know that, once our Drelda mission’s done and Lardeth’s crowned, I have one last mission in the Mid-realm? In Largandra, no less? Once the Largandra mission’s done, I’m having my Tour’s End Ceremony. I have been thinking hard about who would take my place…and I can think of no better person than you, Bashoon Barmek.”
“…ME?!” yelped Bashoon as the weight of Arsha’s declaration sunk in. “You want ME to-?!”
“I only have a few of the bridge crew remaining once the Largandra mission’s done,” explained Arsha. “Denstra and her spouses will leave, Shalvey and Thangred will be getting married and moving to Varshenta Beach, Dalengor’s gonna move to Rokanth and find someone, Nazay’s heading back to the Regatim Oasis to marry Merrim, Elmar already left us, and Thengo’s gonna be establishing a counseling practice here. Now, Anya’s gonna be taking Thengo’s place and she’ll be marrying Malak, Laverda’s staying behind, Falnimam will be coming to the Mid-realm to marry Melandra and move onto the ship with him and he’ll be the new Chief Engineer, Orthena’s still the Chief Science Officer, Endea’s staying, and Marshii will be CMO for a little while longer.”
“I heard about Denstra and her spouses leaving,” replied Bashoon. “Dad was cussing up a storm when Jaltor told him the news. And I kind of figured Endea would stay. I mean, she IS the Endeavor. …In fact, if it’s possible, I WOULD like to make her my First Officer.”
“Well, the successor DOES have the right to choose their First Officer. I think she’d make an excellent one for you. Now, I still need to work with Rokalla to write the Commission Letters for the new Bridge Crew.”
“Understood. Thank you for the opportunity, Captain. Let me tell you, you’re gonna be leaving big shoes to fill.”
“I think you’ll fill them nicely in peacetime.”
“In the meantime, I still have a few odd jobs to do.”
“All right then, I’ll let you go. Dismissed.” Bashoon saluted and smiled, then left the room. Arsha smiled happily. “Bashoon Barmek, you’re gonna go far!” she said to herself.