Following Rug who seemed to know every bit and part of the forest, they were able to easily come out of the forest through a different path and not the place Lyle’s men were scanning.
After they came out of the forest their journey back to the capital was smooth. Although it took longer for them to reach the capital than when Bashan and Rakavi had been coming.
Barak had told them if they wanted to gallop away then they were very much free to, but he was not going to strain his pregnant wife by causing their horse to gallop. Rather, calmly, the horse trotted and only when Neriah successfully convinced him that she was fine if the horse moved a little faster, did he increase the horses gait.
Who knew Barak would become so doting to his pregnant wife. Again, Neriah wondered how much he would have pampered her had he been by her side these past months.
By the time they reached the palace it was already nightfall the next day.
On hearing of her parent’s return, Rakima left the paperwork she was handling and ran. She ran so fast that breathing was almost impossible.
Then she burst into the hall where they had told her they were and she saw her mother, her father...
Then... her gaze shifted to the man who stood next to them. As tall as ever, a little thinner than before but other than that, she was certain... "Brother."
"Rakima," He called her name and a smile rose to his lips while tears escaped her eyes.
Setting aside her princess composure, she ran like a child and flew into his open arms. Her crying could be heard four rooms away. Her arms around his neck were so tight they could choke him and he held her with a matching firmness.
"How could you do this to us!" Rakima cried.
"I am sorry." Barak says.
"I thought I would never see you again." The thought had haunted her. And when they had officially declared him dead, she had cried. She had cried so hard and long in her room that she had fallen asleep crying and then woke up with a chest pain.
"How could you disappear like that? Do you know how much I cried?" Normal Rakima would never have admitted that she cried but this was a different case. She was not in the state of mind to hide anything. The fact that she was holding him felt like a dream.
"You are going to have to work hard to make up for all the tears I have shed because of you."
"Okay. I will try." He says.
"I hate you so much. How dare you try to die!" She cried and buried her head deeper into his shoulder.
"I am sorry." He said again.
"How dare you even think of leaving us all?! Mother and Father are both still alive, so how could you die and leave us behind?!" She slammed his back with her fist.
"I am sorry." It was all he could say. Being away from them too, he could try and imagine their pain but it would never be the same.
They must all have felt terrible thinking he was dead.
"I thought I would never see you again! I thought I would have to be the one to teach your child how to use a sword!" She says and he chuckles.
"I was so scared I cried so much. You must make up for all the tears I have cried. You must."
"I must. I will."
"You are so wicked. So heartless." She cried again. Then she hugged his neck tighter again, "I am so happy you are back. I am so, so happy I do not even know what to say. May the gods bless you for coming back to us. Oh thank the gods. I shall offer the fattest offerings in the temple. I swear I shall." She vowed. His return was worth it.
Rakima was still wrapped around his neck when the door burst open again and the twins and little Barni came running in. They too paused at first and when Rakima broke the hug and they saw who she had been hugging, another round of unsynchronized crying began as they ran to him.
Barni got to him first and seeing the always composed Barni lose his finesse and run into his arms touched something inside Barak.
He scooped his baby brother off the ground and hugged him firmly while the twins hugged whatever part of him they could touch.
"You have returned." The youngest said into Barak’s shoulder
"I have."
"You will not die again?" He asks and that soft question carried so much pain that Barak could easily feel his brother’s love for him.
"I will not." He assures the boy.
"Okay. I am glad you have returned home." The boy says, wrapping his small arms tighter around Barak’s neck.
As for the twins, no one could understand what they were saying. Their cries were mixed with their words and Barak just laughed while trying to hug all three of them at the same time.
Aria and Riri, who were with Barni when the news reached them, now stood by the door inside the hall with tears in their eyes as they watched the family reunite.
It hurt even more when they thought that Neriah was not here to see him return. She would have been the most joyful. She would have cried and fell into his arms because she missed her husband so much. ’Oh, princess, where on earth are you?’ Aria muttered to herself.
And it was at that moment that Rakima noticed something.
"OH MY GOODNESS!" She screamed, startling everyone in the room. She hadn’t noticed, by the gods she was so overwhelmed by seeing her dead brother come back to life that she had not realized someone was standing behind him but...
"Neriah!!" Rakima screamed out her name.