The Hero and the Crown

Aerin escapes from the ruins and looks around; although the tower was in the middle of a flat plain, she finds herself in a thick, overgrown jungle. To her bewilderment, her wounds have healed and scarred over. She finds water, builds a fire, and tries to figure out where Talat and the Hero’s Crown have gone. She realizes that she cannot go home without the Crown, as her actions would ultimately be for nothing.

Aerin dreams of faces and people she does not recognize; when she wakes up, the forest is gone, and the landscape has returned to the barren plain. The king cat finds her and eagerly greets her, and Talat and the wild dogs follow. The dog queen approaches but leaves soon after, to Aerin’s momentary dismay. Fortunately, the dog queen soon returns with the Hero’s Crown in her mouth.

Aerin sets off with her animal armies and returns to the Damarian border. She finds Luthe preparing camp and supper not far from the border; he greets her warmly. He explains that he left his home because he had to help drag her back through time; she took hundreds of years to fight Agsded and fall from the tower, and the jungle sprang up during that time. Luthe feeds her and the animals, and when he approaches behind her, she takes him into an embrace and kisses him. He lies with his head on her lap, and she plays with his curls while he tells her about his childhood and schoolboy days with Agsded. Aerin shows him the dragon stone, and he tells her that it is far more powerful than the Crown—it is the last drop of blood from Maur’s heart. If attached to the crown, it would make the wearer invincible. She convinces him to take the stone for safekeeping, despite his insistence that it is not evil, because she does not want any remnant of Maur in her kingdom.

Luthe travels with her and the animals on foot, cooking for them and helping Aerin to mend Gonturan’s blade. On their last night together, Aerin wraps herself around Luthe and cries silently, then untangles herself and studies him as he sleeps, knowing that it will be years before she sees him again. Now, she must return and marry Tor, whom she also loves. Luthe wakes and kisses her; they both shed tears. He says that if he must lose her a third time, it will kill him. He vows, “I will love you till the stars crumble, which is a less idle threat than is usual to lovers on parting” (209). Aerin leaves, but Luthe lies down and listens to Talat’s hoofbeats fade into the distance.

Aerin is miserable as she rides toward the city and sobs when she makes camp. She sleeps and is comforted by the yerig and folstza. She begins to dream of violence and demons and hears her family’s voices calling out for the Crown. Aerin grows afraid that they will know that she is no longer mortal and is in love with Luthe. She resolutely decides not to think of him.

When she arrives near the city, she finds the land destroyed; the Damarians are battling against the Northerners. She draws her sword, and blue light shines forth from its gem. In the midst of battle, she tells her animal armies that the crown must only go to Arlbeth or Tor. She charges with her armies into the midst of the Northerners, who are unable to anticipate the attack and fully recoup. The blue light of Gonturan scares and blinds the Northerners. Tor joins her on the battlefield, and she throws the crown at him; it lands on his wrist. She yells at him to put it on, but he does not understand, so she grabs his arm, takes the Crown, and shoves it onto his head.

The combined might of Tor and Aerin defeats the Northerners, but Damar has lost many in the battle. Tor and Aerin’s touch eases the pain and the wounds of the survivors. Perlith has died, and Galanna grieves his loss deeply and never recovers. Arlbeth dies in Aerin’s arms, after begging her to save Damar. Tor explains that they were besieged for a month, but it felt like the war was lost before it began. The city is now weakened and weary. Aerin realizes that Maur’s head is still wreaking havoc and goes to the treasure hall to get rid of it. The head mocks Aerin when she returns to it; she and Tor use Gonturan and the animals’ help to roll the head out into the courtyard. The head disappears into the distance, and the weight on the city lifts; Aerin finds herself able to laugh again.

Aerin wakes up two and a half days later in her bed at the castle, attended by the king cat, the queen dog, and Teka, who cries. Teka calls her “lady,” which she has never done before, and gets her food and a bath. Tor has asked Aerin to join him for dinner, so she does, putting on fine clothes. She reveals that her hair refuses to grow past her shoulders for no explicable reason.

At dinner, Tor insists that while he is about to be crowned king, Aerin should be queen, even though it is not aligned with the laws. He asks her to marry him so that she will be queen and says he will marry no one else if she refuses. She agrees, but she cannot say anything else, even though she knows “that her destiny, like her love, like her heritage, was double” (235). Tor tells her about the things she missed while she was gone, like Nyrlol’s death at Arlbeth’s hands. He admits that he chewed surka leaves to get a glimpse of her. He saw her with Luthe, healthy and strong, and gave everyone in the kingdom hope that she would return. They bury Arlbeth and mourn him together. Tor is crowned king, and they leave the Crown in the treasure hall where Maur’s head used to sit.

The plain where the battle was fought becomes a desert, and the people settle it and specialize in horse racing and cavalry. The kingdom slowly recovers, but Aerin realizes that the surka plants are completely gone. The sols and solas begin to settle into new lives. Katah, the oldest sol, lost her husband in the war and becomes Aerin’s secretary and advisor. Galanna’s hair turns white from grief, and she mellows, refraining from causing the court any more trouble. Aerin teaches others how to slay dragons and ride horses. Talat is bred and produces strong, fine foals; the yerig and folstza are incorporated into the kingdom and have puppies and kittens.

Aerin demands a three-month betrothal and then marries Tor; the kingdom forgets their dislike and distrust of her. Aerin’s love for Luthe slowly slips into dreams, even though she knows that she will return to him after Tor’s death. In the meantime, she remains a powerful queen who loves both Tor and her country.