Aidan looked outside from the nursery window. He observed the city in reconstruction and sighed in sadness. He never thought he'd be living in this palace again, he had been sure he had left it behind when Amara had taken the crown five years ago. He had been living in the Scelta clan lands ever since, leaving Sanctum in his granddaughter's gentle hands. 

Amara was a kind and compassionate soul, attentive to those in need and willing to listen to others, she may have been too lenient as a ruler but Aidan had been sure that she would learn with time along with the advice from her mother. He had loved his granddaughter deeply and his great-grandchildren as well. Sweet Ayla, who at eleven was already showing herself to be a great heir, and little Kian, who loved all of his family. They did not deserve their fate.

There had been tensions ever since Amara had come of age and been accepted by the White Spirit, some of the more severe clans finding her wanting, spurred even more by Emery's disparaging of his elder niece. Aidan had tried to silence his youngest child and attempted to appease the clans, but it had apparently not been enough and now Sanctum had to face the consequences.

The rebellion had been a swift yet brutal conflict that had killed hundreds and carved deep wounds across Sanctum in  less than a year's time. Even tho Prae had been ready for conflict, the city had not been prepared for the number of enemies nor how aggressive they had been. The participation of clans Modig and Zardo had been expected but the royal family and their allies had been blindsided by the inclusion of clan Vendem and their fighters to the rebel forces. By the time clans Scelta, Otege and Ligio had managed to send help the capital had been taken. 

Aidan sighed again as he felt tears in his eyes, he had been safe within the Scelta clan lands (as they had not been the main focus of the rebels) but the same could not be said of the rest of his family. His beloved daughter, Keva, had died along with dear Ayla and Kian when she had tried to get them out of the city, and sweet Amara had died shortly after the city had been taken. Dasan had survived the conflict and was now helping Aidan in bringing order to Sanctum once more, and he was glad that at least one of his children had survived.

This line of thought soon turned towards his youngest, Emery had been the leader of the rebellion and Aidan was devastated by his betrayal. His son had usurped the throne from his niece and put his daughter on the throne. Arely had always been an arrogant child, her ego fed by both of her parents and she had always believed herself a better heir than Amara and later Ayla. She had never been an option, Arely belonged in her mother's house and had no claim to the throne even if Emery had been part of the royal line before his marriage.

That had not stopped her and her father from leading the rebellion and it had not stopped her from declaring herself Aube Regina after Prae had been taken. The ruling of Sanctum had been displaced from the royal line and taken by the Modig clan,  and even tho it had only done so for a couple of months Aidan swore on his ancestors to never let it happen again. In the end things had not gone as Emery, his daughter and their allies had hoped.

Arely, his foolish granddaughter, feeling her slaughter of har paternal family and greed for the throne were justified had presented herself to the White Spirit to receive their blessing, as she could not rule without it, Sanctum would not accept a ruler without it. Gwin Aharon had felt her soul  and gauged her character and actions, and had deemed her unworthy of the throne and her gift, they had then removed Serpere's blessing from her body and soul, condemning the rebellion as a whole. Arely had barely survived it and had died shortly afterwards, barely a month into her supposed reign.

Without a candidate to immediately take the throne and the condemnation of their actions by the White Spirit the rebels had fallen apart, with clan Vendem completely withdrawing their support. The capital had been retaken by clan Scelta and their allies, capturing the rebel clan leaders. and other people of import. Aidan had come back to this great and now empty palace to take the throne once more and stabilize Sanctum after such a violent conflict. 

Now they were here, an old man reminiscing and asking himself where it all went wrong while trying to keep his nation from either collapsing or imploding. Aidan smiled sadly, if only his dear Tahna was here, she would be his rock in this madness as she had always been, maybe she could have even helped him prevent this whole nightmare. His wife was a force to be reckoned with, as many of the women in his life were, she would have been a great ally in what was to come.

Aidan looked towards the cot in the corner of the nursery, a lovely baby girl sleeping within it. Little Saige Modig, Arely's only daughter and the only possible heir to the throne of Sanctum, his great-granddaughter and new charge. The babe was the only female child with blood from the Scelta royal line that was not separated from it by at least three generations, and Aidan was too old to have a daughter who could be his heir. It was now him and little Saige.

Aidan walked to the cot and gently picked up the one year old, his old arms holding her steady as he started to walk around the room. He would have to adopt her back into the main royal line for the throne to stay within the Scelta royal line, Aidan paused at the thought feeling deeply tired, he was eighty one (81) and responsible for a child once more. 

Well, he thought, if he was to do so then dearest Saige would need a name fit for a royal heir. Aidan considered the names within their family as he softly rocked the baby, his mother's name had been tainted by his granddaughter and he did not wish to use the names of his sweet Amara or her children, his grandmother was out of the question as she had been a second daughter and her name reflected that.

Finally, he thought of a good name: Allena, like the granddaughter of the founder of Sanctum, his great-great-great grandmother. Aidan smiled down at the sleeping babe, she would now be Allena, second of her name and heir of the title of Aube. He could do this, he would raise little Allena to be a good ruler and a great person, he swore it to Gwin Aharon and his ancestors.