Maria is silent for a moment, and her eyes too fill with tears. "Oh," she answers softly. She crosses to Gruffydd, looking up at him and reaching to touch his cheek. "Tiernan has been the foundation of this family," she says quietly, turning to both the Wests and holding her hand out to Arian. "This will rock us all to our knees."

     "I wish that I could remain forever with you. Unfortunately... my time here is coming to an end, children."

"And I'm not letting you go. Just because we have other people who bring us love and pleasure doesn't mean it's not you and me against the world, you know. You'll be a great king. And even if you're a king, you'll still be the only man I throw apples at."

     "I am the most fortunate man I know," he says quietly to his wife, to his consort. "When times ahead are difficult and dark," Gruffydd says quietly, with acknowledgement of what he has seen, what he knows, "... we will be able to trust in this, and I to find solace in the arms of those I love."

     "Is it really necessary to have ten medics? Aren't there wounded people down the hall?" Balthazar glowers, his head tipping back in pain (his pain evident in the tightening of his jaw, the sharpness of his gaze, and the way his other leg bounces up and down on the ball of his foot). "Bit of overkill..." he pauses, gritting his teeth as they prod his leg.

     "Because I'm the youngest and I am the last one left," he wonders. "Balthazar will be getting married, Gruffydd is married." He glances to you.

     "That is a lot of news," he says softly to you. He turns his head to kiss your forehead. "You are just the queen I need. For a thousand reasons. The most important, of course, is that I love you..."

     Mentally, Pres facepalms. We're gonna need a bigger boat. He looks both ways. Where is someone to rescue him now?

     "I feel...both empty and full," he says, turning his head to you. "I am both energized and tired. I am standing on the edge of dreaming and forever. I... am nervous," he whispers it. "Not in a bad way. Just..." he smiles a little, "... just nervous. We are about to create something, something very big."

     She lifts her glass in a light sort of a toasting movement. "To family, then, and togetherness. And to the future, may it be ever so fruitful."