Epilogue

Ren looked down at the merchant, smiling fondly as he watched him set up his display when his eyes happened to pass over the unboxed merchandise in the cart behind the male. There, sitting on top of a mixture of jewels and other finery, was a ring. He would have recognized it anywhere and the mere fact that it was sitting there, right in front of him after all these years…

His heart dropped.

A simple silver band with a dragon's breath stone. The sun caught each color in the stone. The blue, the red, and the purple bending in the late-autumnal sun, making it seem as if a fire was burning within. It would have been a magnificent ring on anyone's finger, but to Ren, it only belonged to one person.

"How much for the ring?" Ren asked.

The merchant turned, following the direction of Ren's extended finger. "Oh, gods," he chuckled, "I still need to get that appraised. Some warrior found it out in the lawn at the Elletara estate when he was digging a latrine."

"Willing to give me an estimate?"

The male stared at him for a moment, the corner of his lip still kicked up with the hint of a smile. "If it's real, then thousands. "

Ren gripped at the pouch of circlets at his side, nodding as the male continued to talk about the appraisal process. He tossed the pouch onto the display table. "It's real." He didn't hesitate as he spoke and the old merchant took notice of this sureness with narrowed, observant eyes. "There are fifteen thousands circlets here in this pouch. I'll take it." He watched closely as the merchant placed the ring inside of a black velvet box, still cautious as he handed it to the young, kingdom-less king.

"I'm curious as to how you even know what that thing is, boy. "

Ren smirked, giving a small shrug as he tucked the box into his pocket. "It was my mother's."