“I know, my love.” she replied. “Since Alder has shown a fair amount of wisdom in this, perhaps we should entrust the situation to him to resolve. Do you trust him enough to give him this responsibility?” She could feel him nod, but knew that he was simply too tired to speak. “Alright, then let us go to rest while he handles this.”

She felt him nod, once again, and knew how much his heart hurt and how weary he was, not just in body, but his very soul. Gently, she raised his head and took his arm. Together, they began to walk to their bedchamber, but before they had taken more than a step, Avalon turned to her children and imparted the agreement that had been decided upon.

“Alder, dearest?” she called. He looked up at her with the light having returned to his eyes and smiled. She returned his smile and said, “Your father is entrusting this situation to you. It will be your responsibility to resolve this dilemma to the benefit of all. Do you believe you are up to this very important task?”

He paused and looked away for a moment in thought, before returning his eyes to his mother and nodded. “Yes, I will do my best to resolve this to the satisfaction of all involved.”

“Do not be so formal, darling.” she advised. “This may take a bit of thinking outside of the box, so to speak.”

“I understand. Thank you, Mama.”

“You are welcome, but your thanks should be given to your father. He is the one that permitted this, after all.”

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