Disclaimer: I do not own the Belgariad/Malloreon, because this belongs to David and Leigh Eddings. I do, however, own the OC and the plot.

A/N: Thank you once more, slytherinsal.

King Elkan lays in his amazing and huge bed, with everyone standing around him. Lynessa is sitting on one side of the bed, holding his left hand and stroking it absent-mindedly. On his other side, sitting on a chair, is a doctor who is, at the moment, cleaning and re-bandaging his right hand. Garion cannot help but look at it in wonder, as there are three fingers missing, and the rest of the hand is deformed and covered in horrible, raw open wounds. Elkan notices him watching intently, and he drags in a ragged breath.

"As much as people wish to believe, leprosy does not cause people to loose appendages…instead, it causes them to malfunction in the growing stages, making them deformed. My body is eating itself away, and I have the inability to regenerate. This effectively kills me, in a long and painful way." He coughs suddenly, the sound like two dry rocks rubbing together. The doctor beside him finishes with the bandaging and stands up, bows, then leaves the room. Elkan looks up at everyone in his room.

"Please, take a seat. This may take a while." They continue for the next while talking about the best way to fortify the city, because there is no way that they could get anyone over from the Kingdoms of the West in time, "Ali-Khiona is but two weeks away from here…we have no protection, a lack of numbers in my ranks of soldiers…I would not hold it against you if you all left. You will probably die here with me.

"But if you are to stay, then I would do anything for you for the rest of my life. I would be in such a debt to you all, that even my…wife and her children will continue to serve you." Garion's head snaps up at this, and looks in a confused manner at Elkan.

"I thought you said you couldn't have children?" Elkan nods his head, but anything he was going to say is cut off by a sudden bout of coughing. Instead, Lynessa speaks, but cannot seem to keep the venom out of her tone.

"He is meaning to marry me to another, instead of be 'bound to a leper', as he puts it." she gives Elkan a dark look, "And I refuse." Garion can tell that this conversation had been said before, and he looks Elkan in the eye.

"Your Majesty… if I may…." Garion is cut off by Prince Kheldar, who sits forwards in excitement, his long nose twitching.

"King Elkan, what kind of guard does this Ali-Khiona have?" Elkan looks at Kheldar funnily, as does everyone else in the room.

"He has a large amount of guard around his personal tent, Prince Kheldar. I'd say twenty or so soldiers…And he sleeps with a sabre at his side at all times." Kheldar smiles, and his nose starts to twitch a little more violently.

"Which direction are his troops, and may I borrow your fastest horse?"

The night is dark and cool, and the sun starts to rise as Garion tries to sleep. Kheldar had left suddenly after King Elkan had given him the information he needed, and then had a horrible coughing fit, so they had all left. While they were being ushered out of the door by the doctor's helpers, Garion happened to sneak a peek behind him and saw Elkan leaning forwards, blood staining his clothing and bedding deep crimson. Since this had happened, Garion could not sleep. Because of this, he decides to slip out of bed and pulls on his clothes, then scampers out into the quiet halls of the Palace. He reaches the Royal Chambers, and sees the door open a crack, light flooding out and into the hallway. Garion sneaks up to the door and peers inside as the sun continues to climb up into the sky above. He can see Elkan lying in bed, his mask echoing rasping, wheezing noises that signify his shallow breathing. Lynessa is sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing an all-white nightgown, her softly curling red-brown hair flowing down her back. She is holding onto one of Elkan's bandaged hands, and is smiling at him, tears in her eyes reflected in the candlelight.

"L…Lynn…are you there?" Lynessa nods her head, her hair shifting over one of her shoulders.

"Yes, I'm here Ell…" she whispers, holding onto his hand with both of hers. Elkan draws in a ragged breath, and his whole body tenses.

"Lynn…I do love…you." He pauses to turn his silver face towards her, "I am so…so sorry for…everything…" Lynessa shakes her head and protests, telling him that he has no need of apologizing. Elkan coughs harshly, and Garion winces as he hears the King whimper afterwards like a kicked puppy, "All…I…wanted…was for you to be….happy…" Lynessa kisses the bandaged hand that she is holding.

"I am happy, Elkan. I've been happy my whole time with you…there was nothing that I was missing." Garion can see an iridescent tear slide down Elkan's face and disappear behind the mask; only now does Garion realise that one of Elkan's eyes is glossy and has a cataract on it. Elkan takes in another few shallow breaths of air, and raises his club of a hand to rest upon Lynessa's cheek, to which she turns her face into.

"Sing me a song, my love….my…favourite…song…" Lynessa nods her head slowly as he lets his hand fall onto his stomach, and he closes his eyes. Lynessa starts to sing softly about a strong King, and how he fought bravely in every battle, and was only brought down to his knees by the love he had for a woman. Tears start to stream down her face as the morning sunlight streams through the bedroom window. Garion lets a few tears fall down his face as well as Lynessa finishes her song, and rests her forehead on Elkan's still chest. Suddenly there are bells ringing in the city below, and cheering sounds from every person that lives in Aaod. Garion closes his eyes and then stands up, making his way down to the entrance of the Palace. He knows what the bells and cheering signify; Silk had effectively assassinated Ali-Khiona. As he steps out into the bright sunlight, he can see Barak with Silk on his shoulder, the small Drasnian smiling from ear to ear, his nose twitching violently. Everyone in the city are cheering and thanking him, and C'nedra grabs hold of her husband's hand.

"Garion, dear, what's the matter?" Garion does not answer for a while, but the tears continue their way down his face. He finally looks out towards the crowd, and whispers,

"The King is dead." People laugh and dance, and C'nedra nods her head in agreement, then realization slowly seeps into her eyes. She puts a hand to her mouth and her eyes water up, and people start to whisper, silence spreading throughout the crowd. Even Silk, who is enjoying the attention, grows quiet, his smile fading from his face. Garion takes in a breath, then another.

"The King is dead." he repeats, but this time there is no happiness, no cheering. A wave of grief hit's the people, and some start to sob, some start to drink more, and others sit on the ground in shock. None of these, however, is Khael. He pushes past the unresponsive Garion and rushes into the Palace, to his Queen and her dead King.

Garion and company, along with the entirety of the city of Aaod stand around a pyre. There is no speaking, only crying as Lynessa, dressed all in black, walks slowly up a few steps to the top of the pyre. She is crying, and takes the hood of her cloak down so that they can see her face, her smeared makeup, as she leans down and softly kisses the forehead of Elkan's mask. She lets out a sob as she does so, and her small hands fold themselves into his pure white clothing, and then she remembers herself and stands up slowly, stiffly, and receives a burning torch from Khael. She sticks the torch into the pyre underneath her husband, and Khael has to take her elbows to lead her away from her husband. Once they are off the pyre, a dozen of so soldiers step forwards and start fire to the pyre as well. Lynessa cries into Khael's shoulder, the tall soldier holding her and watching his King burn.

The pyre burns into the night time, where archers line to walls of the city, light their arrow tips on fire, and shoot them high into the sky. They continue to do this until the fourth hail of arrows falls from the sky, and the civilians of Aaod all pray and then leave for their houses. Garion and company slowly make their way over to Khael and Lynessa. The latter will not look at anything except for the pyre, and Khael looks at Garion.

"There will be a ship ready for you in the morning. It will be stocked with as much gold as we can give away, along with any treasures, trading objects, or animals that you may wish. Thank you for your help." With that, Khael slowly makes his way to the Palace with Lynessa, who keeps looking back to the pyre, as if she wishes for Elkan to appear unhurt.

Garion and company stay the night in Aaod, and then set sail early in the morning, with everything that Khael had promised aboard. They sail away, back to the Kingdoms of the West, and Garion looks back to the Aaod coast and allows one last tear to fall from his eyes. He promises himself silently that he will make sure that Elkan's story is passed through the generations; what he does not know is that the story will already have been sent and spread through Javelin of Drasnia, along with the stories of the woman who had lost everything and how she, alone forever, upkeeps the Kingdom of Aaod. Lynessa is no longer a woman with a Leper King…she is now the Weeping Queen, and will be remembered forever more.

Review, please! I actually did cry this chapter…weird how that happens, hey? Please, long reviews loved! This is the last chapter!

~R