Gate of Memoirs/Unyielding Faith

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, but unrelenting is the heart who protects it.
Elysia: Return of the Heir Episode 3—Spiraling Darkness—
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Dark Pursuit"	Music: "Dark Pursuit"
 	
*Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
*The two years following the return of Gortius, Elysia's lost crown prince, have been fraught with political turmoil and dissent.
*Though the Council was now missing a military leader with the demise of Duke Huster,
*Earl Marlow was still a formidable threat capable of swaying the nobles one way or another.
*And there was Advisor Giehl—always at shadow's edge, concealing his true role between Council and crown.
*While many loyalists still support the rightful heir to Elysia, just as many decried the man who abandoned his country out of selfishness.
*Behind closed doors and turned backs, many more whispered of his half-Alethi wife, 
*who was variously said to have stained the sanctity of the Elysian crown, or a spy for the mage capital.
*As the new king struggles to steer his legacy, his queen is beset with the stresses of leaving her former life behind—
*Trading the blood and steel of the battlefield for the smiles and teeth of the court.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*Miriam: *cough cough*
*Miriam: Ugh.
 	
*Gortius: Miriam, you've been coughing for a month. Has the village healer not found a cure?
 	
*Miriam: It's nothing. I'm sure it will pass.
*Miriam: I'll get used to the mountain air soon. Simply a side effect of moving this far up north.
 	
*Gortius: All right. But you must tell me immediately if you feel faint.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*Miriam: I'm not an invalid, Gortius! I'm fine...
 	
*Miriam: "I wished I believed myself, if only to ease the anxiety I'd caused."
*Miriam: "My last days were spent in pain and fire."
*Miriam: "Never had I wanted to see my beloved's face so painted with grief..."
*Miriam: "...nor my daughter's in innocent confusion and sorrow."
*Gortius: "Miriam! No, don't leave me!"
*Gortius: "What will I do without you?"
*Gortius: "... ..."
*Gortius: "I can't go on without you, Miriam. You were my light and my life..."
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*Apprentice: What's this? Who—
*Apprentice: ...A child?!
*Mage: What is it, Elaina?
*Elaina: There's an abandoned child lying on the front steps, master.
*Elaina: She's clutching some kind of emblem. An Alethi sigil, in fact.
*Mage: Is that so?...
*Mage: ...Take her in. We can't leave her out in the cold.
*Mage: I'll speak to the elders. An Alethi child may prove to be an excellent protege for the Light of the Grand.
*Elaina: Even if her heritage is cause for contention?
*Mage: My girl, bloodlines have never factored into the pursuit of knowledge.
*Mage: She will find a much better life with us than if the city watch gets a hold of her.
Portrait 	Dialogue
 	
*Miriam: *gasp!*
 	
*Miriam: (...Another nightmare.)
*Miriam: (Gortius...followed me into death...)
*Miriam: (And was that the mage guild, Light of the Grand, where Evie ended up?)
*Miriam: (What a horrifying turn of events it would have been.)
Music: "Devil's Heart"	Music: "Devil's Heart"
 	
*A dark shadow at the corner of her vision flits out of the window into the melting dusk.
*Slipping out of bed as quietly as possible, Miriam leaves a chaste kiss on a slumbering Gortius and leaves the room.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*Even at such an early hour, several members of their inner circle are already bustling around the main hall.
*General: My Queen. You are early today.
*General: I was hoping only to rouse you at a more respectable hour.
 	
*Miriam: At ease. I was...restless.
*Miriam: Report.
 	
*General: Huster's progeny has raised a small militia and is openly challenging you, my Queen.
 	
*Miriam: Me? Not the crown?
 	
*General: A matter of honor, certainly, since his father met his end at your hands.
*General: Among other...colorful terms he has used to refer to you.
 	
*Miriam: Hmph. Then let us ride to meet this impetuous fool.
 	
*General: I shall send word for the royal army immediately. And the King?
 	
*Miriam: Leave him out of this.
 	
*Miriam: He need not concern himself with petty rabble.