Chapter 5
1458 Words
-Ashes-
“Do I really need to repeat myself, son?” Rathilion’s father inquired.
I sat a little farther behind him, with Laelia’s brothers surrounding me, looking as worried as I felt. Once again, as Rathilion brought up the war and the idea of supporting me and Laelia, his father opposed the idea.
“This isn’t something we can simply ignore, Father,” Rathilion pressed. “Laelia is already out there gathering allies for the upcoming war! We need to be prepared as well!”
“We aren’t going to war!”
“But we can’t just sit and wait!” Rathilion insisted.
His father turned his gaze to me, his eyes filled with a hostility that felt like it could pierce through me.
“You brought this upon my family. These… ideas,” he accused.
“I’m simply trying to reclaim what was taken from me. I’m certain you understand that—”
“No,” he interrupted. “I do not understand. War is death, and I will not send my son to his death, nor any other elves, for a war that isn’t even ours to fight!”
“But if we don’t fight, how long until their uncle comes here? How long until he wants more? Richard is a man driven by hunger for power, and he doesn’t care who he has to kill. He orchestrated his own brother’s murder! He had his nephew killed. Who knows what else he’s capable of?” Rathilion argued.
His father didn’t seem very affected by his son’s words, merely tapping a finger against the white table we were all sitting at.
“Please, Your Highness—” Will attempted, but the king cut him off by raising his hand.
“My answer is no,” he stated firmly.
Rathilion groaned in frustration and looked to his mother. “And yours?”
She gazed at him for a moment before turning to her husband beside her. He looked at her, slightly perplexed.
“Maybe we should at least prepare,” she suggested.
Rathilion turned back to his father, who seemed surprised by the queen’s response.
“Father, we need to take action!”
“No.”
“We’ll die otherwise! War will find us!”
“Not if we stay here! Here, we will be safe,” the king insisted.
“What are you so afraid of? Isn’t this what you trained me for?”
“Not for war! But to be king!”
“And a king makes decisions that are best for his people!” Rathilion shouted.
“But you are not king yet!” his father retorted, standing abruptly. “And now I doubt you ever will be!”
His mother looked as shocked as Rathilion did, but the king didn’t say another word. He just turned away and left.
Rathilion turned to his mother, looking rather angry. “Didn’t you say you would support me?” he demanded.
“I did, didn’t I? But I can’t change your father’s stubbornness,” she replied.
“You should have done more! You should have pushed him harder!”
“It’s your job to push him.”
“Then what is yours?” he sneered.
He got up from his seat and walked out. I had never seen Rathilion lose his temper before, but this time his father had truly made his blood boil, pushing him to the point of seeing red.
I heard the queen sigh as I watched Rathilion leave. Slowly, I turned to her, and she calmly met my gaze.
“You think the same as my son,” she observed.
It wasn’t a question. She could read me—she could read all of us.
“I had… hoped you would say a little more than just, ‘maybe we should at least prepare’,” I admitted.
The queen nodded slowly. “I know he won’t change his mind, and neither will my son. I cannot play a role in all of this.”
“Play a role?”
“This is meant to be. Their conflict will make them both stronger and wiser. They need this,” she explained.
“So you were never going to support us?” Carter questioned. “You needed them to fight… like this? Why?”
She simply smiled, a bit secretively, before rising and leaving the room as well, leaving me and Laelia’s brothers in the dining room, along with Libelle, Kayda, Mayla, and Sivanna. Ladon often missed these dinners, always out exploring, but he had been hiding even more since I tried to tell him about the challenges we would face in the future.
“That went… well,” Mayla remarked.
“So, what do we do now?” Henry inquired. “The queen was kind of our last hope.”
“Who even wants their family to fight like this?” Sivanna muttered. “It’s ridiculous.”
I sighed, leaning back in my chair as I rubbed my forehead. I had no idea what to do next. Without Rathilion’s father on our side, things would become very difficult.
“What are you thinking?” Will inquired.
“That we can’t do any more here,” I replied. “We should start packing.”
“You want us to head south already?” Carter asked. “But I’m sure Laelia hasn’t even reached the nymphs yet. Won’t it be too early?”
“I want to talk to Mefan before she gets there. I don’t trust him,” I explained. “I think we should all have a little chat with him first.”
Her brothers nodded slowly, though it seemed like Mayla didn’t agree.
“Hold on,” she interjected. “Let’s not forget Mefan offered his help to Laelia, not you. He might not want to talk to any of you, and it’s not safe to leave here.”
“We don’t really have much choice,” Henry pointed out. “We need the help.”
“I’m not saying we don’t need it, but maybe we should wait a little,” Mayla suggested.
“Or maybe,” Sivanna added, “don’t give up yet up convincing the king.”
“You heard him,” Will responded from beside her.
He was holding her hand on the table, and Sivanna turned to him, shaking her head slightly.
“So? You just need to keep pushing him. He has to give in at some point!”
But I understood what she was really saying. She didn’t want Will to leave.
-Laelia-
“How are you feeling?” I looked across the orange and red flames and met Tylon’s eyes as he watched me in the dark night. My brothers had taken the first shift and were patrolling nearby, keeping us protected from all sides.
“Don’t ask me that. Please. I don’t want to talk about it,” I replied.
“But you should. This is serious,” he whisper-yelled.
“I know! I’m the one carrying the child, aren’t I?”
“Laelia,” he sighed.
“Just drop it. We can talk about this when we’re alone.”
“We might not be alone for a very long time,” he countered.
“Well, then you might have to wait a very long time,” I shot back.
“You can’t fight in this war. You should go back,” he urged. “No one would blame you, considering—”
“That I’m pregnant?” I retorted, annoyed. “I’m not going back! So just. Let. It. Go.”
“Laelia, this baby might rule the North and South. He or she is the future—you need to be careful,” he pressed.
“And I am being careful, but I’m not going back. Do you really think I’m that weak?”
“Weak?” he echoed, looking confused. “You are anything but weak!”
I stared back at him, feeling perplexed. “Then what is it? Why are you so scared for me?”
He sighed, lowering his head slightly as he considered my question. I watched him closely, seeing the internal struggle he was facing.
“I tried to hurt you,” he whispered. “I almost killed you… because I didn’t recognize you, and yet you still saved me. You still came for me. I can’t bear to see you hurt. Please. I can’t.”
A small smile formed on my lips as I finally saw a glimpse of the man he used to be—my friend.
“I won’t be hurt, because I have you by my side,” I reassured him with a smile.
He returned a faint smile, nodding. “Always.”
- Writer
