No one questioned our arrival on the streets like before and I stopped in front of everyone, getting off the horse I was on. “Take the horses and ride to the palace. We’ll go ahead and prep my father for your arrival.”
“Why doesn’t that sound like a feasible plan?” Ruby asked when she took the reins of Darius’s horse.
“Don’t worry.” Darius said. “We’re within the walls during the day, they won’t attack.”
“At least not by range.” Troy added.
“Oh, that’s nice.” Jaylyn replied as she took the reins of his horse.
“You’ll be fine.” I assured them. “Something seems different about them. Most people will be too curious to challenge you and on your way, stop by the Cappel house and bring the spy with you. Anyone know where it is?”
“I think I do.” Adele said. “But Cappel is her maiden name. I thought she was married.”
Troy sighed and turned to her. “Was. Past-tense. He’s dead.”
“How do you know her?” Ruby smiled. “A past lover?”
Darius and I laughed for a moment until Troy looked over in a glare.
“Ruby, it’s Julianna.” Jaylyn whispered.
“Oh, his mother! Sorry. We’ve been there before, remember? She helped us escape with Kathryn who is coincidentally Zayden’s mother. Huh. Small world.”
I cleared my throat to change the subject. “Well, we should go and so should you.”
“Wait, what about when we get to the gates?” Adele asked. “It’s unlikely they’re going to let us right in. Our last visit didn’t end well.”
“We’ll take care of that before you get there. They’ll be so focused on us that they won’t notice you.”
“Very well.” Aleksander said. “This will give you some prep time so good luck.”
“Rift, stay with them.” He looked up at me with sad blue eyes and whined. “It’ll be okay.”
“He’s worried because he doesn’t like us.” Trever said, probably reading it from him. “You’re the one related to Ryon. That’s why he likes you.”
“Well, he’s going to stay just the same. We need to do this alone.”
Rift back up towards them with his tail almost between his legs and another whine.
I took a hold of Darius’s arm and Troy’s arm and used my speed before they could even ask what I was about to do. I thought it to be the best decision. We arrived swiftly to the palace gates.
The two guards standing watch were jumped and took a step back when we just appeared in front of them.
“By the way, thanks for telling us.” Darius said, hunched over for a moment to get his head back.
“Your majesty, my lords, you have returned.” One of the guards said while they both bowed their heads.
“Let us in, my father is expecting us.”
“Of course, your majesty.” They both moved away from the gate and opened it for us but followed, leaving the gate unprotected like I hoped and we walked right up to the palace.
I was first to enter and we stopped just inside the door. It was quiet and like every time before we’ve returned home from some trip, my father was sitting in the throne going about his usual business of running the kingdom. His eyes were focused down and I called for his attention before I took another step in. “Father!”
His head lifted and his eyes opened a little more shockingly when he saw us standing by the door. “Zayden!”
He stood right up but Lamar took a step just passed him with a beaming loud voice. “Guards! Seize that traitor!”
Guards rushed in and began to surround us. Darius and Troy got ready to take out their weapons in protection of me but my father took a step closer and put up his hand. “No! Let them pass!”
The guards backed off with the King’s demand and Darius and Troy relaxed their nerves for a moment while they remained still with me.
“Your majesty, I strongly advise against this.” Lamar said, his hidden aggravated glare peering down towards me. I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to see me again. “They aided the enemy and killed over a dozen of your men. You cannot—”
“Traitors or not, they’re still my sons and this country needs them. Zayden most of all.”
Lamar was displeased as I knew he would be but my father would never cast us out, no matter what we’ve done. I guess I’ve always known that.
“Come my sons.” My father held out his hand as a gesture of welcome just as I predicted. “We have much to discuss.”
“Yes, father.” I used my speed to get in front of him quickly and stood only two feet away. “We do.”
He was shocked to see this change in me and sat back in the throne from the surprise of my sudden appearance. “What have they done to you?”
I stood silent for a moment, waiting for Darius and Troy to reach my sides at a normal walking pace. “We’ve been reborn, father. This was our choice.”
“And you have returned to your forgotten home for what reason?”
“Not forgotten. We had no choice.”
“No choice?” Lamar stood aside and sounded repulsed to hear what I said. “It is you who brought the enemy here and it is you who chose to flee with them.”
My eyes never left my father to look at Lamar and I talked as if he wasn’t standing here at all, trying to keep my anger to just a certain level. “But they’re not the enemy. Not anymore.”
“They are the Kalu Assassins!” My father bursts out, changing the tempo while leaning forward. “They we’ll always be the enemy!”
“You say that even after you have offered them a place here?”
“The circumstances changed. They made their choice. They chose to remain the enemy and that’s what they are.”
“Only because you would never give them a real chance to prove otherwise.”
“Oh and you would?” Lamar wondered.
“Yes.” I answered, finally acknowledging Lamar’s presence in the conversation. “We’ve gotten to know them and they are no different from us, except where they’re from. They cannot be punished for that!”
“They can be and they will be.” My father replied. “I’m not reopening the terms of my offer. This infatuation you three have for those women is ruining how you see this world!”
“No. If only it’s made it more clear.”
My father was very displeased and let us know it. He sat back comfortable but his anger only risen. “I forbid it! You know you three are always welcome here but if you choose to cross what separates our worlds, I shall pass my judgment and be forced to do what I don’t want to.”
I couldn’t believe what he was saying since I already knew about his past and the parts of it he forgot to mention. “If you condemn us, you just condemn yourself.”
“Mixing with them is forbidden!”
“How can you say that when you’ve been there too?!”
“This is not about me. I came to terms with my past a long time ago and moved on from it. I will not have you suffer through the same.”
“But you haven’t moved on from it, father. You’re always reminded of it when you look at me.” He fell silent for a moment and I was ready for the truth even if I had to pull it out of him forcefully. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. You’re my father and should always be there for me but you’ve lied to your own son just to hide your faults. Well, no more. It’s with the truth that we will move on from this chapter in life; this chapter of war that you’ve built around it and I want to see her, now! Where’s Kathryn? Where is my mother?!”
He remained still by my demand but became curious with anger. “Who told you of this?”
“Another part of your past you’ve tried hiding from. The one person you’re really continuing this war for.”
My father looked down. On this day he was wearing that ring Trever had once told us about. The ring that was sealed with a promise of peace and the stone that would glow when in the presence of another. Well, it was glowing now and my father closed his eyes with his name
. “Aleks.”
“It’s good to see you, my old friend. Look at what the years have done to us.” Aleksander was stepping towards us with the others following carefully behind. Rift was happy to see me but I only held my hand out for him to stay put for the moment and waited for a reaction from my father.
He immediately got to his feet and his eyes grew black. “You had no right!”
I pulled on Troy and Darius to back off while Aleksander walked closer and he managed to keep his voice calm. “You’ve kept this from him for too long, Izin. He had a right to know.”
“You should not have intervened! I would have told him on my own time!”
“And when would that really be? When it was too late to fix anything?”
“Why is it exactly you dared to come back? I banished you from ever stepping foot into my city.”
“Your son was right. You’re only keeping up with this because you hate the world for something you’ve done.”
My father’s black eyes narrowed and he took a slow step forward, reaching down for his sword; another great symbol of Seni’s royalty. Ashvangosha is its name. Forged for perfection with its gold and blue handle, my father pulled it out to show the brilliant shine of the blade. “No one shows disrespect in my house! It seems I must teach you some!” He swung his sword towards Aleksander and he quickly pulled out his, blocking.
“Father!” Adele shouted, taking a step forward.
Trever grabbed her arm to pull her back. “No! They need to work it out their way.”
She pulled her arm away and just stood and watched like every other person in the main hall. It seemed no one intended to do a thing about it when the two Kings began dueling each other. Even I didn’t get involved. I sensed something different about my father in this situation and thought that maybe this was the window of opportunity I needed to just let happen. Trever did say that this was something they needed to work out on their own and I was going to listen. He always seemed to be right.
“You were always so bent on making sure others learned from their actions that you never had time to learn from your own.” Aleksander said through the sounds of clashing metal.
“You’re one to talk.” My father replied, swinging his sword in a vicious attempt to strike. “You’ve spent most of your life taking orders. That couldn’t have given much time for you to learn of anything you’ve done, hence why you’re here!”
“You’re the one that came looking for me in the first place!” Aleksander was mostly trying to keep my father at bay than really fight back but this was the first time I really saw either of them in real action. “And yet you always direct the blame away from you!”
“So, you’re saying this is all my fault?” My father wondered, taking this bickering sword play farther into the main hall.
“No, it’s really all of our faults. We all knew the risks of what we were doing.”
“Well, maybe that was a mistake!”
“I know you don’t really think that.”
“If you’re asking me to forgive and forget then you can forget it! I’ve spent too long suffering from it to let it all go just like that!”
My father came at Aleksander and he put his sword up, locking blades with him. “But you’re the one that made the choice for yourself! You could have let the outcome be much different.”
“You know I wouldn’t have. You knew it then. You would have done the same thing for me. I survived from it but he would have made sure you didn’t.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You did die as far as I was concerned because it changed you that much.”
“Well, what did you expect? That we’d be able to do it all over again? We’ve had our time but it’s been long over. The world would suffer for it this time.”
“Suffer? It’s already suffering because you’ve been dragging it out.”
“Then what do you want? Absolution for the past? Fine! Then I’m sorry, all right?”
I was amazed to hear those words come from my father’s mouth and watched on proudly. I knew it was about to be resolved and they would have done it themselves just like it should have been.
“I’m sorry that nothing worked out like we’d hoped.” My father went on, lowering his voice while his eyes slowly started to fade back with every apology he gave, ending his attacks completely through it. “I’m sorry that I was such a jerk to you and made you leave and I’m sorry that I didn’t reply to you when you lost your wife. I mourned her greatly but if our past didn’t end the way it did, you wouldn’t be where you are today. Kalu’s King. I told you you’ve always had it in you. Believe me yet?”
“I think now I might.”
They both smiled and my father was first to put away his sword. “I suppose it’s time to put the past where it belongs. My sons have shown me where true loyalties lie.”
He glanced to me and I smiled with a nod. “War was never who you are, father. I know that now. It’s time.”
The impossible has seemed to become possible and it is I who got my father to finally realize it. How could he refuse it now? He couldn’t because he never lost who he once was. It’s just been masked for a long time; for too long and now he was giving the chance to change it.
“You’re right, son.” He turned to Aleksander, holding out his hand. “Let us forgive those years that separated us and welcome the old visions we once shared.”
Aleksander took his hand, pulling each other close and embraced one another, securing the future of peace.
“Now tell the world.”
My father smiled and took off his ring, holding it towards the two stones Aleksander pulled from his pocket. They were both pear shaped. One was in a ring setting and the larger of the two was on a necklace. Even Trever stepped away from Adele with the small one in his possession and held it with the rest.
They began to glow brightly and the three of them spoke as one. “Promises made in a darkened day, come to life and we do obey. Fulfilled to the oath we swear, now show the world the light we share.”
The stones were even brighter now, intensifying with each word until a beam of light shot from within them straight through the glass roof to the structure at the center of the palace. I was once told there was a beacon placed on the highest point of the palace roof that was said to show the world that Seni has made peace but one of my ancestors replaced it with a stone structure.
History lied. The light broke through the stone to reveal that the beacon still existed under the marble bricks. It shone with the light it was given and soon, the rest of the world would see it.
“Your majesty, I must protest.” Lamar said amidst this glorious moment.
I was frustrated with him for even daring to speak and even Rift felt it from me and growled a little. Lamar was not going to change this or even get in the way. I made sure of it and finally got the chance to do what I always wanted. I laid him to the floor with a swift swing of my fist and he looked up at me as I was looking back angrily, trying to keep my eyes from turning black. “You’ll protest nothing.”
“Zayden, what is the meaning of this?” My Father asked.
“You should be asking him that? He tried to have me killed!”
Lamar immediately got to his feet and tried to defend himself. “What an absurd thing to say! I have been nothing but loyal to this family for years.”
“You’re lying right now! Just admit it!”
“You don’t have any proof to this insane accusation.”
“And what makes you so sure about that?” I looked up and waved to the others at the door. They stepped aside and the Senian spy walked through. “Here’s my proof!”
Lamar’s eyes got wide when the spy walked over and kneeled down in front of the King. “Your majesty. What the Prince says is true. Your royal advisor paid me and threatened my family to kill your sons and any traveling with him.”
Lamar immediately stepped to the King, showing nervousness in his voice as he should. “Surely you don’t believe that s
tory, your majesty. They must have bribed him to say that.”
“He is also the one that ordered the attack on your sons which led them to leave the city. This I know to be true.”
Lamar’s mouth dropped and he looked over at my father just as everyone else did. My father stood tense and his breaths seemed calm but his eyes were telling another story. He took a step closer to Lamar and every inch that disappeared between them, my father’s eyes were turning black. I knew this feeling but I felt better now that he finally knew the truth. “You’ve tried to have my sons killed?”
“No, your majesty.” Lamar shuttered with a shaking voice, becoming scared for his life to actually see this side of my father’s anger directed at him. I didn’t know he knew about it but he wasn’t exactly paralyzed with fear. It couldn’t have been his first time.
“You lying murderous wretch!” He struck him across the face. “Have I not been generous enough to you with all of the scheming comments about Zayden’s decisions? I have noticed and it would seem that I’ve been letting them slide for too long.”
“Your majesty, please.” Lamar begged but obviously not getting him anywhere when my father’s eyes remained black.
“But since it’s been a crown you’re after, I’ll give you one.”
“Father!” I took a step forward ready to intervene in this decision but it seemed I didn’t know the full outcome.
My father held up his hand for silence and was still looking at Lamar. “On your own private island off the east coast where you can govern it how you wish.” Now I started to smile but Lamar looked more worried the more my father went on. “I am condemning you to a life of exile for high treason to the crown and the failed assassination attempt on members of the royal family. Guards!”
Two guards came over, each taking one of Lamar’s arms. “But your majesty! Please!”
“Escort this traitor to the eastern docks and send him on the next ship. Be sure that he can’t return.”
The guards started to drag him off and he shared his last look with me. I just smiled like I always do when my father takes my side and Lamar returned it with a glare. He was angry and was being walked to the exit with his title stripped from him.
Raining Light (Fate's Intent Book 5) Page 25
