by Kran Sanon
“The secret that I am keeping might make you hate me. So, are you sure that you want to do this?” Solas asks.
“Yes!” Isabela silently replied.
That three-letter word was all that took as Solas leaned over and kissed her again as both of them savoured all the pleasures they could get from one another that whole night.
Deep down, Solas knew that it was wrong, but he ignored everything as he was now a man in LOVE!
END OF CHAPTER 5.
CHAPTER 6
The Goodbyes
It has now been months since the battle of the north and south. King Solas and Amos are about to return from their northern tour. Solas used the journey as an excuse to finally conclude whether Vrailan or any other northern kingdoms had anything to do about the events of Wovia. He returns with no luck. None of the people in the north knew anything about it. It proved that King Morrigan really did not have anything to do about it. This only increases the speculation that the Necros have really returned. Solas still hopes that he is right and all of this was staged by someone, but that belief keeps fading and fading away with every investigation that he carries out. Before he reaches the palace though, he encounters a familiar face; it is Andreas, his brother. Solas asks Amos and his men to give them some space, and they do it at once.
Cullen then asks his brother what he is doing here since no Arkhenian is allowed in the realms of men.
“If an Arkhenian is not allowed here then what are you doing here?” Asked Andreas.
“You know why I am here. I am here to solve a problem” replied Cullen with anger.
“You mean you are a here to fuck a human and make a child with her” Andreas sarcastically responds.
Andreas is referring to Queen Isabela being pregnant with a child that belongs to Cullen. After hearing Andreas talking like that, Cullen holds his neck and lifts him in anger.
“You dare talk to your king in that manner” says Cullen.
“Then why is my king not on a throne which he is supposed to be on?” Andreas struggles to ask while gasping for air.
Cullen lets him go as Andreas continues to speak.
“You are living here as if this is your kingdom and they are your people” Andreas continues to say.
“There are no ‘our people’ or ‘their people’. Everyone matters to me the same. We are all one” said Cullen.
“If that is true then why did you separate the Arkhenians from the realms of men three thousand years ago” replied Andreas.
Cullen tells him that he knows very well why he took that decision.
“The circumstances forced me to” Cullen says.
“But no circumstances are forcing you to abandon your kingdom to sit on a human throne this time, aren’t there?” asked Andreas.
“I did not abandon my kingdom. I am only trying to solve a problem which may relate to what we fought all those years ago. I am just doing what we were meant to do. That is to protect men for this age belongs to them” replied Solas.
“If you had been good king, then those problems would have not even been created in the first place. Those problems arose because of men because you chose them to rule themselves” Andreas responded.
Cullen tries to assure that it was the right thing to do, but Andreas like always is not listening to him at all.
“What you did was not the right thing to do at all. We are the Arkhenians. We were not just created to protect them, but we were created to make sure that men do not lose their way. That literally means to rule them. That is why there are no gods around here anymore. We are the most powerful beings in the world. We are their gods” Andreas claims.
“I am not going to have the same conversation with you again. I told you the last time to drop this once it for al, but you never listen. I do not trust you anymore, brother. Your understanding of ruling and my understanding of ruling is so different. You are no longer the same man that you were those years ago. You are becoming more like our dead brother Connor. A tyrant. That is why you will never become king!” Cullen said.
“Then who will become the King? Your half-human child? I will never let a human sit on the Arkhen Throne. You let your love for them blind you. Is this what you really want? A human sitting on our family throne? Asks Andreas.
Cullen responds by telling him that who becomes king is not a decision for him to make, but Andreas is adamant that he is the only one who should make those decisions since Cullen does not understand what he is doing.
“I am the only one who should make those decisions” he says.
“You prohibited our race from evolving years ago. You commanded us not to make any more Arkhenian children. Why? Because you want to end our race, don’t you?” Andreas asks again.
Cullen stays silent as Andreas continues to say that even though he did not agree with the decision, he remained silent just because others did but now Cullen himself is breaking his rule. Cullen eventually responds by saying the decision he took was right.
“I know the decision that I took all those years ago was the right thing to do. This is the age of men. There is no place for magic or supernatural beings like us” said Cullen.
Andreas accuses him by saying that he has doomed their race and that he does not deserve to be their king but Cullen says that has tolerated his insolence enough and asks him to leave.
“What my children or I deserve is not yours to decide. I will not tolerate your insolence any longer. You will leave these lands immediately and never return until I am here. If I ever see you here again then you will have to spend the rest of your life in the dungeons” Cullen furiously replies.
Andreas leaves angrily as Solas now makes his way to the palace. He is welcomed by the people and his pregnant wife Isabela. Solas says that he wants to see Leliana and asks them about her location. Leliana is at the backyard together with Bernard feeding Noxa. She jumps to delight after seeing her father’s return. Solas asks if she is ready to fly Noxa alone.
“Of course father. Can I do it now?” Leliana asks in amusement.
Solas laughingly tells her that he was only joking.
“You are not ready now to do it alone, but you will be one day” said Solas.
Leliana also points out that she also wants to go to war like him.
“You will also do that one day when you take up the Selux throne” Solas tells her.
Leliana gets confused hearing from people that only men can take up the Selux throne.
“But father, everyone says that no women can claim the throne because of the Selux family tradition. They also say that whoever that I will marry can only sit on the throne” said a confused Leliana.
“Change is inevitable, my daughter. That tradition is something which will change with time, and I am sure that you are the one that is going to bring that change” replied Solas.
“You are going to be the light that will change the perspective of how people see women in this world. The traditions which you talked about were created by blind men years ago who considered women vulnerable but look how wrong they were. The best example I can give is that of your mother. She has led many wars of the past and is more than capable of leading this kingdom or any other kingdom in this world on her own. You are no different from her. You are going to grow up to become exactly like” Solas continues to say.
Leliana is now more focused and determined in her goals by hearing her father speak.
“Remember this my child. We all are not perfect so find the joy in what you have or what you could have if you try. Women are not better than men, but men are also not better than women. We go hand in hand. One without the other will perish. So never be ashamed of who you are for you are the one who shall bring justice to all other women and their rights. You will rule Selux and all its armies and also lead them during times of war very shortly. You will be the inspiration to many women. I know your mother and I will only be very proud of you in the times ahead as we are now” Solas adds.
Over at Arkhen, An
dreas is confronted by the caretaker King of Arkhen Volker Rutherford who asks him about who gave him the permission to Arkhen and to the realms of men.
“I do not need anyone’s permission to leave this kingdom, nephew” Andreas replies.
“Your father has lost his way, but you can correct him if you want. You are the acting king of the biggest kingdom in the world. You have all the power here at the moment. I know you also do not fully believe what your father is doing. Help me to stop him so that our race survives” Andreas adds.
“I do not know what you are talking about, uncle” replied Volker.
Andreas says that he knows exactly what he’s talking about.
“Your father wants to destroy us. He wants to destroy this kingdom, the elf kingdom and everything supernatural so that this world is left for that wretched humans to rule” he told him.
“My father is not trying to destroy anything. I also do not think that it is right, but it is the necessary thing to do. He only wants all our supernatural races to die out because this age belongs to men. We do not belong in this time” said Volker.
“Just think about it for once” Andreas says.
“I will not betray my father” replied Volker.
“I suspected you would say that. I wish you understood, nephew” responded Andreas.
Volker hears the scream of his guards and turns around to see Amulius Carver and his men have killed them. Once he turns around towards Andreas, he gets stabbed by an Arak knife from him which eventually kills him. Andreas then commands his friend Amulius Carver to inform everyone to come to the Arkhen Throne room.
Daniello, the right hand of the king comes with the rest of the Arkhenians but cannot seem to locate Volker as they see Andreas sitting on the throne. They ask where he is, but Andreas informs them that he is dead.
“You traitor!” shouts Daniello as he orders his men to arrest him.
As they are about to do that, Amulius Carver and all of his followers stand in front of Andreas to defend him? Andreas asks Daniello and his followers to listen him out. He then tells them the same thing that he told Volker, but Daniello also tells him that he will not betray his king. He also informs him that he is aware of King Cullen’s plans to eradicate everything supernatural from this world. He says that he knows the reasons as well and supports it.
“You are right, my friend but not entirely” Andreas tells them.
“Your king has left you blinded. You say that you do not want to betray him, but it is him who has betrayed you all. He has betrayed this family and he has betrayed this throne. He stopped us from having children so that he can let our race go extinct but he has broken his own rules. Cullen is planning to have his future human child to sit on this throne. It will be against everything that we stand for. We were created to protect them and not be ruled by them” he continues to say.
Daniello says they do not know anything about what he is talking about but Andreas tells him to go and see the truth themselves.
“Your king has left you in the dark. His human wife is pregnant with his child. He went against his own word and betrayed our trust in him. He loves humans more than us. Why wouldn’t he? He was raised in the realms of men after all. He has a human heart” said Andreas now slowly catching the attention of Daniello.
“He is not the king that he used to be. I know that he won us the Arkhen Wars, but that was over three thousand years ago. He has not been the same ever since. He wants to send our race to extinction. Why? Because he loves those petty humans more than us. They are still not ready to rule themselves. And what if we do listen to Cullen and let our race die out. What will happen then? What if his half-human child realises that he or she is the most powerful person in the world and decide to ask herself that why would he or she kill off her race. He or she will be the only one left. That child will realise that there is no one to stop him or her. He or she will be right. We will not be there to stop him or her. Would you allow such a child to rule the world? A human child of all. You know how they are” asks Andreas.
Daniello stays silent for a while and then looks around to see the reactions of other Arkhenians as some of them seem to agree with Andreas.
“If you are right about this, then you have raised an excellent point but that does not mean that I will betray my king. I will go to Cullen to know the truth. If you are right about Cullen having a human child, then I will not support him but that does not mean that I will fight for you. I will not stand with you, but I will not stand against you either” said Daniello.
Before leaving, Daniello also demands that Andreas gives up the throne because it is not yet rightfully his but Andreas does not agree.
“I am the king that this kingdom needs. Now I will never surrender it. It is what is best for all of us” said Andreas.
Daniello knows that with the support of Amulius Carver and his followers, it would be difficult for him to remove him especially now that some of his own followers have joined him. A battle can also lead to a bloodbath, which is something that Cullen would never want so he takes the wise decision and leaves with his men.
At Selux, Solas and Isabela are in their bedroom talking about the future of their soon to be born child.
“I hope it is a boy so that he can have a legitimate right to sit on the Selux throne” says Isabela not knowing it is a half Arkhenian.
“That is not necessary” replied Cullen.
“If it is a girl then she just like Leliana will have full right to the throne. They will be the ones to bring change” he continues to tell her.
He then repeats to her what he told Leliana about the right for women to sit on the Selux throne. Isabela just looks at him with a smile and then tells him that he keeps on impressing him before kissing him. Solas then informs her of his plans to go east.
“There is something which I need to tell you. I will have to depart for the east tomorrow so that I can finish the mystery of the Necros once and for all” he said.
“What? Tomorrow? But you have only arrived recently from your northern tour. You can’t go now” Isabela replies in shock.
“I know and I am sorry, but I need to end this mystery before it is too late. It is imperative for me to go. I have also asked Samven to provide me the support of elves so that I do not need to risk the lives of our men. They will be better suited for this. They will arrive here tomorrow morning and then I will leave. I promise you that this is the last time I go” Solas responds.
“You say you do not want to risk the lives of our men, but what about your life? You will also be at risk. This will also mean that you will not be here during the delivery of our child” said Isabela.
“I know but please try to understand how important it is to solve this now. I know how important it is to be here with you during this time but what I am doing is for a better future of our children. Please do not send me like this” Solas pleads her.
Isabela eventually has to agree with him reluctantly. Solas tells her that he promises that he will return safely.
“Thank you for being so reasonable, my love. I promise you that I will safely return to you and our children. Once I am back from this, I also promise to tell you the truth. I still do not know how you will react but know that no matter what happens, I will always love you” said Solas.
“Then you also know this my love. Even though I do not what secret you are hiding from me, just know that my love for you will not change after it. I love you, and I will always love you” replied Isabela before Solas kissed her on the forehead as the both of them went to sleep.
The Lord of the Elves Samven has now arrived with some of the elves just as King Solas requested him to do. Solas is now all but prepared to leave for the east. Samven wishes him a safe journey for this trip to the east.
“All the best on your journey to the east again, my brother. I will pray that you return safely together with the information that you have been searching for. It has been a long time now, but I know that you will succeed t
his time” said Samven.
Solas thanks him for his good words and also asks him to take care of these lands until he returns.
“Of course I will. I assure you that you will find all of this exactly like when you left. I give you my word” Samven acknowledges.
Samven then tells him that there is something else which he needs to inform him about as Solas asks what before eventually he informs him.
“Before you go, there is something else which might be important for you to know. This is because I know that you have not been in communication with your son since you left Arkhen” Samven said.
“Your son Volker, the caretaker king of Arkhen has summoned me at his kingdom as soon as possible” he adds.
“Why?” asks Solas.
“I do not know” replied Samven.
“I also do not understand why would he call me without informing you” he continues to say.
“Who delivered this message to you?” asked Solas.
Samven informs him that it was Amulius Carver who brought this message to him.
“Then I would suggest that you take your entire elf army with you” said Solas.
“Why would you want me to do that?” asked Samven.
“Just to be on the safe side” replied Solas.
“I met Andreas some time ago. It just felt like that he is up to something. Amulius stands with him. If he delivered you the message then it may be because Andreas told him and not Volker. So be cautious when you go there. As for Andreas, I will deal with him as soon as I return from the ruins of the Necros Empire” Solas added.
Samven takes heed of Solas’ warning and then departs as Solas says his final goodbyes to his family.
Amos asks if he really does not need him to go with his brother.
“Are you sure brother that you do not require my services in this?” Amos asked his brother.
“I will always need your help no matter what I do, brother. Your help will always be needed, but this is not about that. I would have taken you with me if your presence would have not been needed here but it is. Your sister in law is pregnant and there is no one else that I trust more than you to protect her. You need to keep her and our soon to be born child safe until I return. I am leaving Noxa behind to protect Leliana and also to assist you if need be” said Solas.
