"If you allowed the students to participate." She aimed the following at both Elders. "Then I could have Jatrop help me. He's his brother. They're very much alike. Jaja would know what book to look for."
"And risk having our not yet fully trained soldiers pick up their weapons and try and kick some Regius ass?" I offered. "I don't know all of them personally, but I can see current matters pressing down on them. They're itching for a fight. Give them your finger and they'll rip off your entire arm."
"You make them sound like Rangers." Ilex answered. "Granted, they haven't completed their training yet, but they're not stupid enough to disobey an order or ignore the dangers placed right before them."
"Oh really?" Letting sarcasm drip through my tone, I reminded him. "From what I heard, you made the clear order that this Calycanthus kid was to stay on Coliseum grounds, yet somehow he ended up on Regius territory and is now dead."
"Reed." Caltha clipped out. "Mind your words, would you?"
"He is right though." Cypress responded. "First Aster's offspring disobeys Lupinus' orders, creating great discomfort for Flux. While it's agreed it wasn't her fault she got kidnapped and eventually killed, if it weren't for the lack of attention, we might have been able to keep a better eye on Soldiers and Students.”
I nodded at my brother. "True. Had that not happened, Kalmia's offspring wouldn't have run after her. Which is another thing. We had absolutely no idea Aster's child was part Seer, neither did we know Kalmia had had two children, both part Seer. Both wielding immense power. Imagine those two had still been alive, how would we have contained that power?" I looked over at Aram. "Would we have deprived them of human contact like Vervaine? I understand that this is the only way to keep her safe, but where many don't dare say it aloud, I will. The tactics used on that girl remind me a lot of the Regius cruelty." When silence reigned across the room, I huffed. "And that's not even mentioning the issues that concern the Keeper and the Heir."
"Boys." Our father warned, leading myself and Cypress to shut up. "We're not here to point fingers at one another. Calycanthus and Solenum are dead. I saw it, I reported it, and that's that. Loss isn't irregular in our world."
"Sage has perished as well." Aram announced, only confirming Pieris' statement on loss. I knew the tale between Aram and Sage. It was clear the Elder was a master at concealing his pain. "This should have given us Mallow, Kalmia's first child and whom we mistook for Calycanthus, as an asset, but as Vervaine has seen it in a past vision, she is to be a traitor."
"She has had visions?!" I interrupted. "Breaking down Esquivel's memory block wasn't the first order she disobeyed?"
"Certain things are kept secret." My father clipped out, making it more than clear he wasn't happy with my current behavior. "Some visions slipped through the cracks, they were so powerful, Vervaine wasn't able to stop the assault. It gave us misguided answers on Esquivel's origin and that Galax was to become our answer in desperate times."
"Seers share a connection that nobody but a Seer can understand." Aram continued in Pieris' stead. "Vervaine didn't disobey the order to spite us, or rebel against the Altor system. She broke down Calycanthus' barrier because the Seer inside of her couldn't be stopped." The Elder sighed heavily. "I believe this is also the reason that explains why the Esquivel boy ran off to help Solenum even though he knew of the dangers."
"Your close connection to these children is what is clouding your judgment, Aram." I spat.
"Show some respect!" I nearly jumped out of my skin as my father shouted that. Everyone in the room was silenced, staring intently at Pieris, who was glaring at me.
"How can I respect any of you if you are letting your emotions get in the way?" I said calmly. "I can see it on your face, father. Even that of Aram, the Elder known to be a hard ass, you're second guessing the idea of using Galax as the tool he was meant to become to the Altors." When my father sat down, rubbing the side of his head and looking quite exhausted, I stood and stared everyone down, hard. "Building a new kingdom can only favor us. Or more accurately, creating a kingdom with Galax as its king."
Xania was not being the true heir and being the Steward didn't obtain him the strongest loyalty one could get within the Blue Blood hierarchy. By making Galax king, it was true that it could favor us, as there was solid certainty half of the Regius population would pledge their allegiance to Galax, which would ultimately leave Xania's defenses weaker. That was something that had not happened in a long, seemingly eternal, while.
"Is Flux appealing to you as a parent? Is the love for his adoptive son finally getting in the way?" Cypress backed me up.
"Galax just turned twenty-three." Pieris murmured. "Now sit down and shut your traps." When neither me or Cypress reacted, Aram did.
"You think because both your parents are Elders that you can get away with behavior such as this?"
It was when Ilex cut in with laughter that Cypress and myself sat down, looking over at the trainer in confusion. Aram too, calmed down at the sound.
"Not too long ago Calycanthus pretty much accused us, the entire Altor system, to be racist." Nobody said a word as Ilex murmured this. He was slumped back in his seat, his eyes rimmed with tears and his chuckle sad as he probably thought about the boy. "Please." He clipped out, shaking his head and wiping away the tears before they could fall. "Try to think of Galax as a human being." The trainer stood then, walking away. "Because he is one."
With those words, he exited the conference room, slamming the door after him. Ilex had always been such a goody-goody.
"Even if this option isn't completely righteous where it concerns Galax," Aram said, leading me to calm my nerves when I saw the Elder was getting his head back together. "We have to consider the scale of the war. Do we let the heir be, or do we use and sacrifice him for the greater good?"
"Wow." Caltha said sarcastically. "I didn't want to believe a boy, so naive and innocent, could speak wiser words than my Elders. But I stand corrected."
"Caltha." Pieris used a gentler tone than Aram, but again, I was glad to see my father had gathered his wits back. "It's not as though we won't allow Galax to have some input. But the decisions that will concern Zinc won't be his alone to make."
Now the second Osgood stood, following in the first one's footsteps. "He will be allowed an opinion only when he agrees."
I smothered a smirk as the door slammed a second time. That was exactly why they were trainers and would never become District Leaders. They cared too much.
"I don't think any of you need to worry about Galax making his opinions known." Iris said softly, reminding us of her presence. "At this point he doesn't seem to care about Zinc in any way whatsoever. Days it's been and he only allows himself conversations with the Keeper."
"Does it all really matter?" I spoke. "Are you feeling wrong about putting the prince in that position because he's got the royal dot on his forehead?" I shrugged. "It's not any different from all of us here at the table. We each got a role to play in this war. Since when do we make the battle fit to our situation? Back when I completed my training we fit our situation to the battle."
"Reed speaks true." Cypress said, again sharing the same wavelength as myself. "I'm in charge of hundreds of Altors within the large territory of Cobalt City. Would I rather sit on a porch and play banjo? Most certainly, but the war doesn't allow it. Reed is stuck in the hellhole Iodin City has become because he happens to look the most like a Regius. Did he ask to look like one? I believe not. Yet you did not hear him go up against Elder orders when he was assigned to become Iodin City's watcher."
"Everyone is but a small piece to the large puzzle.” I stated. “Will Galax like the part he has to play? Probably not, but neither do I like having Regius for neighbors.”
"Unfortunately, you are right." My father said and when he smiled, I was glad things had worked out as they should. Perspective in the situation had been returned.
"What about Datura?" Iris asked.
Angi smiled sadly over at
her friend. "Each one of us has lost someone dear to the war. Unfortunately, the Keeper can't be excluded from this."
* * * *
Chapter 32
Narrator
Why did they restrict the heir? He was born Regius with a Pallium upbringing. He’d learned how the Civilians cluelessness could affect someone so painfully by revealing the truth of the war to Solenum. A past decision of his was changed by a Seer vision without his consent for the better of the future. He had traveled and worked arm in arm with a Ranger. And now he was close to death, the Keeper's language no longer something he couldn't understand. If there was one person on Zinc who could understand each and every race roaming this land, it was Galax.
If the Altors weren't so focused on trying to convince themselves the prince was the answer to all their problems, they may have noticed they were losing him.
An effective way to make someone understand they are wrong is to force them to lose something they hold dear through a mistake created by their worst flaw.
I strongly believed that my visions happened in a certain order. I'd known that I'd had to do certain things to force the Keeper of the Dead to use sides of his powers he didn't wish to use. What I hadn't known was that the news of Solenum's death would kill the prince himself.
The higher being harboring more power than I, was starting to play with my foresight regularly. It had forced me to watch Robinia die. I just hoped it knew what it was doing and wouldn't force me to see Galax perish as well.
* * * *
Chapter 33
Datura Lovelace
"What do you mean you're leaving the Coliseum?" The prince asked.
With his mind made up, the Keeper knew how he could leave. "I've had it, Galax. I can't stay here and wait for Cali to come home and reassure me I was right, that he's still alive. I-" He grimaced. "I just can't stay here. I need to prove that what I believe is true."
"You're in denial."
"So what if I am?!" The Keeper shouted. "Unlike you, my body isn't calling game over; I'm still very much alive and don't have the privilege to-" Datura cut himself off, grimacing.
"Were you about to say that unlike me, you don't have the privilege to die?" Galax murmured in disbelief. "Although I'm more then numb right now, I’m thinking that is pushing things a little far, don't you agree? While my life doesn't have much meaning without her, to be forced to turn to dust because she perished is not what I would call a privilege."
The Keeper's red gaze was fixed on the ground, his body feeling rather disconnected right now.
"While you are forced to die," Datura began. "I'm forced to live."
"What are you saying?"
"A Keeper of the Dead is forced to live until an offspring is born from them. Doesn't matter if they harbor the Death Tongue or not. Even if the child doesn't become a Keeper, the gift lies dormant within and can thus be passed on to their child." Sighing and treating the following fact as if it were as old as time itself, rendered boring, Datura shrugged. "I can't die."
"So if I stab you...?"
"Please don't." The Keeper allowed a small smirk. "I can still feel pain and I do actually die. The curse of the Keeper just constantly brings me back to life. I know because-" Wincing, Datura touched his heart. "When Rhamnus threw me through that window many years ago, one piece of glass pierced my heart. I died, but didn't. I thought that maybe I'd just been in too much pain to properly realize what it was that I felt, but when Rhamnus and I came face to face again years later-"
"He shot you." Galax remembered. "Cypress came to Pallium territory to inform us the Coliseum had been attacked, including the house in Serenium. That you had been shot."
Puffing out some air, Datura nodded. "If only he'd told you that Cali had been stabbed and triggered in the process, then the cousins would have been in contact before the castle attack and we might have been able to avoid Sol's kidnapping and forcing Cali after her." Wincing at what he'd been about to say, he shook his head.
Galax ignored the ‘ifs’, focusing on the following instead. "They told us the bullet grazed you."
"It went straight through my heart." Datura raised an eyebrow. "You really think Rhamnus misses when he aims?" Calycanthus had nearly kissed him before the tracker had burst into the room and Datura focused again. "I have to leave so I can find them. I will bring her back to you and your system will stop poisoning you until you die. You'll return to your old self, not this-" The Keeper grimaced at the prince's state. "Empty shell that has no backbone, voice or opinion."
Galax let out a weak chuckle. "I used to be leader material."
While that statement could have been viewed as arrogant, Datura knew it wasn't. It was truth. Galax knew what he was and he knew what he wanted.
"Not anymore though."
"Not yet." Datura corrected. "I know your current situation doesn't help you believe me, but I'm-" Squaring his shoulders and gritting his teeth, the Keeper felt determination flood through him. "I will bring them back."
"Datura..."
Shaking his head, the Keeper refused to hear it. "All I ask of you is that you try and fight whatever it is that is killing you, for as long as you can."
"For Zinc." Galax allowed.
"For Solenum." The Keeper corrected.
"I-"
"You don't need to force yourself to believe what I think to be truth. Just don’t give in or let go before my return."
"I think now is the time I point out to you that two Altors are guarding the door. And have you forgotten the cages we are in? Before my system was under attack and I was in great shape, even I, a pure blood, couldn't break free using the strength." The prince muttered, sounding exhausted. "You want to get out and prove something to yourself? Be my guest, but considering the odds..."
Licking his lips, the Keeper allowed the ghosts to see a part of him he'd never let them see before.
"I am the guide to souls."
"Yes." Galax muttered dully. "So you can chat with the dead. Doesn't mean you yourself are a ghost and can walk through walls."
"Well, no, that would just be silly." Datura agreed flippantly, trying to tune the prince out slowly as he concentrated on the ghosts that were slowly starting to appear before him.
"Alright so tell me something, almighty Keeper. How are you not worried about getting out of here?"
Closing his eyes, Datura breathed in softly. "The Valley of Death doesn't have a specific entrance, Galax. A Keeper can enter the realm from wherever they are. It isn't restricted to the Meadows of Serenium. I could enter it in Cobalt City if I wished to do so, or-"
"The Coliseum." The prince finished as he realized what Datura was getting at. "You're going to travel Zinc through the realm of the Valley? Why do I have the feeling that is dangerous?"
"By placing no limit on the realm to the souls, they have more territory to roam." Datura answered Galax's last observation. "By entering through another entrance I open the space up to them. If I don't set foot in a territory within the Valley, the souls cannot enter that part of the realm."
"Are you sure?" The Prince's voice was starting to fade, letting the Keeper know that he was close; the songs of the souls becoming louder than usual as Datura had shown them a new playground.
Opening his eyes, the Keeper viewed the Coliseum in its red tones, Galax no longer present behind him, the door and cell that had been blocking his path before crumbled down in ruins, leaving him great space to pass through. There was no living Altor present anymore, the only ones keeping Datura company now were the souls. Their translucent, smoky figures dancing through the air as their many different voices sang loudly, joyfully, through the ruins they had never played in. He knew he was making his curse only harder on him by having allowed more space, but he couldn't care. This was the only way that would allow him to find out what he believed to be true.
Knowing he was disobeying the Elders’ orders once again in less than two weeks’ time, he figured that was the least of his worries. Indeed, becaus
e Datura knew where he was heading and exactly who he had to find in order to get the truth, when the Elders would hear about it, not even they would care about the orders given anymore. Because once Datura spoke to the person he sought, the Altors would consider him a traitor.
* * * *
Chapter 34
Delph Riddle
Brass, much like myself, had been angry to find out he'd been lied too. Of course he didn't know how to control his rage, so he'd been pretty ready to just climb onto the highest roof top Cobalt had to offer and shout out the truth from there on forward. While that idea had crossed my mind for a split second, Dell had pointed out that this city wasn't only inhabited by Civilians. Cobalt was Pallium turf, and not only that, once Brass was up to date, Dell had continued to explain some things to us. While Altors could be found all over Zinc, apparently Cobalt City was where the biggest number of Altors resided.
As Dell had continued to tell us details that explained the war, it was made clear that if there hadn’t been some kind of magical hiccup in the Rangers Alley's barrier, I would have never found out the truth. The Altors discipline and knack for following rules along with the Palliums wit and knowledge on technology, they had built their lie extremely carefully, making sure to close any gap a Civilian could accidentally run into and find out the truth.
All the things that had been kept from us, be it communication objects, historical facts, the way people looked, was mind blowing to say the least and not exactly in good sense. While Dell had shown myself and Brass around Cobalt, telling us everything he knew that we weren't supposed to know, my mind had been racing. Brass' solution was to tell the truth to the other Civilians, but while it didn't seem like the smartest way to go about it, it was the only one I could really think of. How else could I show the others the truth? But the city was swarming with soldiers, ready to jump us if we made a suspicious move. I'd doubted it at first, but then Dell had started to point out all the Altors passing by us unnoticed. We'd be tackled down and brought in for questioning before we'd even be able to spell out the word 'war'.
Regius Page 27
