Dark One Rising(124)
He looked over his shoulder at Dain; the king nodded. “You may use my audience chamber if you wish. It’s comfortable, and no one will disturb you.”
“Thank you.”
Melenthia looked at Dain again, this time her mouth turned down. They were hiding something from her. “What are you both hiding from me?”
She said it to Dain, and he shook his head. “It’s for your brother to talk to you about, not I. When you’re ready, join myself and Alek in the conference room with the others. We will have much to discuss.”
He tried to smile at her, to reassure her that it would all be alright, but he failed.
Her concern turned darker. “What’s going on? Has something happened to father?”
“Come, Melenthia, let’s speak alone.” Kevaan took her hand in his; Dain leading them out of the hall and into his audience chamber. He nodded to her when she glanced his way, but closed the door behind them.
When they were alone, she looked up at her brother, noticing the dark circles under his eyes for the first time. “You look terrible, Kevaan. Please, what has happened? Is it father?”
“Yes.” He grabbed her hand and took her to sit beside him on a velvet chaise. He swallowed and began slowly. “Fallon is growing more powerful, Melenthia. After your escape, he became angrier and more determined to have you. He has begun a campaign to rule all of the land, taking out anyone who stands against him. For fear of death, most have joined him, but he wants a throne and will do anything to have it. And he doesn’t want a throne to rule one realm; he wants one to rule them all. He has already begun making his way through Aaralyn, and I fear that Dain will feel the threat in his realm soon enough. Being king, I can only do so much. I need Dain’s help and any others who wish to pledge their alligence.”
She didn’t answer him for a long moment, the words “being king” finally sinking in. She paled and looked up at her brother, fear and pain in her eyes. “Father? Is he.. dead?”
He swallowed again, not able to commit himself to saying the words to her out loud.
“Kevaan, tell me, what has happened?”
He began slowly. “The wraith, Fallon’s counselor, he… he stayed behind to keep control on father. I tried my best to keep his attention away from the being, but the wraith was too strong. He killed father, Melenthia. Father is dead.”
She started shaking her head, not wanting to believe him, but knowing just the same that what he said was true. She began to cry, her hands shaking, her voice rattled. “No… father. It can’t be true.”
“I’m sorry, Melenthia, that once again I have to bear you with such grave news, but it’s true. Father is dead, I’m now the only ruler Aaralyn has.”
She started to cry uncontrollably now, her whole body wracked with sobbing. He put his arms around her and held her tight. He let her cry. For an hour they sat like that, her sobbing into his chest, him holding her tightly. He said nothing. She asked nothing. The truth was clear, and there was nothing to do to change it. After quite some time she settled and lifted her eyes to him. They were red, and her face was flush from the sobs and from pressing it into her brothers large chest.
She looked up at him, a look of brave determination showing on her face now. He was taken aback by it, but said nothing to her. He simply looked into her eyes, the emerald pools roomy from tears, but vibrant as ever. She sat up straighter and took a deep breath in.
“Father is gone now. There is nothing we can do to bring him back. You’re king now, Kevaan, and we have decisions to make.”
Her stolid look had shocked him, but her declaration shocked him more. She was not the same girl who left him months ago, fleeing from a devastating fate. She had grown and had a maturity that he’d never seen in her. Something happened while she was here. He wanted so much to ask her, but he held back. If she wanted him to know, she would tell him. He looked into her face and almost smiled, despite the seriousness of the situation.
“What’s happened to you, Melenthia? Where did that little girl with the rebellious nature go, and who is this mature and graceful woman I see before me?”
“You didn’t expect me to be a little girl forever did you?”
“No, of course not, but I didn’t expect to find a mature one in her place so suddenly.”
“Things have happened, Kevaan. Things I cannot explain, but things that have come about nonetheless. I’m not the same person I was when I left.”
“That I can see.” He decided to ask, “What is it? Tell me.”
“There are things about me that you may not believe, things that will make you see me even more different still. But for now, know this. I have chosen the man for me.”