I am Reborn through Revenge

The king is alive

What is he doing here? How? Who invited him? I thought he was sick? Impossible!

I saw my father walking gently towards the stage with two palace officials on their official robes. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and bowed immediately. When I mean everyone, I mean even the Queen also knelt on the floor. I couldn’t possibly measure the amount of surprise written on her face. Young and Nightwinder weren’t even looking at him, they avoided his scary gaze at all cost. Diane’s lips were shaking. She was the only person looking at the king as he was visibly approaching the stage (I was also looking too, maybe I did it out of curiosity) Every other person had bowed down their heads to welcome him. Everywhere became suddenly quiet. It was as though a desert storm seethed the whole place.

My father had changed a lot. His beards were grey in an uneven patch of white. His eyes went deeper inside unlike how they used to be; it gave him a lurid look. His eyes looked more sunken than they used to be, too scary to look into. His beards had spread to his nose in places— his lips hidden by the overgrown whiskers in his mouth which covered certain areas in his nose. He wore a golden crown over his head which covered his short haircut totally. He retained a few of his physical features. One of the new things I noticed first about him was his shape— he had gotten bulkier and I think it might be because he had stayed indoors for a long time.

I watched him as he walked closer. Veronica vacated the seat she had been sitting on and the King went directly there and sat down. He held out his hand to Nightwinder without looking at him or anyone else. What was he planning to do? I was confused. I could see the confusion on Nightwinder's face too. “His Majesty. Should. . . should I. . .” I had never seen Nightwinder stutter like this before.

“The scroll!” King Dracula said. His voice was coarse and loud.

Nightwinder immediately brought out the scroll and handed it over to him. The king opened it and scanned through it for a while then he tore it into pieces.

Why exactly did he do that? I saw Queen Veronica's jaw dropped, surprised as well. Night's eyes blazed. Young stood up from his seat and stayed behind his sister. “Listen to my decree everyone,” the King said.

Everyone stood up immediately including the guards. I was the only one that didn’t stand up— not like I didn't want to but I was the only one that his hands were tied in the back. “I, King Dracula have set Prince Anon free of whatever crime he had been accused of this moment. Be that known to everyone bearing witness today that from this moment henceforth, every charge against him has been declared invalid. Therefore on this note, he is as free as an Eagle hunting for his dinner.”

Everywhere was silent. The way I saw it, not even a fly moved. I began to ask myself incredulous questions that I couldn’t answer. Does it mean I had been set free? Just like that? I was no longer a condemned criminal who was about to be killed? The funniest thing was, the King had the authority to declare any person free of any crime in Zahrin. In fact, the king of Zahrin had every right to set even a slave that serves under any master free. His power supersedes that of the crown Prince, which means that anything he says is final. There are countless things the King of Zahrin could do with his power that could be really dangerous especially when a bad person assumes the throne.

The guards quickly released the rope they had used to tie my hands to my back. I watched my father for a while. But he wasn’t looking at me. I just stood there staring at him like he was some sort of masquerade. I began to think. One of the most important questions of them all was: who told my father that I was here?

Yes, I was curious to know. He was sick, so I was told. So how was he able to come out? I thought he didn’t care about me so why would he come out from his sickbed to save me? This was all confusing and the more I think about it, the more confused I become. That was my first time seeing my father for more than ten years. So why was it that I saw him on the day of my execution? This was no coincidence. Someone might have told him that I was going to be killed and that was what made him come out from his quarters. Does it mean he still cared about me? I was wondering who that might be, who could have told him that I was in trouble? Who had the access to his room? Who could have such influence? I realized that these were not questions that I would answer immediately. Maybe with time, things would reveal themselves, I thought.

My father stood up, his face, expressionless. He walked out from the stage with the two palace officials who had brought him. They probably went back to the palace, I thought. Night looked at me, his face; red and murkish. I had expected nothing less. He was ridiculed and disgraced. He should be angry with himself or maybe angry with me. Perhaps he may be mad at father too. I didn’t care. I looked at the Queen or was it, Veronica, her sneaky smile was gone. Her face looked like it was dragged through the mud. She was looking nasty and would probably kill me at that point if she could. She shot me an irate gaze when her eyes caught mine staring but I smiled in return. She then chewed on her lips, stood up, and left. Diane followed her immediately. Then I saw Marie leaving too. I wish I could talk to her. I wanted to say something to her. But then there were too many people. How could I have done that in the middle of people who had wanted to kill me? Nightwinder wouldn’t mind vexing out his anger to anything that I held dear just to get to me. So if I had tried anything stupid, then I might be putting Marie's life in danger. That was why I had to abolish the thought of talking to her right then.

I decided to go to the palace and check if I would see my father. I needed to meet him. I needed to thank him for what he did for me.

When I set out to meet him, I was confused at first I didn’t know where to go. Should I go to his quarters or should I go to his office? I decided to go to his quarters first. When I got there, my presence was announced. I was asked to come on in

I saw my father, sitting on a chair with the two palace officials who had come out with him when he saved me. I bowed and greeted them. After they responded, they began to leave one after the other. Now, I was alone with my father.

“Your Majesty,” I said and kneeled before him. He regarded me with tired and sleepy eyes. He looked sick.

“Anon, ” he said, his voice still deep but still dull anyway. “You may rise.”

I stood and looked at him. His eyes were like someone looking into the sun. I didn’t know exactly what to say to him or what to say first. “I. . . I want to,” I said, stuttering. “I want to say thank you Father for what you did for me today.” I bowed again.

I heard him as he swallowed his spit. “A son should never thank his father for saving his life. It is the duty and the role of any responsible father to help his child when he needs help.”

I looked at him straight in the eyes, and I couldn’t believe he was the person that said that. Even though he saved my life but was he in a position to say that? The statement made me very angry. I wished he had told me that earlier. I wished he had told me this before I was banished. I wished he had acted like a RESPONSIBLE father he was talking about. Maybe my life wouldn’t have taken a new dimension. Maybe I wouldn’t leave at the mercy of the queen and her children.

“But father,” I said, my voice was trembling. “Y—you have not lived up to expectations as a responsible father you are talking about.”

I couldn’t hide it anymore. I had wanted to tell him straight in the eyes that he failed on his responsibility. I had wanted to tell him so many things. I had this urge to say it all. Maybe because I had had so many grudges in my heart which I had haboured for years. “How were you able to sleep all these years knowing that your first son was banished, father? How were you able to sleep when you didn’t even bother to check up on him and know how he was doing? How could you say that a responsible father should always be there for his child, give out helping hands to him but. . . but when I needed them, they were nowhere to be found,” I said. Tears began to roll down my cheek. I quickly rubbed it off with my hands.

He closed his eyes for a while and then opened them. He leaned closer to me and kept his hand on my shoulder. “Dear Anon, you can’t really fathom how deeply saddened I am about your predicament. I feel so ashamed of myself whenever the thought of you crosses my mind. I had been scared. I didn’t know exactly how to confront you and pour out the content of my heart. I have failed miserably as a father, that I admit. But it doesn’t take away the love I have for you my dear son.” More tears began to well down my eyes uncontrollably. “Believe me, son, I am aware of everything and I take full responsibility for whatever that might have happened to you. I am not asking you to erase the past or fizzle them away from your brain. All I am asking for is your sincere forgiveness. Never let that light you still have inside you be overshadowed by darkness. I have not been in my best state of health for years and I know it would keep on deteriorating. But for these few days or probably a few months that I have left, I want to use it wisely. I owe you a lot my son but I am afraid, I may not be able to pay them.”

His voice melted my heart. He spoke with a father-to-son voice. It was something I missed all my teenage life.

“Okay. Okay.” I struggled to say it out loud.

He brought his hands down. “Thank you. Thank you, son.”

I nodded.

“It is time to unite everyone in the family. It is time to make everyone be one. I don’t think we can continue leaving as cats and dogs.”

“What?” I asked, shocked. It was as if he spoke in a different language I did not understand.

“Son, it is time to make everyone start eating from the same plate. I think this is the first thing I should do as a responsible father.”

I snorted. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I will be no partaker of such act.”

He snapped me a weary gaze. “What do you mean?”

Good question.

“Father! There is no way I can work out anything with the people who were just planning to kill me a few moments ago. I don’t think that will ever work.”

“Nothing ever does at first. It could be worked on. We can work things together and achieve good results”

“Your Majesty,” I said. “With all due respect, You are wrong.”

“What?”

“I am sorry but I don’t think I will ever do such a thing. There is no way that I am going to start working out things with the same people that wanted to kill me. Nothing can ever work within us.”

“But, Anon,” he said. “You are my eldest son. Not just my eldest son but you are my first son. As the eldest son, you have certain responsibilities that await you. The unity of the kingdom rests upon your shoulders. You have a duty to make sure that the harmony of this kingdom stands the test of time. This would give rise to a stronger nation and even stronger allies for Zahrin and her people.”

I chuckled. I understood the salient point my father raised and also where he driving to but it was no longer my responsibility.

“But father, I am not the crown Prince.” I refuted.

He gently removed the golden crown on his head and held it with his hand. “Does being the crown Prince make any difference?" he asked. "It doesn’t.”

To be honest, he didn’t say what I had expected him to say. “Father, we will leave this topic for another day. But there is something I wish to know.”

He narrowed down his eyes. “What is it?” he asked.