//Chapter 17//
1056 Words
"When my father was dying, he asked me stop the war and reunite Elkelyn and Rawen. To be honest, I don't know why he ever wanted to do that. Perhaps his ability made him know something we couldn't. However, I told him that I didn't know how to make an alliance with our enemies. In the end, I had to marry Resh's mother to do that."
"What do you mean his mother?" I asked. "We both have the same mother, don't we? Resh said he was abandoned when mother was carrying me."
"Yeah." Resh continued. "I was eight. I remember how I wanted her attention, but she never loved me like she was for her unborn baby."
I stared at him. Looking at him loke this, I could see the resemblance between us. Light amber eyes, just like my fathers. Straight nose, sharp cheekbones, slightly pointed ears. I felt guilty for something I didn't even do.
"No, you two had different mothers." My father said, startling both of us. "Resh's mother was the eldest sister of king Droumer. But unfortunately, she died giving birth to my son. I was devastated, and also panicked. That day, seers predicted that Resh is the one to wield the key to Rawen's destruction. They wanted to let him die with his mother, but I couldn't do that. So I raised him secretly."
"I could not tell Elkelyn king that his sister died just like that." My father buried his head in hands for a moment."My father wanted to unite us. I thought that if I go to him with his beloved sister's dead body in less than a year, he would attack us again. That's when her best friend showed up to the rescue."
I looked at Resh. There was something in his eyes that made me take a double back. At first, there.was disbelief and then there was realisation. I could not help it but lightly tap his hand with my finger. I could see him breaking, even though his face yielded nothing. It was so hard to watch."
"So, I married her. She raised Resh just like her own child. We were happy-"
"No she didn't." Resh cut him off. His tone was hard. Under my fingers, I could feel his hands veins popping from his clenched hands. "I thought it was normal for me to stay in the closet unless you or any servants come. I thought it was normal to stab the fork into the mouth when feeding babies. I thought it was normal for stop a crying baby by pinching his nose and covering his mouth." He laughed out loud. "Good thing you left me with the mortals. I could at least know something normal."
I was squeezing his hand now. No baby had to go through that. All I remembered from my mother was laughter and lullabies. The person Resh was talking about... she was a monster.
My father's face was ashen now. It was clear that he didn't know anything about this. Still, I did not feel any sympathy for him. He also abandoned Resh, not just my mother.
"I'm... sorry." He said. And I could see that he genuinely meant that. Resh's posture relaxed a bit. I also let out a long breath. Maybe I could help them reconcile.
"My king, you should continue." Daniel said. "The more time we take, the more time others can come up with a plan to stop this conversation from happening."
He was right. I looked at the guards, who was still under the illusion. Too much of it would drive them insane.
"So, as I was saying, I married Muore. However, the seers and ministers had found out about Resh when Muore was pregnent with you. One day, they abducted him. When I found him again, still unconscious from what ever drug they gave him, I knew that it was too dangerous for him to grow up in Rawen. So that same night, I crossed borders and set him in the mortal realm."
"Later, I don't know how, but one of Elkelyn kids crossed the borders. He had somehow found out about the truth about Pestras and Muore. By then, they were both dead. This was the same time when I had to exile you. In less than a year, first Elkelyn attacks came. They almost got into the borders, but they were not strong enough. Nave and Obliv suggested the method of attacking small areas of Elkelyn, so they won't have yhe time to regroup and attack us again. So far, that method is still working." He finished the story and drank some water.
None of us spoke for a while. That story took some part of me, and I don't even know which was it. "What is my future?" I asked him.
"What?" My father asked.
"You said Resh had his fate seen by the seers. What was mine?"
"I don't know." He said, leaning back on his chair. "Your first seer literally exploded in to pieces trying to see your future. No one dared to try after that."
"Exploded?" I asked.
"You and Resh are both part Elkelyn and part Elf. Elf blood runs more stronger in you than his. We thought he did not have any gifts until he was on the other side of the border. His elf magic is to make anyone his friend, I think. And his Elkelyn power is fire. Yours is illusions and explosion. But explosions are limited to living things."
I felt nauseous. My nightmare came to my mind. There were scattered blood and pieces of people I loved all around me. I had thought I carried a bomb or something, but now I realised that I was the bomb all along.
Feeling sick, I let my posture sag. "Is there anything else we need to know?"
"Well, you can't let your brother die, because the day he dies, Rawen would also fall. Pestras had the gift to look into the future. She was an Elkelyn seer. He foresaw something that lead her here. She often said that when the right moment comes, tell my heir the following words."
Both Resh and I looked up. I didn't feel anything about that.
"Now that you are done seeking, all that's left for you is to perish."
- Writer
