The General's Daughter & His Majesty Book #1

Chapter Nine: Extinction & Extermination

Carperia
Queen Everleigh's POV
It's morning again.

It's morning.

My heavy eyelids struggled to open and adjust to the bright light in the bedroom. I'm accustomed to the view of the beautiful sea. I'm also accustomed to waking up next to a snoring king. I turned quickly only to see Selina seated upright staring at the blank wall facing the bed.

"I have never seen a wall so blank."

"It only makes sense. Carperia is not our home."

"We better start making it out home because we cannot go back to Cray Thera."

I gazed at the old woman. When we arrived here, we were a mess. My clothes and hands were soaked in blood. I was carrying Rehan's sword in my hand. We looked like a bunch of misfits visiting a palace we only came to over winter... some winters. We refused to be separated at first because we didn't know whether we were walking into another slaughter.  But I guess at some point, it felt safe and Dargan left us.

"Who knew it would take his death to bring us together."

She extended her hand over mine. "Those united in grief are stronger than those united in joy."

"It really happened, didn't it?" My eyes spilled. "It's not a nightmare."

"No it's not. But the sooner we accept it, the sooner we can get back to some sort of normalcy. Grieve for your husband and I'll grieve for my son. Then together we can help Dargan grieve for his father."

I squeezed her hand.

Dargan wasn't grieving. Dargan transitioned without blinking. I know it will hit him much later and he will feel a lot of pain when it does.

"A family portrait will look over there. Wait, whose chamber is this?"

"Mine obviously! I love the view." She claimed it.

I smiled at her. "I'm glad you are here Selina. I'm glad you're here. I'll go to the kitchen and find us something to eat. It's been over a day. We should eat something."

"I'll come with you dear. We can watch each other's back. I don't think I remember how to cook."

"Certainly we can boil something. How hard is it boil something?" I chuckled.

"But I'm not that hungry." She sighed. "My womb hurts. I know it's a strange thing to say but he was always my little boy. Jovan betrayed him in the worst way. He won his trust and then struck like lightning."

She's right about the speed at which Rehan was murdered. It's almost as though I blinked and when I opened my eyes he was down on the floor bleeding.

"How does one kill a king? Where do you get the balls to kill a king?"

"I don't know. But I know my grandson will not rest until he is avenged."

Dargan's POV
My heart is yet to feel heavy.

A surge of adrenaline hit me when I saw Jovan with a bloody knife. It happened so fast. I wish I had seen it. If my eyes were fully on my father maybe, just maybe I would have seen Jovan making his move to  slit the King's throat. Maybe I would have been in a position to do something.

"He won our trust." My mother whispered. "When they broke into our chambers, when your father and I fought them off, Jovan came in and saved us. He told the king that the palace is under siege and he has to get us to safety. He said he couldn't find you. He went looking for you before he came to us. They wanted to kill you first. Now that I think of it... you were supposed to die first." My mother broke the consistent silence that has plagued us since we escaped Cray Thera.