Heirs of the Gods

Ch 76: Right back where it started

For all her desperation to get away, Ella hadn't known where to go when she'd finally reached the petrium. But, as she landed in front of the gleaming marble palace of Caeulm, she realised that she might not have known where to go, but this was where she needed to be.

With trembling legs, she walked up the steps of the palace numbly, feeling it was akin to an oasis. Her last refuge. She was only half-surprised to find Seren waiting for her at the entrance, as if she'd known Ella was coming.

Seren's large blue eyes softened sorrowfully as she watched Ella. "Oh, dear one," she whispered, her tone placating and pitying. It was enough to send Ella off the edge all over again.

Seren wrapped a thin arm around her shoulders, and Ella let herself be led away, only half aware of her surroundings. Head fuzzy and vision tear-blurred, everything around her went by in a haze. 

It was only when Seren gently settled her into a plush white sofa that Ella wiped her eyes and looked around. The solarium, the same room she'd been led to the second time she'd come to Caelum. Transparent walls and a massive ceiling that seemed to open into the heavens, allowing a breathtaking view of the pink winter sky. If Ella's senses hadn't been dulled by her grief, she would have taken to gaping around in wonder. As she was, she could only stare at her knees blankly and curl into herself.

"Here, nothing a good cup of tea can't fix, or at least make better," Seren said gently, pushing a calla lily-shaped teacup into Ella's cold-reddened hands.

Minna often said the very same thing, she thought, as she clutched the cup like a lifeline. The thought of her mother sent a fresh wave of pain rocking through her, making fat tears dribble down her cheeks. How she longed for her mother to hold her and reassure her. Ella wished to be small again, when there was nothing her mother couldn't fix, and no heartache was too big to defeat a cup of tea, a kiss on the forehead and her mother's all-powerful, calming presence.

But she wasn't small, and neither were her problems. Her mother wasn't there to hold her, and no amount of tea could fix her broken heart.

Still, Ella took a scalding mouthful, barely registering the sweet, pleasant taste of honey and lemon. "Did you know?" she whispered after a moment, finding her throat raw and raspy.

"I did," Seren said gently. "I have been bound by oath to your mother for over twenty years. She bid me to keep quiet about the circumstances surrounding your birth and her disappearance. I could not speak about it until someone else told you. I knew you had found out as soon as I felt the oath dissolve."

She sighed and leaned across the small table separating them. She took Ella's hand in her own, soft and warm, and squeezed. "I am so deeply sorry, dear. I wish I had been able to sit you down and explain properly."

"They never told me," Ella rasped, grasping the teacup so tightly, that she was afraid it would shatter. "My mother left me to fend for myself without a single clue. And my fath-- Callan..." she pressed her lips to keep them from trembling. "He didn't tell me. He let me believe I wasn't his daughter. No one was honest with me, ever."

Seren's frown deepened, and her pearly wings rustled softly, like a mournful dove. "Callan was changed after Finnian's death. And soon after, Minna left. It shattered whatever was left of him," Seren whispered. "He locked himself in that castle in every sense and refused to come out, save for his duties as King. Those two owned his heart, and when they were gone, they took Callan with them. He was never the same again."

"Heavens know I have tried to get through to him for many years, but it was useless. My cousin was too stubborn to even accept help. It was a miracle he even allowed Zella and his young courtiers near," Seren shook her head and pursed her lips in discontent.