The Heart of The Heir | completed

3: Gone

~After~

I can always find a peace with the world when it's silent.

I can think. Feel. I don't pretend.

I let go.

So as the wind pushes against my back and threatens to push me off the ledge of the roof I'm on, I don't mind it.

Maybe the fear is what keeps me coming back. I chase it like a barrel full of the best wine rolling down Adicous mountain.

Or it could be the guilt. The feeling of needing to revenge my parents death. Either way, I chase it, and I will even if there is no end.

Anesa is the rich district of Verubia. And the last place I saw my parents alive.

I can actually see the town home we rented for the duration of our stay from where I am.

Everything is more spaced out here, so I have to be careful about where I'm hiding.

Below me, carriages and horses pass, children playing in their newest tule dresses or silk suits, tailored to their tiny bodies.

Men stand with pipes in their mouth, their wives glued next to them and their heads turning every so often to see their children with messy hair and clothing now.

My mother didn't mind when I played in my morning dresses. She simply explained, "a child, is going to be a child. It makes no sense to punish them for acting their age."

Azalea, my mother, was a very kind woman. Even though she grew up with the royal family as well, she was not one to take money from them.

She worked. She cooked. She even cleaned. Not normal behavior in the royal palace. But she used to say that it calmed her. It gave her mind something else to worry about.

"Make way! Make way!" I shook my head, refocusing on whatever was happening below.

"Make way for your king!" A guard shouted into the crowd. She was walking down the stairs of the tavern across the street. The crowd of people broke up into two, making a path.

Through the glass door, I could faintly make out my brothers face. He was focused ahead, walking at a pace that should hurt your legs  should you step to hard.

When he exited the doorway, he moved to the side to reveal a short and hairy man.

I've never seen the king of Verubia, mainly because he is always holed up in his stone castle, and surrounded by women, but he is not what I imagined.

As soon as he made it down the stairs, he stopped and turned to the crowd. "Kneel." He seethed. And everyone, including the children did just that.

I rolled my eyes at the submission these people had for this man.

"As of today," he spoke, "Every silver and copper that is given to this tavern, is all mine. Make an example of Mr. Shire," and down the steps was a younger man, possibly in his thirties, being dragged by two guards to the kings feet. "That if one is to question my reign, you shall be punished."

The guards forced the man, Cylas Shire, to stare down, the back of his neck exposed.

The sound of steel rubbing against quartz hit my ears, and I turned my head to see Elliot walking down the stairs holding the sword.