Beyond Immortality

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

"Do you solemnly swear to exercise justice accompanied by mercy in all your judgment to your very capability in your deeds?" the king asked a knelt Orion.

"I do my lord,"

"Do you solemnly swear to govern the people of this kingdom and its dominions according to the statutes customs and laws laid down by our ancestors?"

"I do, sire,"

"Do you swear to protect the laws of the land and the kingdom with your life?"

"I, Orion Hemsworth pledge myself to your services to bring nothing but growth to the kingdom and protect it for as long as I have breath in my body," he says placing his hand on the scepter gripped by the king. A young male servant comes forth presenting a golden crown nestled on a pillow adorned with rhinestones and details I couldn't make out but it was far from a simple ornate.

"Then being of age, sole heir, and about to wed, I King Hemsworth find you worthy of accession. I crown you, Prince Orion of Oriondoth." The king says placing the crown delicately on Prince Orion's head. We all clap just as he stands up lifting the sceptre in his hand. All the available guests take their respective seats as the feast begins. There's music and chatting, the entire room bathing in nothing but delight and excitement. I eat very lightly keeping in mind that I had somewhere else to be.

"Today marks the very day I and every parent's wish for their children," the king says. "We get to celebrate our new prince and his engagement simultaneously. To the lovely couple." He says raising his chalice.

"TO THE LOVELY COUPLE!" Everyone repeats raising their glasses and then sipping their drink. The feast goes on for hours when I think I have had enough I excuse myself by saying I am tired, which was true I could still feel the drowsiness from drinking too much then went out hunting because I needed some rest. I wore a hooded cloak to cover myself and left the castle for Reeve's place. He had laid the table when I arrived.

"Thought you wouldn't make it on time," he says placing our bowls on the table.

"I always keep my word," I reply placing my cloak on the bench. We wash our hands and descend on his roasted meat accompanied by berries, vegetable soup, and bread. I borrowed him another tunic after leaving the other at the palace. Reeve offered me a bed large enough for two which was on the other side of the drapes. A rare thing to find in civil homes, beds are always tiny in some families they use mats instead special if they have several children or house more people in their home. We clean up the dishes heading off to bed

"What about you?"

"I'll have the other bed in the opposite room." He says handing me some blankets. I smile at him hopping into bed. This grows into a habit. I never returned to the castle afterward. I stayed back and did things together we shared our daytime routines as he went on hunting and sold his catch to a butcher in town to earn money. I would cook us dinner, clean the house, and get his clothes washed.

*****
The trees stretched and seemed to slither about like snakes. Images of people surrounding me yelling in the dead of the night appear. They had faces and they did not have faces. It was impossible to make their condenses.

'YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM' They chanted encircling me their voices growing louder. Close enough, the shapes grew clearer it was Creena and Ronan but in multiple versions. They appeared dead sluggishly approaching me dragging her feet. Their clothes were tattered, shabby, and dirty with their unkempt hair. Their eye sockets are empty but pitch-dark holes, nerve-wracking to look at. I knew they were talking about father.

"I did not kill him," I sob curling in a ball, " I'm sorry," I sob my eyes shut. Then a cold hand grabs the calf of my leg. My gaze turns to the ground to see father in the same state he was when he passed away.