Kingdom's Vice Series: A Voyage of Vengeance ( #2 2015)

Chapter Forty: An Account From The Wind

The music melts them all in silence. Heida makes her procession down the aisle, a bouquet of fine flowers dripping to the ground as she walks as gracefully as Faeore's mother would have on her wedding day. The Tree glows weakly as the people stand around it, their hands interlinked, all of them chanting as the king emerges from the shadows.

Faeore stands by, Alec close, with his hand on his sword. Their cloaks conceal the glares on their faces. She holds her child in her arms, a son, as she had feared.

Before...

Faeore had cried out for the midwife to come swiftly, as she held the newborn in her arms. She sobbed violently, insisting that it was not her child at all, that is was cursed.

"It cannot be!" she yelled above the chaos. Alec was beside her, holding her hand, stroking her hair, speaking softly to her. "This not my child!" she cried.

"Faeore," Alec called to her, "the child is yours. It is your blood that runs through his veins, and Duhamas's. It is your gift."

She shook her head defiantly. "No, no, no." She kept on chanting over and over, despite his efforts to soothe her. "My father, he will have him confined to a life of sadness! He will choose a mate to bear him a child...and then...and then he will kill her...Just like my father did my mother." She stopped and looked into Alec's eyes, pleading. "I do not wish that upon him. I wish he had never been born at all, if that means he would be spared. I am a slave to my father's will, the law of the kingdom, Alec. I cannot change it." She looked down and her eyes suddenly widened as something dawned on her.

"What is it?" Alec asked as his grip on her hand tightened. "Faeore, use your words. Talk to me."

She stared into the distance, her eyes fixed on the plaque on the wall. "I did this," she breathed, horror spread across her face. "I did this."

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You didn't, Faeore. Not like that. Come on," he gestured to the child, "look at him. He looks like his father. Think on that."

She shook her head again, "Not like his father, no." She said, "Not like his father...not like this father...like his mother...a fool, a liar, a manipulator."

He sighed, "Faeore,"

She looked to him again, desperate this time, tears burning her cheeks. "I wanted to change the future, my father's future and instead," she glanced down at the child and let it's little finger snake around hers, "I've changed my own."

"The future was never fixed," he found himself saying to her then and at that moment, her eyes lit up.

She nodded, "And now I know the feeling," she sniffled, stroking the child's cheek, cherishing the velvety sensation that spread through her fingers.

"I don't like this," she murmured under her hood, glancing down at her son again.

Alec let out a sigh, "None of us do, believe me." he tells her. "She probably has the entire kingdom under her enchantment. I wouldn't be surprised."

She let out a small, half-hearted chuckle. "Neither would I."

Heida casts a sharp sideways glance at them and they lower their eyes.

Alec's fingers curl tighter on his sword-hilt. Faeore takes an instant to notice it and is quick to cover his hand with her own.

"Daeras, Alec," she soothes him with her sweeter voice, keeping her eyes fixed on her son. "There will come a time," she continues, "when we will have what we want." She looks up at him, the glint of the Tree's Light in her eyes, "and it is coming soon. I have seen it." Her eyes fall onto Heida, whose hand is being bound to the king's. Faeore feels something swell in her chest and form a home there: pain.

A smile creeps on both their faces as Alec lets his hand fall from his sword-hilt.

"Daeras," he breathes in one, single, calm breath.

~~~

His thoughts linger on Skaya, on their last meeting. How he wanted to say more. How he wanted to comfort her, use Faeore's connection to bring her back into his arms again. He has wanted to tell her about everything, even the things that would scare her, just so he could be there to hold her..anything to keep her safe again.

In the cool of the night, he wanders down the hall, sneaking through the doorway of Faeore's chamber. He spots the newborn in its cot, soundly sleeping. If only it could live in this oblivion forever. Alec is taken by the child's innocence and finds himself sitting beside the cot, his hand gently rocking it back and forth.

He lets out a sigh, "You know," he begins, "I want nothing but for you to be happy. But I know happiness is not something so easily guaranteed in this world, or this life, I know that there will be a time when you will find it. You may not know it yet, but you have love, so much love. Your mother, your father...my wife and myself. We all love you. In our eyes, you are a joy and a blessing to this kingdom and one day, we will entrust this world to you, if you are willing to guard it with your life." He pauses a moment and lets his arms fall to his sides.

"For so long, things have plagued this world. Evil things lurk behind the curtains, child. If you are brave, you will see thing for how they really are, not as you want them to be. That is every fool's trick. They can make anything disappear, only to reappear again. This world is in danger and one day it will be up to you to save it, even from itself. Be the man your parents would want you to be. Be—"

Something breaks his train of thought, his words hanging there to be plucked at will. Faeore stands before him, cloaked in white and silver, her hair in ringlets about her shoulders.

"Alec," she calls out.

A/N: OKay! So I know I haven't updated in like forever, so sorry about that! I had this written up months ago and had the time to upload it so here it is. I am starting to sense there may be some continuity issues in some places, so I may go back and fix them up, but I'm going to review where the story is going from here, because I haven't been writing this story for a VERY long time so thank you for bearing with me! :) I hope you've enjoyed the journey so far as much as I have! x