Death Vengeance

Chapter 2

   “…he’s telling the truth,” I heard Fatin respond.

   Who’s telling the truth? Why is Fatin here? What the hell didn’t Vallon want me to know? These questions ricocheted through my head to the beat of my heart, causing my eyebrows to knit together in confusion as I watched them from my hiding place. I crouched low to the ground, hidden by a pillar as I watched the events that unraveled before me. Things were certainly getting interesting.

   Through my peripheral vision, I saw someone start to approach me. Panic swam through me. I’m going to be found! I stealthily snuck to the door, and slipped outside without catching anyone’s eye. Climbing the stairs to my room, I pondered Vallon’s intentions.

   I will find out why Vallon is keeping secrets from me.

  “But what if he’s doing it to protect you?”  My conscience purred, incising through my tolerance.

   “You can shut up,” I countered furiously.

   These thoughts continued to ravage me in my suite until Vallon entered a burst of sunlight through this perpetual cloudburst. He collapsed on the bed with a heavy sigh, and I saw a lone tear fall down his cheek.

   “What’s wrong? What happened?” I demanded worriedly.

   “He’s alive. My best friend is alive and he didn’t bother trying to find me to tell me.” He said it as though he couldn’t make sense of the words he was saying.

   “Who?”

  “Ciarán Briev is king of our enemy kingdom. He took over before your parents were killed.”

   All of the breath I had erupted out of my lungs at that very moment. “But I thought he was killed in battle! He wouldn’t have ordered my parents’ deaths; he knew me.” I was shocked, to say the least. I once thought of Ciarán as a good friend of mine. His death had hurt, but this was pain much worse.

   I felt betrayed; there was no other way to put it. Finding out the truth about Ciarán made things even worse; it even made me forget how angry I was at Vallon. It was because of Ciarán, not Vallon, who I was engaged to at birth, I had fallen completely and madly in love withCiarán

.  Then the war started, and he was said to have perished defending his twin brother. Now that I knew the truth, and that he was the one who ordered my parents’ deaths, I wonder if his claim of love to me held any truth.

            “I feel sick,” I croak, collapsing at Vallon’s feet.

            “I know how you felt about him,” he answered solemnly, his voice dripping with remorse. It felt like a bucket of ice water had been dropped on my head. I jumped to my feet and looked him in the eye, my nausea receding as if it had never existed.

            “What I felt for him will never compare to what I feel for you,” I said vehemently, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. “He would never have been able to go through everything you did to help and protect me. Never!” He appeared stunned at my tone of voice, but his face softened when the words sank in. I had never told him I loved him, but he understood what I was saying.

            “I’m sorry; it just hurts knowing that you loved him first. But no matter what happens next, I want you to know I will always love you.” He jumped of the bed, stepped forward and wrapped me in his arms. I realized then there were tears rolling down my cheeks, and I realized what I was about to do: put my heart in the hands ofCiarán’s brother.

            “I will always love you, as well. I don’t know who I am without you.” I had loved him for a long time, and it felt good to actually say the words to his face. I could feel his eyes glued to me while I stared at the floor. I glance up, my eyes swimming in tears. He was grinning from ear to ear and I couldn’t help the smile that graced my lips. I stood up on my tip toes and kissed him. It was a kiss of sorrow; a kiss of promised adoration and love. It only last a few mere seconds before I pulled back, smiling.

            “Should we grace the council with our presence and tell them?” he asked with dread, the tone of his voice suggesting that he held difficulty with the idea; he despised letting the council in on everything. 

            “This second, no. In a few hours, maybe.” I still wanted to find out about what Fatin was doing here, and what she meant earlier. The only way to find out was to guilt trip Vallon. “Vallon, what happened today?”  

                He stiffened, his body going completely rigid in my arms. “I don’t know what you mean.”

                A lie. How could he lie to me? “You worried me,” I replied instead, gazing up at him with a brief glint of depression in my eyes. “What happened? How did the torture session go?”

             “Um…” He wiggled under the full extent of my questioning expression. “Well, you’ll be glad to know that Fatin is here; she came to…visit.”

               I recoil from him, placing my hands on my hips and fixing him a heated glare. “Who was telling the truth? What was going on in the torture rooms, Vallon, and don’t you dare lie to me.”

               His stunned expression pierced through my glare. “What are you talking about?”

              “I heard what you and Fatin were saying. Now, who was telling the truth?”

              “Elijah,” he sighed, blurting out the answer at last and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “He’s the Silver Mercenary…and the one who told me that Ciarán is still alive.” He turned, and punched the wall, causing a large depression to form in the plaster. He was shaking with rage. “That bastard… First he murders your parents, and then tells me that my brother is still alive! How is that even possible? I saw him die! But, don’t worry, Rhiannon; he’s being taken care of.”

               “I want to see him, Vallon.” I restrict his arm in my iron grip, hoping that he would resist the temptation to punch the wall again; the servants already had enough to do, and fixing the wall should not be on their agenda. My pleading eyes bore into his. “Vallon, please; I need this more than you know. I…I have to see the man who murdered my parents.”

AN: Sorry it's so short, please notify me of any mistakes. Vote. Comment