The War (All Chapters + Synopsis)

Chapter 19.1 - Ilena

My brother's chest rises and falls slowly, but not too slowly. I smile softly, watching him from the shadows. Lues has been my world since the day he was born. He used to laugh at the puppet shows I put on with my shadows when he was an infant

He's buried now, under a pile of blankets. A fire crackles in the brazier, and Amalia is resting as well, her head on the bed. She doesn't seem to be scared of him anymore, she's resting peacefully, and it seems as though something's changed in her. Amalia hasn't noticed me yet, not that she would. I mastered the art of extinguishing my presence long ago, probably more quickly than others because of my magic.

I already checked in on my father. He lost a lot of blood, and his injuries and near death scared me far more than I let on. I hated him, I have hated him since I found out that he was my father. He was the bastard who made me too weak to survive without a limiter, too powerful for my own body to handle. When I realized how seriously he'd been hurt though, something had snapped inside me, and for the first time in my life I was terrified that I'd lose him, the only parent left to me.

I can't lose all three parents to the monster who took everything from me. I won't give anything more to Carber Thnitos, nothing but my life. If I'm going to die I'll take him with me, but that also means that he's taking one more thing from me, and I hate that. There's nothing I can do though, my magic is lashing out even more now that I used so much magic in the past two days.

The fight in the ballroom was yesterday, Rhyfelwr's birthday celebration smashed to smithereens by Sergio and his regiment of soldiers. I haven't seen him yet, I won't until my brother is awake, till my father doesn't look like a piece of paper ready to blow away on the wind.

"What happened?" A soft whisper comes from the bed, and Amalia immediately wakes.

"You were hurt," she says to my brother, looking at him concerned.

"I know that, but, after I passed out? Where's my sister, is she alright?" Lues exclaims alarmed, and I step out from the shadows, scaring Amalia.

"I'm right here brother."

"What happened?"

"Sergio attacked us, with a small group of special ops from another division. We caught him," I explain quickly, catching him up on the events of the past two days.

"Is the Brein... is your father alright?"

"He hasn't woken up yet, but he'll be fine."

Lues nods, when he tries to sit up Amalia helps him. He smiles at her as he leans against the headboard of the bed. I know the look that passes between them, I've seen it before. When my parents ate together, they'd sometimes exchange that look. It's how Katlyn looks at me, and how anyone in love looks to their match.

"How do you feel?" I ask my brother, and I'm sorry to break the moment.

"Like my leg's been stabbed, and I've been cut by shards of glass?"

"That sounds about right."

"Amalia, what happened to your arm?" Lues's attention turns to the girl, and she glances down at the arm, seemingly surprised to find the bandaged wound.

"Oh, one of the attackers knocked me down, he cut me before I got him," she explains as one would explain that they tripped and scraped their knees.

"Is he dead?"

"Yes."

"Good." Lues smiles, something tells me he would've roasted Amalia's attacker alive if he could have. "Ilena, who were those soldiers?"

"Special ops, didn't I already say that?"

"Yeah... how much time do you think we have, before we have to return?"

"A few weeks at most," I reply, and he looks surprised by my estimate.

"Why do you think that?" Amalia exclaims.

"Sergio was sent here to attack us, and I believe that his father will expect his victorious return in a few weeks time, we need to get back there before that," I explain calmly, and Lues tilts his head to the side as if in thought.

"What's going to happen with Sergio," Lues asks after a moment.

I bite the inside of my cheek while I think up an appropriate response.

"It's the Brein's choice," I answer. "Rhyfelwr thinks he should be executed for attempted assassination, and I have no doubt my father will agree. However, I believe that he could still be useful, as a hostage against his father."

"I agree with you, but he's a threat, and he did try to kill the brein," Lues responds thoughtfully.

"He's also your cousin, and he was used by his father," I tell him, not because I care about Sergio very much, but because he's still useful to us.

I also want to make sure that Lues does not become callous, I don't want him to get familial blood on his hands, just as I told Katlyn only a day earlier.

"Alright, do you have a grand plan to take back our kingdom?" My brother inquires, and I nod happily, I've been waiting for that query.

"You'll be allowed to move again as soon as the medic returns, I'll bring you two to the war rooms where Katlyn and Rhyfelwr are already waiting." I explain, and my brother nods. "Just to make sure you understand, your leg hasn't healed yet, so you'll be in a wheeled chair for the next two weeks."

"But it only takes a few days to get to Feralis, are you telling me that I won't be able to fight or anything?"

"Unfortunately," I sigh, I know how much that hurts him. He's my little brother, we both have the same feelings about being left back, of not being allowed to help when we can. That's why I ran away when I was twenty-one, because I wanted to help.

"Your Majesty, Eich Physedd," another medic walks into the room, a wheeled chair in front of him. He pushes the chair towards the bed and asks Amalia and myself to leave the room while he conducts the final checkup.

"Ilena, are you alright? You look a little pale, paler than usual," Amalia comments, and I glance at her.

"I'm fine," I assure her but she doesn't seem to believe me.

"Does it hurt? Your magic fighting against itself, does it hurt?"

"A little bit," I lie, it hurts more than almost anything I've ever suffered.

"What did he do to you while he was holding you?"

"What do you think?"

Amalia falls silent, and looks down at her feet. A sharp pain in my chest makes me wince. Amalia didn't notice, so I act as if nothing has happened. The door opens, and my brother comes wheeled out.

Amalia perks up immediately, smiling, and my brother does too. I roll my eyes at the obvious affection they share but pretend doesn't exist.

"Ready?" I ask, and my brother nods.

Amalia takes the handles of the chair, and wheels Lues after me. The war room is on the first floor of the main building, besides the throne room. The palace has a series of ramps for their wheeled chairs, a commodity that Mawrhydi invented only a few centuries ago. The wheels squeak a little as we walk, roll, down to the first floor. Multi-colored lights bedazzle us as sunshine rains down from the sky and through the windows.

Nobles wander around the halls, speaking with one another and various court advisors. They all bow to my brother and I as we pass, the King of a foreign land and their eling, at least for now. We reach the dark doors of the war room, and soldiers open the doors. We enter and the two familiar faces inside spare us a glance.