Saudade (Published under Indie Pop)

Chapter 65: The Cage and the Lost Key

"I will always be grateful for the love you've given me, Tarnus. And I'm sorry if I can't return it. But please know that whether it was old Primrose or the new one, you'll always be in my heart."

And that was when I decided to let him go and walked towards the conference room where the council members were waiting for me. He could see it as a farewell or a start of a stronger friendship. Whatever it was, it would be up for him to decide. I just hoped that he would use it to free himself from whatever pain I had caused him.

I barged inside the room and silenced the council members who were talking with each other; curious and confused as to why they were being summoned here. I headed straight to the center table where I would be seeing all of them. Tarnus seemed to follow me after all and sat on the chair near the door. He stayed there and watched me intently.

"I could see that some of you aren't happy to see me back. I could see that the East Castle had change after the long days I was gone," I started. This earned a familiar discomfort among the council members.

"You can't blame us. You came back before from the sea and brought chaos like a raging storm. We can't help but be wary," one of the council members responded.

"To be honest, we're doing fine without your interventions. Maybe the lady is too young to rule us after all."

There were expressions of agreement among them and I couldn't help but feel raged and betrayed. However, before my emotion got into me, Lord William interrupted giving me time to compose myself.

"Gentlemen, please. That's not the way we should treat a lady. She's one of our rulers and we need to give her our respect. Let's listen to her and hear what she has to say. After all, she's the sun of the East Land; our future is with her."

The conference room became silent, though I could still feel their defiance of what I was about to convey. I took a deep breath and faced them all fearlessly. I straightened when I finally got all their attention and announced, "We will join the Great War and take side with the Borgian kingdom."

And just like what they expected from me, the conference room turned into chaos. They voiced their disagreement loudly that Lord William had to ask them to see orderliness in the room. One of them stood and exclaimed, "You can't just come back and drag our land to participate in this destructive war!"

Angry voices filled the area once again igniting fiery daggers of hatred thrown towards me. But I had to endure it; I had to show them that I'm strong enough to rule the land.

"If you want to die, then die alone! Don't bring us with you!"

In a swift, unexpected move, Tarnus was already at the man's side with his sword close to his neck. "It is my duty to protect Lady Primrose. Disrespect her again and I'll make sure that you won't be able to utter a single word anymore," he threatened.

We were all stunned; unable to speak and move from where we were sitting. My chest tightened at his action. He was supposed to hate me instead of protecting me. I should be grateful because he chose to stay with me but somehow, it saddened me for I knew that my mere existence was already killing him.