Great Expectations
Akira's POV
"You will have to take the lead, Akira."
Uncle Alver's words echoes in my mind like a curse. It wouldn't go away, wouldn't leave me alone. I felt as if that one sentence would haunt me for life.
It was so easy for them. To replace him, to give his position to somebody else. It was just that easy to declare one of the most powerful mage of all time presumed dead.
They didn't even go inside the castle to make sure.
Inayat was wrong.
Lord Leonidas was going to win now. That too without any competition.
The Grand Vizier is under investigation for his past. Lord Abbas's loyalty is under scrutiny after the incident with the Sultan's assassination. The Grand General is said to be mentally unstable after losing his son. Inayat is being sent to the borders. Aunt Meda was framed for illegal weapon supply. It was obvious at this point, all of dad's loyal people were getting removed one by one.
The people were happy though. They will finally get a new Grandmaster. They will get the war they had asked for.
My father was replaceable. His views and beliefs were replaceable.
If this wasn't enough, I'll have to replace him as the family head.
If I don't, one of those vultures whom I call relatives will sit on my father's seat.
I try to wipe the tears of anguish staining my face in the darkness of my room. But they keep rolling down against my will. So I just let them wet my pillow.
The fog of frozen silence that has settled over our house makes sense now. It's not like I was complaining. The silence hid mom's muffled sobs.
I clap my hands. The tiny fire imps wake up from their slumber and light up the room. They stand straight inside the lanterns.
My eyes fall on the mess of unfinished paintings in my room. I gently move the pile to take out a particular one from the very bottom.
It was one of my very few finished pieces. The painting was a whirlwind of vibrant colors. They were almost as bright as the smile on Dad's face in it. He was kneeling in front of uncle Alver who was removing his Diadem. Behind him was the throne of the Grandmaster waiting for him to claim it. I had named it "Genesis."
My nostalgia soon turns into a rage as I think of the fickleness of that cursed throne. I throw the painting towards the wall and it hits with a deafening sound.
I could sense someone knocking urgently on the door. But I ignore it in my rage.
The spark of my wrath soon burns ablaze. I fuel the fire even more by throwing more paintings on the wall. An enraged scream leaves my mouth as I punch the wall. The fiery imps burn with more ferocity with their fangs bare and fists punching their glass prison. Their shrilly scream fuels my rage at everything.
I was going to punch again if I hadn't seen a person jump to my balcony. I was too surprised to continue with my action.
"Akira, thank goodness you are fine!" the midget's voice comes urgently. I open the glass balcony door and she barges in.
'I am so sorry but I heard a loud sound. And I couldn't find anyone in this house. Or my way around this place. Why is it so big?? I even tried knocking but you didn- wow, was there a stampede?" she blurted out the whole thing without any pause. She takes in the room's condition with wide eyes.
She observes me worriedly for a moment and then continues in a quiet voice, " Are you okay?" I sigh.
"Yes, I am fine. Thank you for your concern and now leave," I try to say as politely as I can. I didn't want to be mad at her again. I made a promise, after all.
"Oh, that's great, I guess," she says unsurely as I walk her to the door.
She leaves and I close the door immediately.
But before I could walk a few paces, I hear a knock.
I open the door knowing full-well who it was. "Yes, Isolde?"
"Oh, well," she fidgets with her hair. "I know you said you were fine but you clearly aren't and you said this morning we were friends and Dhara told me friends shouldn't leave each other alone in times of distress," she quickly explains.
I sigh again.
"I know you are sighing because you think I am annoying. I know I am being annoying too. But my gut feelings tell me you need company and my mom used to say you should always listen to your gut feelings," she again blurts out hastily.
Sol, she does listen to other people a lot, doesn't she?
She was looking at me with hope in those mesmerizing sapphire eyes. I don't know how she conveys so much with her eyes even though her face stays unsmiling most of the time.
"Come in," I finally say.
She almost shoves me aside with how fast she comes inside. My elbow hits the table next to the door and I winch at the numbing pain that shoots up my arm.
Great, she injured me again.
After the pain diffuses a bit, I look to see Isolde standing in front of the northern wall. It was covered in hundreds of sketched eyes. They were hawk-like eyes full of scrutiny. All of them were looking in the same direction.
"Akira?" she asks quietly. "Are they looking at you?"
Startled, I look at her face. How did she know that?
"Yes," I answer simply. "How did you know?"
"Because people used to look at me like this too," she answers simply, her face still devoid of any emotion.
"Did they also expect you to become like your parent?"
"Yes, they expected me to be exactly like my mama," she says, not removing her eyes from the wall.
I feel like there was a story there. But I don't ask her. I wasn't in the right frame of mind today.
The silence sets back in with her answer. This time instead of haunting, it was comforting. We both quietly stand in front of those eyes.
"You heard something about your father, didn't you?" she asked after a while, breaking the comforting silence.
"They are declaring him presumed dead tomorrow in the court before elections," I answer, trying not to let the tears fall again.
"So soon?" her voice was laced in horrified surprise.
"There was a death curse put on the Lilura Palace. All the residents were dead by the time Holy Army got there. They couldn't get his dead body out because of the curse," I explained. My voice sounded mechanical to my ears.
"So that's it? They aren't going to make sure if he was even inside?" she asks in a suddenly heated voice.
Her sapphire eyes glisten in the flickering light. She bites her bottom lip to stop it from wobbling.
"He was inside, apparently. With Lilura's king and the heir."
Maybe he really is de...No!
Presumed dead, Akira, presumed dead by those fools.
He will turn up any day now.
The midget's eyes took a calculative glance at me for some reason.
"And the war?"
"Lord Leonidas will declare it after he ascends the throne tomorrow."
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GLOSSARY
*Imps: An imp is a European Mythological being similar to a fairy or a demon , frequently described in folklores and superstitions. The word may perhaps derive from the term ympe, used to denote a young grafted tree.
Image not mine, taken from Pinterest
*Kurukshetra: The Battle ground where the mythical war of Mahabharata was fought between the Pandavas and their cousins, Kouravas in the Indian epic poem, Mahabharata.
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