Iftia: Lyx Palace, Matrimonial Bedchamber
• Elianna •
"M-Mother," Arell chattered as he shivered in her hold. The child felt too cold in her arms and she gripped tighter on his body as she placed a hand over his eyes. She adjusted him, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder and she spoke softly, "Close your eyes, mea lux."
Elianna looked towards the bed with displaced emotions while suppressing everything, trying her hardest not to panic. She didn't want to alarm and scare the child in her arms. Yet, she was sure that he could feel the loud pounding of her heart and her trembling body.
"Rowan." Elianna tried her hardest to call onto him but he didn't respond. His complexion was too pale and the trickle of blood from his lips explained the spurt of crimson that dyed their sheets. She reached to touch his neck, towards where his pulse should be. Her hands were shaking so violently but she had to check. The fear she felt was overwhelming and different scenes played in her mind — each a haunting reminder of five years ago when he lay cold and lifeless in her arms.
Resting her fingers on his skin, she finally exhaled her held breath when she felt his pulse, albeit slow. Arell cuddled closer and buried his head into the curve of her neck, almost in a desperate search for security. She patted softly on his back and comforted, "It's okay, mea lux. Everything's okay."
Slowly, she moved to hug Rowan close to her, tangling her fingers in the softness of his dark hair. She whispered silently, "With all that I have, I will protect both of you."
Elianna stayed in place and Arell eventually fell back asleep in the warmth of her embrace while Rowan regained consciousness. Sleep didn't find her, so she noticed his movement at the first moment. He rested his hand on the curve of her waist and lowered his head, as though not wanting to face her. There was so much helplessness in his hoarse voice when he spoke, "I couldn't—"
"Shh, it's alright," she cooed. Lowering her head slightly to kiss his hair, she said, "You fought against her for long enough, Rowan. From this moment forward, please know that I would never let you fight another battle alone."
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Iftia: Elgens, Town of West Iftia, The Royal Manor
• Matthias •
"Your Highness." Ray entered the study after knocking on the door twice.
Matthias shifted his attention away from the mess of documents on his desk and faced his knight, noticing the troubled expression on his face immediately. Concerned, he asked, "What's the matter?"
"Her Majesty is here," Ray informed. "She requested your presence."
"In this late of the night?" Matthias wondered, alarmed at the sudden announcement. He glanced down on those papers again and sighed, "Alright, I would see her in the receiving room. Get Miranda to tidy up the main bedchamber in the manor, in case Mother would like to stay."
"Understood," Ray nodded and left the study.
Matthias stood up and went towards the hanger to grab his coat in the corner of the study. A muted thud caught his attention and he dropped his head to look at the silver pocket watch that had fallen out of the pocket of his coat. His heart ached all over again at the thought of his wife.
Naailah left this outside their bedchamber the night before he left the Royal Grounds for Elgens. He regretted every harsh word he spoke to her and if he knew that she visited him that night, he would've pulled her in with him. He would've held her tight and secured her in his hold while whispering all possible words of apology. Yet, he was sure that his wife must've been too disappointed in him in order for her to arrive in secrecy and left without a single word. It was only in the morning that he noticed this ornate pocket watch and realised that she came by Nvre.
His thumb traced the design before he clicked the watch open and stared at the silver face of the watch while every beat of his heart thumped in synchronicity with each tick of the second hand.
Matty.
A meek voice sounded from the depths of his conscious and he looked into the mirror ahead of him. He whispered, "What is it, Lyra?"
A child's reflection stared right back at him. The girl had bright blue eyes that resembled periwinkles — enchanting yet delicate, so full of life yet so uncertain. His height towered over the nine-year-old easily, so he bent at his knees to level their gaze. She always fidgeted whenever he gazed at her straight but neither did he felt easy in her presence. He asked again, softer this time, "You wanted to tell me something, Lyra?"
I don't want you to meet her.
"Lyra," he sighed to the child in the mirror. "She's my mother, after all. I simply couldn't close my doors on her when I'm all she has now."
But Matty, she's a bad woman.
"I'm sorry," Matthias apologised, running a hand through his hair when he saw how sadness and disappointment dulled the expression of the girl ahead of him. Even her voice faltered in the back of his mind.
Alright.
He sensed her conscious fading and requested gently, "Go to sleep, Lyra. Please don't let my mother affect you."
Once again, Lyra receded beneath the surface of his consciousness. When he blinked again, it was his own reflection staring back at him and he vexed.
This was the consequence that he warned Elizabeth about. The nonsensical ritual that the previous King of Thethia tried to pull on the twin sisters would result in this. He never wanted anyone else to suffer the same thing that Lyra and he had to. For as long as he lived, he shared this flesh, blood and bone with another.
Thankfully, Lyra was respectful and she allowed him to remain himself without trying to rob the control over his physical body. She spent most of her time asleep, only awake to hover over the surface of his consciousness to talk to him sometimes and that was all.
A wave of nausea hit him and even when so many years passed, he was still sickened by the fact that he was never himself. He was also disgusted by the fact that those who thirsted power wanted to force this on their children when no one knew the actual consequence of the ritual — it was a blank text in the ancient records.
Only Lyra and he would understand, but it would be a secret they bring to their grave. He also swore to obtain the records of this ritual from the ancient text and burn it all to ashes. This wretchedness must cease to exist, together with them.
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Entering the receiving room, he walked towards the long couch and bowed respectfully to his mother, "What brought you here, Mother? You could've let me know beforehand so I could get Miranda to make proper preparations."
"Not a need," Mother mentioned. "I'll return immediately thereafter."
"You shouldn't tire yourself like that," Matthias frowned, realizing that there was no sign of weariness in his mother's expression. Then, a realisation dawned upon him and he stated in a grave tone, "Mother, you got your gift back."
"That's right." A slight smile tugged upward from the corner of her lips.
Matthias swallowed a nervous gulp before asking, "What did you do to brother?"
"I can't believe that you cared for him," she scoffed.
When Mother fixed her gaze on him, a faint red glowed within her irises. Matthias wanted to look away but his body refused to heed to his command. Fear rushed through his veins, cold as ice. Before he could react, he already dropped to the ground, on his knees. Mother stepped close to him and held each side of his face in her hands. She forced him to face her and continued, "Matthias, if it wasn't for Rowan, you wouldn't be living this life. You wouldn't be a choice."
"M-Mother." Matthias strained himself to speak, as he tried to resist her control over him. He pleaded through clenched teeth, "P-Please don't do this."
"I've lost a child before and I can't afford to grieve for another," Mother said in a manner that caused his heart to clench. He could hear all the hurt in her voice.
Matthias didn't understand what he was told. Shaking, his voice trembled, "W-What are you saying, Mother?"
Her irises flickered in red and she laughed bitterly. "I was with a child when your father got married to Valeria. They killed my child so that Rowan could be the first-born. They killed my baby so that their spawn can be above you, above us."
"M-Mother, you cannot speak of these," Matthias inhaled, still struggling against her manipulation over him.
"You think I made the story up, didn't you?"
For the first time, Matthias saw tears in her eyes. For a person as unsparing as her, she had never looked as vulnerable as she was right now. A sudden pressure clamped against his chest and he caught a glimpse of every humanly emotion that lay beneath her ruthlessness. Her voice broke, "You're all that I have left, Matthias."
"I-I can protect you in my ways, Mother. I would make sure they wouldn't hurt you." Matthias ached for her. Now that he's a father himself, he could understand the pain of losing a child. If anything happened to Indira, it would murder the whole of him.
"You have to take the crown, my son," Mother said.
"I-It's not mine to take," he muttered in a low voice and noticed how her expression changed.
"Neither was it theirs," Mother seethed, the red in her eyes darkened and lost were the hazel in her eyes. All that Matthias saw was crimson and emotions seeped into him, engulfing him in the intensity of her bitter hatred. There was so much anger brimming in his heart until Lyra's voice screamed from the depths of his consciousness again.
"D-Don't." Matthias clenched his jaw so tightly that they were almost gnashing together. He wanted to move his arms, but his body was working against his commands. He tasted blood on his lips and realised that he was bleeding from his nose. His insides curled, his blood froze and he could only beg, "M-Mother, we don't h-have to be like t-this."
"Matthias!" she bellowed.
The magic that flowed into him was darkening a part of his soul and he felt so much pain from the overwhelming resentment that he was forced to feel. Matthias knew he couldn't last much longer, he was going to shatter under her force. He tried to call upon his gift but the flicker of flame sparked into nothingness when his mother spat, "You're going to burn me?"
He fell straight into his helplessness and submitted to her. Before she could lay claim on his full will, a flash of silver shone blindingly. Matthias quickly took back a fragment of himself, holding onto it with sheer desperation. The pocket watch that Naailah gave him fell out of his coat when his body fell to the ground and his vision blurred. The once beautiful silver turned into an ominous black at that moment. Mother tried to recover herself from the impact of the push back, clicking her tongue in annoyance when she stood, "This time, don't disappoint me, Matthias."
The emotions he felt within was complicating him. He watched his mother walk out of the receiving room and her back looked hateful, vengeful and weighed down by all the pain form everything that happened to her.
Matthias wanted to save her from her misery, but it seemed that the whole thing was far greater than what he thought to be. When Mother left, he no longer saw red. Instead, he saw black — the colour of pitch darkness, in the shade of his devastation.
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*wears my bulletproof vest*
i'm ready, throw anything at me.
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