Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
Kyron
It has been thirteen days since my life was stolen from me.
She was right there, my hand centimeters from her neck, her palm almost to my chest, and then she was gone.
I got one, one fucking flame out before Greer tackled me to the ground.
She screamed at me to stop, to consider what I was doing, what it would mean for Pliris.
Fuck the kingdom.
Fuck the crown.
Fuck everyone who tells me this is what Raelle wanted.
My parah didn’t ask to be a pawn in the negotiations between my sociopathic mother and the egomaniac that rules Allaji. She didn’t want the dilemma of losing her crown or saving me. Raelle didn’t wish for me to build this kingdom alone.
I kick back a tumbler of spicy amber liquor and slam down the glass on my desk.
“Are you listening to me, Kyron?”
I lift my gaze to the chair across from me, and the disappointment etched into Borin’s face greets me.
It feels like he has given me that same look since I took my oath as king.
If I’m being honest, it was the last thing I wanted to do mere hours after my parah was taken.
I don’t even remember the words I recited after the Divine Sibyl.
One minute I was Raelle’s heir, the man meant to sit on a throne beside her.
And the next, I was bound to this kingdom as its sole ruler.
I reach past the mounting paperwork, with my new crown/paperweight on top, and snatch the glass decanter.
Kicking my feet up on my desk, I slosh around the liquor and take a long swig.
I drink until I find what I’m chasing after: numbness.
I want the liquor to no longer burn and every miserable thought in my head to turn fuzzy.
This is how I’ll make it through another day without her.
“I wasn’t listening,” I confess with no remorse.
Borin sighs, lowers the leather-bound organizer in his hands to my desk, and pinches the bridge of his nose.
Dark bags frame his eyes and the crow’s feet at the corners are deep, spreading to his temples.
His dark brown skin has an ashen hue and clings to his bones. Borin is withering without his parah.
I sympathize with the man.
Sliding his hand down his face muffles his voice as he says, “You can’t keep doing this.”
I take another sip from the decanter and pull it from my lips with a pop. “You’re wrong; I can.”
“You can’t disregard all your responsibilities.
People are counting on you. Families are missing their Cyffred members in Lucent City, the Khiros here are harming soldiers in an attempt to get inside the sanctuary and partake in the amplification ceremony.
You are an absent king and Pliris is gradually falling into anarchy. ”
I bolt out of my chair and slam my fist into the top of my desk. “I have one responsibility. One. Do whatever the fuck you want with the rest of it. The only briefing I want every day and night is our progress with finding Raelle.”
“Kyron—”
“Contact the Sibyls again and tell them to at least give me a location in Allaji to find Zek, or I will burn their temple to the ground,” I say through clenched teeth.
“They have already said they won’t get involved.”
“Make them and get the fuck out, Borin.” I point to the door just in case he forgot his way.
With a nod, my advisor gathers his papers and stands. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
I shake my head and drink from the bottle again, sinking into my leather chair.
I’ve got to hand it to him, he’s the only one here who has any idea how I feel. Even with that sickening feeling, he walks into my office twice a day to spout a ton of shit I don’t care about. I don’t know how he does it or why he even cares, but he does. And I don’t.
Leaning back, I cross my arms over my chest and close my eyes.
I haven’t slept much in the past two weeks.
Every time I drift off, I’m haunted by nightmares of what is happening to Raelle.
My fucked-up head has conjured some grotesque shit; so much so, that it’s jarred me from sleep to expel the contents of my stomach on multiple occasions.
Her unknown circumstance makes me long for the days of recurring nightmares about killing my father. And that’s saying something.
I’m not sure how long I’m out, or if I even fell asleep at all when a knock comes from my office door. “Go away, I’m busy,” I say, sinking deeper into my chair.
The knocking sounds again.
“Go away!”
The door swings open, and I crack one eye open, preparing to rip into whoever barged in.
Greer steps inside and slams the door shut, her mohawk of mahogany hair bound in a braid that sways down her back. “What the hell are you busy doing? And why does it smell like sweat, alcohol, and rotting food in here?”
“I’m busy sleeping, I can’t remember the last time I showered, and I don’t feel like having visitors,” I mumble.
“Too bad.” She plops down in the chair Borin occupied earlier and puts her feet up on my desk. Crossing her muscular arms behind her head, she puckers her lips and lifts a brow.
“Get on with it so you can leave and do something useful,” I grumble.
She remains silent, a blatant defiance to my command, and continues to stare at me.
I close my eyes again, unable to stand the scrutiny.
She isn’t one to show her emotions, but I see the concern in the line between her brows, the pity in her coiled muscles, and the disappointment on her down-turned lips.
Like everyone else, she held high expectations of me.
I destroyed each and every one of them without an ounce of remorse.
“You’re a real asshole, you know that?” she says just as I’m on the verge of unconsciousness.
“There’s something I’ve never heard before,” I sardonically reply.
“She would hate to see you like this.”
“Don’t use Raelle to guilt me, Greer.”
“I’m not using her to guilt you, I’m telling you what she would think of the man she put her faith in to rule in her absence.”
My mind flashes with an image of Raelle sitting in Greer’s place with the same look upon her face. I can see it so clearly, hear her tell me she never thought this is how I would rule… that I was a mistake. It stings; the pain falling just short of losing my parah.
“Get out and go find her,” I say with a raspy voice.
“I’m not leaving.”
“You are. I’m commanding you to get out.”
Greer drops her feet with a thud and leans forward, clasping her hands on my desk.
“Don’t pull that king bullshit with me. I’ll start respecting you as my king when you start acting like it.
Until then, fuck you and your self-deprecation.
You’re hiding in here doing nothing to bring her back.
You are part of the problem. You are why she is still in Allaji and not home. ”
“Get. Out.”
“Make. Me.” She laughs and relaxes, draping her arms over the back of the chair.
“You won’t. You’re a drunk, lazy asshole that sends everyone else into danger for your beloved parah while you bathe in liquor.
She gave up her crown for you, saved your life, and this is how you repay her.
The Statera really messed up when it chose you as her parah. She deserves so much better than you.”
I have never wanted to throttle someone the way I want to right now. Not only does my best friend have the gall to step into my office to belittle me; she rendered me useless when Zek took Raelle. Greer held me back and forced me to watch. She is the reason I couldn’t save her.
“And I really fucked up when I didn’t let you leave Basecamp all those years ago,” I spit.
She puckers her lips and nods. “Is that what you think?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Greer crosses one leg over the other and rolls her wrist, motioning for me to continue. “Don’t hold back, Your Majesty. Tell me what you really think.”
I sit up straight and hold her gaze saying, “If it weren’t for you, Raelle would be here. I’ll never forgive you for stopping me.”
Her chin trembles before she bites the inside of her lip to stop it. My verbal blow hits deep, but I find no satisfaction in it. She chokes on her words, saying, “That’s all right because I will never regret doing it. I did what had to be done not only for Pliris but for you.”
My rage takes root, and I jump to my feet. “What I needed was to save Raelle!”
“And then what, Kyron?” She stands and stalks around my desk.
“Let’s say you saved her from being taken and spilled Zek’s blood in the sanctuary in the process.
Pliris would be out two leaders instead of one, making it free for the taking.
Do you really believe that Raelle could be truly happy as she watched Cyffreds taken against their will and families ripped apart?
Her family ripped apart. And do you honestly believe that the Allaji would never come for her, that you could protect her forever? ”
“I—I…”
“Answer me!” she shouts, shoving her finger into my chest. “Tell me that’s the life you wanted to give Raelle, and I’ll walk out and never look back. Because if that’s what you wanted to give her, you’re a bigger asshole than I thought, and you will never be my king.”
The barrier I’ve built these past days to protect my wounded heart fractures under the weight of the truth.
It is pure anguish, a continuous hemorrhage that can’t be curbed.
The tears I have battled to suppress since losing her slide down my cheeks and my knees buckle.
I sink to the floor with my legs pressed to my chest, my head buried on top.
Sobs rattle my body, burning my lungs and making it hard to breathe.
Greer wraps her arms around me, pulling me into her strong embrace, and rocks me back and forth. “We will get her back, I promise not to stop until we do,” she says, running her fingers through my hair.
I cry for Raelle, for my mother’s betrayal, for Micah’s death, for those taken from my kingdom.
My heartache is never-ending, and I’ve inflicted that pain on others.
I’ve failed the people of Pliris, leaving them without guidance or a leader to look up to.
Overall, I’ve let myself down. My time as king has been worse than my mother’s as sovereign. I’ve become the very thing I hate.
It’s unforgivable.
Not even Raelle would absolve me of my sin.
When my tears run dry, I’m sober… uncomfortably so. I take a deep breath and wipe the backs of my hands over my eyes. “I’m sorry for what I said to you, Greer.”
“Yeah, well, you’re a dick. But I knew that when I decided you were my best friend,” she says with a halfhearted smile.
“I’ll do better.”
She playfully pushes my head away from her and slides in front of me, putting us face to face. “Let’s work on the king thing first and then we’ll move on to perfecting your friendship skills.”
I prop my elbow on my knee and run my fingers through my hair. “I can’t do this without you.”
“No one said you had to. In fact, you have tons of people outside of this office waiting to help you lead and find your parah.”
She stands and holds her hand out to me. For the first time in weeks, a semblance of a smile pulls at my lips. She helps me up and straighten my leather jacket.
“I haven’t been kind to Borin,” I sheepishly confess.
“Nope. You have been especially heinous to him.” She snatches the simple iron and gold crown from my desk and places it on my head. “But he still has faith in you.”
I’m not sure why. I’ve done nothing as king to earn his trust, or anyone’s for that matter. Yet they anticipate the moment I fulfill the prophecy given to Micah decades ago by a Sibyl. So many believe I’ll forge the way for a new Pliris.
Raelle is one of those people.
Her faith in me is so steadfast that she chose me to rule in her absence. She trusts me with the responsibility of our kingdom and believes I will be a good king. So far, I’ve epically failed her.
But not anymore.
From this moment forward, I won’t let her down.
Pliris will thrive, and I will be the king who sets the future we dreamed of in motion. She will come back to the beginnings of what we wanted to build together.
And I will rule with her by my side.