Chapter 9 Lily
LILY
“Your father requests your presence, Queen Rothschild,” the guard said outside my door.
My mother dismissed us after our reunion and helped my father take the first bath he’d had in months. He went back to bed shortly afterward, still needing rest to heal the gruesome wound that would forever scar him—mentally and physically.
I had my first night of true rest in a long time, relieved that my father was still here with us. I was also relieved to shed my title as monarch and give it back to the person it truly belonged to.
I answered the door. “It’s Princess Rothschild from now on.”
The guard gave a nod and stepped aside.
I crossed the castle to the royal bedchambers, checked in with the guard, and then made my way to the dining room. We’d often had dinner there together as a family during my childhood. When I walked inside, my father was where I expected him to be, at the head of the table.
In a black shirt with a hint of silver from the platinum visible beneath his sleeves and his neckline, he sat with his back slightly hunched like he was still weary.
The muscles in his arms and shoulders weren’t as big as they had been before, probably because his muscles had lost their strength from being sedentary so long.
But his eyes lit up at the sight of me as they always did—and a tad more now.
When I approached the table, he didn’t get up to hug me like he normally would, probably still too weak to do so.
So I bent down and hugged him.
His arms circled me, and he gave me a hard hug before he let me go.
The table had two coffees along with a plate of scones and muffins that appeared untouched.
My father stared at me for a long time, the emotion in his eyes on the verge of becoming tears. He regarded me like he hadn’t seen me in a long time, like I’d physically changed since the last time he’d looked upon my face.
I knew I’d changed internally, but had I changed externally too?
As if we didn’t know how to talk to each other anymore, we continued to look at each other.
My father eventually put his open palm on the table between us.
Without looking at it, I placed my hand there.
His fingers immediately folded over my hand and enveloped it in complete safety.
The safety I’d been wanting every day since he’d been gone. I’d felt so alone all this time, wanting to turn to him every single day, always wondering what he would have done in my shoes.
Now I didn’t have to wonder.
“The war has ended for everyone—except for you.”
My breath caught slightly at his words.
“I understand this, all too well.” He continued to hold my hand, his hand warm now that life had returned to his limbs. “I’m sorry that you carried this burden alone.” He gave a slight shake of his head. “But Lily Rothschild, my daughter, you were the only one who could do it.”
My eyes dropped to our joined hands.
“Khazmuda and Zehemoth shared your journey with me. Told me about your troubles with King Ithaca, the way he tried to manipulate you, but you manipulated him better. The way you recruited the Brigandine Empire to fight for the Southern Isles, even when their alliance to me was forfeit in my comatose state. That you faced a navy stronger than ours, filled with vampires thrice as strong who shot our dragons from the sky…and turned them into their kind. That you held back their army single-handedly and protected the village from a massacre. That you secured an alliance with vampires I’ve never heard of, and they turned the battle in our favor.
And you had to make the hardest decision of all… to let me go so others might live.”
My eyes immediately dropped as the shame and guilt nearly knocked me off my feet.
“Lily.” He squeezed my hand to force me to look at him.
My eyes watered from the agony of that decision.
“Lily,” he said more gently.
I sniffed before the tears fell. Sniffed again before I raised my chin and looked at him.
His eyes lightened, and they even had a look of pride in them. “That was the right decision—the decision of a queen. I’m so proud of you for making it.”
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done—”
“I know,” he said gently. “But you know I wouldn’t have wanted Khazmuda and his family and my family and my people to die for me.
I would have wanted them to let me go for the chance at victory, so the Southern Isles would flourish under your rule, so generations of people and dragons could live on. ”
All I could muster was a slight nod. “But if it were me, you wouldn’t let me go.”
Instead of his looking aggrieved by the suggestion, a small smile stretched across his face.
“No. But that’s a very different situation.
I would have let everyone die for the chance that my daughter would live—and that’s my burden as a parent.
One day, you will know this burden, the most difficult, emotionally taxing, wonderful burden you will ever carry. ”
I watched the smile on his face, feeling like I was staring at a ghost. “I can’t believe this is real. I’ve wanted to talk to you for so long…and now you’re here.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. But you proved you don’t need me, Lily.”
I gave a painful chuckle. “You’re so wrong about that. You have no idea.”
“That’s not Khazmuda’s perspective. Or your mother’s. Or your brother’s.”
My eyes dropped because I couldn’t accept such a deep compliment. “I’m relieved to shed my responsibility as queen. I think we would have lost fewer people and better decisions would have been made if you were the one leading us.”
He was quiet, his eyes still hard on my face.
I eventually lifted my gaze to look at him.
“I disagree,” he said. “Perhaps when you’ve had a moment to breathe, you’ll be able to reflect, to accept your own heroism, leadership, and valor. To accept the fact that you saved the Southern Isles entirely on your own.”
Another twinge of guilt flooded my body. I didn’t do it entirely on my own.
I wouldn’t have succeeded without Callum.
Either my father had forgotten about the army of the dead in Riviana Star, or it didn’t seem important to him right now.
“Khazmuda told me that the vampiric general came here to our aid with three hundred ships. That he was the one who found the platinum and escorted you there to retrieve it. That he did all of this in defiance of his own king—and out of loyalty to you.”
I wanted to swallow. Wanted to pull my hand from his because it started to sweat from the stress of the question he never asked.
“We would have lost the battle if it weren’t for him.
And I would have had to search the world for months or years to find the element to cure you.
It can’t be overstated…that he’s the hero in this story. ”
He gave a slight nod in agreement. “He wouldn’t have come if it hadn’t been for you, Lily. So, in my book, you’re the hero. But I need to express my gratitude face-to-face, so once I’ve recovered, we’ll fly to his kingdom together.”
“He’s actually still here. He wanted to wait until you were awake before he left.”
He watched me with sharp eyes before he gave a slight nod. “Perfect. Then I’ll speak with him imminently. I’m sure his army is eager to return home.”
“There’s no rush, Dad. I’m sure he can wait another day.”
“He waits for no one—we wait for him. Please retrieve him for me.”
“Now?”
He nodded. “Please.”
“Alright.” I left the table and crossed the castle to Viper’s chambers. After I knocked, it took him a few minutes to answer the door, like he’d been unclothed when I arrived. When he opened the door, he looked ready for battle.
There was a pause as he stared at me, a foot taller than me. “How’s your father?”
“He’s good. Wants to speak to you, actually.”
“I’m ready.” He came to my side, wearing everything except the double-handed sword across his back.
“He’s still pretty weak, so don’t expect him to get up when you approach him at the table. Just take a seat.”
He nodded in understanding.
I took the lead and guided him back across the castle to where the royal chambers were located. I escorted us both inside and to the dining table, where my father remained, dressed in his casual trousers.
My heart was racing at their meeting, and I wasn’t entirely sure why.
My dad turned his gaze to Viper beside me, and the expression of surprise in his gaze suggested he didn’t expect what he saw.
“This is General Viper of the Kingsnake Vampires,” I said. “Viper, this is my father, King Talon Rothschild of the Southern Isles.”
Viper moved into the chair where I’d sat previously and gave my father a slight nod in respect. “Call me Viper.”
“And call me Talon.” My father extended his hand across the table, asking for a handshake, something commoners did when they met. My father offering the gesture was a sign of friendship and dismissal of royal hierarchy—like they were equals.
Viper took it.
“I asked my daughter to bring you here because I wanted to personally thank you for what you’ve done for the Southern Isles.”
I took the seat across from Viper, watching the two of them engage.
“My daughter believes we would have lost that battle without you.”
Viper didn’t glance at me, wearing the same lidless expression I’d seen him show countless times. “I like to believe she would have found another way.”
My father’s expression didn’t change, but I knew those words about me meant a lot to him. “From what I understand, you disobeyed your king’s orders and came here anyway. May I ask why?”
He continued to hold my father’s gaze without uncertainty. Even though my father was in poor health at the moment, he still had the steellike stare of a mighty opponent. He was still confident and powerful with just his presence. But Viper didn’t flinch. “Because I love your daughter.”
Oh shit.
My heart turned to stone, heavy and distinct inside my chest, slowly sinking through the different layers of my body. I became one of the undead, so stricken by his confession that I didn’t want to be alive to accept it.