Chapter Three Elician #3
‘He was older, more politically experienced—’
‘And she refused him.’ Elician laughs. He presses his closed fist to his lips, tries to stifle the next hysterical noise that bubbles from his throat.
‘She refused him, and he spent all our lives trying to hurt her for it?’ His father had sent Anslian to capture Altas years ago.
He had invaded Alelunen lands first, and when Anslian managed to capture Queen Alenée’s husband, Marias, Marias was held hostage until Alenée conceded both Altas and control over the Bask to Soleb.
Then, years later, his father actively tried to kidnap Alest from the Reaper cells.
It was framed as a rescue, and in some respects, it was – Alest’s treatment in those cells was nothing short of deplorable – but Elician knows full well: Alest would have simply been another tool.
Another thing taken from Alenée’s grasp and used against her.
‘Alest tells me that Father ordered for him to be trained while he was kept a captive here. In sword fighting. Politics. Lawcraft.’ What would his father have done had he managed to get his hands on Alest as a child? How different might Alest have become if raised under that tutelage instead?
‘Your father knew you would need a suitable partner,’ Calissia replies evenly. ‘Alest never complained.’
‘No. He wouldn’t have.’ Elician wonders at the lessons given, just how biased they might have been.
How slanted in Soleb’s favour. He wonders if those lessons were intended to fully turn Alest to Elician’s side or just give the stello enough cause to doubt and question his mother and queen – enough to overthrow her at Aliamon’s word.
‘Father killed himself, and ensured his brother and Queen Alenée died with him, all because he didn’t achieve the legacy of uniting the continent under his name. All because Alenée told him no.’
‘He ensured you would do it for him. He ensured the pieces were in place for a brighter future.’ She really believes it.
Then again, she has always been loyal to a fault.
Loyal and willing to do anything that her husband, Aliamon, asked of her.
His word was her domain, and her domain was always small.
Elician looks at his mother. Truly looks at her.
It must have been its own kind of torment to know how far Aliamon was willing to go against the last woman who denied his authority.
Strangely, he almost respects Alenée for it.
‘Where are you staying in the palace these days?’ he asks. Calissia does not seem to comprehend. ‘Your room, is it still the King’s suite?’
‘No, I’m in the widow’s rooms. I moved there after Anslian ascended.’
‘That’s where you’ll stay. You are a queen mother; you have all the rights and privileges and freedoms of such a thing, but I desire no advice, no conversation and no interaction with you from this point forward.
Should you breach that, or find those terms unacceptable, then perhaps you may prefer your years as a widow spent in Glaika with your own family.
’ She flinches at the turn of phrase. The second major blow scored since his arrival.
His father’s voice, furious and laden with disappointment, echoes between his ears, castigating him for his behaviour.
She is your mother, she deserves respect.
‘That I don’t hang you for treason is all the respect you deserve. ’
‘Treason—’
‘Three dead monarchs, and almost two years of my life lost to imprisonment and torture – tell me, what else would you call it?’
Her mouth snaps shut. Her sun-browned skin suddenly pales, as if all the healthy flush of life has drained from her in one swift swipe. He tries to feel a hint of remorse, a pebble of regret at the decision. He feels nothing. Just as it has been since waking in Crowen, he feels nothing at all.
‘You are not to blame for what he did,’ he forces himself to say, ‘but you are wholly to blame for not realizing it was madness from the start. You are a royal child of Glaika. You do have power. You had the resources and influence to tell him no, despite what it may have cost you. You could have chosen to save my life, Lio’s life, Anslian’s life. And you chose his fantasy instead.’
‘Elician—’
‘Whatever pity your mothering has managed to instil in me is not strong enough to make me love you anymore. Nor is it enough for me to tell you anything other than this: Father did fail. I will not let Alelune fall into chaos under Gillage. I will put Alest on his throne, and he will rule. Just as I will rule Soleb. I will marry him and see our houses combined to ensure that there will be no further conflict. And we will have peace because it is the right thing to do, not because one country has gained superiority over the other.’ He pauses, making sure that she is listening to each word that leaves his mouth.
‘But, our countries will not be forced to assimilate. I will not make him my lesser, nor denigrate his people as second-class citizens to a more powerful king. We are two different cultures, two different languages, two different histories. And just because they are different, does not mean they are less than. I marry Alest as my equal. And his mother…Queen Alenée should have said no to Father’s proposal, for daring to consider her as anything other than that.
Just as you should have told my father no before he sold Lio and me to Alelune, plotted his own death and had Anslian disgrace himself and our people by murdering a woman who was only looking after her own, all for the sake of a legacy that I will never allow to be honoured. ’
Defending Queen Alenée tears at his soul. It burns on his tongue and his fingers ache from how tightly closed he keeps his fists. His mother stares at him, horrified. But it is the wrong emotion.
It should be shame.
‘I have work to do,’ he tells her. He moves to step past her, and she steps to the side, flinching. It does not matter. He does not care.
He is too tired to care.
Any other excuses or justifications that she could give him would be meaningless. His father ruined everything for the sake of his wounded pride. And Elician will never forgive him for it.