Chapter 5 Alternatives
Alternatives
Save my Aquilan…
Aquilan stared at the tableau of his mother and the Night King standing face to face. Vex was smiling and his mother was too through her tears. Vex reached down and brushed those tears away. She let out a self-conscious sniffle as he dried them.
“No more need for tears, Queen Mariel, all will be put right. All will be… as it once was. As it should be,” Vex seemed to say this more to himself than to her.
His red eyes were distant, staring off into far horizons, but also looking backwards, Aquilan thought. To a time before when the Night King was happy from his expression.
Aquilan blinked. He had heard what his mother said. He even understood what she said.
He was Ailduin reborn.
He. Was. Ailduin. Reborn.
He blinked some more. Ailduin had been the greatest of the Sun Kings.
During his reign, Aravae’s culture had progressed in leaps and bounds.
The arts, sciences, magic and other areas had advanced so much that what the Aravae had known before Ailduin’s reign and what they had known afterwards was only a footnote in comparison.
The Sun Elves had gone from a rather parochial, insular group to plane travelers with an empire that spanned the ages.
That likely had something to do with Vex.
But it also had to do with Ailduin. He had welcomed all species to join the Empire.
He had opened his arms wide to them, believing that they added richness and meaning.
How can I be him? I did not even want to rule. If I had been allowed to remain a Sun Prince who composed poetry, sang, hunted, and ate and drank too much, I should have been content.
“What must we do to save him, King Vex?” his mother asked, looking hopefully up into the Night King’s face.
Vex’s gaze came back from those far shores to look at his mother. He was very present. Very there. “He must not remember any of this. Not his past. Not me. Especially not me. You must keep knowledge of Ailduin’s reign to a minimum.”
One of her hands crept up to her throat. “Forever? I–”
“Not forever. Until he is ready,” Vex answered.
“How long will that be?”
“Until he is strong enough to handle the memories and is anchored once more to life. Then he will be told all,” Vex answered.
Aquilan thought of how his mother had hidden those books from him in her library.
That made sense now. She had been trying to honor her promise to Vex and protect him from his own history.
It seemed so absurd that remembering he had died once would make him die again.
He couldn’t remember a time in his life when he would have felt that way.
Yet he knew neither his mother or Vex were lying about this.
They certainly believed what they were saying.
She nodded. “It will be as you say. But I can only do this once he is with us. What about now?”
“I shall place a memory block upon him. It will not last forever. It will wear away. And Ailduin is strong. He will want to remember,” Vex told her.
Yes, I will want to. Aquilan shook his head. And yet I cannot. There is nothing in my head about Vex.
Even as he stared at Vex, studied his face and form, he felt a blankness. A gulf between them. He had no memories of this elf. Yet Vex had been precious to him for longer than he had lived this time. The memory block was effective.
Or it was renewed… recently. Could that have happened?
That alarmed him on all sorts of levels. And the steadiness of the stone beneath his feet felt less certain.
“And when that happens, I should seek you out here?” She asked.
“I will find you.” Vex’s lips flattened as he gazed around them for a moment and seemed to really see it as it was now. “This place… is no longer safe.”
Were the Leviathan’s webs starting to appear back then? Or was this before that?
“I understand,” she said. “I… Thank you, King Vex. I cannot say enough how grateful–”
He raised a hand to silence her. There were Blood Tattoos even on his palm and wrapped around Vex’s fingers. “There will come a time when I will ask something of you, Queen Meriel.”
“What–it does not matter. I will pay it,” she said, lowering her head in a combination of determination and shame.
Why shame? Surely he will not ask her to do something dishonorable to help me!
Vex chuckled and put two fingers beneath her chin. “It is not what you think. I will not ask you to betray your people or cause any evil to be done.”
Aquilan smiled and nodded. The Night King might have been painted as a cackling villain, but Ailduin would not have been best friends with him if that was truly the case.
I would not have been best friends with him.
“Then what will you ask?” She gazed up at Vex’s handsome yet somehow alien visage.
Vex’s red eyes glowed like witchfires. “That the life I give will eventually return to me.”
She stared. Her right hand fluttered by her throat. “I don’t–”
“Ailduin will be mine. I will come for him. You will hand him over. And he will leave the Aravae for the Kindreth,” Vex said simply.
But there was nothing simple about what he was asking.
Aquilan stared in shock. His mother did too. She was cradling her stomach protectively and possessively. What did Vex mean exactly?
“But… but what if he doesn’t want to go? He is the reincarnation of our greatest king! He will not want to leave us!” She cried.
Vex’s eyes narrowed. “Regardless, you will not stand in my way when I come for him. Neither will your husband. Or any Aravae. Ailduin will be mine whether he wishes to be… or not.”
Aquilan took a half step back. Vex’s head snapped up as if he heard or sensed Aquilan’s presence.
The Night King was staring right at him.
Aquilan swallowed shallowly. This was a memory, wasn’t it?
Vex wasn’t really there. He wasn’t really looking into Aquilan’s eyes.
He hadn’t come to snatch Aquilan and take him deep into the Under Dark like the children’s stories said.
Surely not.
“You cannot ask me to give up my child to you!” His mother shook her head violently.
“He is not your child, Queen Meriel. He is Ailduin coming back to this plane. And he belongs with me,” Vex answered coldly. “Either you agree to my terms or… Ailduin will find another vessel to make his way here. One who is not so foolish as to reject my assistance.”
His mother gripped her own swollen belly. Her expression was wretched. “But you love him! I know you do! Why would you do this? Why put such a price on aiding him?”
Vex was still staring at Aquilan. His mouth was as dry as the desert. He stepped forward and stared right back. Surely Vex knew that he would want him to save his mother without any strings attached! Why was he putting such conditions on this?
“Because I have been down this road before. I know where it leads if I do not have control,” Vex answered her.
His right hand curled into a fist. “If Ailduin does not learn from his mistakes in the past, he will die again and again and again. But if I am there–if I teach him–then he will live forever. By my side.”
“But–”
“What buts are there?” Vex swung towards her and Aquilan felt the loss of his gaze.
He nearly fell forward when it was seemingly taken away.
“You have a child already! I will give you some time with Ailduin. All you must do… is let him go. And you will do so with the knowledge that he will thrive once he is with me,” Vex told her.
His mother opened her mouth. But whatever she would have said, she suddenly let out a groan of pain and doubled over. “Ah! Something is wrong! He’s… he’s in distress! King Vex! Help me! Help him!”
But Vex did not come to her. Not even when she crumpled down onto her knees. The dress she wore was white and crimson so the blood only showed when it reached a snowy white panel. His heart leaped up into his throat as he saw blood bloom.
“Mother!” Aquilan cried out and tried to rush to her side.
But he was suddenly stuck. Tangled. Sticky threads engulfed him. He gagged as they entered his mouth and clung to his tongue and palate. He struggled to raise Glorandal and cut through the strands. He had to get to his mother!
“Accept my offer and I will save you both,” Vex answered.
Even through the haze of the Leviathan’s web, Aquilan could see that Vex was not moving, not bending, not reacting whatsoever to his mother’s dire predicament.
How can he be so cruel?! So cold?!
“Mother, I’m coming!” he shouted.
He murmured a spell and the strands of web began to burn as sunlight surrounded Aquilan. He felt the web giving way. He would be free in moments and he would help her. He would save her… and himself.
His mother cried out again in agony and curled forward into a ball on the ground. The blood stain grew as she was hemorrhaging. “I–I… Aquilan, I’m sorry… I–I... I accept! I accept your terms, King Vex! Aquilan will be yours!”
Aquilan staggered forward, free of the webs, ready to come to his mother’s aid. But she was not there. The plinth was still there. But what had seemed empty space was now filled with webs and cocoons.
And Vex.
Aquilan froze.
The Night King looked much as he had when he’d met with Aquilan’s mother in this same spot. Different pants. Same bare feet. No shirt. His hair was still shaved on one side and hung in glorious silver waves down to mid-back on the other. His red eyes were fixed upon Aquilan.
“Y-You!” Aquilan managed to get out and felt like a fool as soon as he said it. “My–my mother! What did you do to her?”
“I helped her. I saved you,” Vex answered.
His voice was slightly warmer than it had been with Meriel.
His tone was almost gentle. Aquilan swayed a little.
Everything he had learned in such a short time from who he was and what his mother had done and what Vex had offered…
It was almost too much. But he had to keep control of himself. This was Vex. The dread Night King.
My friend. My best friend.