Chapter 54
Kinslayer
Adrion
"Why did the Gods have to damn me?"
Adrion said dismally to himself. Stretching his muscles, he cracked his neck from side to side while leaving the royal meeting room.
He thrust a hand through his hair, pushing it back, hoping it would stay that way since his curls were beginning to touch his eye, it had become an interference as of late.
Adrion had been stationed in meetings since last night's fiasco.
The war general had been pleased to see Adrion in the room, only to see the prince's facial reaction when the news of the arena leader being charged with treason was revealed.
Adrion's father was in an ember of fury directed at the prince for failing to notice such vital information. His father’s disappointment was clear, yet Adrion couldn't shake the feeling that the king was hiding his own secrets.
The king ignored him during the meetings, undermining him in front of everyone.
Adrion's frustration deepened as he recalled how they treated him like a naive child who had come face to face with the arena leader without realizing she was a traitor.
Though he knew his presence was unnecessary, he remained through the afternoon, sleepless and unable to face Morana.
Guilt ate at his gut and his frown now near permanent on his face.
He felt like a spineless snake for lacking the courage to tell her that the leader she could not wait to see was guilty of treason against the kingdom.
Still, Adrion consoled himself, repeating in his mind.
She would understand... once she knows what her arena leader had been conspiring, then she would understand why we did it.
Pushing open the heavy wooden doors, he was in complete disbelief to be met with a chilling cold that rippled through his golden cloak.
Adrion hesitantly went toward a hollow window, perplexed by the absence of the Apollon Sun, with grey clouds that loomed over Apollo as if the end was near.
Rain lashed his face as the wind howled through the opening of the wall.
"What in Apollo's name is happening...?" Adrion muttered, weary.
Never in his existence had Apollo rained in this manner, and seeing this within his kingdom created a worrisome feeling that settled in his soul.
The prince swallowed his anxiety, turning his attention away when he heard trickling of droplets on the marble floor, he looked ahead to find Morana, soaked in rain, her hair plastered to her face and armour.
He blinked, struggling to believe she stood before him.
"Seems like you have had quite an eventful time outside.
" His teasing tone immediately vanished, his smile disappearing in a heartbeat as he noticed her bloodshot eyes and the scent of salted tears.
His heart froze over; she had seen it...
she knew what had happened. And he wished he could have protected her heart and eyes from the pain of it all.
"Mor..." The prince's voice was soft with caution, as if approaching a wounded animal.
"I am so sorry you had to see that... you shouldn't have had to find out that way.
I commanded the palace guards not to let you out.
" His voice was sincere as he continued, he watched her eyes widen with shocked recognition.
"You have to understand why it was done, herself and her followers committed treason.
" The prince was stunned when he heard her sharp gasp and broken voice.
"You knew? Knew all this time that they were being sentenced to death?
" Morana trembled and something within the area seemed to vibrate in a thunderous beat.
Adrion had been too focused on the broken girl in front of him to notice it, all he had cared about was her and how his heart was slowly crumbling from seeing her in pain.
"I knew... and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but they were working against the crown.
My crown, Morana, and not just mine, but the whole of Terran.
They harboured her, Mor... they gave her refuge, she destroyed the kingdom you're from.
I know you want the best for Terran. I am unsure if Fala would have let you meet her during your time at the arena.
.. but do you know her location? If we find the Princess of Darkness, we can save the world from further evil and corruption.
" The prince was in a mess of a state. He had felt immense guilt for the woman he had come to care so much for and yet the glory of finding the princess he once thought was dead would grant him an immediate place on the throne.
Morana had bowed her head down... droplets of tears dropping onto the floor.
The prince found it painful to look at her, she was devastatingly beautiful in her sorrow.
When she finally looked up, her eyes burned with retribution.
"Mor..." Adrion muttered before falling silent. He hadn’t noticed it before—the frenzy in his own powers, how everything in his blood screamed to draw his magic. He hadn’t noticed the darkness surrounding her, how every time she inhaled, the shadows that leaked from her got reabsorbed into her skin, only to thunder out in watery waves when she exhaled.
Inhaling shadows. Exhaling them right out. They began to cover the room.
"No..." Adrion trailed off in disbelief, stepping back. "NO!" he repeated once again.
Angry, betrayed tears began to prick at his eyes and a deafening sound of realisation hit him hard.
He tugged at his hair and shook his head when he saw her look into his eyes pleadingly.
It was all beginning to add up, how she wasn't a goddess blessed being who could control the Apollon fae fire blade.
The violin she carried... the one the Princess of Duvessa had been known for owning.
How she had it by her side when he found her beaten and bruised in Litara.
How Morana defeated the necromancer, no.
.. not Morana. Saiya. Saiya had defeated the necromancer.
.. Saiya, the Princess of Duvessa who was the last true blood fae.
The prince felt as though he was going insane.
Adrion's voice was cruel when he stumbled back to then steady himself.
"You must think that I am some kind of fool," Saiya cried, her face contorted in shame as she looked at him.
The prince continued, lifting his arm and drawing power to him.
His red eyes, so much like how his fathers had been when she was just a little girl and the king had been mere moments from sentencing her to death.
"You shouldn't draw that much power; you’ll kill yourself," Saiya exclaimed and reached out to him. The prince recoiled in disgust, his very being retaliating from the betrayal and anger coating his veins in heat.
"Drop the act. There's no hiding what you are now, Kinslayer," he growled, his red eyes blazing as he drew upon magic. Flames flickered to life, slowly forming in his palms.
Saiya got down to her knees, discarding the fire blades strapped onto her, showing to the prince that she would refuse to fight him. To hurt him. Surprise flashed through Adrion’s eyes, and it disappeared to be replaced with fury.
"Have I not proven myself?" Her voice sounded raw, breaking as she continued.
"Time and time again. Proving that I am no villain.
I saved you, no matter the cost to my own life.
" Her voice cracked as her fist slammed into the floor, a mix of agony and defeat.
"Haven't I given enough?" And one could swear that even the Gods heard it.
Saiya repeated herself again. "Haven't I given enough?
" she cried into the air. Hoping Fala, wherever she was in Riaan heard, hoping that the fates who had seen her in pain and struggle witnessed her guilt for the massive crime she had committed many years ago when she was a child.
Adrion only looked at her with disdain. "You are sick."
Her arms slacked by her sides, overcome by anguish.
"You murdered an entire kingdom just because of your pride!
" the prince exclaimed, the fire in his palms intensifying.
He laughed bitterly, a single tear sliding down his eye.
"And to think I loved you." He didn't need to see it to know he was breaking her heart, but he chose to crush it further.
"I wanted to declare you as my Queen consort.
But how could I possibly be with a monster?
" Saiya's shoulders shook and trembled. The prince then looked to the fire blades on the floor, feeling as though he was slowly being ripping apart from within with the power he was drawing.
He did not think it would work, but he heard the call for destruction, he commanded the blades to him.
They flung toward him, answering a new master.
Saiya gasped and scrambled forward, her eyes widening in shock as she pleaded.
"Those are mine! Please, Adrion! It's the only thing I have left of her.
.." Saiya sobbed and held herself around her abdomen.
And the thing is... Adrion almost did it. His powers dwindled, arms nearly reaching forward to envelop her in a desperate embrace. But the damage was already done, and he would do anything to save his kingdom from the evil before him.
"You are not worthy of them." Was all the prince said before he aimed a blade at her.
"I am not going to fight you," she said softly, her voice cutting through the thunder that rumbled above, its echo filling the castle.
Her shadows enveloped her, offering comfort and catching the tears that continued to fall.
Adrion let his hurt consume him, because he knew one thing for certain.
He was not going to let his feelings hesitate from killing her.
The temperature suddenly dropped at an alarming rate.
"No, you’re not going to fight him. Because I will," a dark voice rose from behind Saiya.
The demon's powers coated the entire region, it felt like a layer of frost settling in.
Diavelo looked different, the prince noted.
He wore his world ender armour, something the demon never did.
And Adrion studied his kind since young, he knew everything about them, straight from the source of his father.
Known all about the power Diavelo wielded and that he stood no chance against the demon.
"You will be held for treason by protecting her. She is a common enemy demon, do not be fooled by her looks." Adrion snapped, but Diavelo simply crouched down to lift Saiya's chin up.
"We're leaving, little shadow," he murmured softly to her, his approach non-threatening.
"No, you will not!" Adrion shouted and threw a fire blade which had burned like an inferno Morana had never been able to create. Diavelo held his arm out and snuffed out the raging fire like it was nothing.
"This entire castle will collapse if you fight me, Adrion.
I suggest that you be smart about your next steps," Diavelo warned the prince, and yet the demon knew that there was nothing that would stop the royal in front of him.
Adrion breathed heavily, aware that using too much of his power could kill him, yet he drew more, wielding fire.
Just before he could throw it, the demon smiled, the inked stars on his arms glowing.
The prince stared in devastation, knowing he couldn't win this fight—the green-eyed demon before him could control gravity itself.
Within a heartbeat, Adrion was lifted into the air and slammed back down.
The stone floor beneath his back, which was in excruciating pain, cracked deeply.
Diavelo rolled his shoulders without a single care.
Light so beautiful and luminescent sparked up from his back, where heavy colossal wings made of starlight sprouted.
And from the floor, Adrion watched as Diavelo picked up Saiya, carrying her in his arms. He could have sworn the sight of them together was as if a bigger piece of a puzzle was connecting.
The Princess of Shadows and Darkness in the arms of an abraax demon that could end the very world.
They shot through the ceiling, with speed as fast as light.
The kinslayer and the demon.
Gone.