Chapter 9
I stormed into the council room like a strike of lightning hurled by a furious God. My heart pounded violently in my chest, each thump pushing me further and further towards the havoc that awaited me.
The doors swung open so forcefully that they nearly broke off their hinges, mirroring the hurricane raging inside me. I marched straight toward the half-moon table on the far side, my determination propelling me forward with each step.
Seven men sat spaced evenly around the table, their expressions a mix of surprise and disapproval. At the very centre, my father, the king, loomed like an oppressive storm cloud. Jion, sat at his right side, his mouth agape, struggling to process my grand entrance.
The king’s booming voice encompassed the room, each word crackling like raps of thunder. “And what do you think you are doing here?”
“I am joining the meeting,” I asserted—no, demanded—halting before the head table. I clenched my hands together behind my back while raising my chin defiantly.
“You most certainly are not!” my father shouted back as he lifted himself from his seat. “This meeting is reserved for the small council, on which you do not have a position.”
The tone in my voice rose slightly, even though I tried my best to keep my cool, neutral composure. “Yes, I am. I slaughtered the Tenebrae that broke into the castle last night. I have slain more Tenebrae than the seven of you combined! Well, maybe not Jion, but—”
“You dare disobey me, boy?” His quivering finger shot in my direction as he barely tried to contain his temper. “You dare disobey your king?”
I pivoted to my father’s trusted assistant, the pleading desperation for an ally visible in the seriousness of my gaze. “Councilman Namass, have you ever seen a Tenebrae?” I questioned the elderly man. “Do you even know what they look like?”
To my dismay, he lowered his chin. The coward twiddled his fingers in his lap as if I were a poison he dared not consume.
The silence in the room thickened as each man ignored my pleas. Here I was, fighting to help aid in their war, while they treated my devotion as distasteful, a nuisance.
“You have done your duty well as the Captain of the Castle Guard executing whatever Tenebrae somehow keep sneaking past our defences.” My father’s voice dropped to a low growl.
He stepped closer, his eyebrows drawn together as he breathed, “But what makes you think you deserve to be involved in our private meetings? What makes you think you have what it takes to lead?”
My brain searched erratically for a justified, coherent response. I felt like a little boy again—small, frightened, and longing for his father’s acceptance and approval.
“I can help fight, Your Majesty. I wish to aid your soldiers on off-planet assignments,” I managed to protest as my head hung drastically low. The familiar sting of shame engulfed me along with the urge to curl into myself like a child.
He pivoted sharply towards his favourite son with an arm extended. “Jion is a fine leader. An incredible strategist. He will make a wonderful king one day. His plans have led us through many battles,” he proudly proclaimed, a smug grin plastered across his face.
“And how many did you win?” I snapped back, though I regretted doing so at once.
The council members exchanged uneasy glances as my father’s eyes darkened, burning with a loathing I could feel radiate throughout the room, a burning I could feel scorching the outer layers of my skin.
The king’s face contorted into a devious glare as he stalked toward me, placing our faces mere inches apart.
His dark chestnut eyes menacingly bore through my own as his mouth formed a stiff, tight line.
Then, he hissed just low enough for me to hear, “Do you want to know the truth, boy? Do you want to know why you are not authorized to be on this council? Why you are not permitted any standing in this military, this war?”
He stepped back, thrusting his palms skyward, raising his voice so the entire council room could hear. “You are not worthy enough, Glade Everkain!”
A sharp pang shot through my chest as if my own heart had been struck with a poison-tipped arrow. It wasn’t a physical pain but an emotional wound that had always been there, festering since childhood, gradually spreading through my body like a vicious plague.
“You,” he bellowed, pointing a finger directly at me, “are not worthy to be on this council. You, my son, are not worthy to give your input or opinion on anything of importance in this existence! Jion is bright; he uses his brain to solve matters. You,” he snarled, spit splattering from his tongue, “do not use your brain for anything! You have always been an impulsive fool who resorts to his fists or his cock to solve his problems. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve had to bail you out of trouble in your youth?
Start making good decisions, and maybe I will reconsider. ”
With that finality, my father turned and strode back toward his seat among the council members.
“Father,” I begged desperately as my shoulders slumped with defeat.
A vague groan escaped his lips as he walked away. “You,” he muttered over his shoulder, “have always been a disappointment. Now get out of my face.”
He waved at the guards standing in the doorway, and they surrounded me from all sides.
As I peeked through the cracks of their walls, I caught a glimpse of Jion, his expression a mix of concern and sorrow as he sulked deep within his seat.
When our eyes met, he started to rise from his chair, as if to intervene, but I discreetly shook my head.
Our father already hated one son. He didn’t need to hate two.
“And tell me, Sergeant, have we discovered how the Tenebrae are sneaking into the castle undetected?” I demanded, the taste of lingering bitterness from my encounter with my father stewing on my tongue.
“That was the third bastard in a month. We’re missing something vital and being played for fools. ”
My officers swapped perplexed glances, not the response I had hoped for during our daily meeting in the dungeons.
The dungeons might have lacked the grandeur of the council room, but this cold cellar sufficed for gathering my top commanders in the Castle Guard.
I had never been the kind of prince who needed lavish and gaudy possessions to feel comfortable.
I was perfectly fine with the most basic clothing and belongings.
Though, my one exception to the rule was my armour and weapons.
I demanded those to be of the highest quality.
Tampering with the integrity of either could cost me a limb, or worse—my life.
My combat trainer, Alecksandre, instilled that valuable lesson in me throughout my boyhood.
At that time, he was the most renowned warrior in the realm, capable of battling a dozen men with one hand tied behind his back and still emerging victorious.
He taught me everything he knew, training me daily, sometimes even at night.
I’d like to think he looks down upon me now with pride.
But Alecksandre’s teachings went beyond weaponry. My teacher could harness and wield enormous amounts of yellow Light from our Celestial—and fortunately, I inherited that gift as well.
At first, I could only hurl small bouts of Light and fling them here or there. But over time, that power and energy grew and grew with momentum. Before I even reached the age of sixteen, I could wield more Light than almost all the humans on this planet.
Amantius had blessed me with this incredible gift, and how had I repaid her? By remaining captive in this prison of a castle. By being useless and unproductive. By being reckless in my youth and seeking out trouble and brawls.
Though most of my altercations were, of course, only provoked with the desire to protect the woman in my company, I still resorted to using my fists to solve problems instead of my words. Just as my father said…
My head shook involuntarily as I tried to clear my mind of the intrusive thoughts smothering me from the inside out. No good could come from brooding at that moment. It could wait.
One of my sergeants, Tempal Tollins, my best mate, stepped forward and addressed my concerns. “We do not have any new information regarding how the Tenebranians are breaking into the castle.”
Tempal was one of the finest people I knew. His father had served on my father’s council for decades, and we had grown up together in court. As children, we often snuck into the kitchens to steal cakes or took the horses out for joy rides when we weren’t supposed to.
“Fuck!” I snapped as the frustration within me grew uncontrollable. Like a brute, I pounded the back of my fist against the nearest wall.
“Glade,” Tempal said hesitantly, raising his hands defensively.
I caught sight of his jaw tightening and realized that whatever he was about to say was something I definitely didn’t want to hear.
“I may have a theory, but you aren’t gonna like it.
Have you considered the possibility that someone might be granting the Tenebranian scum access into the castle? ”
“No… That is not…” I trailed off, my eyes darting back and forth between my soldiers as I tried to make sense of it all.
Possible, I thought to myself.
“That is insane,” I declared, though I visibly lacked confidence in my own statement.
Tempal stepped closer to me, the light from the lanterns on the wall casting a glow on his deep brown skin.
“I’m not accusing anyone of anything. All I’m saying is that we’ve been searching for a breach in our defences for ages, but we’re not finding anything.
What are the chances that our enemies could sneak into the castle multiple times, mind you, undetected, without any guide? It makes no sense, Glade.”
He frowned as the weight of the implication was born into existence.
Treason.