Chapter 65: He’s Gone.

Johns pov.

“Very good!” I said shocked. I was a little surprised with the improvement they’ve all made within a week's time, it’s not easy to train this many warriors with such little time. I was slowly losing hope but they’ve all proven me wrong, making me smirk, “you’ve shown a lot of promise. A lot of potential. You’ve done the kingdom proud. I didn’t have a lot of hope left at the start of this week… you all weren’t listening, you weren’t following my directions. I thought we were going nowhere, that we wouldn’t be trained in time. But now, I can see how much strength you all had, you just had to grab onto it, pull it to the front!”

Everyone cheered around me, the warriors worn out and tired but all still wearing grins on their faces. Proud of themselves. Which they should be.

“Shower and rest, you’ll need it. Tomorrow I won’t be here, and you’ll need to guide each other to continue at this pace. If you slack, or fall behind, you’ll all fall behind. You cannot stop pushing yourselves and each other, or else you’ll go back to square one. And I won’t be here to shape you all up again, understand?” I shouted, making it clear that I won’t tolerate any of their bullshit. If they slack off and fall behind again, I can’t help them. I don’t know when I’ll be coming back here and it won’t be for training. Their fate rests upon their hands now.

“But Prince John… Why can’t you stay? Why are you leaving?” One of the younger warriors named Lena asked softly, looking at me curiously.

I shivered at the name. Prince John. I don’t remember the last time someone called me that… “Because. I must go home, I have people waiting for me there,” I replied calmly, keeping my face neutral as her and the others stared at me.

“People? Or a person?” One of the guys teased, laughing as his friends elbowed him in the sides to shut up.

“You know, there is a certain someone waiting for me. She’s the alpha of the pack actually. I bet she could kick all of your asses with ease. Now stop trying to meddle into my personal life and worry about your own,” I mumbled before turning around to leave, not having the patience to listen to their nonsense any longer.

They chuckled and laughed as I walked away, making a small smile come onto my face at the good day I had. That we all had, together.

But it’s my last day here.

I should probably go speak to my father again. We’re all surprised he’s still alive. Including the healers.

His skin is pale. His eyes are sunken in. His hair has fallen out. He’s all skin and bones…

He can’t eat or drink anything…

He’s just holding on by a thread. Refusing to let go.

I’ve tried to talk him through it. To let him know it’s okay to go, to let go. To stop feeling so much pain and agony… to finally find peace.

“Son,” his raspy voice called out to me as I walked into the hall, my eyes drifting towards his shell of a body.

He just doesn’t even look like my father anymore…

“Father,” I said quietly, walking towards him and lifting his skinny, fragile hand.

“What brought you here?” He asked curiously, looking at me for an answer.

“It’s my last day here, father. I wanted to speak to you again and see you one last time before I go, I don’t know if we’ll see each other again…” I whispered, swallowing the lump in my throat, so many mixed emotions swirling inside of me, “I want you to know it’s okay to let go now, father. I trained the warriors, they’ve done good. They are ready for any attacks, even by the vampires. I don’t want you to worry anymore. Karl and I will continue to have a relationship together. I’ll visit him often and I already agreed to help him whenever he needed me. He can come to the pack to see me whenever he wants as well. I’ll never forget about him, okay? I know that’s what you want. You don’t want our family to break apart. It won’t, I promise you. Just let go, father. Go to the goddess where you can be at peace, where you won’t feel anymore pain. You don’t deserve this anymore father. You’ve made your peace. You’ve found your redemption. We got the kingdom from here. You can rest assured that everything will be handled. I would never let your hard work go for nothing. I’ll keep this kingdom strong…”

He searched my face, not saying anything…

All I could hear was my heart beating in my chest. Its rapid rhythm echoing in my head.

I waited, watching him. Hoping he’d say something, anything…

He kept looking at me, a sad smile on his face.

“John… it’s not easy to let go. I don’t want to die yet, I shouldn’t die yet. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way… but I let it happen. I was stupid enough to let a siren get close to me. I regret a lot of things but you were never one of them, John. I love you with my entire heart. Never forget that. Your mother… I can’t speak much for her, but I know she made you feel things a child should never feel. And for that, I am sorry. I am sorry I wasn’t there enough, that I wasn’t there to stop it all. I wish I was, I wish I did a lot of things differently. Just know I love you, son. Keep an eye on your older brother. He has a way of letting his title get to his head… I know you’ll always do the right thing. You always have…” he whispered the last part before his eyes closed and his hand dropped from mine limp.

Tears fell from my eyes before I could stop them.

Falling onto my fathers bedding, soaking into the sheets.

A small sob escaped my throat before I wiped my eyes and pulled myself together.

“Nurse!” I shouted out of the door, spotting a nurse just down the hall, “come quickly! He’s- he’s gone.”