CHAPTER 55
There were murmurs among the guards. Tristan knew his brother was up to something. What that was, he didn’t yet know – but he would soon. He didn’t ask the men about it or Titan would get suspicious. He decided to follow his brother the next day. Titan was just like their father. He reveled in people’s misery and pain and Tristan hated him just as much as he hated his father.
He could still remember the bruises he’d find on his mother on almost daily basis before they’d eventually fade – preparing her for the next beating at her husband’s hands. Titan was old enough and strong enough to have stopped their father from being so cruel to their mother but even though he loved her; he never said a single word to their father about it. And Tristan hated him for his need to always appease father. And he remembered his own beatings at father’s hand too. But his father – King Varamont never raised a finger on his prodigal son who he was raising in his image to be the next cruel king.
Tristan lay awake that night, unable to fall asleep. There was a feeling of unease deep in his stomach that didn’t allow him any rest. When morning came he wandered outside his brother’s room to pick up any conversation or sound coming from behind his closed doors but found nothing. He went to the dining hall next where his mother sat at the dining table waiting for her sons. She smiled when she saw him approach.
“Good morning mother” he bent down to kiss her cheeks and sat directly in front of her. “Where’s our king?” sarcasm still managed to drip through his tone, even when he tried for his mother’s sake, to not let it.
“Titan didn’t come home last night. He is off somewhere for work” her tone was a little disappointed. She always wanted her sons around for atleast the first meal of the day.
“Oh” Tristan couldn’t say anything more. What are you up to Titan. He thought to himself.
When Titan didn’t come back for another two days, Tristan started getting antsy. Nobody knew his whereabouts and he’d taken only his most trusty friends with him. Each as blood thirsty as himself. Tristan decided to search for him.
Next few days went in searching for Titan in his usual haunts with no luck. Tristan had a sneaking suspicion that his brother was planning something big. There was only one place left to look. Tristan shuddered just thinking about going there. The place deep in the mountains still gave him nightmares.
Once when he was a little kid, Titan took him to “play”. He told mother he’d take care of him and teach him some tricks while they stayed there. He told Tristan that it was a game of treasure hunting. Titan hid pieces of dried meat all around the main house and told Tristan that if he wanted to eat he had to find the food. He locked him in the house and went away. Eager to prove himself in front of his big brother; Tristan ran from room to room trying to find the hidden pieces of food until night fell. He waited for his brother to come get him… and waited and waited but he never came.
That night he’d cried himself hoarse. Every shadow looked like a monster and every sound frightening but the night was never ending… and so was the next one. Two days later his mother found him unconscious near the bottom of the stairs where he’d fallen trying to get away from the dark of the upstairs.
That was the place he needed to go to if he wanted to find his brother. He’d say mother had asked him to look for Titan.
…………………
His head was spinning as he read through the pages of the journal written by his beloved Katie... each word a blow to his heart... the betrayal unbearable. His mate, his love, his Katie had betrayed him in the worst way possible. She had shredded his very being with the claws of her lies.
Suddenly a splitting headache hit him like a thunderbolt and something flashed in his mind. Images started to play in his head as if a dam had broken ...
Images... So many images
Memories... So many of them
Emotions... Too much of it
Happiness... when he found his mate
Despair of his people... when they were cursed
His captivity and the war... he remembered it all... Katherine’s letter confessing her doing... And then he remembered getting ill but after that his mind was a clean slate. He couldn’t remember a thing even if he tried. his head kept hurting... his vision got blurry... He grabbed his head and fell to his knees... it was like someone was hitting his head with a sledge hammer...
He didn’t know how long he sat there... the journal lying in front of him... mocking him of his foolishness, his mate’s betrayal.
“Alex?” Katie called out...
He lifted up his head and focused his burning eyes on her...
“Why?” He seethed. The venom in that one word shook Katie. And it was then that her eyes dropped to the journal lying open on the floor in front of him... her face leeched of all color. After so long, she'd been careless. She'd left her dirtiest secrets out in the open. She opened her mouth to answer then closed it... opened it again... and closed it... as if words had suddenly left her alone to deal with the mess she had made...
She too fell on her knees, right there in the doorway. She wasn’t sure she could ever speak again. Her throat burned with panic and unshed tears. She just kept looking in his raging eyes and the hatred they held for her. What have I done she thought to herself. All this trouble and I still lost him.
“Forgive me Alex” she whispered.