Chapter 196 Chapter 0196

Chapter 196 Chapter 0196
Lucien's POV    

"If ever anything goes wrong," I said quietly, "flee to the riverbank." She looked at me, her expression changed when she noticed my tone was serious, the southern riverbank." That was our meeting spot, and the dragons rarely visit there, it is more of an isolated place, her brows pulled together.

"Lucien..."

"Promise me." My voice came out firmer, leaving no room for her to argue. She stared at me for a brief second before she finally nodded.

"I promise." I held her gaze for another second, committing the sight of her to my memory before turning away. When I shut the door, it felt like I had shut a part of me behind those walls. Just two more days, we will leave this place, and I will never worry that something might happen to her when I turned away for a few seconds. I repeated those words in my head as I walked down the corridor.

Every step toward the royal dining hall made me restless, and the uneasy feeling in my chest grow stronger, I had attended countless royal dinner since I was a child, and not a single one had ever ended peacefully, it always end in chaos, is either someone is always arguing, someone is always too drunk to even do anything right, or someone just said something they shouldn't had said but either ways, I hope tonight was different, but I wasn't sure of that as well, because tonight felt like everything was going to go completely wrong and I felt Aerith’s emotion through the bond, I could still feel it, she was worried, and if Aerith was worried, then perhaps I had every reason to be worried as well, but still, I force myself to remain optimistic, that everything would be fine, it had to be. Just two days left, once my father's birthday celebration began, Aerith and I would leave.

Hopefully, I would be able to keep her as a secret in the palace for the next two days, for now, no one knew she was here, no one would suspect that I was keeping her here and I hoped that, before they ever found out, I hope that I had taken her away from here. I could only be sure she was safe once we were far from the kingdom, and then we could finally breathe. Maybe we could finally have the peace, that we had been dreaming about, I let out a deep breath, as I approach the doors of the royal dining hall, two guards were standing there, they pulled the door open the moment I came closer, I stepped inside, at that moment I knew my optimism had been misplaced, because seeing this men that called themselves my brothers, they were nothing like peace.

Drayen sat beside Princess Jael, his mate, while Thalion and Merek occupied their usual seats; my eyes moved across the table, then stopped at Drayce's chair, which was empty. Of course, I had known he wouldn't come, there was no way he could, the kingdom had declared my brother a rebel, he was somewhere beyond these walls, running with Elora, I hadn't told Aerith, I couldn't tell her because I didn't want her worrying about them but perhaps deep down, I was also afraid, that their fate would become ours, perhaps one day Aerith and I would be the ones running from the kingdom, I don't know when but I know it's not far, the thought made my jaw tighten. "Looking for your favorite rebellious brother?" Drayen's voice echoed across the room. I ignored him while I walked toward the table and bowed before King Silas.

"Your Majesty!" I acknowledged him when I straightened; my eyes immediately landed on my mother, Queen Aria. She was sitting in the seat that normally belongs to Queen Lysandra, Drayce's mother. My brows furrowed; where was Queen Lysandra? I asked mentally: Father is not seriously going to punish Drayce’s mother for a sin she didn't commit. My brows furrowed while I looked at my mother again; she appeared completely comfortable sitting there, as though she belonged in that seat, but something about it felt all wrong because I knew Father didn't want my mother beside him. After all, I know his heart is far from her, I look at my father, king Silas, he wasn't even looking at my mother, his eyes were fixed on the empty chair where Drayce should have occupied, the expression in his eyes darken, I had see that look before, he hasn't looked at any of his son that way, and that look wasn't one of disappointment, anger or even hatred, it was a look of someone who had lost the most precious thing in his life.

My father loved Drayce, even though he never admitted it, even though for once he never showed it, and even though that day he had declared him a traitor, but I knew the truth: he loved Drayce and Drayce's mother. But my mother just wanted that spot in his life, and refused to understand the handwriting on the wall, that whatever she thinks the king is having with her was not real. He was only using her, just like he had used everyone else, I shook my head and took my seat.

"I told you," Father growled suddenly, "I do not want to hear that bastard's name." The room went silent.

"Sorry, Father," Thalion said quickly. Then he reached for a bottle and poured my father another drink. I watched as Father grabbed it and swallowed nearly the entire glass. My stomach tightened; he was already drunk, but Thalion was giving him more.

"Don't you think you were drinking too much?" I asked, father's eyes moved toward me before he could answer, Merek spoke

"Why are you acting as if you care?" I looked at him. He smirked. "Like you didn't want to put a knife through the king's throat yourself for sending your favorite brother away."

"Merek," I groaned, my fist clenched under the table.

"Enough, you are not children." Father's voice thundered across the table, Merek immediately lowered his head, acting all obedient.

"Sorry," and just like that everyone began eating, everyone except the king. He was drinking; at the end of every cup, he reached for another. I tried to ignore him, I really did, he wasn't my responsibility, he never care about my pain and he never treated me like family, and he never cared about anyone, he didn't ever think twice before condemning Drayce, he certainly hadn't care when he had made the choice to destroyed his own family just because he wanted to prove to everyone that he was the king, and kings always stand on their words. So why should I care about his pain? Still I couldn't turn a blind eyes to his pain because I knew the truth, Drayce was important to him, if I were the one who had run away, father wouldn't be sitting there drinking because he missed me, he wouldn't be hurting, he wouldn't even care but Drayce was different, he was the old man favorite son, the son he wanted to place on the throne even when he knows Drayce wasn’t the true heir, but everything had fallen apart, Drayce was irreplaceable, he was that close to perfection. I sighed.

"Your Majesty," Father looked at me, "you know if you just accepted the woman that...."

"Why?" Thalion cut me off. I turned toward him; he stared at me coldly, but I didn't answer. Instead, I looked at Father; I wasn't sure he would listen, but I just wanted to try.

"Accepting the woman Drayce loves isn't much of a big deal, and I didn't see the crime Drayce committed. All I could..."

"Enough!" Thalion slammed his hand against the table. "Stop trying to convince father to bring that traitor back!" His voice thundered through the hall. "Drayce is a traitor, and all traitors deserve to die." A bitter laugh escaped me.

"How come you are still breathing when you are a..." I stopped myself. I remember Drayce's last words before he fled; the family is already torn apart. Don't say anything that would shatter it to pieces. I took a breath, "I wasn't talking to you." I said softly, already turning to the king, when Drayen's voice followed immediately.

"Of course, you were talking to him." I turned towards him. He leaned forward. "You sit there and preach to Father to let that monster return when you know he is a traitor!” His voice rose. The peaceful dinner had officially become a verbal battlefield; I smiled coldly.

"Wow, Drayen," he glared at me, "you seem to know so much about who is a traitor." I leaned back in my chair. "But somehow, you couldn't see the one sitting beside you." Princess Jael suddenly choked on her food; Drayen's expression changed, and he immediately turned toward her.

"Sorry," he reached for a glass and handed it to her. "Drink." Jael took it with trembling fingers. I looked at her, guessing her lover must have told her Aerith was the one in the library that night. I watched her swallow hard. "Are you alright?" She nodded without a word. I could feel her emotions; they were everywhere. She was scared that her little secret would be spilled, but who cares about her and her stupid affairs? I have no intention of exposing her. I turned back to Father.

"Father..."

"What the fuck are you saying?" Drayen's voice cut through the silence. I slowly turned toward him, not understanding what this madman was on about. He was glaring at me. "What did you mean by those words?"

"Don't ask me silly questions." I turned back toward father, but Drayen wasn't letting go of my words.

"Tell me what the fuck you meant." His growl vibrated through the room; I clenched my jaw, not wanting to answer.

"Just let him be," Merek muttered. Drayen ignored him; his eyes remained fixed on me.

"Answer me." I slowly turned toward him

"Stop trying to boss me, everything isn't always about you."

"Of course, it's about me!" Drayen slammed his hand into the table, father didn't say a word, which was unlike him. "So start speaking!" I stared at him, my patience was running thin.

"Keep me out of your mess." His face hardened. For a moment, I thought he would leap across the table and launch at me, but he stood rooted; his dragon rumbled at the surface. Merek sighed. 

"Just ignore the madman. He is just paranoid," I didn't comment on that, my eyes wandered to my father again, he was still drinking, his eyes were red, his shoulders slumped, which was unlike him, and suddenly despite all the anger inside me, I felt sorry for him, perhaps being a king didn't allow him to grieve a son. He was breaking inside slowly, but he was too proud to accept it. I lowered my voice

"Father," he didn't answer. I swallowed hard. "Drayce may be a rebel in the eyes of this kingdom," I paused, "but he is still your son, and the king is the..." He raised his hand stopping me while the glass in his hand stopped halfway to his lips, I couldn't even finish my words, he slowly lifted his eyes toward mine, and all I saw was raw undeniable pain, one he wore, according to him when he lost Valerie, his fingers tightened around the glass.

"You know nothing about what it meant to be a king," he whispered, I held his gaze.

"Maybe not about being a king." I looked toward Drayce's empty chair. "But I know enough that it hurt to lose a loved one, and I see..."

"Whoa!" Merek's voice cut through the room before I could finish my sentence. "It's a good thing you know how it feels to lose the one you love, because you would soon lose one."