No. My eyes track the girl who just took a part of me.
Betrayer.
My chest hurts in a way I have not experienced often.
It’s the kind of pain people describe in books when they talk about a breakup. I feel sick to my stomach and hold my hand in front of my mouth, scared I will puke. I hate myself for growing so close to someone so fast. Someone who I apparently didn’t know good enough.
Annie walks to the back and doesn’t look over her shoulder. Ethan walks up on stage and it is only when he announces Braxton his name with a smirk that my eyes change direction. My eyes turn to my partner, who is watching Ethan sit down next to the king. Braxton rubs his brown stubble as his earthy eyes watch Ethan every move he makes.
“Well, Ethan.” The king sighs, lifting his old hands. “What do you have for us?” Ethan leans forward, whispering,
“May I?” He presses his hands to the king’s ears, whispering something we can’t hear. The king grins and nods his head. Ethan smiles, nothing left but a few breadcrumbs off the emotion he has been through when his girlfriend was dragged on stage. The king stands up and raises his hands towards the ceiling. Shadows appear from the top off the ceiling. Shadows wield and a wall gets built up from the top off the ceiling towards the ground.
“What is he doing?”I whimper.
Braxton holds his shoulders stiff.
“He got the chance to show how powerful he is, and he won’t let that chance pass.”Well got it. He wants to show how dangerous he is.
A shadow wielder.
The strongest one on the continent, people say. I knew that already, but have never seen him use his powers. A wall of dark shadows hold place on the edge of the podium, like a curtain in front of a window. Some people squeak, others whisper and others cheer. Ethan steps forward, through the shadows. Ashout appears from behind the shadow curtain. A woman’s voice yelling and a man’s voice hissing something at her.
The king’s voice hissing at her.
My eyes track Braxton’s face.
He freezes.
He is literally frozen to the spot.
He normally doesn’t show that much emotion, but everybody can see this reaction, water filling his eyes. I don’t have the courage to ask who is standing behind the shadows. Braxton wipes away a tear that rolls over his cheek, shaking himself out of his frozen shield.
“Who is—”I stutter, but Braxton interrupts me before I can finish.
“Mom,”he bawls.
The queen who disappeared sixteen years ago and was never seen again. My heart breaks into a few pieces. I feel the little boy inside off him. I break through his walls completely, embracing his pain, hoping that it will make it more bearable. He sobs in my head. Not out loud, but he is letting me in. I embrace him mentally and despite the fact that we are sitting silently next to each other, waiting for what is going to happen next, I feel him cry his heart out on my shoulder while I hold him tightly. There is no place for my own pain at this moment. All I feel is him. My mind pulls me back to the moment he carried me out of the fire, and the memories flood in. Him brushing my hair out of my face, his lips brushing my skin before I passed out.
A good memory crashes in again, like it didn’t disappear for a while.
I hold on to it tightly, put it in multiple rooms in my mind, making sure I can find it again.
My mind gets dragged back towards the shadows. A beautiful woman steps through, being held by guards. I doubt that she came here voluntarily.
What kind of mom would break her son’s heart this way?
He stares at her emotionless. A blank stare. She looks like him. She has freckles and dimples, the same color brown hair and a bit of a tan that gleams over her white skin tone. She has long waves whiffling around her face. She has the same eyes as him and looks kind of like a tarot reader. She wears no fancy clothes or gown. She looks normal. Like no royalty. Just like an utterly beautiful mom. Her face breaks and her lips wobble as two guards hold her two arms behind her back.
“Braxton,” she cries out. He doesn’t do anything as she tries to get the grip off the guards. “My baby, Axe,” she cries out again. It sounds horrendous. I am not sure what happened and don’t want to put salt into old wounds. I want to let him tell me if he wants to, but I think I can assume that their mom and son relationship didn’t end well.
“It did not indeed,”Braxton shares.
I move in shock, because I did not expect that. Apparently, I am not the only one trespassing in their bond their mind.
“Sorry,”I sputter. He looks at me confused, ignoring his mom on stage begging for his attention.
“What are you sorry for? You did not leave your four-year-old son and his brother by their degrading and torturing father,”he whispers. My heart breaks off more piece by piece. I want to peel him layer by layer like the onion he is, but it breaks me the deeper I get.
