Elias turned and stared out the window. The dark sky had started to lighten. “She also confessed that she ordered Mother’s murder so she could marry and control you,” Elias said, voice flat. “And today she told me she planned to murder you too. She said she was weary of you.”
A garbled noise escaped his father. “Lies! You’re a liar! A liar!”
Elias didn’t look at him. Perhaps he should have been kinder. Perhaps he should have been softer in revealing to his father what had occurred. After all, he’d just lost a wife and two children today.
However, at that moment, Elias could not care for a man who’d showed so little care for him. Elias had been kidnapped and tortured by the emperor’s wife and children. Blood, wounds, bruises, and grime covered him. And his father had shown not a slip of concern for him.
The emperor sobbed and wailed and shook. “You’re a liar! You never accepted her! You never loved her as she loved you! You were jealous of her!”
Elias had heard enough. He’d done his duty. He’d told his father what had occurred. Without saying another word, he turned and walked away.
Right now, his father’s world was collapsing. Some might think that Elias should be there for him as a good and loyal son. But when Elias’s own world had collapsed after his mother’s death, his father had been too busyfalling in love with his mother’s murderer to be there for Elias.
So Elias just kept walking. He’d give his father the same support and love that his father had always given him.
In the days to come, more of the story would come out amongst the public. His father would find it harder to deny the truth. But Elias could not find it in him to care.
His father’s wailing followed Elias as he approached the doors, leaving the quarters for the royal family of the combined Kingdoms of Voltaria and Zephyrias.
Part of Elias thought he should feel bad. But as the doors closed behind him, muffling his father’s cries, all Elias wanted was Gerard.
Chapter
Sixty-Five
“It is an unusual injury. But I believe he will be all right,” Grand Healer Eveline said softly.
Gerard and his siblings exhaled. Juniper squeezed Senta’s shoulder.
“I concur.” Healer Doran, King Alaric’s personal healer, stepped forward. “He has already improved greatly in the short time since he arrived. If he continues in this manner, I have no doubt that King Alaric will recover completely.”
My father is okay. The kingdom is secure.
Gerard did not want to ponder what would have happened if his father had died tonight. The loss of his father would have no doubt taken a huge emotional toll on Gerard.
But their father was also the king. The impact of losing him on Draconia would be immense. And if he died, Konrad would become ruler. History had taught Gerard that such a transition of power could be tumultuous. Plus, the dragon king dying during the peace assembly would create further complications.
But he is alive. That is one problem we do not need to deal with.
And they currently had more than enough problems that needed dealing with. The grand healer and Healer Doran stood by their father’s bedside. Although, the bed was only newly assigned to King Alaric.
The original quarters provided for the royal family of Draconia were in the process of being examined and the dead bodies of the guards removed. As a result, their family had been placed in new quarters.
They had Draconian guards on duty. And when the grand shield had told Gerard, “My warrior monks will be at your disposal,” Gerard had agreed and thanked her, less resistant than he had been previously to accept her help. After all, his own guards had failed to protect his family.
The king coughed. “It was those three,” he rasped. “The three of them. Black masks.” He gestured to his face. He coughed again and tried to sit up. He cleared his throat. “I saw them … They cast their spell and …” A fit of coughs racked his body, robbing him of speech.
“There will be time to talk later.” The grand healer poured tea and held it to the king’s lips. “What is important now is that you rest.”
The king sipped and lay down.
“Yes. Rest will help you recover, Your Majesty.” Then Healer Doran glanced meaningfully at Gerard and the others and gestured to the door.
The healers walked out of the room. The siblings and Juniper followed.
When they left, the grand healer shut the door. “I know you have questions. But he needs sleep for now.”
Healer Doran lifted his chin. “And do not fret, as theking’s personal healer, I will remain by his side and watch over your father as he sleeps.”
