CHAPTER 474: TRUE HEIR

"You all saw it, too, right?" The last old Fae to enter the multipurpose room that served as a throne room, coronation and sometimes, even a council room asked. They had gone to plead with Ian to stay because they all knew, and they had felt it.... And then felt it again.

Murray especially would have been amazed to know that the utterance about the test that his master had supposedly taken was not just empty words.

"Yes, we did,"

Nods in agreement went around. A few were puzzled, wondering if there was a hidden meaning in all this.

"It’s strange though. I didn’t know that the royal tests could be done that way. This is unprecedented!"

"Of course! That’s expected of Prince Roman’s offspring..."

A moment of silence ensued before one old Fae known to be controvertial, said,

"Are we sure that he is Prince Roman’s offspring? The prince never had a-"

"Fools will always be fools even if they grow! Hmfp!"

"What did you call me?"

"Well, I never mentioned your name, so if you think you are the one, I cannot help it!" He shrugged, making the others laugh, which further irritated the one who had taken offence.

"Are your eyes failing you as you grow? Can you not see Roman in him?"

"Resemblance is not the only clue to a kinship!"

"Indeed, you’re right, but that pendant on his wife’s neck is for Roman, and there’s no doubt about that. Have you forgotten that each royal has that unique pendant? That is definitely Roman’s. Besides, didn’t you feel that power from both of them? That was also from Roman! If these do not convince you, then you are as useless as could be!"

"You can also see that Ian is half-human! He is not a full-blooded Fae!" Another chimed in,

"Isn’t that enough to disqualify him?" The old Fae finally found his voice after being reprimanded by all of them. He was initially angry, downtrodden and thoroughly dissatisfied that his brothers, whom he shared the royal council duties with, did not see things from his perspective. One should note that he had always been a Prince Syla supporter, and this was expected of him.

The rest sighed as he jumped on the half-human point.

"Doesn’t that just prove that Prince Roman found a human female? If had lain with a Fae female, we would all have known of this offspring."

"Yes... and didn’t Brian tell us that he sensed Roman’s power in the human world? Isn’t that the same we sensed from this man?"

"Besides, our dilemma about Prince Roman seems to have been resolved now."

At that, exclamations went around,

"Reyth’aros." – This hurts...

"Reyth’aros."

"Reyth’aros."

Echoes of painful moans sounded all around the courtroom. This was an expression to show emotional pain at the loss of something or someone.

The excitement died down and was replaced with sorrow. Gasps and low murmurs rippled through the chamber like wind through leaves, but the speaker raised a hand, silencing them.

"Might I remind you that our Prince and true Heir was killed ... not by enemies from foreign lands, nor by some beast of shadow and flame ... but by his own brother!"

The weight of the words dropped like a hammer. A collective breath was held, every pair of eyes turning toward the centre of the hall and at the old Fae who was making trouble with his unnecessary probing questions.

"Let that sink in for a moment while you think of your brothers that you share blood with at home! Think of this scenario, but of them instead." Another chimed in.

"A brother," the speaker spat, continuing while giving a curt nod to the Fae who had just supported him. His eyes narrowed, "Prince Syla dared to covet the throne, he dared to lift his hand against his own blood .... our royal blood! And though he tried to rise as ruler, the heavens themselves struck him down! They did not let such betrayal fester upon our seat of power!"

They paused, fists trembling at their sides. The grief was real, but so too was the rage .... cold and burning all at once.

"I thank the stars, the winds, the old gods and new ... that he failed. For what a despicable creature he revealed himself to be! What ruin might have come upon our lands had he worn the crown?"

A hushed silence settled like frost. Heads slowly nodded. Hearts swelled with indignation. Somewhere, an old councillor wept silently, and a mother held her child closer.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that they were in the inner council room, but the doors were wide open for the larger populace to listen in as well. The room had not cleared out after the failed coronation with the witches.

"Let us remember," the voice softened slightly, though no less firm, "that evil does not always come with fire and blades. Sometimes, it comes wearing the same crest, bearing the same smile.... And you and I ... bowed to them for years! AGAIN, LET THAT SINK IN!"

Another hush lingered in the air like the silence before a storm, but it didn’t last long.

A slow, deliberate clap echoed through the chamber. Once. Twice. Thrice.

Then, a voice, calm as steel but laced with fire, cut through the silence.

"How convenient," said the old Fae from Syla’s camp, Lord Lent, stepping forward with his cloak billowing behind him. "How noble of you all ... to condemn Prince Syla when he is too dead to defend himself."

Syla’s sentence and thoughts from earlier had made him as good as dead, and for this, there was truth to these words spoken by Lord Lent. At that moment, he was facing terrifying things with Ash and Simon, too busy with their own inner demons to think of him.

The hall shifted uncomfortably. Several turned to glare, others to whisper.

"But let’s not pretend this was justice," Lord Lent continued, flying up to give him more reach, his expression calm but his eyes sharp. "Let’s not pretend the heavens struck him down. You, he looked around, meeting the eyes of many. You all struck him down. You ... all of you ... watched him cornered, hounded like a beast, with no trial, no - "

"He murdered his own brother!" someone hissed from the crowd.

"And who told you that?" Lord Lent snapped, turning his gaze toward the protester.

"Are you going deaf as well, Lord Lent?"

"Yes, why do we have to listen to such absurd words from you? Were you not there when Syla and Ash ..."

It was unknown when that had started, but the Faefolks had started to refer to Syla’s family by their first names only,

"... spoke such words to us, thinking that we were not listening? What more proof do you need? Prince Roman’s body to attest to this?"

Lord Lent turned his attention back to the council and the gathered,

"A body would have been proof enough! Besides, how do we know that it was not the witches that this Ian man hired to do that?" He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.

"I thought you were skewed and a little crazy, Lord Lent, but now, I know that you are totally bonkers!"

Disgusted expressions with tempers rising started from different parts of the room.

"YOU! How dare you speak to me like that?! You bring an unknown man in here and claim that he is the true heir and t-"

"Do you not understand the power that needs to go into a "Vren’kael thar’loris." - An oath that is older than the first sunrise? How many people do you know who could do that? Have you ever thought that you were capable of creating such a bond?

Have you not read of what our ancient texts say about such people who can create such bonds and the power that is inherent in them? Why would such a person who wields such great power resort to dirty tricks in front of all of us with those witches?

Did he need to please anyone? The fact that you are a people pleaser does not mean that everyone around you is such as well! And our dearest Prince was treated so poorly by His brother... Yes, we will find his body and give him the rest that he needs, but I think that the likes of you need not be here if you are going to make such foolish talks!"

Lord Lent opened his mouth and then closed it, not finding the right words to retort.

Back in Ian and Shelby’s chamber, Ian replied to Shelby’s question: ’What of these people, though?’

"Those Faes have nothing to do with us, my Elfin. I will get us out of here soon enough. I just missed you too much!"

He said, kissing Shelby full on the lips, but Shelby knew that it was just a distraction. Something had happened to them both in the throne room that made it difficult for Ian just to dismiss the Fae council’s demands completely, and he knew it. Shelby was not sure if it was just a delaying tactic or something else. She also knew that she would stand by him, but there was still much to talk about.

"Do you want to talk about what happened back there?"

As soon as the question left her mouth, both of them felt a drowsy wave pass over them, and then they dropped unconscious, still in each other’s arms.

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