Page 33 of Scars and Burns

He sits back down at his desk only to say, “You may leave now,PrinceAeron.”

I’m too tired to argue. Too exhausted to fight. I’m confused, conflicted. I don’t know what to think or how to feel. I’m not able to process what this night has brought.

I returned to my room in utter shock. Sitting on my bed. Recapping the night.

I went to kill the little flower. Instead, I met her Mother, the only other person in my life to show me kindness. She knew I was coming and was content with it. She told me my Mother loved me and I was the light of her life. While handing me a journal that supposedly came from her. A journal with an entry last dated this morning. Meaning my Mother has been alive all this time. I’ve been lied to by my Father and abandoned by my Mother.

I glance at the journal Queen Freya gave me. How am I supposed to read this?

Sighing, I return my thoughts to the night’s events. The interaction between the King and Queen of the Middle Kingdom has me baffled. I recall the Goddess’s Prophecy Queen Freya spoke.

“Blood for blood

Her starlight will glow

As his shadows grow

The Goddess has blessed one

A bond that cannot be undone

To bare her mark of

Light and Dark”

I had never heard it before in itsentirety. Who are the female and male of the prophecy? Blessed one. Which one? What sort of bond is to be made? Her light and dark mark. There is no such thing. The only mark known of the Triple Goddess is her three moons. Only bestowed to those with magic in different variations depending on the wielder.

My mind is spinning. More and more questions arise as I continue to think.

The amount of power Queen Freya displayed. Not just the amount but the versatility. She changed her appearance. She had healing magic from the Celestial Realm but also displayed Middle Kingdom energy. She threatened to drag him into the darkness, which almost implies Shadowling magic. Not to mention she was a telepath. I heard her in my head. Where did she get such power? How did she have such power? I’m tempted to read the journal she left Dinalia to see if there are any answers there.

King Elio killed her. He stabbed her right through the heart. Her last words were ‘Blood for blood, King Elio, blood for blood’. That was in the Goddess’s prophecy. That phrase is usually used to explain one’s magical abilities and its arrival. Blood must be spilled. A life must be lost in order for another’s magic to come alive inside of them. And if you were ever to increase your own magical abilities, aside from regular training, you must continue to kill. I consider this. King Elio seemed to think that without Queen Freya around, Princess Saphrina would flourish and reach her full potential. Does this meanPrincess Saphrina does not have a complete goddess mark and is not truly blessed?

I look down at my own mark now. It’s complete. I overcame my Father’s shadow magic. I overpowered him. I could have stolen his soul. I could have ripped it apart piece by piece and felt him die.

That’s when it dawned on me. My Father, when he gave me permission to leave he used my title.

Prince.

I can’t remember the last time I was called Prince Aeron by him. Does this mean I am now his son and heir again?

Will I no longer have to kill Dinalia?

My thoughts drift to her. I left the little flower in her rage. She never even knew I was there. She is not what I thought her to be. Last night exposed a side of her I didn’t know existed. Exposed who she truly was is. What she truly is.

A killer.

You could see it in her eyes when she burst through the door. In the anger that bled through her pores as she was ready to kill King Elio.

I saw the pain on her face after King Elio left. Trying to hold back her tears but she couldn’t. I listened as she apologized to her Motherover a death she couldn’t have prevented. She considers herself to be nothing.

No one. Worthless.

And yet she is anything but.

Her Mother said she fears the darkness within her. That she could be a powerful Fae.

If she has half the power her Mother has, based on what I saw, she doesn’t even know what power she possesses. There is definitely a darkness within her. A darkness to kill? Perhaps, but I am not sure that’s what it is.

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