Page 73 of The King has Fallen

I held my breath—and suspected Melek did too—as Gall stared at him, perplexed and obviously tempted, but a frown still pinching his brow.

He opened his mouth once, then closed it. Then stared at his father.

There was a moment that passed between them then, a pleading on Melek’s face, and a soft uncertainty in Gall’s, that made my heart squeeze.

When Gall looked at me, I nodded, then tipped my head towards the table. “Eat,” I murmured, forcing myself not to clap with relief and hope when Gall finally stepped inside, his expression still uncertain.

And even though it meant that I had to wait for my meal, I sat there in the cage happily for over an hour, watching the two eat. At first it was just two warriors diving into food like pigs ata trough. Melek ate with gusto, but watched Gall the whole time, who also ate heartily, but kept his attention on his plate and avoided eye-contact with both his father and me.

But as their plates began to clear, Melek sat back in his seat and stared right at Gall, whose shoulders hunched higher and tighter towards his ears with every passing moment, until he finally took his last mouthful and pushed the plate away.

“Thank you for the meal father, I’ll—”

“You’ll stay here and talk to me, Gall. It’s time.”

Gall stilled, hands on the edge of the table like he’d been about to push out of the seat. He swallowed. “I don’t want to talk.”

“We need to. Remember? Bad feelings don’t go away until you say them out loud. Plus, it’s the Days of Peace. I want to be at peace with you, Gall. Can we do that?”

Gall’s shoulders hunched higher. But he didn’t speak.

Melek sighed. “Gall, I’m sorry that you had a difficult day when I was gone. I didn’t mean for you to have to handle her on your own. I was irresponsible in not sending someone else when Jann had to come with us. As your leader, I put you in a place that was too tricky for anyone in your position, and I’m sorry.”

Gall lips twisted. He kept his head down like he was trying to keep his eyes off of Melek. “I’m sorry I listened to them when they said they were friends,” he mumbled quietly. “I’m sorry you had to stop them…” but then he trailed off.

Melek sighed again. “Gall, I’m sorry you saw things that upset you. Do you remember the conversation we had about war? About how sometimes bad things are necessary to stop worse things from happening?”

Gall’s head snapped up and his eyes met Melek’s. His father just stared at him calmly, waiting.

I bit my lip, inwardly cursing that he didn’t just tell Gall the truth. But I understood. My sister thought in similar ways toGall. And even though she understood secrets, and attempted to keep them, she was very poor at hiding facial expressions. Words she thought were veiled were often far clearer than she realized. And if she was frightened, or angry, she might blurt things out without thought.

So, I knewwhyMelek thought it was too risky for Gall to be told the truth. But I desperately wished it wasn’t so.

“That wasn’t just bad,” Gall insisted, dragging me back to their conversation. “You always taught me—”

“And I taught you true, Gall. Everything I said was true. I’m asking you to trust me thatin this instance only,what you saw was necessary.”

“I don’t…I don’t understand,”Gall said through his teeth, his hands gripping the edge of the table so hard his knuckles turned white.

I wanted to weep. It was obvious that Gallhatedadmitting that.

Melek’s face softened as well and he leaned forward, elbows on the table. “I know, Son. I do. But this is like… like when I receive battle plans and I can’t share them, even with the soldiers. Not until the time is right. This is just like that. I cannot explain right now. But I will. When the time is right. I promise.”

Gall blinked. “You promise?”

“I promise. You have my word that when I can, I will explain all of this.”

Gall’s Adam’s apple jumped. He stared at Melek with a mixture of fear and hope, then finally he nodded. “Okay.”

I felt my body relax at the same time Melek slumped and muttered something under his breath that I thought wasThank God.

He pushed out of his chair and stepped up to Gall’s seat, pulling his son out of the chair and into an embrace so tight that it brought tears to my eyes—and Gall’s.

It was easy to see when they broke apart that Gall was still uneasy, but in the childlike way his precious heart had, it was also clear he’d decided to forgive and trust.

I was suddenly washed in a deep longing for my sister. For her intense hugs. Her bright smile. Her hilarious observations about life that she had no idea were funny. And… for home.

The Covenant Days of Peace…

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