Page 80 of Crown of Iron
Twenty-Eight
Micah sets a stack of financial reports down on his desk, moving on to the news of the neighboring kingdom before reviewing yesterday's Stigian sightings. It has been the same routine for six weeks. I sit across from him while he explains the purpose ofeverythinghe does.
Since the end of the Generals’ Summit, life in the palace has returned to normal. There are no more secret late-night meetings, sneaking into offices, or forbidden rendezvous with one very attractive general. The lack of activities leaves me free to contemplate everything I learned. Every day, my list of unanswered questions grows longer, building up inside of me to the point of combustion.
I shift in my seat, gnawing on my thumbnail.
“Are you all right?” Micah asks, sparing me a glance.
“I—never mind.”
He sits back in his chair and steeples his fingers over his lips. “You have been distracted for days. It is not like you to hold back what you are thinking.”
The reason I held nothing back is that my knowledge of the five kingdoms beyond the capital was trivial. All the things I knew, Borin carefully selected to keep my focus here instead of the war raging on aroundus. I'm wiser now, and my concerns reach well beyond Lucent.
Wanting to curb my curiosity, I choose a simple topic. “Do you really believe every Cyffred in Stigian chooses to be there?”
Micah tilts his head to the side and stares at me before saying, “I think most of them decided to be there.”
“That's not what I meant. Do you think any of them that chose to be there changed their minds?
“Yes, I do.”
I'm taken aback by his confession. Believing every citizen of Stigian wants to be there has to make it easier to cope with abandoning them. How can he sit idly by if he knows people are trapped there? I can't think of a greater abuse of power.
“Then why did you stop smuggling Cyffreds out of Stigian?” I ask.
“It became too much of a risk. I could not do it on my own, and those who helped me were putting their lives in danger.”
“But wasn't that their decision to make?”
“It was until Esmeray took her punishments too far. She enjoys pitting family members against each other. The harm she caused is…” He closes his eyes and takes steady breaths. “What she does is disgusting, and in the end, I felt those in Stigian were safer if I was not aggravating the situation.”
I try to imagine what could be crueler than rotting away in a cell or separated families. What is worse than having the life-force drained from one's body until they die? It's damn near impossible to comprehend.
I store the mind-wracking thought away for another time, and ask, “If you could save just one more Cyffred without subjecting someone to her wrath, would you?”
“There are always consequences, even when we believe we are doing the right thing. Your job as queen will be to weigh the effect of your decisions and choose the one which causes the least amount of harm. So no, I would not save one more Cyffred because I know the cost to others is devastating.” He reaches across the desk and places his hand over mine. “I wish I could tell you that leading is black and white, but you will wade through various hues of gray, Raelle. And I believe you will do it with a strength I have never possessed.”
A pain like an arrow piercing my chest expands through my body, and my voice catches as I ask, “How can you have so much faith in me?”
Micah stands, walks around his desk, and takes a knee before me. His head remains down for a moment, and when he lifts it, his green eyes emit pure reverence. “I knew you would be the one to set things right the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“How?”
“I'm sure Borin taught you that my grandfather was a scholar of Statera dogma and prophecy. He studied for years with the Sibyls in the temple.”
I recall the story and add, “He was going to abdicate and become a Sibyl, but his father died, and he was crowned before he could take his vows.”
“That is true, but he also believed his line would bring forth the ruin of Pliris. He was an only child, so if he gave up his right to the crown, he could save the kingdom. His next plan was to not have children, but he fell in love with my grandmother, and they conceived my mother. And the day Esmeray and I were born, he knew the prophecy he feared came to fruition. He declared us abominations, two people splitting the power meant for one. By our eighth birthday, my mother was to pick which twin would rule and the other was to be killed. She never left our sides until my grandmother decided for her. She slowly poisoned my grandfather, her confidant and love of her life until his heart gave out.”
My jaw goes slack, and I take a moment to find my voice. “Your grandmother killed your grandfather? Borin never taught me that.”
Micah lifts one side of his lips. “No, my beloved would only teach you our history as it is written. Some unbecoming details of my family's past are better left unsaid until I've joined the Statera.”
“I don't understand. What does any of that have to do with the reason you chose me?”
He takes my hand in both of his. “My grandfather was right. Esmeray and I were the downfall of Pliris. I was a young boy the day he looked me in the eye and said I disgusted him. That same day, the Cyffred my grandfather was siphoning told me I could be a greater king than everyone who preceded me. Those words changed my life, and I made it my mission to be a better king. Like my grandfather, I spent years studying with the Sibyls, preparing to rule. You know that they are taught to not interfere with sovereign affairs, but a young seer led me to the tome containing the prophecy about me and my sister. The Sibyl pointed to a passage which read:what is broken willbe repaired by the new and unexpected, and then they whispered, 'you will know the child when you hold them in your arms.' Even as Esmeray and I battled through our differences with the treatment of Cyffreds, I never forgot those words. I never lost hope.” He tilts his head side to side and smirks. “Granted, I thought my heir would be mine and Borin's child, but it wasn't meant to be. You were that child, Raelle.”
