Page 25 of Shattered Heir
“That doesn't make you happy?” I asked.
She picked up a stem from one of the flowers I had killed and looked at me with amusement. “Terra is beautiful, but not everything is great there. The kingdom where I am from is gone. Terra has a lot of bad people.”
“There are bad people everywhere. Earth, too, has its problems.”
“I mean, yeah, you are right; however–it's hard to explain. Terra is different.”
“I want to go. I want to see it, but part of me is terrified,” I said.
“Well, I have hope that not everything is gone. If so, you will love it there, Emma,” she said thoughtfully as she twirled the flower stem between her fingers. “In the blessed kingdoms, many people are kept safe, but in the other lands, there are wild, lost people, running rampant.”
“The blessed kingdoms?” I asked
“Yes, your kingdom, Haleston, is one of the blessed kingdoms.” She smiled at me and tossed the flower stem to the ground.
“I thought they were at war?”
“They are, now, but when they are at peace, I heard that it’s an incredible place to live. What the Ancients touch and bless always prospers when the people abide by the laws.”
I looked at her. I had so many questions, so many things that I wanted answered, but I could not bring myself to ask anymore. I feared that too much information, all at once, would snap me and call out the monster within me. So, I asked only one final question.
“Have you ever heard of Shad? Of his kingdom?”
Her eyes met with mine. “Everyone has heard of Prince Shadrict of Embra. He is a powerful person. I mean, even I have heard of him, and I have spent most of my life here on Earth. I heard about him from Glass, actually, and from some of the Terrans Glass has permitted me to meet.”
“What do you mean?”
“Prince Shadrict had a melody louder and stronger than any other melody in hundreds of years. Princesses from all the kingdoms wanted to marry him, actually. Isn’t that right, Ryker?” Ash asked, looking up at Ryker who stood beside us.
“Yes, he had many potential offers of marriage, I believe,” Ryker said with a frown.
“His melody, I heard, brought hope back to many Terrans. Even back then, there were dark things happening. Souls’ melodies were not the same as they had been. There were fears spreading that melodies were slowly fading away, but once Shadrict was born and because his melody was so pure and so strong, it brought renewed hope. So many people wanted to unite their kingdoms with Shad’s.”
“Oh,” I said, wondering how many girls he had been with before me.
“He never wanted anyone, though. The rumor was that he didn't ever want to marry.” Ash shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe he was just waiting for you.”
I didn’t know if she said that because she thought it would soften the frown on my face or because it was the truth, but regardless, I smiled and touched her hand in a silent,thank you. She nodded, as if she understood.
“Are you guys ready?” Ryker called from the tree line. I looked up, not realizing that he and Glasson had moved away from us.
“Ready for what?” I called back as Glasson walked into the forest. The sun was setting, and I wondered how long I had been sitting there with Ash. She took my hand and pulled me up.
“Princess, you must see this,” she said with a smile as she pulled me toward our knights.
Our knights, that sounded so weird.
I knew the path that we walked upon well, and I knew exactly where it led. I walked beside Ash and behind Ryker and Glasson as we went down the trail. We reached the cobblestone bridge, and I tried not to think back on that day in the rain when Shad showed me the crystals and the beautiful lights that they created. I leaned over the side of the bridge for a moment, watching the water travel over small stones. It was darker than it was on that day in the past; there was no reflecting light. Whether it was because the sun was going down or because darkness was all that I could see without Shad, I was unsure.
We walked for what felt like five miles before Glasson stopped. Yes, I still, and probably would forever, hate hiking. Why were we walking quietly through the forest? It felt so ominous. Ryker stood beside Glasson, and I looked out into the trees, wondering what they both were looking at.
“What is it?” I asked as we walked into a clearing. I looked up and saw the moon and the stars, sparkling across the sky. I thought about my father; he loved star-gazing. Glasson laid down a blanket, and Ryker nudged my shoulder.
“We are going to show you Terra,” he said with a smile. Ash lay beside Glasson, and I watched as he scooted further away from her, and she moved closer to me. I was beside Ash, and Ryker reclined on my other side, taking my hand in his with a soft squeeze.
We have been through a lot since making it back from the caves, and Ryker and I have endured it all. Well—he endured my sass, and I endured his knightly-ness. Yes, I am aware that ‘knightly-ness’ is probably not an actual word, but it fits Ryker well.
I watched the stars and thought again of my father. It was impossible not to think about him with how many nights we had spent under the starlight, talking and laughing. I had never known that he was teaching me subtle things about a world I knew nothing about. Perhaps, if I could have remembered it all, I would have had more peace, peace that my heritage had been taught to me, at least in small ways, over the course of my life. I still didn’t understand how they could have kept something like that, information about who I was, to themselves. How could they not have seen what it would do to me to have to figure it all out on my own?
