Chapter 56 - Hope

The dungeon was filled with light. In the middle of the room was a bed, Francis laid on the bed with his eyes closed. Francis's body was wrapped in an enchanted blanket that was protecting him. Annak had spelled the blanket so that it keeps Francis alive and shields him from Ander. The blanket made him invincible from his bane and gave the illusion that Francis was no more.

Alexander sat on the bed next to his beloved, he felt so helpless. He just wanted to hold his hand and comfort him but he couldn't remove the blanket from him and risk alerting his son of Francis's whereabouts. Not when his son was able to wound Francis from inside his mother's womb.

He was just too powerful that Alexander couldn't take any chances. He had an inbuilt library inside the dungeon with books on how to restore broken souls. He had Annak try out all the methods that he had found on Francis but so far none of them worked.

Under the blanket, Francis laid frozen in enchanted ice that kept his broken soul from slipping away.

Watching him in that condition for a whole year had truly been a heartbreaking experience for Alexander. He blamed himself for the condition that Francis was in and that made him bitter not just with himself but the rest of the world.

If only he had not insisted on getting back together with him. If only that night they spent together didn't happen. Then Francis would still be alive and kicking with his wife and child. They wouldn't be together but at least he would have peace knowing that Francis was alright.

He couldn't stand seeing his lifeless body lying there in the room like that. He was growing to miss all the moments that the two of them shared in the palace. They mostly fought and spent their times disagreeing about one thing or the other. They never got to behave like normal couples who love each other.

He had to find a way to wake Francis up. There was still so much the two of them could do together that they never got the chance to do with all the drama in the palace. A sweet walk in the sunset or just a normal picnic where they get to talk about stupid things such as the weather. They still had not officially confessed their love for each other as normal couples do.

He wanted a second chance to have a normal relationship with the make who stole his heart and made it skip a bear on several occasions.

"You need to wake up soon. There is so much that is still left undone that you can't leave," he said to him with tears flowing from his eyes. He just wanted a chance to spend time with him again. They don't have to say anything to each other and sit in each other's company while watching the beautiful stars in the night.

"My life has become so dull without you. I need my bane back into my life, life is not fun when there is no one trying to kill you," he stated. "And the sole purpose of your existence is to kill me. For that you need to be alive, so wake up and fulfill your destiny," he added.

He watched his beloved continue to sleep unmoved by his words. He wondered why people wrote books in the first place. He felt like struggling with all the authors in the world, he had happened to read in some books about how true love can move mountains and fight death but none of it seems to apply to his story.

Nothing he did woke Francis up from his sleep. He tried the true love's kiss and confessing his life to Francis in many different ways but his situation didn't get better. All that happened was that his hope got crushed every time. But he refused to give up.

"Look if you come back to me then I will give you all my love and attention. I won't care for anyone or anything else but you," he said to him. He couldn't count how many promises and offers he had made to his beloved in the past year to get him to come back to him. But nothing ever changes, he still goes to sleep and wakes up to his beloved's ice sculpture greeting him.

He picked a book from the shelves with the hope that it will turn out to be The Book that holds the solution to the problem he was facing. He went to sit on his bed that was opposite Francis's bed and got to reading. He could hear the noises from the white palace which was the palace that belonged to his queen.

Unlike every day where he would ask them to keep it down or send one of his Dragons to terrify the life out of them to keep quiet, he stayed put. He had to give her a chance to make Arimelari a better place so that when Francis wakes up he might choose to stay.

"When you wake up, I promise that I will never fight with you again. I will give you the world if it means that I get to keep you by my side and if you want to leave then I won't stop you," he said and released a long breath. His heart was heavy with each passing moment that he won't be able to wake his beloved up.

******

Queen Sofia gave everyone the good news that the king had allowed her to make decisions concerning the kingdom from then on. Malia and Mordecai were very happy to hear the news. They jumped with joy from the freedom that they had gotten after a year of being prisoners.

Mordecai could finally breathe without worry, his brother had changed a lot after losing Francis that he too was afraid of him. He carried his wife up and swung her around in the air. This was the first time since they got married that he could express his happiness with her.

He wasn't even allowed to smile at his wedding because smiling was banned by then. Mostly everything was banned so he never got to show his wife any happiness at all in fear of getting her killed. He had wanted to propose to her and shout to the world how much he loved and now he could.

"The first thing I will do is lift the stupid laws and then we can host a festival to celebrate Ander's birthday," she said to them.

"All that is fine by me Sofia but the first thing that I need to do is spend time with my wife properly," Mordecai said giving priority to his wife. Malia's face turned red from blushing, she too was excited about the changes that would happen in Arimelari.

"We can do that later. We have plenty of time but we should think of Ander first. The poor thing hasn't had a single celebration since he was born and I feel bad for him," she stated thinking about her niece.

"I was also thinking of building a school. A private boarding school where Ander can trend his studies. What do you think?" Sofia inquired of their opinions for her suggestion.

"But why a boarding school?" Malia asked not sure why Sofia would want to make plans to send the prince away from home so soon when he hasn't even learned to walk.

"Because it is no secret that Alexander doesn't like Ander. There are many reasons why he hates him and growing up in this environment might hurt his mental health. So I think that he should attend boarding school when he grows up. He will be allowed to visit us but he should live, learn and grow far from the king's hatred," she explained thinking if how the king has never once called his son by his name.

He always just refers to him as 'that thing ' and she didn't want Alexander's hatred for the boy to hinder his growth or stop him from being the greatest king that Arimelari has ever seen. She had faith that Ander would prove everyone wrong. He would never turn out to be like his birth mother and would grow to be a lively child with big dreams.

"You have a point and Mordecai can be the principal of the school. That way the two of us will get to spend time with Ander and ensure he lacks for nothing while he is there. It's not like he has any work here in the palace with all the dragons around," Malia said.

"I think that my wife has a very good point. This way we can make certain that Ander grows up with all the love that he needs in life. And we can also shield him from Alexander's hatred," Mordecai added supporting his wife.

He also couldn't stand to live in the palace anymore.. The place just didn't feel like home after everything, it was more like a prison.