Chapter 814

Chapter 814: Eia Riverty-Haggard

‘Eia Riverty-Haggard, the queen of Hidros, in name only. What did I do to deserve this, I wanted to live a peaceful life far away in a village. Living from day to day, going to work in the morning, returning home in the afternoon, being greeted by the man I loved and admired. My life now isn’t the same,’ the queen often spent her long afternoons in the study, ‘-this place brings me peace and joy. Mother’s collection of books, and her journey. I admit, looking inside them was a little awkward, many names came up, many names with whomst she had joined in explicit relations. It’s been more than a few months since my marriage with my mother’s affectionate half-son or whatever. She treated him with more respect than she did me and my father. Life at the palace’s not the same. Everyone’s running frantically looking for a task to accomplish. Many guests stay the night, and at night – at the back of the castle, there’s often the echoes of distant gunshots. Not uncommon for the ill-advised guests to go missing.’ *Ding,* she glanced at her phone, ‘-a message?’ she pinched the device curiously, ‘-let’s see,’ it closed to her face, ‘-ah, I see,’ the title read, *Urgent,* and from Goldberg.

“Greetings, honored Queen of Hidros. My name’s Katherine Goldberg, the heir to the Goldberg dynasty. Congratulation on thy marriage, or so I’d like to say. We currently reside in Dorchester and shelter a man by the name of Nicola Vonhen Hart. He is positively sure that her majesty has been brainwashed into the marriage. This may be old news, however, many of the nobles aren’t exactly happy with the new king’s way of bringing change. He doesn’t care for the Riverty name, nor does he care about the cultures that set’s us apart. A resisting army is being rallied secretly – my mother’s doing her best to recruit PMC’s from Iqeavea. To make our conquest legitimate, I need thy help, please, become the reason for us to rescue the crown from the king’s clutches. He needs to be taught that with great power comes great risk. ‘Twould be unwise to attack him head-on, instead, we’re following an already proven method. Thank you for reading the message,” the big slab’s of wood suddenly clicked into a low ‘douf’, there, in the entry, stood the man in question. A moment’s worry washed her visage, the phone slip through her grip and fell onto the bag, her other hand immediately brought the romance novel to her glabella.

‘Why now,’ she wondered, the heart eased, ‘-why did he have to come now?’ she snuck a glance above the hardcover, they exchanged a few words and he found himself outside. The refreshing whiff broke the mundane inside. Dressed in tight shorts, an oversized sleeve shirt, of which her shoulders were exposed, jet-black hair tied in a high-bun. She pushed big-round glasses up her nose, moved her slender legs onto the wooden floor, slipped her feet into slippers, and stood. Crumbs from previous adventures in the world of pastries snowed at her feet. She cared none for the mess, stretched loudly, threw both phone and book on said beanbag, and shuffled outside. ‘Look at him,’ her eyes narrowed, ‘-always cool and composed. Is there nothing to shake his demeanor? By all means, casually lit a cigar and watch the view... I don’t get him.’ The tame whiff screamed at her oily visage, “-cold,” she commented.

“Rare for the queen to make herself open for conversation,” he puffed, “-what brings you out here, should you not be trying new pastries?”

“I certainly don’t sit around all day eating snakes. I also workout,” she said proudly, “-what’s with you,” they stood a meter apart, “-the elated king never makes his way into the study.”

“Being focused on one task makes one blind the greater picture. This place is great to stand back and look at what is being accomplished. I’d have opted to take a trip to the manor... sadly, a few messages have my attention.”

“And?”

.....

“And what?” he puffed, “-does it matter to you?”

“Igna Haggard.”

“Yes, Eia Riverty-Haggard, or should I call thee by thy lover’s family name?”

“You’re such a pain,” she breathed an exasperated sigh.

“I know,” he smiled, “-hence the reason why I do my best to be as standoffish as I possibly can,” he turned side-ways and leaned, “-is something on your mind?”

“You have a heart?”

“No, I tore it out, remember?”

“Oh...” her visage dulled, “-I forgot, you immortal f-freak.”

“The mask is slipping,” he chuckled, “-can’t hide from the fact that we are married. I’m not opposed to us being friends, anything more than that, well, your feelings for Nicola are tangible. I see and smell it even now, the scent of thy yearning for a chance to hear his voice, a chance to see and meet-”

Quick to avert his gaze, “-stop,” she turned to the view, “-I have to forget about him. It’s part of being a noble, we don’t have the right to pick our lovers. Well, in a way, I thought I could get away from said life, I really wanted to run... never mind, enough about me, what about you?”

“Not much going on, just cleaning the trash from Hidros’s face. The population seems to have accepted my claim as legit. I became the people’s king, it’s great. We have a new way of coming to terms with decisions – it moves smoothly. To protect us from the outside, the inside must grow united,” he puffed and crushed the stick against the marble balustrade, “-onto the real reason I’m here. Eia, the message you received, what will you do?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said eloping earlier, you should have done so. I mean, if my wife runs away, not my fault – she got what she wanted, and lives a life of her own choosing. It would have meant giving up the Riverty name, as for me, I’d have figured a way to make my claim legit. Besides, my older sister, Eira, is the first child of her majesty, I’m sure said link alone would have sufficed. The rules changes according to who needs to be in power and who ought to be forgotten.”

“What?” she took a step, grabbed the balustrade, and stared at him coldly, “-are you saying I could have run away with my lover?”

“Yes,” he said, “-the only thing you needed was a sacrifice, which is me. I’d take the burden, which I already am doing. Baffles me to think the daughter of Gallienne, a woman whose shrewdness knew no bounds, to have an illiterate child in the ways of intrigue, what a waste of excellent genes.”

“Sorry I’m not like my mother,” she shrugged, “-maybe talking to you about my issues could have been resolved...”

“Yes, if only a certain someone swallowed her pride and anger...”

“I understand, don’t rub it in.”

“Eia,” he said coldly, “-will you join the resistance or not?”

“Huh?”

“The message,” he said, “-not to sound overly stalkish, my butler has a firm hold on every message which goes through the castle’s servers. What will it be?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “-if I join the Goldberg’s revolt, I could become one with Nicola,” upon saying his name, her eyelashes fluttered, “-but no,” the fading spark washed in a cold-blue, “-my selfishness will only bring turmoil to the continent. I’m not daft, I know what happens in and outside the castle. I heard you went out of your way to open an orphanage, a hospital, and a residential complex to help alleviate poverty, most of all, you paid from pocket. To sacrifice so much for the sake of strangers, I could never...”

“Listen,” he said, “-what I did was for publicity’s sake. To become a king for the people, I ought to grant them their wishes at first. After that, I’ll ask for them to slowly return into society as functioning residents, all and all, the more workers, the more tax they pay, and eventually, the money will make its way into the castle’s coffers. A win for my kingdom is a win for me, I will spare no expense in making this place self-sufficient, a place where everyone with a dream, conviction, and the will to work hard, has an opportunity at finding fame and fortune. In a way, I want Rosespire to become like Odgawoan, the city of dreams.”

“...” she but watched, her ears closed to what he said.

“Listen Eia, I don’t want the bond of marriage to shackle thee to the palace. You’re my wife, and I have a responsibility as thy husband. I’ve killed who I was before, I’m a new man, a strange man. I won’t promise happiness nor will I promise superficial matters. Eia, freedom is a great responsibility, do with it what thee wish. Help me save the people, help me make the kingdom better, or serve yourself. The right choice is always the one with less regret, long as you don’t feel worse in the end, I say it’s the correct option.”

“Even if it means I willingly give myself, in body and soul, to another man for the sake of not having regret, what then?”

“If it’s what you truly want, I couldn’t argue. The saying applies to anyone. Part of me would feel betrayed since the bonds of marriage are rules to tighten the scope of the allocated freedom,” a sudden urge rose, he slapped himself, “-forget what I said, do what you want.”

“A thinker,” she said, “-I don’t think I can ever love someone as much as I’ve loved Nicola. Relationship ends, people move on, time changes, I don’t have time to stay in the past,” she stepped closer, “-let’s be friends?”

“Be friends?” he tilts his head in a friendly chuckle, “-what would you do if I killed Nicola?”

“Killed?”

“Depending on how the revolt goes – people will die, and I certainly don’t want to make claims of saving an enemy.”

“... I don’t know. Survival of the fittest?”

“There, I knew you had Gallienne’s blood running through thy veins,”

Hard knocks barged the door opened, “-MAJESTY, WE HAVE TROUBLE!”

“See you later, Eia. I hope we grow to understand one another,” she watched, ‘-a strange man. The vampiric allure is there, talking with him made me forget about Nicola. Is it his charisma or is there something more to his personality? Doesn’t concern me,’ the heart pulsed, ‘-Nicola...’ she bit her inner-lips, ‘-we have to... SHI” the inner thoughts turned grit, “-DAMN IT!”

“What is it?” the corridors blurred in the sudden rush, “-Kion, tell me?”

“Igna,” they increased their sprint into superhuman speed, “-I went to investigate the spot said to have been disturbed by a teleportation spell. I scoured the entire Frozit Mountain range. Spent the past week camping,” a portal materialized immediately after the castle gates, “-take a look for yourself,” he said. The momentum sent the duo off the peak of a mountain.

“KION!” he exclaimed, “-should have said something about being high in the AIR?”

“Sorry?”

Wings sprawled, he reached and caught the hero, “-where is it?”

“There,” he pointed to the northwest, further into the unforgiving land of trees and deadly pits and sharp valleys, “-look for a smoke signal.”

The dirt ground was damp, the trees old, and the fledging underbelly made of smaller plants fought hard for a sliver of sunlight. Growls and sneers were commonplace, a disturbance in the untouched land caught their eyes, “-there,” said Kion, “-I found her locked in a cell made of ice.”

‘A cage of ice?’ the reflection made observations hard, ‘-who in the hell?’ he straddled the oval-shaped object, “-why did it make you so afraid?”

“Look inside.”

‘Blood, the leg’s practically hanging,’ he examined, ‘-that hair color, the face’s scarred beyond recognition,’ finally, he locked onto the necklace, ‘-I remember that tag, Loftha...’

“Majesty?”

“Kion,” he unmounted the cell, “-speak of this to no one. Head on back to Alphia, I’m sure Odgar will need manpower soon.”