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My father was standing in the middle of the room, his
eyes blazing with fire as he held a gleaming sword in his scaly hand. He screamed
and cried out and yelled for all he was worth, but his words were so mixed together
that I wasn't able to make out what he was saying. The guards were all surrounding
him, their hands upon the sword hilts just in case the King suddenly starts
attacking them, and their eyes wide with fear. My father continued to yell,
and, using his tail, he pounded a Grarrl to the wall. I gasped at this dreadful
act and was instantly filled with relief when I realized that the Grarrl was
simply stunned, but an even more fearful look appeared on his face.
"Ki...King Alastare," a guard said cautiously
before he ducked to avoid my father's blade. He bellowed once more and threw
three more guards onto the wall, knocking them unconscious. All the other guards
backed away slowly, and some even withdrew their blades a few inches forward.
I did not want my father to fall just yet, and I automatically knew that I had
to help him calm down.
"Father!" I cried and took a few steps forward,
but my father simply ignored my call and continued to bellow at the top of his
lungs. I took in a deep breath and approached the fearsome Mutant Draik form
once more and said, "Please, listen to me..."
At that exact moment, a blur of green and silver
met my eyes before I felt something sharp cut my arm a little and an even greater
force throwing me back. In seconds, I felt the wall hit my back, and the world
turned black for a few seconds. My mind was empty and all that lingered upon
my mind was an image of a Maraquan Draik running into the dark woods before
my consciousness came back. My eyes fluttered open, and it was then that I felt
the stinging pain on my arm, and my entire body ached. Looking down, I saw a
cut in the white dress which I wore, and I quickly covered the wound with my
other hand. Looking up, I saw a sea of concerned faces looking over me, but
the face which I was seeking was not there.
"Where is my father?!" I cried and jumped up
and looked over the many concerned heads. The place where my father once stood
was empty of all except a sword which was broken in half. "Where did he go?"
I asked again and looked before me to meet the guards eyes.
"He exited the dungeons just moments ago before
he broke his sword, My Lady," a Techo said quickly.
"What made him so angry in the first place?"
I questioned quickly, my hand still upon my wound. I walked over to the fallen
sword and picked up the hilt of the broken blade.
"We mentioned...her...Princess Andra...we mentioned
your mother's name," the Techo said and looked down fearfully, almost as if
he thought that I was going to react as irrationally as my father did.
It took all my strength to calm the explosions
which seemed to go off in my mind. My eyes glanced up and I turned to stare
at the Techo, bewilderment shooting in my veins. "Why?" I asked as my hands
shook and dropped the hilt upon the floor. "Why did you mention her?"
The Techo simply shrugged and continued to look
down in fear. Anger suddenly seized me and I stepped up and took the Techo by
the shoulders, shaking him fiercely during the process. Although I felt like
attacking the Techo and throwing him to the wall, I withheld this urge. I knew
that this act wasn't going to get me anywhere.
"Don't ever mention my mother's name again!"
I cried into the frightened Techo's face. I gave another little shake before
I ran towards the stairs and started to ascend them. By now, I was starting
to worry about whether or not I was going to be able to have that walk with
my father. I desperately wanted to actually spend some time with my father,
for we never had a chance to talk before, and this might be the only chance
I have. I burst through the dungeon's wooden door and fled down the hallway
towards the Front Room, the place where I knew my father would be. Like my circular
room, the Front Room was where my father went to whenever he felt horrible,
which was almost every single hour.
By the time I finally reached the front room,
a surprising sight met my already saddened eyes. I saw Lady Vevina and my father
sitting side by side, her arm on his shoulder and a consoling look upon her
face. Anger seized me once more before I was able to calm it down, and I silently
walked closer so that I would be able to hear them.
"My King, My Lord, remember what I said about
Lady Andra? She is a nuisance, and she would only get in your way, like today.
You should send her off to the your Summer Castle in the land of Endless Plains
and leave her there until it is her time to rule," Lady Vevina uttered to my
father silently as she patted him upon the shoulder. "It is the most rational
thing to do."
"She is my heir, and I cannot do that! I refuse
to," my father said back, but his voice held reluctance within it. I saw my
father's shoulders shake wearily as he added, "Besides...she is the only person
whom I could trust in this dastardly castle..."
"Wrong, my King, my Lord. Wrong you are, for
you can always trust me in her place," Lady Vevina said soothingly and she patted
him upon the arm. "You have always treated me like a daughter, and it would
be absolutely wonderful if you were to adopt me and make me a princes-"
"Put a negg in it, Vevina!" I snapped as I rushed
to my father's side. "King Alastare, do not listen to her treacherous words.
She simply is a greedy little Draik who doesn't know the difference between
Lord Kass and King Skarl!"
My father looked up at me sorrowfully before
he glanced down once more. Lady Vevina, who's eyes still burned with spite as
she glared at me, took her hand off my father's arm.
"I suppose I must be going, then," Lady Vevina
whispered as she stood up and drifted away while I stared, my veins burning
like fire after her retreating figure.
"That poisonous little brat," I growled and clenched
my fists. Just as suddenly as my anger appeared, it suddenly subsided as I felt
my father's warm hand touch the wound on my arm.
"I'm...I'm sorry...Princess Andra...I did not
mean to..." he uttered with the innocence of a child. He brought his hand back
and buried his face into his hands once more.
"It's alright, Father...it's just a little cut,"
I said back in a comforting tone.
"A cut which I inflicted upon my own flesh and
blood," my father growled back and wearily brought his face away from the palms
of his hands. "I got angry over a foolish reason...I've become so absurd lately,
Andra..."
"Do not blame yourself, My Lord...but, you are
right...you should accept Mother's name now..." I said cautiously as I strung
my words on a thin line. I watched carefully as my father lifted his head from
his hands, and I painfully noticed the tears which seemed to pour out of his
very soul.
"I miss her so much..." he whispered, his voice
filled with pain, hurt, and suffering. As I looked into this eyes, it was then
that I saw that my father truly was a child. A child who just lost his mother
and was desperately trying to make up that fact by acting too mature for his
age. He was a child who just started to truly care about someone when that person
was yanked away from him, only leaving him in the dark once more. The look in
my father's eyes faintly represented the feelings inside me.
"I miss her too..." I said back and I desperately
tried to restrain myself from pouring forth tears. I had to be strong for my
father, even though he was supposed to my idol, I had to be his example now.
"But we mustn't continue talking about what is gone...no matter how much she
meant to us...we must forget..."
"But if I forget her...then the only things in
my life worth remembering are none...she is my past, my present, and my future..."
my father uttered softly and lowered his eyes to glance at the ground.
"No...you're wrong...Mother is only your past,
and perhaps she is your future. But now...the present...she is not part of your
present..." I said back and took my father's hands, squeezing them quickly to
help soothe him. "How about a walk to clear our minds?" I added, a hopeful tone
hinting behind my voice for I really wanted to take this walk with him.
At these words, my father looked at me with doubt
growing in his eyes, and I could literally see his mind as it pondered over
this question. Just as I was about to give up all my hope of ever spending quality
time with my father, he gave out a deep breath and nodded at me, the same constant
frown on his old face, and the tears invisible to all eyes. But, if you were
to look closely at him, you would see a lingering hope lying in his eyes, a
hope who's wishes can never be fulfilled.
To be continued...
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