CHAPTER 5 – COMING TO TERMS


    When Mitakahn woke up he was in his bed, back home at the citadel. His mother was by his side, pressing his forehead with a warm cloth.


    “Is this real?” Mitakahn asked.


    “This is home. You are safe.” Adyána said.


    “What happened?”


    “What happened is you almost got us both killed.” Axion interrupted.


    Axion was standing in the doorway of Mitakahn’s chambers, clad in his crimson velvet resting garbs. He was in recuperation just like Mitakahn.


    “I’m sorry, Ax.”


    “We got out alive, that is all that matters.”


    “Does father know what we did?” Mitakahn asked the queen.


    That’s when they heard his voice clear from the other corner of the room. King Theomitus was with them. He walked up to his family and addressed them as their patriarch.


    “Who do you think saved both your asses?”


    Axion and Mitakahn both gazed at their father in awe.


    “It appears as though the excitement of mustering what little power I had left to save you two has brought me a side-effect of clarity. Mercinestor is lucky Commander Cel’a had the wisdom to inform me when she did.”


    Mitakahn was trying to put it all together in his head. If Commander Cel’a was with them the entire time, she must’ve had one of her royal guards inform the king. And if that were so, it meant she had the insight to give the guard specific orders, believing their journeying into the Corscape to be a certainty. Was Mitakahn really that predictable?


    “You two unknowingly participated in a ritual that you had no business attempting,” said Theomitus. “As much as I would like to tell you that it has no part to play in my current condition it also may very well be the cause. And now that same corner of your fate has been unlocked whether you like it or not. Now you will be tested with power and influence. Pray you make the right choices for the consequences will be severe.”


    Mitakahn was blown away at the old Theomitus resurfacing. How could he still be in there after all that has happened? Mitakahn did not understand.


    Was this another secret? He decided right then and there. He could not let it stand, any of it. No matter how dismal the future looked. The hard truth was that the kingdom could not afford to let major secrets die with the king. Someone had to push through the delicate nature of the subject. Mitakahn was just that person. And now was the time to push, while the king still had all of his faculties. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Axion tried to explain. “Father, we were just looking for a way to cure you–”


    “How could you never tell us you had brothers!?” Mitakahn interrupted.


    “Mitakahn!” the Queen admonished.


    Axion put his face in his hand, afraid to look.


    “Oh, Mitakahn. The Arkenoir House is too old to be without secrets. My siblings abandoned our house, so I let the pages of history forget them. Maybe I went a little too far keeping them from you two. Look, the fact is it’s my fault we’re in this predicament to begin with. That being said, you should have consulted me first,” Theomitus hesitated for a second, reluctant to continue, knowing what he was about to admit, “But I understand that moments of lucidity like these are getting harder and harder to come by. I am beginning to think that there is no cure for this. Least of all in the Cor.”


    Axion felt that last note deep in his gut. He got caught chasing down the wrong lead and it looked like all he accomplished was the waste of precious time.


    “Father,” Axion hesitated, “What is going to happen to us? What is the Ignaleos Cor?”


    King Theomitus spared them any further torment and got right to the point. “The Ignaleos Cor is not from this realm, boys. It is something otherworldly. It is a terrifying power that tests your worthiness and then judges that worth.”


    “How?”


    “Through fate and what it gives. If the gift becomes a curse, then you have failed.”


    Mitakahn looked at Axion and his older brother actively ignored him. Neither wanted to ask the next logical question.


    It didn’t matter. The question of Theomitus’ curse filled the room.


    “Have you both such little faith left in your old man to think I failed with my power?”


    Mitakahn had trouble finding his words.


    Theomitus exhaled. “I don’t blame you.”


    “Do not give up on us, my love!” the queen cried out.


    “Never. Even if I can no longer draw breath, I will never give up on you three. In life or death, I will always be there,” the king smiled, “That’s my power.”


    Axion saw his mother start to tear up so he went to her side. Adyána grabbed him by the arm and together they walked out of the room, as he reassured her, “If father can rebound to save our lives, he can do it to save himself too. There is still hope.”


    A warm moment for Mitakahn to see before his world came crashing down again.


    “A word, Mitakahn…”


    The young prince froze. That tone. Those three words. A combination that sent tremors forth from his past. Whenever Mitakahn misbehaved he risked his father’s punishment, always heralded by that very same tone. For what might be the last time ever, he feared his father’s voice. King Theomitus walked over to his son.


    “Axion informed me of your expulsion from the academy.”


    Mitakahn was speechless. He had nearly forgotten. Worse even, he had nothing good to say and wouldn’t do his father the disservice of coming up with excuses.


    “Aside from the day I lost my father, I have never been more destroyed.”


    If Mitakahn had nothing to say before he might as well be a mute now. He couldn’t believe it. His father the king mustered what was left of his willpower only to profess his utter disappointment. It struck Mitakahn where he could not defend. The king validated the prince’s core insecurity: he was not good enough. Theomitus left the room and Mitakahn to digest what had happened and pick up all the pieces.