Regius (39 page)

"Your close connection to
these children is what is clouding your judgment, Aram." I
spat.

"Show some respect!" I
nearly jumped out of my skin as my father shouted that. Everyone in
the room was silenced, staring intently at Pieris, who was glaring
at me.

"How can I respect any of
you if you are letting your emotions get in the way?" I said
calmly. "I can see it on your face, father. Even that of Aram, the
Elder known to be a hard ass, you're second guessing the idea of
using Galax as the tool he was meant to become to the Altors." When
my father sat down, rubbing the side of his head and looking quite
exhausted, I stood and stared everyone down,
hard.
"Building a new kingdom can
only favor us. Or more accurately, creating a kingdom with Galax as
its king."

Xania was not being the
true heir and being the Steward didn't obtain him the strongest
loyalty one could get within the Blue Blood hierarchy. By making
Galax king, it was true that it could favor us, as there was solid
certainty half of the Regius population would pledge their
allegiance to Galax, which would ultimately leave Xania's defenses
weaker. That was something that had not happened in a long,
seemingly eternal, while.

"Is Flux appealing to you
as a parent? Is the love for his
adoptive
son finally getting in the
way?" Cypress backed me up.

"Galax
just
turned twenty-three." Pieris
murmured. "Now sit down and shut your traps." When neither me or
Cypress reacted, Aram did.

"You think because both
your parents are Elders that you can get away with behavior such as
this?"

It was when Ilex cut in
with laughter that Cypress and myself sat down, looking over at the
trainer in confusion. Aram too, calmed down at the
sound.

"Not too long ago
Calycanthus pretty much accused us, the entire Altor system, to be
racist." Nobody said a word as Ilex murmured this. He was slumped
back in his seat, his eyes rimmed with tears and his chuckle sad as
he probably thought about the boy. "Please." He clipped out,
shaking his head and wiping away the tears before they could fall.
"Try to think of Galax as a human being." The trainer stood then,
walking away. "Because he is one."

With those words, he exited
the conference room, slamming the door after him. Ilex had always
been such a goody-goody.

"Even if this option isn't
completely righteous where it concerns Galax," Aram said, leading
me to calm my nerves when I saw the Elder was getting his head back
together. "We have to consider the scale of the war. Do we let the
heir be, or do we use and sacrifice him for the greater
good?"

"Wow." Caltha said
sarcastically. "I didn't want to believe a boy, so naive and
innocent, could speak wiser words than my Elders. But I stand
corrected."

"Caltha." Pieris used a
gentler tone than Aram, but again, I was glad to see my father had
gathered his wits back. "It's not as though we won't allow Galax to
have some input. But the decisions that will concern Zinc won't be
his alone to make."

Now the second Osgood
stood, following in the first one's footsteps. "He will be allowed
an opinion only when he agrees."

I smothered a smirk as the
door slammed a second time.
That
was exactly why they were trainers and would
never become District Leaders. They cared too much.

"I don't think any of you
need to worry about Galax making his opinions known." Iris said
softly, reminding us of her presence. "At this point he doesn't
seem to care about Zinc in any way whatsoever. Days it's been and
he only allows himself conversations with the Keeper."

"Does it all really
matter?" I spoke. "Are you feeling wrong about putting the prince
in that position because he's got the royal dot on his forehead?" I
shrugged. "It's not any different from all of us here at the table.
We each got a role to play in this war. Since when do we make the
battle fit to our situation? Back when I completed my training we
fit our situation to the battle."

"Reed speaks true." Cypress
said, again sharing the same wavelength as myself. "I'm in charge
of hundreds of Altors within the large territory of Cobalt City.
Would I rather sit on a porch and play banjo? Most certainly, but
the war doesn't allow it. Reed is stuck in the hellhole Iodin City
has become because he happens to look the most like a Regius. Did
he ask to look like one? I believe not. Yet you did not hear him go
up against Elder orders when he was assigned to become Iodin City's
watcher."

"Everyone is but a small
piece to the large puzzle.” I stated. “Will Galax like the part he
has to play? Probably not, but neither do I like having Regius for
neighbors.”

"Unfortunately, you are
right." My father said and when he smiled, I was glad things had
worked out as they should. Perspective in the situation had been
returned.

"What about Datura?" Iris
asked.

Angi smiled sadly over at
her friend. "Each one of us has lost someone dear to the war.
Unfortunately, the Keeper can't be excluded from this."

* * * *

Why did they restrict the
heir? He was born Regius with a Pallium upbringing. He’d learned
how the Civilians cluelessness could affect someone so painfully by
revealing the truth of the war to Solenum. A past decision of his
was changed by a Seer vision without his consent for the better of
the future. He had traveled and worked arm in arm with a Ranger.
And now he was close to death, the Keeper's language no longer
something he couldn't understand. If there was one person on Zinc
who could understand each and every race roaming this land, it was
Galax.

If the Altors weren't so
focused on trying to convince themselves the prince was the answer
to all their problems, they may have noticed they were losing
him.

An effective way to make
someone understand they are wrong is to force them to lose
something they hold dear through a mistake created by their worst
flaw.

I strongly believed that my
visions happened in a certain order. I'd known that I'd had to do
certain things to force the Keeper of the Dead to use sides of his
powers he didn't wish to use. What I hadn't known was that the news
of Solenum's death would kill the prince himself.

The higher being harboring
more power than I, was starting to play with my foresight
regularly. It had forced me to watch Robinia die. I just hoped it
knew what it was doing and wouldn't force me to see Galax perish as
well.

* * * *

"What do you mean you're
leaving the Coliseum?" The prince asked.

With his mind made up, the
Keeper knew how he could leave. "I've had it, Galax. I can't stay
here and wait for Cali to come home and reassure me I was right,
that he's still alive. I-" He grimaced. "I just can't stay here. I
need to prove that what I believe is true."

"You're in
denial."

"So what if I am?!" The
Keeper shouted. "Unlike you, my body isn't calling game over; I'm
still very much alive and don't have the privilege to-" Datura cut
himself off, grimacing.

"Were you about to say that
unlike me, you don't have the privilege to die?" Galax murmured in
disbelief. "Although I'm more then numb right now, I’m thinking
that is pushing things a little far, don't you agree? While my life
doesn't have much meaning without her, to be forced to turn to dust
because she perished is not what I would call a
privilege."

The Keeper's red gaze was
fixed on the ground, his body feeling rather disconnected right
now.

"While you are forced to
die," Datura began. "I'm forced to live."

"What are you
saying?"

"A Keeper of the Dead is
forced to live until an offspring is born from them. Doesn't matter
if they harbor the Death Tongue or not. Even if the child doesn't
become a Keeper, the gift lies dormant within and can thus be
passed on to their child." Sighing and treating the following fact
as if it were as old as time itself, rendered boring, Datura
shrugged. "I can't die."

"So if I stab
you...?"

"Please don't." The Keeper
allowed a small smirk. "I can still feel pain and I do actually
die. The curse of the Keeper just constantly brings me back to
life. I know because-" Wincing, Datura touched his heart. "When
Rhamnus threw me through that window many years ago, one piece of
glass pierced my heart. I died, but didn't. I thought that maybe
I'd just been in too much pain to properly realize what it was that
I felt, but when Rhamnus and I came face to face again years
later-"

"He shot you." Galax
remembered. "Cypress came to Pallium territory to inform us the
Coliseum had been attacked, including the house in Serenium. That
you had been shot."

Puffing out some air,
Datura nodded. "If only he'd told you that Cali had been stabbed
and triggered in the process, then the cousins would have been in
contact before the castle attack and we might have been able to
avoid Sol's kidnapping and forcing Cali after her." Wincing at what
he'd been about to say, he shook his head.

Galax ignored the ‘ifs’,
focusing on the following instead. "They told us the bullet grazed
you."

"It went straight through
my heart." Datura raised an eyebrow. "You really think Rhamnus
misses when he aims?" Calycanthus had nearly kissed him before the
tracker had burst into the room and Datura focused again. "I have
to leave so I can find them. I will bring her back to you and your
system will stop poisoning you until you die. You'll return to your
old self, not this-" The Keeper grimaced at the prince's state.
"Empty shell that has no backbone, voice or opinion."

Galax let out a weak
chuckle. "I used to be leader material."

While that statement could
have been viewed as arrogant, Datura knew it wasn't. It was truth.
Galax knew what he was and he knew what he wanted.

"Not anymore
though."

"
Not yet
." Datura corrected. "I know
your current situation doesn't help you believe me, but I'm-"
Squaring his shoulders and gritting his teeth, the Keeper felt
determination flood through him. "I will bring them
back."

"Datura..."

Shaking his head, the
Keeper refused to hear it. "All I ask of you is that you try and
fight whatever it is that is killing you, for as long as you
can."

"For Zinc." Galax
allowed.

"For Solenum." The Keeper
corrected.

"I-"

"You don't need to force
yourself to believe what I think to be truth. Just don’t give in or
let go before my return."

"I think now is the time I
point out to you that two Altors are guarding the door. And have
you forgotten the cages we are in? Before my system was under
attack and I was in great shape, even I, a pure blood, couldn't
break free
using
the strength." The prince muttered, sounding exhausted. "You
want to get out and prove something to yourself? Be my guest, but
considering the odds..."

Licking his lips, the
Keeper allowed the ghosts to see a part of him he'd never let them
see before.

"I am the guide to
souls."

"Yes." Galax muttered
dully. "So you can chat with the dead. Doesn't mean you yourself
are a ghost and can walk through walls."

"Well, no, that would just
be silly." Datura agreed flippantly, trying to tune the prince out
slowly as he concentrated on the ghosts that were slowly starting
to appear before him.

"Alright so tell me
something,
almighty
Keeper
. How are you not worried about
getting out of here?"

Closing his eyes, Datura
breathed in softly. "The Valley of Death doesn't have a specific
entrance, Galax. A Keeper can enter the realm from wherever they
are. It isn't restricted to the Meadows of Serenium. I could enter
it in Cobalt City if I wished to do so, or-"

"The Coliseum." The prince
finished as he realized what Datura was getting at. "You're going
to travel Zinc through the realm of the Valley? Why do I have the
feeling that is dangerous?"

"By placing no limit on the
realm to the souls, they have more territory to roam." Datura
answered Galax's last observation. "By entering through another
entrance I open the space up to them. If I don't set foot in a
territory within the Valley, the souls cannot enter that part of
the realm."

"Are you sure?" The
Prince's voice was starting to fade, letting the Keeper know that
he was close; the songs of the souls becoming louder than usual as
Datura had shown them a new playground.

Opening his eyes, the
Keeper viewed the Coliseum in its red tones, Galax no longer
present behind him, the door and cell that had been blocking his
path before crumbled down in ruins, leaving him great space to pass
through. There was no living Altor present anymore, the only ones
keeping Datura company now were the souls. Their translucent, smoky
figures dancing through the air as their many different voices sang
loudly, joyfully, through the ruins they had never played in. He
knew he was making his curse only harder on him by having allowed
more space, but he couldn't care. This was the only way that would
allow him to find out what he believed to be true.