Xerxes

Twisted hearts

"Liar!" I screamed in anger. He would not turn me against the Xaj.

"You lie! You want me to turn against Petra and get the people to not trust her. You work for the King, don't you?" I went on, not minding if my voice was loud or not.

"Xerxes, calm down..."

"Stay out of this Ang, your Uncle is a liar and right now I am having second thoughts about trusting him..."

"Then trust me Xerxes. Trust me", she said with calm, putting her hands in mine.

It was so infuriating listening to him, I wanted to walk away and never turn back, but I could not. I relaxed a bit while letting her warm hands caress mine.

"Let's hear what he has to say. If you are not satisfied with his answer you can leave and never look back" her eyes pleaded.

Deep down I had a hunch that I was not going to be satisfied with what he had to say, but Ang gave me a convincing look and I had to trust her.

"Fine!" I shrugged away from her grip, "Tell me what you mean when you said that Petra was the traitor?", I directed the last statement to the abbot.

He had a heavy look on his face but I didn't care. He was going to tell me what he knew or I would blow the whistle on him and this entire place.

"It's going to be a long story, so I'd prefer it if you sit..."

"I'm going to stand if that's alright with you" I gave out coldly. "Tell me what you know and stop wasting my time!", my voice had begun to get high once more.

"Xerxes, calm down" Ang pleaded again. "We don't know how your powers work yet. If it is triggered by emotions we could all get buried in here. Be calm" she said softly.

"Thank you Angy..." the abbot sighed in relief but was cut short by Ang.

"I'm not doing this for you Uncle, I'm doing this for Xerxes and Georgey" she said unapologetically. "Whatever you have to say, I'd suggest you start talking before they find out we're missing from the camp."

The lines on his face increased making me wonder why his worries had not killed him yet. He walked to an armchair, dusted it off and sat with a hump.

"During the reign of King Exodus few years before the war, I was a scrivener in the court of the King" he began, straining each word when he spoke.

"Lord Pontius, Petra's father was the Kings right hand man and his adviser, meanwhile Meridius served Pontius as a trainee. There was balance and everything had meaning" his voice wavered on while I tried to imagine every scene in my head. "Children wanted to serve the King with all their hearts, Parents were loyal to the course of unity and gods, demigods, Magicians and Vladians protected the King and his people with their lives. All was going according to how the universe saw fit, however one individual saw an opportunity. An opportunity to rise to the top no matter the cost."

There was a moment of silence to which he gave me a knowing look.

"It was Petra, wasn't it?" I asked softly.

He nodded in affirmation.

"Yes. It was Petra" he answered.

Why?

Why would she do such a thing?

Was she really responsible for my parents death? For all the friends I had lost and everything I was going through right now, was she really...?
It hurt to think about it.

"Lord Pontius was always at the Kings side and never left the King,  except for urgent matters. He never even got to see his family and Petra grew up without a father" he paused for a moment.