Syrilth; A Dei Realm Tale

Chapter One

"Your Highness."

My head whipped up with a snap, heart in my throat with hope. Except it was a servant who stood in the doorway to my workshop, the polite expression giving no indication of their thoughts as they watched me. Disappointment sank my heart back to its place, the sensation turning acidic when I noticed the sympathy that flickered briefly in their gaze.

"Yes?" I asked, nearly choking with the effort to sound bland and non-plussed. Silly, I admonished myself, when has he ever called out to you so formally?

"Prince Injros has arrived. He is requesting a meeting with King Jonathan and you," they informed me. I nodded despite not hearing a word they said, my thoughts on the other side of the realm with my Beloved. It had been weeks since the guardians had rushed to aid the First Kingdom in the latest tangle with our enemy, and though Killian reassured me that all was well, unease had begun to plague me with each moment that added to the seemingly never-ending stretch of time he was gone.

My gaze drifted sideways as my thoughts swirled every which way. Open books littered the table I sat at, paragraphs about herbs and childbirth peering back up at me as I stared unseeingly. A hand absentmindedly rubbed my stomach, still flat so early on. "Does His Highness know yet?"

I startled at the question, blinking as I looked back up to where the servant still stood, waiting patiently. One. Two. Three. A meeting. With Injros and Jonathan. I gasped as I finally caught up with reality, nearly tumbling backwards as I jolted up from the work bench. "Please, lead the way Ethan," I urged as I pulled a cloak tight around my shoulders. Even with the fires lit throughout the entirety of the castle, winter still managed to creep into the corridors. I rubbed my forehead as he led me to where they were waiting, cursing my absentmindedness that had increased tenfold throughout the pregnancy. "I'm so sorry Ethan, as you know I haven't been my best recently," I apologized, mortified it had taken me so long to recognize the servant who'd been working with Jonathan for decades now.

Ethan gave me a reassuring smile over his shoulder, the expression bringing forth crow's feet that had begun to form in recent years. Though as a healer I was familiar with the mortality of our bodies, the small signs of aging now settling into the being of someone I knew so well caused my chest to constrict. Time is never on our side, I couldn't help the bitter thought that surfaced, the disappointment from earlier still churning in my stomach. Though Killian and I had been together for nearly a decade, we had been apart majority of that time due to the increasing ferocity of the darkness. Always one step ahead of us, whoever it was we fought had only grown bolder as they watched us scramble time and time again.

I rubbed my forehead again as the dull ache returned, memories of our seemingly unending failures, the lives that had been destroyed due to those failures, haunting me mercilessly even now. "What is Injros wanting to discuss?" I asked, as I wished I had taken medicine before following Ethan.

"Prince Injros only mentioned it was crucial to meet with the both of you now."

The words stopped me in my tracks, my hand drifting down to my side as alarm zipped through me like lightning. Stay calm Syrilth, I warned myself as anxiety fought to break free.

It's Killian. Something's happened, it cried as it wrestled with me.

"Nothing else?" My voice was quiet, barely audible even in the silence of the corridor we stood in.

A ghost of crow's feet came and went, the only hint at what waited for me ahead. Ethan bowed slightly in apology, motioning for us to continue onward. I took in a steadying breath before picking up my feet. You would know, I reassured myself as we traveled through the dimly lit halls. The bond can't hide anything between Beloveds, you know this Syrilth.