Broken But Unburnt

Chapter 25 - Kazimir

Chapter 25: Kazimir

Palace of the Equinox Throne: Kingdom of Delos

One of Kazimir's foster mothers had always told him that dreams had meaning. He hoped this one didn't.

It had been recurring for a few weeks now. It was always the same. There was never any variation. It was more a vision of the future than an actual dream. Only this vision wasn't about what he saw. It was about what he felt.

Cold, harrowing emptiness as he stood upon a burning field and stared into a dark abyss. It was endless, boundless, and the longer he stared at it, the bigger it got. But he could not look away. And every time, it consumed him.

There was a quiet, fleeting moment in which he stood within the abyss, floating upon nothing. And then he felt it. An absence in the pit of his stomach, growing and gnawing at him until it overtook him entirely. His magic leaked from his fingertips, drained from his very soul by a heavy but unseen presence. His power faded away and he withered, collapsing within himself. He would fall to his knees to cry out but just before the scream he would awaken. Every time.

This morning was the same as any other. He sat bolt upright in bed to find the princess was already gone. She had been coming to him more and more in the week since the invasion began. He didn't mind. She was just the sort of distraction he needed from the thoughts that plagued him.

Jyn had not returned from her failed assassination attempt. That was for the best. King Jareth was acting wildly unpredictable as of late. As far as Kazimir knew, he could, in a moment of unhinged lunacy, order Jyn's death for her failure. No. It was best that she was staying away. For that reason and because Kazimir might strangle her himself if they came face to face before he had ample opportunity to recover from her betrayal.

Now, he dressed himself in his darkest cloak and headed down the hall toward the war room where he knew King Jareth was already busy planning his various strategies. Kazimir had assumed but was pleased to see he was correct that the King was alone today, as always. In the beginning, when Karil had first attacked, this room was packed with nobility, military, advisors, and members of the royal family themselves. All with opinions on how to proceed. All who feared outright war. But as days had passed and Karil had encroached no further upon Delosian borders, the preening peacocks had all lost interest and strode off to their elegant parties and petty duties. All but Jareth. He had gone practically mad staring at the little soldier figurines on the map. Kazimir could see it in his eyes even now.

"When is the last time you slept, my King?" Kazimir asked gently. "Perhaps if we had the servants make you some tea—"

"We need to send in the Makana," Jareth interrupted. Kazimir blinked at him, stunned, the hand he had raised to call a servant slowly lowering back to his side.

"Excuse me?" Kazimir asked.

"We have to send in the Makana. They are our best chance to subvert the attack before it begins. If we can weaken them enough perhaps we can minimize—"

"Karil's numbers dwarf the Makana's."

"So? You said it yourself. One Makana is worth 10 Karilish soldiers."

"Even so, I won't send my people into a bloodbath so that you can prove your loyalty to King Helios."

"Your people?"

It was perhaps the only thing that could have convinced King Jareth to remove his eyes from the military maps on the table between them. He narrowed his gaze and stormed around the table to Kazimir.

"They are my people!" He shouted, pointing a stubby finger into Kaz's face. "Don't forget who's in charge here, Chaos."

He spat Kazimir's given name as if it were a curse and, for a moment, Kazimir started to wonder if it was. Then Jareth whirled around and headed for the door.