Kingdom of Life and Death (The Fifth Element Chronicles)

Chapter 7 "The Flame of Creation" [part 2]

How could I escape the mess I had gotten myself into?

'What do you mean?' I tried to dissuade Phoenix's obviously curious face.

He stood up, paced back and forth until he found the perfect words to leave me no escape.

'That's the one thing I don't understand. He's supposedly just a pirate, a person who never followed anyone, created his own Kingdom to escape the control of others and yet he calls you his Queen. He swore allegiance to you, gave you his troops, expecting nothing in return? He doesn't leave your side for a second... something strange happens. Every time I tried to find out something about him, no one knows anything. You were all that time together looking for the Tree. What did he tell you? What do you know about him? Were you together? Do you have a romance or what? You have a thousand questions to answer Gaia, just pick one and start from there.'

How could I tell him the truth when I knew it would mean Caelus' death?

I couldn't tell him that I promised not to love him because that would be confessing that I still did.

I couldn't tell him Caelus' true identity, because that would doom him to live a life he had always run away from.

It was a secret that my soul mate had insisted on keeping guarded, that had only been revealed to me by the ring of the Fairy's mind. Without it, I might never have known that he was the lost prince of Bieno.

He was the man of prophecy.

He was born to be my soul mate.

I couldn't say anything about that.

But on the other hand, how could I ask Phoenix to trust me if I couldn't exactly tell him the truth?

'The truth is...' I began and couldn't continue.

'You love him.'

Yes, but I will never admit it.

You'll never know from my mouth.

I could never betray the fate of the man I loved.

'It's not that simple.'

'Really?'

'Look, a lot happened on the journey we made together. Not what you imagine, not that. We spent a lot of time together and because of what we had to do, we got to know each other's every secret, we opened up in a way I've never done with anyone else. That brought us together beyond anything I can explain, that I don't think there's any explanation for. That's the truth.'

I was trying to find the right words not to imply the love I felt.

I wanted him to believe that it was just something that wasn't love.

'Then tell me everything you know about him, tell me who he is, his secrets. There's something else about him and I want to know it.'

Damn.

Why was he so insistent on this?

What did he want me to do?

'You're right, there is something else. There is so much more about him. But those are his secrets, not mine. And this is not about love, it's about loyalty. The same loyalty I'm offering you.'

Everything I said at that moment was true, but it didn't convince him, not at all.

'Do you realize that you ask me to tell you everything but you don't dare to do it yourself? What do you want me to do? You hide things from me that you supposedly can't tell. I also have things I can't tell you. So, there you have it, we will never fully trust each other.'