Potions, Power and Pain

Chapter 17

Thanks to years of experience, Rowan had no problem sneaking in and out of the Earthly Palace. There were hundreds of secret tunnels and passages. Some of them were common knowledge, however most of them had been long forgotten, there were some that he had not even discovered.

Once he arrived at the top of a fifth flight of stairs and unlocked the door to one of the living rooms it opened up to, he was surprised to find Kallik, sitting in an armchair with a drink in his hand.

"Should I even bother asking where you snuck off to?" Kallik drawled with our even glancing at his younger brother.

"Should I bother asking why you are up here drinking alone, looking like you might jumping out of that window?" Rowan retorted. If Kallik were to actually jump out of the window, it would most likely not kill him, but possibly break a few bones, and with the help of a healer and the power of immortality coursing through his brother's veins, he would be better in no time so his comment had actually been redundant.

"Fair enough." Kallik answered as Rowan began making his way to his tower, when he suddenly began speaking again. "I am scared."

"No you are not, you are drunk." Rowan knew that Kallik would never show any signs of weakness let alone outright admit that he was scared.

"No it's true, I am scared. Terrified even." Kallik confessed in a whisper, still not looking at Rowan, but simply staring ahead at the dwindling fire in front of him. Rowan began to wonder just how long his brother had been hopelessly sitting there, staring at the fire, drinking his ass off.

"What are you scared of?" Rowan asked tentatively, unsure what to do, as Kallik had never opened up to him before.

"Getting married." Kallik paused for a second before he started again. "Pretty much my whole life I have known that I would have to marry Zielle, but now that the wedding is in a few months, I am starting to realise just how much that entails. Don't get me wrong she is beautiful and she is smart and I am sure thousands of others would kill to get the chance to marry her, but it just does not feel right. I do not love her and she does not love me, yet we are forced to get married because of some stupid prophecy. What if it does not even apply to us, what if the prophecy was meant about someone else, what if we get married and there still isn't peace? What happens then."

Kallik began slurring his words, "I am only thirty-two, which for a faery is so young, and I have never really experienced anything because I have always had to be the 'perfect little Crown Prince of the Earthly Kingdom'. You have no idea just how lucky you are Rowan, no idea how jealous I am of you."

Rowan was speechless. He had no idea what to answer to any of that. He had not known that his brother felt that way. He supposed that he was lucky that he was not forced into an arranged marriage, that he would never have to experience the pressure of being the Crown Prince and one day becoming King.

He noticed that Kallik and fallen asleep in the armchair, so deciding to be a good brother, Rowan walked over to him, set his glass down, hauled him to his feet, carried him to his room and dropped him comfortably on his bed.

For the first time in his life, Rowan understood his older brother, and even felt bad for him.