In the Shadows~zayn au~Completed ✅EDITING

~Chapter 39: Arranged Marriages~

Here ya go, people! I'm sorry that it took almost two weeks for another update. #oops. However, to apologize I'm doing a double update and it's going to contain THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOOOOR. Some TRUE couply moments! How about it? Do you forgive me? 😜

Anyway, here it is!!!

Dedicated to lxl_Zalaina_lxl because we've been conversing and she's awesome and a superhero fan and she is always excited about updates. :)

Kalysta's POV

Kalysta entered the chapel and was stunned by its elegance. She wondered when she'd ever get used to the grandeur in this country. As she walked down the center aisle between the long rows of benches, she noticed several people in the rows, most leaning forward with hands clasped and eyes closed. Others seemed to be looking up into space and still others' mouths were moving silently.

As she neared the front, she found the King sitting, a child beside him. The King was alert, eyes staring toward the raised platform at the front where candles burned innumerous on tables and pedestals. One table held only a book, large and ornate. From the stiff posture and head of curls on the boy beside the King, Kalysta deduced it was the prince, Lucas.

When she reached the row, she stepped down and seated herself quietly next to the King. He didn't look at her or speak, so there was a considerable time of silence.

"Lucas, son, I thank you for your company during prayer," he said eventually, "but I need you to find your mother and see if she needs your help with anything."

The child couldn't have been more than four years, but he simply nodded, bowed individually to both his father and to Kalysta, and left the row from the other side, curls moving a bit as he picked up his pace in excitement. A man joined the boy as he left, probably a minder.

"He's a precious child," Kalysta commented. "He reminds me of my brother."

"He's quite well-behaved, yes," Harry responded, "and loving."

They sat in silence for another moment.

"You've put me in a difficult position, Princess." Harry finally got to the point of their meeting here. His voice was weary and his shoulders reflected this, slumping down a bit.

"You were in this mire before I arrived," Kalysta said carefully. "I simply showed you the predicament and you are no longer able to ignore it."

"I was not ignoring the situation," he countered.

"Apathy has the same result as ignorance, then."

"You believe I do not care?"

"I believe you've done what you think best for your country," Kalysta allowed. "That doesn't mean that you should continue doing it with new information provided."

"What's the new information provided?" Harry's voice was careful now too. "Nothing you have said is new information. What more would I have to consider?"

Kalysta was silent as she felt the anger swell in her. This was exactly what Zayn and Louis had mentioned, times when she might feel insulted and would need to stay calm. She breathed deeply, trying to control her frustration and despair.

"I had hoped a face would make you realize that this is more than what you're making it." She could barely speak through gritted teeth. "And I hoped that having the facts presented again would help drive home that you're not safe like you think, that you can't just sit this out. Murdoch will come for Cheshire; you possess the luxury of time, not safety."

Harry seemed not only uncomfortable, but troubled. "What would you have me do?" he breathed, fervency clear in the catch in his voice. "Can you honestly say that, faced with my decision, you would take the chance of endangering your people for a nation that you are cordial with, at best? Can you say that?"