Lavender & Ice

44. Aftermath

The silence throughout the room was tense as the royal family stared at each other. After several long moments, Thala was worried her sons may never speak to her again. Joreth was with Kietnan in his dwelling, while in the meeting room the king, queen, and the general filled in Kahal and Othen on everything that had happened

"So let me get this clear." Kahal began. "Ashima was with Joreth this entire time."

"Yes."

"He confided in you at some point, but you decided not to share this with the rest of us until two days ago?"

The king and queen nodded.

"The Aerulians showed up early, and instead of waking the rest of us and continuing with the plans we had all agreed upon and worked together to put in place, you decided to just handle things yourselves in the spur of the moment?"

"Yes, like I said. I saw no reason to wake you." Thala defended.

Kahal held up a hand. "Just, indulge me a moment longer."

They nodded.

"When you arrived in the cave, Ashima made her feelings towards my brother, your son, clear to you. And made it clear she didn't actually want to leave our planet, she wanted to be with Kietnan. She only hid because she thought it was the right thing to do. She put the well-being of our people above herself and her own desires."

"Well...I didn't exactly say those words..."

"Yes, brother. That is exactly what I am hearing." Othen offered his support.

"And likewise, Kietnan made it clear who Ashima was to him."

Thala sighed. "Yes, you understand everything correctly."

"Then, please... Help me understand."

"What is it you need to understand? I do not understand everyone's reaction to this. Are you and I not the king and queen Japheth? Since when do we need our sons' approvals on our decisions?"

Japheth calmly placed his hand on top of his wife's, intertwining their fingers. "I must ask you to forgive me, my love." He then turned and looked at his sons. "I must also humble myself and ask for your forgiveness. And I will likewise do the same with our other sons."

"Japheth, what are you talking about?" Thala asked.

"I have become too complacent as king. I have been content. We have lived such peaceful and relatively uneventful lives during our reign. So, when you took charge and had these strong feelings of how you wanted to take care of things, as you saw fit, to make things back the way they were, I ignored any feelings I had on the matter, and let you be. By being unwilling to disagree with my wife and putting my role as husband first, I have failed my sons as their father, and I have failed our people as their king.

"Why are you saying such things? Of course you haven't!"

"Enough, Thala. If you can't see the errors in our decisions, now, I fear you never will."

"I don't understand. Has everyone gone crazy? Everything we have done has been for the good of our people! And what's best for our son!"

"Skies above, this is turning into a drama."

"You are welcome to leave, Garen." Japtheth seethed, "I hardly see how your services are needed at this point.

"Suits me." Garin said before walking out of the room.

"Mother." Kahal said, bringing everyone's attention back to the conversation. "Perhaps you could imagine putting yourself in Kietnan shoes. He has found his love, his partner for life, and she has just been ripped away from him without having a chance to even speak with her. To tell her what she truly means to him."