Arthur 4 : The return of the prince

Chapter 11

"Princess Selenia, Autarch Eldarion, come forward!" ordered King Sifrat with a hint of disappointment.

And he had reason to be disappointed! The king had witnessed the end of a new dispute between them. Nothing unusual if the King hadn't heard them say really hurtful words to each other. No one knew which of the two had rekindled the embers, but when he saw what they said to each other, it was obvious that their conflict had reached its climax at that moment.

Selenia walked slowly, approaching the central square of the village while trying to recall the events and statements that took place during the dispute. She remembers that in her anger, she had told Eldarion that despite his omnipotence and his incessant moral lessons, he remained an incapable, just good at feeling sorry for the fate of his people who had surely been completely decimated.

To her left, Eldarion advanced at the same pace. He looked downcast. His eyes seemed to have lost some of its bluish light. He remembers responding to Selenia's provocation, and as the blue light in his eyes turned red as a result of the rage within his heart, he replied that she could not say anything on this point when she herself lamented the absence of Arthur or the disappearance of her mother who may never return because of her behaviour and attitude, and that she would never be able to succeed her father as Queen of the first kingdom.

The two, wounded because of the words they had thrown at each other like poisonous spikes, were about to come to blows when King Sifrat intervened in person to end the conflict. This time, he had more than enough and was determined to resolve this childish rivalry between his daughter and the Ghost of Batilga.

Selenia and Eldarion finally reached the end of the road, and knelt before Sifrat of Matradoy sitting on his throne. Around the king was Betamesh, as well as Miro and Mino accompanied by the royal council. After a moment of silence, the King spoke.

"You both disappointed me, disappointed in the behavior you had towards yourself when you should tolerate and understand each other."

He turned his head towards Eldarion, his face still closed.

"You have disappointed me, Eldarion, for the disrespect you have shown to a member of my family and for trying to raise against that same member of my family, my own daughter. If you did not seek to bring Arthur back to our kingdom, I would have punished you much more heavily. But despite everything, the council managed to convince me that we still need you to repair the passage. So I'll just take away your right to command our forces. May the Goddess of the forest punish you more."

Eldarion shook his head without saying a word, accepting his punishment, looking sad. He saw very well the extent of his fault, and where his disgrace had led him. He also felt the effects. After his final quarrel with Selenia, he realized that his powers had drastically diminished. Moreover, he no longer felt the presence of his biological parents through his weapon, which could only mean one thing: the spirits of his parents had left him at that moment, making him understand that he was no longer worthy to wield his magic hammer.

Deep down, Eldarion thought that Selenia might have been right about him. Perhaps he was an incompetent, just as he was unable to save the nyrilorns he cherished so long ago. This made him feel responsible for the disappearance of his wife, his queen and his people.

"Can I leave, Your Majesty?" he asked with regret and bitterness, paying no attention to the tears running down his cheeks. When the King saw the weeping eyes of Eldarion, he understood: the fallen man who was kneeling before him was broken, broken by a burden he had carried on his shoulders for too long, although never this fallen man complained. But this time the burden seemed far too heavy for Eldarion to bear, and the King now saw it.