Caged Heart

Chapter 13

After the funeral, it didn't take long for the interrogations to begin again. They tried every tactic they could think of on each one, releasing the people they got no information out of. When they did get any lead on the one who fired the kill-shot, they kept the prisoner until they could corroborate what they said was true. Usually, it was a red herring.

"This is becoming a pointless endeavor." Emerson said exasperatingly as he walked into the throne room—his and Prince Caleb's presence had been requested for an update; Prince Godric and Princess Serenity were also present in the room.

Caleb didn't answer the king, but his expression was also that of annoyance; although, it couldn't be told as to whether that annoyance was from lack of leads or from Emerson himself.

Before King Darius could inquire as to what his companion meant, Serenity did. "What do you mean by "pointless", Emerson?" She asked—the use of the king's first name seemed to calm him while surprising everyone else in the room save for Godric.

"I mean," he began as the two men stopped in front of the throne, putting his hands behind his back, "that we've gotten nothing for the past few days after trying everything. And the leads we've gotten have only ever been false information. Either we hold a killer that just won't break, or they sent us on a wild goose-chase that got the scent off him, or we haven't found them yet."

"The latter is most entirely possible." Caleb spoke through gritted teeth.

Emerson's head turned to look at the prince, but he said nothing as the look on his face said everything for him: the snarky comments from Caleb had begun to take its toll on his patience—he was getting fed up. Serenity looked between the two, wondering how they survived this long without tearing one another's throats out. King Darius was the one who said something next, standing up and gaining the attention of both the prince and the king. Godric's hand twitched at his side unknowingly, and, upon noticing this, Serenity took it in hers; their eyes never left the scene unfolding in front of them.

"So, you've come here with the news that you have got no suspect, you haven't any more leads—you have nothing?" Darius was saying when Serenity's focus returned.

"Your majesty—"

"We would have more," Caleb stepped closer to his father, "if we had Hallows here as well as our own subjects."

That made Emerson roll his eyes. "You seem so hellbent on convicting one of my people, never wanting to believe that it could be one of your own that wanted her dead."

The young prince quickly turned to face Emerson, "Our people loved my sister, but yours—your people, King Emerson, are the enemy; they were her enemies. Whether our kingdoms are at war or not changes nothing between the relations of our two peoples. I am not saying that it was not one from Dahlia but the chance that it was a Hallow is far greater than it being one of them, and that means having none of them to question decreases the likelihood of us ever finding my sister's killer." As he had spoken once before in the war room, his voice never raised from a normal level. The only thing that had ever changed was his inflection, and that made his words ever more impactful.

"The prince has a point, your majesty," Godric said, "We know not who pulled the trigger, but it could've been any person that was in attendance to the wedding, including Dahlians as well as Hallows."

All eyes were now on Emerson. He was biting his cheek as he did when he was keeping himself from snapping when interrupted, his jaw was clenched, and his hands were balled into fists that, after some time, opened as he put them behind his back. His expression was blank, unwilling to betray whatever emotion he was feeling in the moment, and his back straightened to one of regalness. His gaze slid over every face that was turned to him, lingering on Serenity for longer than they should've, before his eyes met with those of Prince Caleb.

"Okay," he nodded at him, his voice that of a king, "if you believe that interrogating my people is what will help then I will oblige to that request. But as we did not capture every Dahlian that was there, you will have to go out and gather them as I gather my subjects. In this, I hope we can all agree, we should be able to find whoever caused all of us this misery."

No one argued with that—they were all in agreement that is what they should do. With a nod of his head King Darius consented, and Caleb's face seemed to indicate that he was pleased with the outcome of events. Serenity was staring at Emerson, his eloquent words still having a wondrous effect on her—even in the most dire of circumstances, he knew how to present himself in such a manner that would make even the most stubborn person agree with him. Godric looked at Serenity, seeing that her gaze was still ahead of her, and he moved his head in the direction of her stare, finding where her eyes lay. His hand slid out of her hold.

Caleb moved past Emerson, stopping next to him, head turned so that he was looking at the king and he at him, "Keep your word, your majesty. Everyone who was at the wedding."

"I intend to, your highness, as long as you shall do the same."

A low chuckle came from the young prince, his lips pulled up into a sly smile that only Emerson caught as he left the room. With a raised brow, the king's eyes followed the prince as he disappeared out the doors, an unknown feeling rising in his chest. His head moved back forward, eyes first finding the king and queen, whom he nodded at as he stepped back and made an effort to turn around to leave, but his eyes then caught Serenity's.

The two shared a look, one that made Serenity's heart flutter and Emerson smile before he took his leave. She watched him as he went, and then she blinked, looking up at Godric, who was looking everywhere but at her. It was then that she realized he was no longer holding her hand.

"Godric," she said, but seemed to get no response from him. She repeated his name again as she moved her hand to his cheek, gently pulling his gaze back to her.

"Serenity." His monotonous voice cut her to the core.

She knew that her next move wasn't fair to either of them, but she did it anyway. Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips, both of her hands now on his cheeks. As she kept her lips planted there, she felt him kiss back, but not as much as she would've thought, and he placed one of his hands on hers. He was the first one to break the kiss, looking into her eyes as he pulled away. She could see that his own eyes were filled with heartache, and that, as much as he wanted to continue their moment, he could not lie to himself. He slowly pulled her hand away from his cheek, squeezing it as he gave her a small smile, his gaze dropping to the floor along with her hand as he let it go and walked away.