A KINGDOM OF DEAD HEARTS [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 24: THE ASSASSIN

The throne room was a cavernous hall with tall, round stone pillars on both sides, a long walkway in between the pillars, some characters were painted in gold on the floor. Banners, big ones, hung on the left and right stone walls.

The room was dim, with some torches hung in some of the pillars.

The throne room gave a charismatic vibe, an ambience of power, of resilience with a good dose of darkness and callousness, anything that came with a kingdom who had spent millennias protecting the elegarii, and their military might had ensured no evil, no madness of Ares, or whoever the gods or goddesses in mischief, escape from here to wreak havoc on the universes on the other side of the well of elegarii. The kingdom that served as the portal for orbs of imaginary creatures to flow, tumble down into the well of elegarii, only to rise again, spreading like pollens in the spring wind, and enriching the imagination of those human beings in another universe.

Prissa gave her a wool cloth shoes that warmed her feet well, but made weird noise when she walked on the stone floor.

The throne was a seat made of silverish metal, something like platinum, with dark armrests made of some sort of dark metal, and carvings of thunder and sword on the backrest.

King Rovan sat on the throne, eyes fixed on her. She stopped walking, as if she knew what the safe distance was between her and the man on the throne. And from that distance, she could see him clearly.

He did look like Xander.

He had light blue eyes, strong jaws, and solid-built body. His lips seemed to half-open in a curious questioning mode, his hair was not dark like Xander, but platinum blond almost silver, wavy and short. His face was much more pale than Xander, clean-shaven, without rugged stubby moustache and beard like Xander. His clothes were silver-white, a combination of a jacket and tunic. He wore a gold crown in the shape of a ring with thunder on the front of it, and a weaving of platinum threads on its surface to look like the weaving of roots.

"Airin," he called out to her. A curious tone, nothing menacing.

Airin nodded and rushed a bow in front of the king.

"Very good. Now, I heard all about you of course. I would like to extend my welcome to you here. A friend of my daughter Lyanna is a friend of mine!" he extended his arms, stood up, and Airin realized he was maybe a head shorter than Xander. "Lyanna has talked so much about you and your kindness to her. I, as her father, would like to say I appreciate that." His voice is warm, and his demeanor is quite calming for Airin who struggled to keep her calm.

"How is Lyanna?" she asked.

King Rovan walked closer to her. "She is still shaken by the whole experience, she is still a young girl afterall. But she is getting better, today she is starting her lessons with her tutors again." The king smiled at her, and added,"Thank you for asking about my daughter, for making her so happy while she was in your universe."

Airin felt slightly lighter, the thank you seemed genuine. She managed to smile back a bit.

Suddenly the throne room door creaked open with a loud noise, as if someone had pushed it hard from outside.

"Airin!" a voice she recognized.

She turned around and saw Lyanna ran into the throne room. Her silver dress flew lightly around her, her hair was in a braided ponytail, and her smile grew bigger the closer she got to Airin. She was followed by two staff – a middle-aged man, and an elderly woman who ran too but stopped at the door. They looked stiff from fear.

"Lyanna!" Airin could not help but feel a sense of relief that now she saw a more familiar face to her, and that the little girl seemed to be alright.

She kneeled and extended her arms, and Lyanna flew into her embrace. "Airin! I am so happy to hear you have awakened! I saw Prissa and she told me you are here!" Lyanna did not hide her excitement, and the girl hugged Airin. "I am sorry that you are now here, Airin, I am so sorry ..." she whispered directly in Airin's right ear. Her little voice shook like she was holding back tears.