A KINGDOM OF DEAD HEARTS [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 32: THE HALF-BURNED PALACE

Xander looked pensive. Airin breathed as quiet as she could. Only the crackling of the burning wood and the warmth that emanated from the hearth in the corner of the room that filled the air between them.

"This ... half-burned palace was ... a home to me. And Rovan. And our parents, King Lymnos and Queen Arajulia. Rovan was just a year younger than me ..." Xander took a deep breath as his memories stirred. "Before I heard about Ares, I was a happy child, I befriended everyone who came in my path. I just wanted to be liked, to be accepted with my gifts. And among them ... there was this soldier ..." Xander sighed, strengthened his heart to continue."He was young and funny. He came and befriended me, and I happily accepted. I was maybe about nine years old. He was a new recruit, a young guard trained at the main palace, but he would play with me after his duty was done for the day. He brought me snacks from the kitchen, or these awesome wooden toys he made himself. Rovan loved him too. We all used to play together. Argo was his name."

Xander sounded flat as if he just recanted something that he had memorized well, something he had wanted to say for a long time and finally got a chance to do so.

"My parents did not seem to care about Argo, or my friendship with him. Airin, what I thought was a happy childhood was because I was not told of all the intrigues that came with my Father's throne. He had made some bitter enemies within his court. Bitter enough to plan a sinister coup, a quiet takeover of the throne ..."

Airin's heart thumped faster. Xander's expression grew darker, and the air around seemed to stand still. He continued ...

After he found out the secret about Ares, Xander grew more and more distant from his parents, his little brother Rovan, Nydda, and everyone else. He spent a lot of time alone, crying and wishing things were different. Hatred grew and took roots in his young heart.

He was lonely, consumed by fear and shame.

Argo became his only friend. He thought Argo was his bestfriend, a big brother whom he never had. He did not tell Argo about his secret though, he did not want him to be scared.

For a few months since his overhearing of the secret, Argo was his only friend.

One day, Xander had a fight with his mother. He wanted his mother to draw with him, but his mother refused, and his father who was there just told him off by saying that he needed to do more serious stuff other than drawing. Drawing will not prepare you to be a king. That was what his father had said.

That blew Xander off. He raged and ran away from home. It was one of the many times his mother had refused to do anything fun with him, and his father had looked down on his drawing even though he had such a gift in it.

Argo secretly followed him, and he spoke to Xander in the middle of the forest where he hid from his parents. It was in this conversation, he asked Xander all about the layout of the palace where he lived with his parents and younger brother. Xander, who was angry and fragile and hated his parents so much at that point, told him everything including the family secret bunker.

A few nights after that, there was a commotion in the house. King Lymnos was angry, and the queen was crying. Some of the king's most trusted aides were there too. Then Xander and Rovan along with their parents were rushed to the secret bunker.

But Xander had something important in mind. His bestfriend Argo had asked him the day before to open the kitchen door for him at night. He said he wanted to hand Xander a new toy he just made, but he did not want to knock the front door because he did not want to be an inconvenience to the rest of the family.

Xander easily slipped out of the bunker among all the panic and commotion in there. He had been sad, and he just wanted the new toy from Argo because he wanted to feel better. And Argo always made such wonderful wooden toys, with moving parts that made funny noises.