A KINGDOM OF DEAD HEARTS [COMPLETED]

CHAPTER 44: DYING

Five days had passed since the battle. Halgard was reeling from the attack. The dead were mourned and buried, destroyed buildings and infrastructure were on the way to be rebuilt, refugees started returning to their home, defense lines were repaired and restructured, dead bodies of Myrana soldiers were buried in several mass graves, and prisoners of war were court martialed, and for most of them, put in prisons waiting for their execution.

Elisthia, with a special decree by Xander and agreed to by Rovan, was elevated to be the royal sorceress of Halgard Kingdom and an oracle—a messenger between the gods and the Halgardians. Thus Elisthia was now in the position that used to belong to her mentor Nydda before she was murdered by Leidra, and Leidra shapeshifted to be Nydda.

The gods in Olympus had been quiet. They had not spoken about or meddled in Halgard's business so far.

Zeus and Apollo had done a good job in making sure the gods stay away from the conflict between Halgard and Myrana. All the quietness just went to show that for those immortals, human's warfare and lives were just their entertainment. Human beings were just pawns in their power struggle and drama.

Ares was quiet too. He had lost Leidra, and lost his winged snakes, and his scheme to takeover elegarii was a failure. His position in Olympus had been weakened further now, and it was only because Hera, the queen of Olympus, his mother, supported him that he could keep his position.

It could be guessed that he would lay low for now, though the god of war was not one to take losses with open arms. He would be back, for sure. It was now up to the gods in Olympus to keep him in check.

The fact that Ares was the real father of Xander was also kept under wraps by Xander, Zeus, and Apollo. All in the name of maintaining the precarious stability and power balance in Olympus. Especially Hera, the queen of Olympus, the mother of Ares, must never know about Xander's parentage. That would put Xander in danger because Hera would hate him so much. Hera might even try to kill him to ensure noone knew about Ares' dalliance. Hera would always have a soft spot for her rebellious, troublemaking son Ares.

Did Ares know that Xander was his son? An innocent victim of his dirty, callous trick to Queen Arajulia? Nobody knew for sure. Even though if Zeus and Apollo knew, it was most likely that he knew too. He just did not care. Having a child with a human was not a proud moment of his life. He had turned a blind eye to the existence of Xander as his son. Ignorance was truly a bliss for Ares.

Xander's winged horses had gone back into the elegarii river as orbs of lights again after the war was won.

Xander had decided to serve as a caretaker, a steward for the throne until Rovan healed from his wounds. The elders' council, a council with eight distinguished men and women of Halgard who served as the advisors to the king, had asked him to consider taking over the throne because there was no certainty when Rovan was ready to perform his duties as a king again. Xander refused.

"Rovan has done well in being a king who is well-loved by the people. He should be given a chance to clear his name, to win the heart of the people again after what Leidra did to him. The people of Halgard should know only one king, swear their allegiance to one king, the one who has led them all these years. There should never be two suns in one House of Metiocles," was what Xander had told the council. He stood that grey morning, the second day after the battle was done, in the council chamber, clothed in his formal regalia which he had not worn for a long time. Black high-collared shirt with gold embroidery of the coat of arms of the House of Metiocles on the chest, dark red cape, dark pants and boots, and his hand clutched his helmet. The eight council members, four men four women, sat in a half-circle oak table in front of him.