Gods and Guardians

Chapter 50: A Raging Storm

Maxis was in no mood to speak with his father. So he didn't honour Dravan's arrival with his presence. Lord Simenusa watched as the king paced up and down, restless. Dravan's fists were moulded behind his back.

'Patience, Your Majesty; I believe he'll be here soon.'

'This wedding cannot hold,' Dravan said resolutely. 'It cannot!'

'Your Majesty, we must apply prudence in speaking with the prince,' Lord Simenusa advised.

'Prudence?' Dravan stopped. 'What is there to be prudent about? Imagine Dasirus. Can you imagine the travesty, the sacrilege, the atrocity...?' He could have gone on, but his fury wouldn't let him. Yet he resumed after a short while. 'The bastard! The fool! On the throne of Zainox? I can't allow anything Dasirus in nature to exist in this palace. For goodness sake, the wedding cannot happen. Dasirus is not coming to bless the primation anyway.'

The Lord agreed with a thoughtful, but reluctant nod.

'Dasirus has desecrated the throne of Zainox. No, no, no,' he mused with bitterness.

The door opened and Maxis walked in. 'You said you wanted to see me?'

He didn't even call him Father. Dravan ignored that with effort. 'Yes, I did.' His face hardened even further with impulse. 'Listen to me, Maxis,' he said, 'I henceforth forbid any further associations with Kiyanna. Do you—?'

'You have absolutely no right to do that,' Maxis countered without raising his voice.

'I don't want her around here anymore!'

'And that is none of my business. Father, you will keep Kiyanna out of your business, otherwise...' Maxis stopped there.

The calm with which he answered was a sharp contrast to Dravan that the king wandered whether he was talking to his son. Even the authority with which he addressed Dravan was something new.

'Maxis,' Dravan threatened, pointing a finger, 'Do you now talk to me in that manner?'

Maxis exhaled and cast down his eyes, fed up. 'I will leave now if that is the only thing you called me for.' He shifted.

'Maxis! Send that girl back! Send her back to Zainox! There is no wedding!'

This finally triggered an explosion. 'Kiyanna is my wife!' Maxis screamed. 'You have no right to tell me what to do!'

Lord Simenusa could not watch quietly anymore. 'Your Majesty,' Simenusa intervened, 'please calm down for a moment. This matter could be handled more subtly.'

Father and son locked eyes for a while, then Dravan lowered his gaze. 'Simenusa,' Dravan turned to him, 'look at my son, look at him. This is my son, heir to the throne of Kainon. My son chooses to take sides with the enemy.'

Maxis stared from one person to another. 'Who's the enemy?'

Dravan ignored him. 'The enemies of Harmonism. The enemies of our unity. The polluters of Zainox. Look at him; my own heir.'

Simenusa didn't speak, for he didn't know what to say. It was hard to intervene in a situation where two members of the crown were fighting if you were not one yourself.

Maxis decided to make his position clear. 'Father, I do not subscribe to your calumniations of the king of Zainox—'

'Yes. Because he is your father in-law.'

'That's a more noble reason,' Maxis replied brusquely, 'than forcing your selfish ambition, straining the good relationship between the two kingdoms and hiding it under the guise of fighting for Harmonism!' His voice reaching a crescendo with the last word.