A kingdom of Ash and Echoes

Chapter 12: The Weight of Silence

The Royal Chambers

The heavy silence that hung over the castle was unlike anything Lyriana had ever known. It was not the quiet of peace or rest, but the kind of stillness that settled when a storm loomed on the horizon—unsettling and thick, making it hard to breathe.

Her thoughts were a mess as she paced down the stone corridors. It had been days since Callum had left for the northern borders, his duty pulling him away from Avaranth at a time when the kingdom needed him most. The whispers of rebellion grew louder with every passing day, and Lyriana's heart ached with the fear that she might never see her older brother again.

He had been gone for three days now. No word. No letters.

The silence from him was deafening, but there was something more—an unease that gnawed at her, a feeling that something was very wrong. He had gone to protect their borders, but Callum was not the only one who had been affected by the growing unrest in Avaranth. King Aelric, their father, had not been the same since that fateful day when the rebellion had begun to stir. The sickness that had taken hold of him years ago, an illness long believed to be in remission, had begun to resurface. Weak, pale, and shrouded in fever, their father had become a mere shadow of the man he had once been.

Queen Elowen, their mother, had not left his side. Her worry was etched deeply in every line of her face. Lyriana could see it, could feel it—her mother's unease, her despair. Her once strong, regal figure now seemed fragile and bent beneath the weight of both her husband's sickness and the kingdom's precarious future.

But it was not just their father's condition that concerned Lyriana. It was the strange distance between her and Seraphina, her sister.

Seraphina had barely spoken a word in days. Her eyes had lost their usual spark, and her once-lively demeanor had been replaced with a hollow emptiness. She kept to herself more and more, retreating to her chambers, avoiding everyone, even her family. Her absence had been noted, and no one spoke of it aloud, but it felt as though something was off. Lyriana could sense it, even if no one dared to say it.

Lyriana paused at the foot of the stairs, feeling a lump form in her throat. She knew she should go to Seraphina, try to comfort her, but she was afraid of what she might find. Her sister, who had always been so full of life, had become a ghost of herself, slipping further and further away from the family she had once been so close to.

With a sigh, Lyriana turned toward her parents' chambers. Her mother was there, sitting by their father's bedside, her hands trembling as she wiped his brow with a damp cloth. King Aelric lay still, his breathing shallow and ragged. His once commanding presence was now a distant memory, replaced by a frail, sickly man who looked as though he had aged a decade in the past few days.

Elowen looked up as Lyriana entered, her eyes red-rimmed from lack of sleep and worry. "Lyriana..." she whispered, her voice hoarse. "How is your sister?"

Lyriana shook her head. "She won't speak to me. She's...she's just locked away in her room."

Elowen's face softened, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I don't know what to do with her. She's..." Her voice faltered, and she took a shuddering breath. "She's afraid. We all are."

Lyriana stepped closer, taking her mother's hand gently. "We'll get through this. We have to. Callum will come back soon. He'll bring the strength we need."

But even as she said the words, she didn't believe them. Callum had always been the strong one, the one who had steadied their kingdom with his courage and determination. Without him, and with their father fading before her eyes, the weight of their legacy felt impossible to bear.

At that moment, the door creaked open behind them, and Seraphina entered the room. She looked thinner than usual, her face pale and drawn, her eyes hollow and lost. She had clearly been crying, though she made no effort to hide it.

"Seraphina..." Lyriana whispered, reaching out to her sister.

Seraphina's gaze flickered to their mother, but she quickly turned her head away. "I don't want to talk about it," she muttered, her voice flat, devoid of emotion.

Lyriana's heart sank. Her sister's pain was so evident, yet she couldn't break through to her. It was as though Seraphina had retreated into herself completely, sealing away any emotions she once shared with her family.

Elowen watched her daughters, her face tight with worry. "Seraphina, please," she said softly, her voice cracking. "We need to be together now more than ever."

Seraphina lifted her gaze, locking eyes with their mother. For a moment, it seemed as though she might say something, might offer some reassurance. But instead, she simply shook her head and turned away, disappearing out the door without another word.

Lyriana watched her sister leave, her heart aching with a sadness she couldn't put into words. How had they all gotten so lost? How had they fallen so far from the tight-knit family they once were?

She turned back to their father, his condition worsening by the hour. The physicians had all said the same thing: there was nothing more they could do. He was slowly slipping away, and they were powerless to stop it.

The night fell heavy around them, the flickering candlelight casting long shadows on the walls. Lyriana took her mother's hand, squeezing it gently, as the weight of their reality pressed down on them both.

"I don't know what we'll do without him," Elowen whispered, her voice barely audible. "I don't know how to be strong anymore."

Lyriana swallowed hard, her throat tight with the lump of grief that had taken root there. She had no answers, no comforting words. All she had was her love for her family, and that wasn't enough to shield them from the storm that was closing in.

"I'll protect you, Mother," Lyriana said, her voice unwavering despite the fear that gripped her heart. "I'll protect us all."

But even as she spoke those words, a part of her wondered if she was capable of bearing the weight of it all.