The Exiled King | ✔

Chapter 12 - The One They Sought

Leus found himself at the door of King Adrian's study, where he stood as he waited for the guards to push open the heavy oak doors.

He strode up to Adrian and said, "I'd like to return home for a few days."

"Sorry, what?" The king questioned, his jaw slack and eyes wide in a perfect picture of confusion.

"I want to go home," Leus reiterated, "Just for a couple of days."

Adrian sighed, shoved away his papers and removed his eyeglasses, placing them on the stack of documents.

"Why are you asking me this? You're the sapphire guardian. You can go anywhere you want, whenever you want," Adrian asked.

Leus paused, then said sheepishly, "Well, you're my king."

Adrian sighed again, looking visibly exhausted.

"That I am..." He agreed quietly.

Leus waited a moment longer, but Adrian didn't say anything more.

"I'll... be on my way then," Leus bowed awkwardly, then turned and left.

Once outside, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. With his Guardian status, it created a strange power shift in his interactions with his king and Leus was unsure of how to navigate this path.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he turned the corner and was promptly ambushed by Aidan.

Leus jumped back and was instantly in a battle mindset as he drew on his mana, but he relaxed as he recognized Aidan.

"Can I come with you?" The archangel asked, not looking remotely apologetic about spying on them.

Come with me? No, no... I won't be able- Leus thought, then caught himself.

Well, if we could all just die any moment, why bother hiding anything? He thought grimly.

He smiled slightly and replied, "Sure, why not? Any reason why?"

Aidan shrugged, "I am bored, and I wish to see more of how the world has changed."

Fair enough.

It was like they could all sense that their time was precious.

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It was a very quick journey for the two of them, because Aidan could fly and Leus soared among the winds with the archangel. The trip would easily have taken a week of non-stop riding, as the Ravenstorm territory was nearly as far east from Blackrose castle as it could get.

They shortened it to two days by flight.

Ravenstorm castle dominated the horizon. It was a building full of hard lines and sharp angles, but in that roughness was a certain charm. It was built in the same utilitarian fashion as Blackrose castle and it had stood nearly as long as that castle had. The dull grey brick walls were a reminder of an age that had passed and architecture that had been lost to time. Masons had come and gone and the castle was a mixture of old and new, disguised with paint and intricate designs to hide the patchwork repairs.

The building itself was shaped as a large square with a gate leading into a courtyard. Four towers rose from each corner, two with battlements and two with conical tile roofs that flew the Ravenstorm flag. Extending from the main castle were walkways to other buildings and colourful flower beds had been added to the castle grounds.

Ravenstorm castle sat on a hill that overlooked the castle town, Xandomaen. A wall separated Ravenstorm castle and part of Xandomaen from the rest of the land, but the castle city had gotten so large that it had outgrown the confines of the wall.