Talking to the Moon ✔

-Chapter: Forty-Two-

"What do you mean he has been taken?"

We were in Aqib's visiting chambers now. Aqib was pacing in his simply decorated chambers with the messenger still trying to gain back his breath.

"They..." he panted, "They were returning from Rayt. It seems that their leader was not there when the Prince went to visit, so he decided to return home sensing a trap."

Aqib nodded in understanding. But my mind was focused on the Monarch that sat between Laia and me. He seemed to tremble slightly and Laia was rubbing his arms gently in reassurance. I didn't think that he noticed what she was doing, he seemed to be in his own space now. He had insisted to come and the men had agreed; he needed to know.

I was surprisingly very calm about the news. My reaction didn't make sense to me. My heart wasn't racing, my palms weren't sweaty, it was almost like I had gone numb.

It was expected, I was expecting it and there was so little I could do about it. What was the point of knowing what could happen if I couldn't stop it? I should have tried harder, I could have. He would listen to me. He liked me.

"Call for an emergency council." Aqib said and then glanced at the Monarch, "Get him to his chambers, please."

I moved instinctively. I stood up and grabbed the Monarch's arm. He looked at me confused and something in the back of my mind told me that he would resist. But he didn't and he followed me like a lost puppy. Maybe my brother followed us too, I didn't know as I lead us to the third floor and to my safe haven.

The Monarch chambers.

"You didn't tell me." The Monarch mumbled, I heard it, but I chose to ignore it.

No, I hadn't told him, the same way I hadn't stopped his brother from going to that forsaken place that was inhabited my monsters. I could've but I hadn't. I was the one who had conversed with him last and I had chosen to stay silent. And now, he was taken; missing. Maybe killed.

It was on me. I was able to cure one brother but had taken the others life. The one who had said that he liked me, the one who made me confused and funny. The one who had given me a strange purpose in life; who had made me feel special. Not the way my family did, but in another way. I didn't know.

"Ayah." Maybe someone had called out my name I didn't know.

It was funny; for someone who supposedly had powers, I was extremely dense. Where was my power? Wasn't this the precise moment where something miraculous should happen?

"Baby sister." I felt someone shake me and I came back from my trance. It seems that I was crying because I felt something wet trickle down my cheek. My brother's face appeared in front of me and without hesitating, I fell into his arms. He placed his hand on my hair and soothed me. I didn't know where the Monarch was and at this moment, I didn't care.

"It's okay, it's okay," he whispered as he held me tightly against him. I felt protected in his embrace.

"You love him." A chilly voice broke me from my brother's embrace and made me turn. My eyes met his grey ones which was not accusatory but somewhat curious. His tone wasn't too, he was merely making an observation.

"Both of them do." Asad said from behind me, "She just doesn't know how it feels like."

I almost expected him to laugh at the end of sentence and tell me that he was joking. But he didn't, he was serious. I could read it in his face; this wasn't time for silly banters.

"Makes sense," Qamar said mostly to himself, "I wondered why she is so determined to help me."

Again, it felt like he was talking to himself.

"So many things are confusing in my head," Qamar made a circular gesture with hand pointing at his head, "But I know what love looks like." He looked at me and for the first time, I saw the barest hint of a smile on his face. I had to suck my breath.

Did I? Did I love Omar? Had I lied to him when he had confessed his feelings to me? But it didn't make sense, shouldn't I know when I fell in love with someone?

No, I didn't love him. I liked him. I cared for him. He made me feel all funny inside but it wasn't love and it wasn't important. Asad thought the same too because he raised a valid question to the only person who could give us any insight over the situation.

"What is an emergency council?" He asked.

Qamar frowned, it seemed like he was trying hard to find the answer from the darkest abyss of his mind, "A group of people - the Monarch's best advisors are asked to meet up at the call of the Monarch to guide him in such situations. Since, Aqib is acting on my brother's behalf, then he has the power to call it. It is the most predictable decision but not a wise one."

Asad and I looked at the Monarch in shock. His tone and posture had changed suddenly and I would be lying if I said he didn't frighten me. He looked like a Monarch. He was talking like one too.

Asad broke our awkward silence, "Why?"

Qamar looked at us as if it was obvious, "It takes time to come to a decision and it is something we don't have. Whatever they will decide, they will ask hundreds of soldier to march to the Rayt. This will be an act of war despite the circumstances. If my brother is alive, he will be dead the second they learn about the army."

"So what should we do?" Asad asked.

"We?" Qamar raised an eyebrow; something I had never seen him to do before. What was happening?

"We." If my brother was frightened with the changes in Qamar, he didn't show.

Qamar stood up and despite the changes in him, he was still weak. I could see his legs trembling and I moved to help him but my brother stopped me.

"If I was king..." Qamar said staring at his toes, "I would assemble another team unbeknownest to the council. It will consist of skilled and trusted men. I will ask them to leave before the army so that reach faster. While the people of Rayt are busy with the army, my team's mission would be simple: find my brother and ensure his safety."

Qamar blinked at us confused once he was done speaking, "Where is this coming from?"

He seemed alarmed, almost terror stricken.

"Whoever you are right now, whatever your circumstances, you are still Alam's Monarch, Your Highness." My brother said and bowed. I followed.

We straightened up and my brother looked at me, "Looks like we have a job to do."

I looked at Qamar. I had always viewed him as helpless but the side that he was showing me. Asad was right; he was showing us the side that Aqib and Omar wanted out. They wanted the Monarch -- the strategist.

Wasn't this exactly what Omar had said about his brother? It was all I ever heard from anyone who had known Qamar before the attack.

But this, I knew he was trying to help, he was fighting. But I was also skeptical: how long would this stay? Would he snap back to insanity? Which was real and which wasn't?