Sorry for not updating last friday everyone! There were a few things that came up that didn't allow me to finish the chapter so I just figured I would continue updates next friday. Make sure to comment and give a vote to help me out. Enjoy!
"Will you be taking your evening meal in your quarters this evening, Master Kellen?" The maid, Anais, asked quietly from the doorway of Kellen's chambers. She watched him scribble down the last bit of sentence in a letter he was composing and then proceed to stand. His usually neat hair was unkempt and the sleeves of his shirt has been crookedly rolled up. His vest was unbuttoned and the jacket he had been wearing earlier was sprawled about the carpet.
"I will not," he replied somewhat shakily and combed his fingers through his wheat colored hair. "Please tell my mother that I will be joining her momentarily." The maid nodded and bowed her head before leaving his presence just as silently as she had arrived.
Kellen checked his pocket watch and grumbled to himself when he noticed that the hour had became late. He felt a pang of guilt for not realizing that his mother had been waiting alone at the table for well over an hour and had been polite enough to not send a maid until she became desperate for company.
Kellen had returned home from the cathedral at twilight and had ordered Anais to fetch him some ink and paper before locking himself away in his chambers. He had been so preoccupied with the letter he had been writing to even notice the light fade from his room until he was writing only under the dim glow of an oil lamp.
"Good evening, Mother," Kellen greeted as he entered the grand dining hall where his mother sat at the end of the long table, sipping red wine. Anais had just finished setting the silverware at Kellen's seat on the opposite side of the table where his father usually sat. She lowered her head in a bow before gliding over to Kellen. He watched her skeptically as she leaned forward and straightened the collar of his shirt before disappearing back into the kitchen.
Flustered, Kellen took his seat and raised a glass to his grimacing mother. Tears still stained her cheeks from the service, and she didn't seem to care much about fixing it.
"Your father has sent word that he will not be staying with us for a few days since he is aiding in the investigation of the king's death." Her voice lowered to a squeaky whisper as she spoke.
"They aren't going to find anything," he replied harshly and sat back in his chair. "They're only going to search the Novo slums and not this part of the city."
"Is it not obvious that it was a Novo who committed the crime?" She asked, raising her voice enough that it cracked mid-sentence. Kellen found his fingers curling into an angry fist until his nails dug into the frail skin of his palm.
"There is absolutely no evidence yet everyone seems to find themselves pointing at those poor people!" Kellen forced himself to take a deep breath as not to rage upon his ignorant mother.
"They are not people, Kellan. They are monstrosities who terrify the civilized people of the city. Your dear aunt was forced to gaze upon the bare skin of one and the poor thing collapsed and nearly died. The thing could have turned itself into a snake of some sort and bitten her with poisonous venom." She scoffed and raised herself from her seat. "Now, I will not have a son who sympathizes with those terrible creatures. Especially when you are the heir to your father's position as high judge of the city." She spoke confidently now with mention of Kellen's father.
YOU ARE READING
Maluridae
Fantasy(UPDATES FRIDAYS) Kellen has only ever known the golden streets that wind through the magnificent gated city of Orielle, a sanctuary for the remaining survivors after a thousand year war that raged endlessly until the realm crumbled to ruin. In its...
