What If...

Chapter 8

When Mahdi woke the following morning he was startled to be so comfortable. When he realized he was just in his bed at the palace in Miromara he calmed down. This was the first time in a few weeks that he had actually had a full night of sleep and wasn't terrorized by nightmares.

Then he remembered he was still in a nightmare. Sera was still in a coma, with no signs of life.

Before he could dwell on it very much longer his cousins Neela and Yazeed burst through the door.

"Get ready. We're leaving later today," Neela said.

"What?" Mahdi asked still sleepy.

"Our parents sent us a conch yesterday wanting us back in Matali as soon as possible," Yazeed said more calmly then Neela.

"Which means we're leaving tonight," Neela said finishing the thought.

"What about Sera?" Mahdi asked.

"Don't worry. I spoke with Des last night. He'll send a conch about Sera's condition when she wakes up or, worst case, she gets worse. We'll come back after Sera wakes up. Don't worry."

Mahdi sighed. He climbed across his bed and began to pack his few things he still had that weren't destroyed the past months. Somewhere in that time Neela and Yazeed left him, and food was brought to his room. He ate in silence, changed, and went down to the infirmary.

Once he was down there he saw a sleeping Des holding onto his sister's hand. His head was resting on the bed with his arm supporting his head. From this angle Mahdi could see that Des's face was tear stained. He must've been crying. Mahdi thought. It was something he could never see Des do, but he knew that this was different. Sera was the only family he had left. Vallerio is to be executed as soon as Sera wakes. His parents were dead, Sera had to witness it. If Sera were to die, Des wouldn't have anyone left in Miromara.

Unlike Des, Mahdi still had family that could help him rule. His aunt and uncle were currently ruling in Mahdi's place because his parents had died during the first attack. Neela and Yazeed were the ones closest to being his siblings, and he was glad neither one of them were gone.

Mahdi not wanting to disturb Des began to swim out of the room. But before he could do so Des woke up.

"Mahdi?" he asked.

"Yeah. I came down to say goodbye to Sera. We're leaving tonight and I wanted to see her one last time," Mahdi said.

"Oh. I should probably get going. I have a lot to do today." Des stretched before sitting up. He gave Sera a kiss on her head, and one last squeeze of her hand before he left the room.

Mahdi took his place by Sera. "Hey. I don't know if you can hear me or not but here I go. Neela, Yaz, and I are all leaving tonight. I have to finish things here so I'm not going to be down here all day," Mahdi started. "Sera I just wanted to say that I love you, and I miss you. I don't want you to ever leave me. I don't want to see this happen to anybody else, and especially you. You are too strong for this. Des needs you, your realm needs you, the girls need you, and I need you Sera. You can't give up on us. We all need you to come back." By the end of his speech he had tears rolling down his cheeks. "I better get going with the things I need to do. I love you Sera."

With all that said Mahdi squeezes her hand one last time. He turned away, not wanting to look back. Because if he did he knew that he wouldn't leave. But if he would've turned around he would've seen it. A single silver rolling down Sera's cheek.