Divine Realizations [ Clarion X Milori ]

Chapter 19

With the soldiers now on their way, the palace and grounds where quiet save for night as the festival came out in full swing.
He and Clarion never joined however, due to the fact that so much still needed to be done.
After guilty thoughts of Arden had kept him up all night, Milori made his way down to the cellar of the palace.
This was Arden's favorite room in the whole house as he had converted it into a painting studio for her.
As much as she loved looking at flowers, she had loved to capture them and he was all to happy to give her any supplies she needed.
While he had been down here many times since she died, he had never touched anything. He had also never let anyone else down here. Everything else in the palace that belonged to Arden, he got rid of but this was her space.
That fateful morning they went flying, she had been painting a beautiful picture of a lily.
It still stood unfinished along with tables full of opened and dry paint tubes.
The trash bin was still over flowing along with all her notebooks out.
Over time, he had memorized the placement of every object here, as though it was a game.
Was he crazy or did the air still smell of her perfume since there where no windows or drafts down here?
Milori sighed.
He was foolish to think Clarion could be his queen and replace Arden.
How could he love her when Arden had taken his heart with her the day she died?
He took the stairs back up two at a time, not even remaining long enough to close the door.

Clarion was happy.
Happier than she had been in a long time.
With her budding relationship with Milori finally coming to fruition and progress being made on defeating Kealy, everything was almost as it should be.
Humming softly, Clarion made her rounds throughout the palace.
Not one to idle, she now helped the kitchen and maid staff clean and cook for all the new additions to the kingdom.
As she made her way through the last of the halls, she stopped short at an opened doorway. She never really came down to this part of the palace as it was mostly vacant.
She peered down cautiously and saw a stairwell descending into the darkness.
Looking around, she realized she had never even noticed that there was a room here, as it was nearly hidden by shadows.
Spotting a maid who was going up the way she came, Clarion motioned for her to stop.
"Elgin, do you know where this passage leads to?"
Immediately the maid looked around nervously and replied,
"My lady, lord Milori has ordered that room be off limits. It was Queen Arden's painting room. No one is to go down or touch anything."
The maid shook her head as though sad and quickly moved to close the open door.
"It's not healthy for him to have such a reminder but he goes down almost every week."
Clarion felt a stab of pain for him but also a stab of jealousy.
She realized it had only been a few months since Ardens' passing but would he ever move on?
Reluctantly she walked away from the room and into the main hall where she saw Milori. Immediately her mood changed entirely and she walked over to greet him.
Leaning up to press a kiss against his mouth, he quickly changed positions so that it landed upon his cheek instead.
Unperturbed, Clarion said,
"Long time no see, I was hoping you would have time tonight to..."
But before Clarion could finish, he cut her off with,
"Sorry I'll be busy going over advancement plans with my captain, perhaps another time though."
Without further word he left and caught up with two soldiers walking away.
Trying to remain positive, Clarion shrugged and went on about her duties.

Kealy stared into the camp fire, a wicked grin marring his handsome face.
His plan had worked.
He sent one of his best soldiers to spy on Lord Milori and Queen Clarion and got more than he bargained for.
The soldiers' orders where simple;
pretend to be a winter Infantry soldier and talk directly with Clarion about their upcoming plans.
Kealy almost laughed at how easy it was.
He now knew of the hidden Winter Army in Pixie Hollow, waiting to surround him and his men.
And while that was good information to have, it wasn't near as valuable as learning that Milori and Clarion were in love.
While he knew they had been an item in the past, Kealy had witnessed first-hand Miloris' (seemingly) undying love for Arden and never thought about the possibility of Clarion becoming more to him.
Becoming a now perfect weapon.
His soldier recounted Miloris' possessive show and even their little scene afterwards.
Forget Pixie Hollow and forget Arden.
All Kealy needed to do was get Clarion and it would be the downfall of Milori.
A downfall he had waited for so long to see.
The fact that he would gain both kingdoms in the process and Queen Clarion was only an added bonus.
Motioning to his commander Kealy said, "Prepare the troops, we ride out first thing in the morning."
The commander replied,
"Of course sir, to Pixie Hollow."
But Kealy shook his head at this,
"No for home, we will go back to the Hinterlands, no need to waste men. But choose your best man and send him to me, I have an important mission."
Confused, the soldier saluted his King and turned to do Kealy's bidding.