Kingdom Fall (Ethereal #1)

- Chapter 38 -

The Beginning of Calamity

Earic

Earic froze. He dared not to sit up as he kneeled on one knee while staring at the gleaming white floor.

'Prince Earic Keshahar,' Earic heard the queen say, 'Son of the late Artarian King and Lady Selene. It's a pity I could not meet her. I've heard she was a rarity.'

Silence befalled the hall.

'Yes, your highness,' Earic muttered loud enough for the queen to hear.

'I appreciate the gift,' the queen said. 'You may rise.'

Earic silently gave out a sigh of relief and stood up. When he looked at the queen, she was holding his box with the the lid open. She held the comb in front of her and handed it to the servant behind her. At first, Earic thought the figure next to her was a servant boy, but when he looked closer, he realized that the person was someone he knew.

Tashara.

She was... different. She sore bleaches instead of a slack trousers and a red armored vest without sleeves. But she still wore the pink shawl that she had. But her face was stern and serious, unlike the helpless look she gave them.

Earic could not believe his eyes. But the queen dug her fingers deeper into the box and pulled out a crystal.

A crystal shard actually. In front if Tashara, a maid girl held about four crystal shards in a bright vermilion pillow. The queen placed the fifth on it.

'Let it begin,' the queen said with a graceful smile.

The crowd of spectators gasped, the doors to the balconies swung open, curtains flew and five crystal shards rose on their own, twirling around each other before combining into a shape. A shape of a ring.

The ring slowly descended towards the Queen's hand. She then stood up. Earic wanted to step back as the queen approached her. But an invisible force held him in his place.

'Earic!'

Earic wanted to turn his head.

'Earic!'

Earic knew the voice. It was Gentetsu. He tried to turn his head. But from the corner of his eyes, he saw Gentetsu struggling to break free from the grip of two chamber maids as he yelled profanities in Yathuurian.

Queen Toja smiled at the yelling boy as she closed the distance between Earic and her. Earic felt his heart pound, the world around him seemed to be spinning.

'Such a pity, your bodyguard. All those years and you still could not see.'

'Could not see what?' Earic wanted to ask, but he could not move. He felt something fall on his head, something cold. He realizes that it was the crystal crown.

'This is your inheritance, something Infinity used. I want you to awaken it.'

'I don't know,' Earic managed to gasp. His head was pounding from the pressure emmited from the queen.

'You know,' the queen replied, 'but it's burried deep within.'

The queen stepped away and a familiar face appeared in front of him.

'Forgive me prince, for this,' Tashara said,

'Why?' Earic said.

'You will understand one day.'

Tashara's hand was warm as she placed her palm on his forehead. What followed, was pain.

Sharp and intense pain. Earic felt something break in his mind, a fortified wall that had only one small door fell apart and flooded every corner of his mind with knowledge. Knowledge of things Earic did not know existed. But with knowledge came a heavy burden. A burden that made Earic want to curl up into a ball and sleep for an eternity. He felt his body go slack. He fell on one knee. But someone stopped him before he fell onto the ground.