Dawn of Arcane Destiny

Chapter Eighty-Five

Lillia cried out in fear, jumping out of bed and stumbling away like she had been lying on hot coals. Quite a feat for a pregnant woman considering how fast she moved. She shook her head waking herself fully. Her heart was still racing. It had only been a dream, but she knew better than to pass it off as an ordinary nightmare. It was anything but natural.

Drayce sat up groaning, his hand going to his eyes. It was light outside, evident by the bright light filtering through the crack between the drapes. "What's wrong?" He asked hoarsely. He hadn't moved, still covering his eyes.

"Nothing." She said with a small quaver in her voice. She sat back on the bed. She took a deep breath the compose herself. "However, you, clearly have a hangover. What possessed you to drink last night?" Lillia scolded. She knew the subject change was abrupt, but she needed to think of something else. Anything else.

Drayce dropped his hand and looked at her with bloodshot eyes. He sighed. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing." She shrugged trying to rid herself of her residual fear from her dream. She tried to force herself to stop trembling by sheer willpower. It wasn't working.

"Drayce, we need to start communicating better." She said, not caring to dance around the topic.

He nodded. "Let's discuss this later, okay? I have stuff to do today." Drayce said, standing up. He rubbed his temple. He likely had a horrid headache.

"No! See this is what I'm talking about, Drayce!" She said exasperated. "We're discussing this now. I know what you're avoiding. I want to hear it from you."

His eyes snapped in her direction. "What—How?" he stuttered. He paused, then sighed. "I told Caelum, didn't I?" He said it as more of a statement. "I'm going to kill him."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Lillia said allowing her hurt to be heard in her voice.

"What did you want me to say? 'Sorry I'm the reason for your madness. Don't hate me for ruining your life.'?" Drayce said mockingly.

That felt like a sucker punch the gut. Lillia felt her face go red. "How about 'Sorry I knew exactly what you're going through, and I've been ignoring you anyway because I couldn't handle my guilt.'?" Lillia said glaring at him.

"Don't pin this on me! It's not completely my fault." Drayce said. It was a hollow justification if Lillia had ever heard one.

"Why not? Last I checked this whole thing is your fault. But of course, that's how you function, you blame others for your own stupidity!" Lillia said. She immediately wished she hadn't said it. That was too far.

Drayce looked like he had been slapped in the face. "You're right." He said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Why didn't you tell me? We could have been working for a solution, not sulking." Lillia said.

"I—I wasn't sure at first." Drayce said. He seemed to be forcing himself to look her in the eyes. "I thought you would hate me."

His words sounded childish and petty to Lillia. "I would never hate you, Drayce. Maybe resent, or strongly dislike, but never hate." Her sorry attempt at a jest fell remarkably short. But to Drayce's credit he rolled his eyes.

"I am angry that you didn't tell me, though." Lillia said "I thought you were avoiding me because you were disturbed or angry with me for some reason." Lillia said fighting down a wave of emotion. It seemed to hurt even more to say the words out loud. She felt betrayed. He knew exactly what was happening to her and he had ignored her.

"Well I think that we could both try a little harder, don't you?" Drayce asked.

Lillia nodded.

Drayce chuckled with forced cheerfulness. "Don't look so glum, chum. Things have to get worse before they'll get better right?"

She glared at him. "How is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Drayce smiled and poked her. "I know what you're doing. You just can't handle my optimism."

Lillia rolled her eyes. "Right, because you've always been the most optimistic person around."

Drayce's laugh sounded forced even to her. "Get dressed. It's high time you met my sister."

***

Lillia found the much talked-about Kaelyn balancing on a stack of books and hanging halfway out of a window in the library.

"Good heavens!" Lillia exclaimed, hurrying up to the girl, and pulling her back. "What do you think you're doing?" She demanded of the girl, who appeared to be around eight years of age.

Kaelyn looked sheepish. "I was only trying to see what kind of stone the castle is built from."

"What kind of stone?" Lillia asked bemused. "Why?"

She perked up. "Drayce said I could read his architecture books and It said that stone keep castles like this one are commonly built from limestone." She dug the toe of her right shoe into the rug. "The only thing is I'm not exactly sure what limestone looks like."

Lillia laughed. "The castle is indeed built of limestone." She reached out the window and pulled it closed.

"And" Kaelyn said, eyes alight with enthusiasm, she jumped back up on her stack of books. Teetering for a moment before she pointed outside. "The castle's outer walls define this as a stone keep, right?"

"Yes, I believe that is correct." Lillia said, surprised at the girl's eagerness.

Kaelyn tapped her lower lip in a thoughtful gesture. "That makes sense. Mother always told me that Kamasia has fought lots of wars, whenever I asked about Caelum. If the castle was ever attacked, then a keep would be the best in rebuffing an attack."

"That's not a very lady-like topic." Lillia pointed out. "You've studied war strategy?" She walked over and sat in a chair gesturing for Kaelyn to do the same. Her feet were killing her.

"No." Kaelyn said shaking her head. "I've studied architecture. That's much more interesting. Though cultures play into a country's architecture."

"Very true." Lillia said feeling a little interested herself. "Have you studied cultures as well? I've found studying Kamasian culture quite fascinating since I moved here."

Kaelyn scoffed quietly. "Kamasia? We're hardly interesting. This war and that war, this war monger and this heroic king. All of them have one thing in common." She leaned towards Lillia as if to share a secret that she had found out herself. "History dubs these men heroes, but they all killed to get where they were, only to die by assassination or die naturally a few years later, sometimes less than that."

"That is very true." Lillia said. "That is what they call the carnal man. What is truly fascinating is when a man overcomes that, rising above their barbaric brethren." Lillia blinked remembering that she was talking to an eight-year-old. Zavian, she spoke as if she were twice her age. That wasn't something you came across every day.

Lillia stood. "I'm Lillia, by the way, Drayce's wife."

"I know." Kaelyn said pointing at her ear in reference to Lillia's pointy ones. "I'm Kaelyn. Caelum and Drayce's sister."

"I know." Lillia said smiling. "You know what? I have an idea. Let's make the most of your day at the castle."

Kaelyn grinned in pure, innocent anticipation.

"Let's get you a better view of the castle."