Twenty-Nine

Seth turned to Anthony, “Make sure you send the letter to Kellen.”

It was a solemn order but a mandatory one. Before the war begins the two kings must write a letter for their last requests. It was the winning king’s duty to make sure these orders followed through. 

The Dark King’s arrived yesterday. And at the bottom in informal handwriting were the simple words:

Keep Darby Safe.

That stuck in Seth’s head, it would until he died. And that made sending his note all the more harder, sending it meant embracing death.

“Did you want to speak with him?” Anthony questioned from beside him, “It’s only days before the war, you should talk to him while still on friendly terms.”

Seth kept his eyes out the window, “I will. Could you have Esther see if he’s available?” 

I’d rather be anywhere than here. The sky looks unbelievably welcoming. . .

“Umm, Seth?” Anthony watched him, his expression bemused, “Kellen’s been gone for the past two days.”

“What?!” Seth spun toward him, “The war is beginning at the end of the week! Where the hell did he go?!”

“Philip isn’t sure, just knows that he’s supposed to come back before the war.”

Where would he go?

Kellen hesitated outside the Temple of Eclipse. It was early in the morning, and there weren’t any other faeries around yet. If he wanted to do this alone he needed to get started.

As he approached an empty seat a feeling of dread settled in his gut. He was positive Sorus wasn’t going to be proud of the decisions he had made and Kellen wasn’t in the mood to hear a disappointed lecture. 

But this was the only time that Kellen would have by himself before the war began, and possible the only time until death.

So, he lit the Dark Empire’s candle and sat down on the floor. Almost instantaneously the God appeared before him. 

“Took you awhile,” Sorus welcomed teasingly. 

Kellen shrugged, “Been busy, with the war and all.”

Here we go with the lecture. . .

But to his surprise Sorus just commented, “War’s a lot of work.”

Kellen nodded.

“Why don’t you tell me why you resorted to war. I mean, you made it very clear last time about your dislike of the Light King, but I never thought you’d take it to the level of violence.”

“You made me, it’s your fault,” Kellen accused viciously.

Sorus laughed, “How?”

“You made it so I can’t love Darby.”

Sorus eyed him, “You don’t seem determined to love her.”

Kellen gaped at him, “Are you shitting me? I can’t do anything! There’s nothing to do! And I’m not stupid enough to start a war with God.”

“Break the rules,” Sorus said simply. 

That took Kellen completely off guard.

“Honestly, I’m surprised that the Dark King didn’t think of that sooner,” Sorus went on, a smile illuminating his face.

“You want me to break the rules?” He clarified.

Sorus sighed, “Kellen, I’ve seen what the war will be like off the decisions you both have made. Many innocent fey slaughtered and kingdoms destroyed. It’s horrific.”

“Who wins?” He asked eagerly.

Sorus frowned at him but answered, “Seth.”

“Ah, hell,” Kellen grumbled.

“Anthony placed Darby in a situation of harm. It distracted you long enough for Seth to kill you,” Sorus explained sorrowfully, “Anthony was right when he created the plan, it was going to be the only thing that would make you vulnerable.” 

“Ah, hell,” he repeated.

“And I cannot allow it to happen.”

Kellen perked up, “So, you want me to win?”

Suck on that, sunshine.

“No,” Sorus said clearly, “I want to stop the war.”

“And how do you plan on doing that?”

“Helping you break the rules,” Sorus told him.

“You sure you can’t just magically make it so I can love her?” Kellen questioned.

Sorus made a face at the word “magic” and said, “Only you can do that.”

Kellen grit his teeth, “Then how are you going to help me. I can’t do it by myself obviously.”

Sorus observed him, “You need to learn to be patient.”

Kellen was quiet, upsetting Sorus wasn’t going to get him anywhere and he wasn’t about to leave knowing that Seth would win the damn war anyway.

Finally Sorus spoke, “Would you give up your empire for her?”

Kellen didn’t see the purpose behind the question, “Of course.”

“Would you die for her?”

“Well seeing as I will in the war-”

Sorus cut him off with another question, “Knowing that you’d die, would you still fight for her?”

Kellen hesitated for a brief moment before saying, “Yes, I would.”

“And if you knew that she would die in the war, would you surrender? Even if it meant that Seth would assassinate you?”

Kellen grimaced at the thought, “Yes.”

“Do you love her?”

“No. . . I don’t know. . . maybe? I can’t tell. That was a pointless exercise. . .” Kellen muttered the last part.

Suddenly Sorus disappeared and he saw himself looking into a mirror. His reflection was staring at him with agonized eyes, crazy with grief and completely hopeless. Kellen couldn’t imagine what would have caused him to look like that.

Then he heard the sound of sobbing and realized that it was him. Confused, he wiped his eyes, but they weren’t wet. He heard his reflection mumble apology after apology and it finally sunk in.

I’m in Darby’s head.

He was silent as these new emotions, her emotions, surrounded him. He drank them all, even the ones that were foreign to him as memories of them flashed in her head. 

They were strange but enjoyable. He went through them all with curiosity. But there was one emotion so forbidden to his empire that engulfed him the longest and wouldn’t let him go. It was indescribable, full of contradictory tastes. A sweet sensation that danced on his tongue but at the same time suffocated and burned him. It was the balance of fire and ice. Perfect and flawed at the same time. 

Love?

There was nothing else it could have possibly been. He smiled, relishing it.

Sorus appeared again and the mirage was gone. Calmly the God asked, “Do you love Darby?”

Kellen didn’t even have to think about it. Just the thought of her made the emotion swirl into him to the point where he was breathless, “Yes.”

Sorus smiled blinded the Dark King as he nodded, then the candle blew out.

He was alone and euphoric. The most blissful he had ever been since Darby entered his life.

And soon, she’ll be back in it.