Freebie: Avalon - The Fallen King: Chapter 10

Chapter Ten -

Old Columbus disappeared behind them almost three hours ago and the only thing Theo saw now were flatlands with large fields of grass, some trees off in the distance, and the occasional town every so often. According to his parents, they were another hour or so from putting the Borick Province behind them altogether. He wasn’t sure how to feel about leaving his home even though he had planned on doing just that to attend the Royal Institute of Higher Studies. The only difference was that before, he’d been ordinary. Maybe an exceptional Proelia player and above-average mage, but otherwise ordinary.

Now he was a prince.

“How are you doing?” his mother asked.

Theo glanced toward where she was sitting. She was directly opposite of him, a gap separating his cushiony seat from hers.

“Fine, I guess,” he answered even though he used the word “fine” somewhat loosely.

Gazing around the train car they traveled in did nothing to improve his mood. The entire car was practically empty which only served to call attention to the negative thoughts rolling through his head. There were no other passengers except for himself, his parents, and what felt like an entire squadron of Royal Guardians, not just Jasper and Lynn, by order of the High Royals (most likely King Winston, Theo assumed).

Xerya leaned forward and gingerly patted the hand Theo had resting on his knee. She looked at him with real, genuine concern.

“I’m sorry,” she told him. “I don’t think I’ve even apologized to you yet for all this and for not telling you the truth sooner.”

“It’s okay.” He offered a small smile of reassurance. “Really, mom. I sort of went over this with dad before we left. I might not like it but you both did what you thought was right at the time.”

Xerya looked like she wanted to say something else but Theo cut her off.

“I don’t really feel like talking right now,” he said.

“Oh,” she responded, clearly hurt by his dismissal. “Yeah. That’s fine. I’ll just have a chat with Jasper then.”

“Yeah, you do th…” Artemis was in the middle of saying something undoubtedly sarcastic and rude but Xerya shot the bird a look that scared her into silence. Her beak snapped close and she didn’t finish what she was about to say. The crow was on the empty seat next to Theo which didn’t leave many spots open to hide. She decided, in the end, to waddle closer to Jeks and sort of hide behind the familiar as best she could. “Uh…carry on.”

Xerya got up from her seat and hesitated for a moment as if she wanted to either say something else or give him a hug. She decided against both and elected to leave him alone despite the fact that everything inside screamed at her to do something, anything, to make him feel better. The pain he was going through was obvious and it hurt her to see him working through it alone while at the same time, trying to bear all that weight on his shoulders without any help.

She walked over to the Guardian, Jasper Thompkins, and sat down in an empty seat next to him. He kept his focus on Theo but took note of her.

“What can you tell me?” Xerya asked. She didn’t bother looking up at Jasper. Instead, she took out her long knife, which she’d had sheathed on her back, then a whetstone and carefully honed its edge. She had spent the last seventeen years as an accountant but in all that time, she never lost her skills. In fact, it was her love for her son that made her keep practicing as often as she could during the years spent raising him.

“I’m sorry?” Jasper asked. “I can tell you many things. You’ll have to be more specific, Ma’am.”

“The state of things in Avalon,” she answered, irritated at having to specify. “I need to know what we might be walking into for Theo’s sake.”

“I am not really at liberty to discuss such matters with a civilian, Ma’am,” Jasper replied, keeping his voice firm and steady. Being a Guardian, he knew of Xerya Arkin even though he had joined the order after she and her husband had been declared dead. “I understand your concern but there is a full squadron of Guardians aboard this train and it has been cleared of any other passengers. He is safe here. Rest assured.”

“Rest assured?” Xerya asked and Jasper stiffened slightly. He didn’t like the edge to her voice. Not at all. “I take it you are not a parent yourself then?”

“Uh…that really…”

That was all the answer Xerya needed.

“Thought so. Because if you were a parent, you know there is no such thing as ‘rest assured.’ I will be worrying about my son until I am dead and gone,” she told him, the edge in her voice sharpening further. “Maybe even beyond that. Who knows. The point is, do not stand there with such an abundance of confidence that my child is safe. There is never enough of that for any parent. Trust me.”

The door between cars opened and her husband sauntered inside. Seeing his real face so frequently after spending so long with him hiding it brought her some measure of happiness. It was the face she had fallen in love with after all.

“All the other cars have been secured,” he said, sitting down next to his wife.

Warrick glanced at her and then over at Theo who was still looking out the window with a forlorn longing as he fidgeted with his scrystone. He turned it over and over in his right hand, but made no move to try and contact anyone.

“You know I can’t bear to see him so unhappy,” Xerya said, still honing the edge of her blade. “But I can’t get through to him. He barely even talks to me.”

“Me either,” Warrick replied.

“Not according to Theo,” Xerya shot back, an irritated tone to her voice. “He said you two went over everything already. Had a real heart to heart.”

Warrick sighed, already knowing where this conversation was ultimately headed. Even Jasper moved a few inches away from the pair to give them a modicum of space and privacy.

“It’s not like that,” Warrick said, preparing for an assault of words meant to emotionally wound him. “He needed someone to talk to and I just happened to find him up on that hill first. If you had gotten there before me, he would have opened up to you.”

“But I didn’t find him first,” she said and Warrick was shocked to see she wasn’t angry but sad. Tears spilled down her face. “And now he won’t talk to me at all. I hate this and I hate Micah for putting us in this situation.”

Warrick put an arm around her and pulled her toward him so that her head rested on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head gently.

“I know,” he whispered. “And as much as I loved that man, I kind of hate him right now too.”

“I’m worried for our son. Worried the palace won’t be safe.”

Warrick leaned in close as if to give her another kiss on the top of her head. Instead, he whispered as low as he could while still being heard by her and only her.

“I don’t think it is.”

At almost the exact same time he said that something shook the whole train. Brakes screeched so loudly that everyone in the car slammed their hands against their ears, trying to block out the sound. Artemis literally flew into a panic and Jeks seemed to jump forward in front of Theo as if to protect him from something.

Warrick and Xerya acted on pure instinct. Both of them leaped to their feet and ran to their son. The totem around Warrick’s neck, a silver pendant with a pearl-like, opalescent stone inside a cage of fine wires, glowed with bright green light while the veins in both of his arms lit up. At the same time, the sigil on the back of Xerya’s neck glowed white and the veins in her arms lit up as well. The air suddenly hummed with electricity and her hair started to stand on end. Lines of lightning arced along her skin, between her fingers, and even along the length of her blade. Manipulating elemental magic had always been her strong suit.

The train finally came to a sharp stop. The screeching brakes quit howling and everything went silent. Next to Xerya and Warrick was Jasper, his sword out of its scabbard. It glowed with a faint aura of magic, which Xerya expected. The blades of a Guardian had powerful wards ingrained in them meant to help dispel hostile magic.

“What’s going on?” Theo asked. Jeks was flying so close to his face, he could barely see past him. Aretemis still going nuts too which was distracting to say the least. Theo’s wide eyes turned to his parents and the Guardian slightly behind them. “What’s happening?”

“Move away from the window,” Warrick told him. “Hurry.”

Theo moved back from it and the four stood together in the center aisle. Above them, the flickering lights going down the center of the train car’s ceiling suddenly went out and the only light left came through the windows on either side.

“Theo,” Xerya said, her eyes on everything all at once. “Stay here. I’m going to scout the other cars and try to get reinforcements.”

She shot Warrick and Jasper a quick look each.

“Keep him safe,” she instructed.

Theo watched her move gracefully toward the entrance to the next car. The door slid open and she disappeared a second later. The only thing he could really see of her was the sigil still glowing with light on the back of her neck.

“Sir,” Jasper said, talking to Warrick. “I think…”

“Yes.” Warrick cut him off, his eyes narrowed and his totem glowing even brighter. “I know.”

“Know what?” Theo asked.

“Something’s out there.”