Freebie: Avalon - The Fallen King: Chapter 9

Chapter Nine -

Theo sat on the cement roof of a circular, stone structure built at the top of a fairly large hill, alone except for Artemis and Jeks, both of whom sat in silence as he contemplated things. Below him, majestic trees, streams, and farmland dotted the landscape. Interspersed throughout were buildings made of brick or stone. This spot has been a favorite of his ever since he found it. The only people that knew about it, as far as he’d been able to tell, was himself, Therresa, Horace, and Chaucer, although he was reasonably sure Horace took his girlfriend, Rebekah, up there too. He liked it for the view, mostly. It overlooked the city of his birth and where he’d grown up. Old Columbus. Although it became clearer after learning who his father really was that his parents had lied about the “being born in Old Columbus part.” He’d known about being adopted, of course, but his mom and dad had told him his biological parents were from Old Columbus too and he’d been born at the Thorpe-Rice Center for Healing.

Lies. All of it.

He thought about what that really meant and couldn't help but start tearing up again. It wasn’t because he was sad or mad about all the lies but because he’d finally gotten the truth of who his biological father was but too late. He was dead. That confirmation came over every scrystone in Old Columbus only three days after Jeks found him. The story broke to an audience of shocked, bewildered, and frightened citizens, including himself.

First King Micah Pantheon Murdered. Potential New Heir Found?

That was the gist of nearly every headline across every news source. There were even blurry, hard to see pictures from the Proelia match right next to King Micah’s official portrait. What was he supposed to do with all this? What was he supposed to do with all the feelings boiling up inside him?

And now he was finished with his academy studies. Should he still go to the Royal Institute for Higher Studies in Avalon? Ironically, that had been the original plan. He’d even gotten a full-ride to play for their Proelia team. Had that been something he earned or was that a machination of his real father? He wasn’t sure and didn’t know if he really wanted to learn the truth anyway.

His scrystone kept alerting every few seconds, letting him know someone or someones were trying to message him. He ignored it, not wanting to deal with even more on top of everything else. Besides, it was either his parents, the Royal Guardians assigned to him, or his friends asking about the breakup.

“This is supposed to be a great day. A day of celebration!” He shouted these words at the sky, infusing them with as much of the bitter, frustrated anger still pumping through his head as he could.

“So why are you up here, all alone then?”

Theo nearly jumped out of his skin and he shot both Artemis and Jeks a dark look.

“Neither one of you could give me a heads up that someone was there?” he asked. Artemis gave a tiny bird shrug and Jeks just stared at him with his blazing, yellow-orange eyes. Jeks spoke but it was rare. Theo also didn’t like to push him and mostly treated Jeks as if he were some kind of priceless work of art.

“I thought this would be much funnier,” Artemis explained, actually letting out a boisterous laugh. “And it was.”

“I didn’t feel it was my place to say anything. You looked deep in thought,” Jeks answered and then went back to being silent.

“Don’t blame them,” the person the voice belonged to said, making his way up to the roof so he could sit down next to Theo. It was his father, Warrick. “I’m also very stealthy. I don’t think you all even heard me until I said something.”

“Wrong,” Artemis declared. “I chose not to say anything.”

“Right,” Warrick replied, rolling his eyes toward Theo. His son, however, did not crack even the barest hint of a smile. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re here. Horace and Chaucer have been looking for you. They said this was your guys’ spot or hang or whatever it is you kids say nowadays.”

“Did they?” Theo asked in a I’m-going-to-have-words-with-them kind of voice. “This was a secret spot. Emphasis on the word secret.”

“Give them a break,” Warrick said. “They were worried about you and I can tell they were right to be. They also said you and Therresa broke up?”

Theo didn’t say anything about that, mostly because that wound was still too fresh and he didn’t want to open it more. Instead, he just stared down at his city. His home. All he felt now were the stings of all the lies he’d been fed. Seventeen years. His parents had seventeen years to tell him the truth and in the end, they weren’t even the ones to break the news to him. He found out the hard way, through Jeks.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me?” Theo asked, his voice thick with emotion. He turned to stare at his father and didn’t like what he saw on his face or in his eyes. It was regret, sure, but there was also this sense that he felt he’d done the right thing, no matter how badly it hurt. “Why didn’t you warn me about all this?”

Warrick, for his part, accepted the anger from his son. He’d known he would have to eventually once he learned the truth. When Theo was growing up, there had been so many times when he’d wanted to just come out and tell him everything. Both him and Xerya felt that way. There had even been a few times when they almost did but each time, they would back down. They had sworn themselves to the High Royals of Avalon, specifically to King Micah. Breaking their king’s trust felt wrong even though he knew it would cause his son untold amounts of emotional pain.

“He was our king,” Warrick ended up saying, somewhat lamely, as a way of explanation. He wanted to avoid saying those words to Theo but in the end, it was the only explanation for his actions and the actual truth. “We both took an oath to serve your father. We didn’t have any other choice.”

“But you did,” Theo told him. “You both did. You had a choice and you chose his orders instead of me.”

“That’s not it at all, Theo,” Warrick tried. “You know that. Your mother and I, we love you so much.”

The tears were back again in Theo’s eyes. Angry, frustrated tears.

“And because you both lied, I won’t get to know him now. He’s gone forever. I won’t know what he was really like. Micah, you, mom, all three of you took that chance from me,” Theo said. The tears dropped and rolled down both cheeks.

Warrick let out a long sigh and breathed in, gazing up at the sky as he did.

“Your father was a great man and my oldest friend. Giving you up and doing what he did was the most heartbreaking sacrifice I’ve ever seen him make,” Warrick said, still not looking at Theo. “I don’t know why he did what he did so I can't offer an explanation but I knew him better than most people. He did this to protect you, Theo. I know it deep in my soul.”

Warrick thought back to that day when King Micah handed Theo over to him and explained that he needed to disappear as far from Avalon as possible. He had to start a new life, and was to take Xerya with him. Together, they would raise his son as their own. Warrick had asked questions, tried to get to the heart of things, but Micah told him nothing. Offered no explanation. When Warrick still hesitated, Micah snapped at him. He made the command a legitimate order he couldn’t refuse.

In the end, he stumbled out of the palace with Theo in his arms. Over the next week, Micah helped them orchestrate their deaths as well as getting them out of the capital. He’d settled on a city near the Rim called Old Columbus for them to live and through back channels and shady dealings, procured them a house. That was the extent of the help their king offered. Warrick ended up getting a job as a gym teacher in the same elementary school Theo went to while Xerya got a job with a local accounting firm. Thoughts of King Micah eventually faded over the years as they watched their son grow from a baby into the man he was now. As much joy it brought Warrick to raise Theo, he never understood why Micah sent his infant son away when the palace was one of the most secure places in the world.

Until, of course, he saw news that his friend had been murdered there. Well, not “officially” murdered according to reports from inside the palace but everyone across the kingdom was already speculating that, not just the various news sources.

They sat there in silence awhile longer. Warrick wasn’t sure what else to say and Theo wasn’t sure he wanted him to say anything at all. They both stared at the city below, lost in their various thoughts. After a time, when enough of the anger evaporated in Theo, a thought struck him and he let out a small chuckle.

“I’m glad to hear you laugh,” Warrick told him, smiling. “What’s funny?”

“I feel like a giant idiot,” Theo said, his chuckle getting louder. “I’ve idolized King Micah my whole life and he ends up being my father. I knew everything about him, right down to who his Prime Guardian was before being replaced by Aimie Oxnar. Warrick Arkin. One of the greatest battle mages of the modern era. Unparalleled skill with the sword. Seven time champion at the Tournament of Trials. Sometimes called Warrick the Fierce, most of the time called Warrick the Sword. You were a legend. This whole time, you were right in front of my face and I didn’t even see it. You didn’t even bother to change your first name.”

Warrick rubbed the back of his neck and laughed a bit.

“Imagine how I felt whenever you’d come play-fight with me, telling me you wanted to be Warrick the Sword and I had to settle for something embarrassing like Barry the Rose Petal or whatever it was you kept calling me. After you’d go to bed, your mother would relentlessly tease me,” he said. “To be honest, we never thought to change our first names because most people near the Rim don’t care much for royal politics. No one out here really keeps up on current palace affairs all that much. Plus, I also used morphism to help disguise us, so don’t feel too bad.”

“I guess,” Theo said, leaning back a little.

Eventually, the humor of the situation left him and he grew pensive again.

“Will this ever stop being so…,” Theo paused, searching for the right word. “Consuming?”

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Warrick said, choosing to ignore the sarcastic look Theo shot him when he said the word “honest.” “I don’t think I can really tell you. I spent several decades as the Prime Guardian to Micah and in all that time, I don’t think it ever stopped being consuming. I think I just got better at being accustomed to the feeling.”

“Yay me,” Theo replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “The dumb part is there are idiots out there right now that probably think I’m so lucky. I’m going to be a king. How cool is that? Or something along those lines.”

“Oh, absolutely there are,” Warrick said. “The fools.”

“Right?” Theo blurted. “Already I want to scream my head off about every two minutes. This has cost me my privacy, my girlfriend, peace of mind, and a lot more. And I haven’t even gotten to the palace yet.”

“You got a great head on your shoulders, son,” Warrick said, clapping him on the back. “I know you can handle this challenge. Me and your mom will be there, right by your side. All the way.”

Theo smiled at that but deep down, all he felt was fear that his father was wrong about him. That he would fail in spectacular fashion and somehow, the whole of Avalon would pay the price. All he could do was hope that fear was baseless and he was just being over-dramatic or something.

“You think what everyone is saying is true?” Theo asked, trying to switch subjects. Admittedly, his new choice of subject matter wasn’t much better. “Do you think King Micah actually was murdered?”

Warrick didn’t say anything for a long time and at first, Theo thought he hadn’t heard him. He was about to ask the question again but his father started talking.

“I really hope it’s false,” Warrick answered.

“Why?” Theo asked.

“Because if it’s true, then this kingdom is in a lot of trouble,” Warrick explained. He looked at his son. “And you’re going to be stuck right in the middle of it.”