Truce

Kyra

I sat in my new bedroom; I looked at the clothes that sat on the foot of it. There was a knock on the door, then an old woman stepped in with a silver tray in her hands. She placed it on the bed, raising the silver covering. "Your dinner Miss, Lord. Crimson, had prepared this himself. I hope you are hungry. There is more where that came from."

I looked at the exquisite dish. "Ammon, made this? It smells delicious."

The woman smiled. "He seems happy again, he's actually moving around again. Before you came, he just stayed locked up in the planning room. He would get livid when we interrupted him. Please don't break his heart. I lost two sons, and a husband, in this idiotic war. Ammon is all I have left, he's hurting right now, but please try to persuade him to change his mind about this war. Every prophecy has two outcomes. So many tales about this Eternal Calm, Marilyn Cross saw the original. The first part we have lived through, the ending, is for anyone who embraces it. Marilyn had even said that her vision of the prophecy, was subject to change."

"So there may or may not be an Eternal Calm? What about these creatures' hope of living in peace? Will that change?"

The woman looked at the ground. "No, that won't change. The Eternal Calm is for all who embrace it, those who don't will perish. If Ammon embraces the idea instead of fighting against it, he will reunite with those that he lost, but if he doesn't, he won't see his brothers Ara and Felix were strong supporters of it coming to pass. Ara had fought to see it come to pass. We aren't the enemies. There are no enemies, just a world of confusion. We believe that the spirit of Caine Nero still roams. His body died, but his mind still wreaks havoc. Killing Markus wasn't enough. We hold on to the hopes that Markus' spirit roams somewhere. If Caine can still live after death, we believe Markus does as well."

"What was the truth between Ara and Cryptika, was there anything there, between the two?"

The woman wiped a tear from her eyes. "The truth was Ara, feared Cryptika, but talking with your father, gave him the courage to face her. Ara had found out secrets about Aria and Cryptika that had taken my baby to the grave." Tears flowed down her face. I stood up, hugging the woman.

"This is upsetting you, you don't have to say anymore."

"You need to know the truth. It may help Ammon. Your father looked at all three of them as his own sons. After your father had passed, Ammon and Felix dug him up. At my request, I used Ara's body as a vessel for Leonard's soul to live in. I knew your father had nothing to do with Felix's death. I suspected it was August. That boy hated your father and was out to tarnish his name. August got what he wanted. Ammon hates Leonard for a crime he had nothing to do with."

"Mother, is all this true? Leonard is innocent of Felix's murder. It was August that killed him." We looked at the door frame to see Ammon looking at us, shocked.

"Yes, Leonard would never have hurt you or your brothers, he was there for the pregnancy of all three of you, he and Graceona took you three in for a couple of months while I was trying to support myself and find a home and live to raise you, those two were parents to boys that weren't theirs they never asked for anything in return, they just loved the three of you unconditionally."

"But Nicolae and Ara, they didn't see eye to eye. The two of them were on bad terms with one another leading to Ara's death. How can you explain that?"

"Everyone has quarrels Ammon, Uncle Nicolae may take a lot, but not even he is immune to hatred. And it was Aria that killed Ara. Your mother said he had found out secrets about her, so she silenced him. Nicolae had nothing against Ara, he had said nothing bad about him. If Uncle Nicolae wanted to kill Ara, when he is at that point, he just does it. He doesn't hide behind someone else, he's a loner. Not a coward."

Ammon pinched the bridge of his nose, rushing from the room.

Leonard

My phone ringing awoke me. I rubbed my eyes, looking at the caller ID. Accepting the call. "Hello?"

"Leonard."

"What do you want, Ammon? You made your threats, did you call to lessen the days?

"No." The boy's voice was off. He sounded like he was crying. "I need to say something to you."

"Are you crying? What is going on?"

"I'm sorry, Leonard. I'm done with the war, it's off. I reconsidered, and to be honest, I got some truth pounded into my head by my mother."

"Truth? About what?" I stretched.

"Did I wake you, you sound groggy?"

"Kind of, but I need to wake up, anyway. What revelation did Virginia pound into your head?"

"You didn't kill Felix, and Nicolae had nothing to do with Ara."

I chuckled. "Ammon, Nicolae wouldn't kill a fly. He doesn't enjoy getting his hands dirty. But I had nothing to do with August killing Felix. August had his own agenda. He didn't receive any orders from me. He did not know I was around. Very few people knew that Kyra, my father, Darin, and my mother were the only souls who knew I wasn't dead. Graceona didn't even know I was alive."

"I feel like."

I interrupted him. "Like an idiot, as you should. Ammon, research before you declare war. Take it from an expert."

"Why didn't you try to defend yourself? Why did you go along with it?"

"You had to learn the hard way. You were dead set on killing me, so I saw no point in declaring my innocence. Be honest now, would you have listened to me, or would you have tried to kill me if I were to just waltz into your realm trying to tell the truth? Continue the honesty."

Ammon was silent. "You have a point. But we're not the enemies. You have the true enemy in your headquarters. Disguised as an innocent child, don't trust your eyes. Your eyes will lie to you. Ara's killer is in your midst. My brother took secrets of her to his grave. The Aria in your palace is just a shell of her old self. Aria had never met you or Nicolae."

"Aria? Dead? Since when?"

"For five years, she would have been at least eleven by now. Not six."

I looked at the phone. "Why did you attack Nicolae and kidnap Aria? Why did you leave my brother for dead?"

"What are you talking about? I ordered none of my men to come after Nicolae. I've been dealing with things, by that, I mean being locked up in a dark room, with my thoughts. I've not made orders against Nicolae. You were my target, Nicolae. I have issues with him, but if I were to attack him, I wouldn't have kidnapped a demon posing as his dead daughter. I would have eliminated them both. But seeing as they are alive, my hands are clean of this."

"It sounds like you have some traitors in your midst while I house their ring leader. What do you say we call a truce, and team up and eliminate this threat, then we move on after that?"

"Move on?"

"Let the cards fall wherever they may. I feel as though we are at the door of the Eternal Calm. What do you say, are you with me, Ammon?"

"I'm in what are your plans?"

"We need to meet in person. We'll meet in Halcyon. The walls there don't have snooping ears. We'll meet at Nicolae's boutique in an hour."

"Very well."

With that, we ended the call.