Dark Shadows

With a cloud of immense blackness befogging his seat of reasoning, the King at this time—Briceus, could no longer find solace in the rich comforts of his Majestic bedroom. His physical restlessness entangled with his mental uneasiness was prepared to admittedly cripple his mind altogether. That dream had haunted him again while he'd slept during the night. He could not place it but it was becoming a bother to him with how frequent he was having such dreams lately.

"I have to find a medium to beat this!"

Briceus said out loud; his glorious confinement being his sole listener.

By this time, he had succumbed to the act of pacing about his bedroom space.

"It can't be that this memory should haunt me for the rest of the day. Should it?" asked the King to himself.

"It was merely a dream but I have no means of cleansing my thoughts of this burden? 

No!

IF Zeke had returned by now, should we not have more elaborate matters to deliberate on?

Matters that would deviate my contemplation on this?

Perhaps! IF I left my room for a little while, it should afford me some form of distraction. 

Being totally idle has never been my strong point… little wonder how well I should be able to handle the jurisdiction of ruling in my late father's stead and not out there in the wild where my freedom was totally intact."

While Briceus let his thoughts flicker for a bit to his activities in the Northern Hemisphere, he bit his lips once he reflected on his father's [Lord Voldermort] last words to him.

"... I failed you as a father but I had my reasons-" Voldemort began in a whisper but instantly got obstructed by a shortage of his breathing.

With his father sparing longer than a minute to wheeze consistently, Briceus had simply watched and waited. Yet, he had his inner considerations.

Should he resent his Old man for being apart from his life for the most important years of his life?

Or for having left him to the hands of the Vikings clan to do with him whatever?

Or should he have rather based his hatred on the Ones who had stripped him countlessly as a boy and had kicked him out to the harsh freezing temperature on many nights to shiver to death for hours on end until the dawn came?

Of course, he had meted out his judgement on those he could but his right to perpetuate his overall revenge plot had its limits.

Still…

What more could he do to a dying father who deserved even more ruthlessness and who had let him into his presence, ALONE to witness his last speech?

A perfect pitfall or a careless abandon to vulnerability?

The late King, totally unaware of Briceus's thoughts at this time, slowly comported himself to speak again.

"You… you are not ordinary but in time you will figure out your purpose" His utterances were highly strained but he subdued his inner struggles the best way he could.

"My drive for power led me to do something DRASTIC; something for which I lack the freedom to even feel guilty about. But-"

Breaking his speech, Voldemort then began to wheeze even more noisily this time; his eyes shot wide open to absorb in every light source while his veins poked out of his eye balls to express his struggle.

"Father! Please withhold your breath. You seem pale enough"

This, Briceus had said while he kept a firm hold on his father's hands.

But the late King had by that hour gotten the innate knowledge that his time would soon be up. 

And even though he had a deep dread for the darkness his form would soon wither into, he had an even bigger fear of being alive to witness things unfold before his face.

"No, listen-" said Lord Voldemort.

He then paused and began to jerk amidst coughing harshly into a napkin(of royal fabric) which had stayed by his bedside solely for that purpose.

The more he coughed, the more his vitals quaked tremendously; his lungs began to shrink from so much forceful pressure.

At this point, Briceus got up to leave but the ice-cold hands of his father prevented him with an eerie grip.

With immense struggle to comport himself for words, Voldemort finally continued his speech in a soft tone, seemingly as in a whisper.

"In time... you will understand. But when you feel you need answers-"

Cough! Cough!

"You must-" he gasped for breathe.

"You must-"

"Father?"

"SeEeEk tHem!"

——

As odious as his late father's very last words had been, were as hideous as he'd given up the ghost in total submission to the lurking dark shadows which had haunted his thoughts and vision, day and night right until that final hour.

Voldemort died.

With the realization of this, Briceus stayed motionless; thinking absolute nothingness.

Soon, the news of the King's demise floated throughout the Castle with everyone giving in to deep wailings and intense sadness.

Queen Athena and Aldrich immediately pushed Briceus aside once they'd made it into the King's Special inner room where he had just passed.

Briceus, however, did not feel the slightest bit of emotion nor could he bring himself to feeling sorry for his old man's passing. 

Instead, he swiftly walked away; further decided on not being hypocritical with his reaction to his father— the King's demise.

——

Now that Briceus remembered his late father's dying words, he began to feel pained and bitter.

"IF only he'd stated facts more clearly. He offered no meaningful explanation to back up his utterances. Why feed me half knowledge only to die like a COWARD?" Briceus asked no one-in-particular but continued to perambulate instead.

Then he halted.

"The throne room! Hm. Maybe it would afford me a better company if I went thither to observe its component and make myself familiar with it, in solitude. 

I did not know that not having Ezekiel around would feel so… bothersome after all" said Briceus to himself.

He then walked out of his room and began his destination towards the throne room.

——

{Queen Athena's Royal Quarter}

Prince Aldrich who was seated beside his mother had succeeded in narrating his purpose for lying in the Queen's name about her supposed invitation.

Athena was the first to speak.

"I have contemplated on your consideration, Aldrich and it makes sense to go with the idea of a dinner. After all, It wouldn't be misplaced for me to familiarize myself with Briceus' choice of a maiden" Aldrich nodded his approval at his mother's hidden intent, and then parted his lips to give way for his next words.

"However-" said the Prince, halting thereafter on purpose.

Realizing his mother's sapphire eyes looking at him almost pleadingly, gave him the urge he wanted.

Meanwhile, Duke Wauter stood attentive enough and patient.

Next, Aldrich began to speak...

"I would like to deliver the news of the Banquet dinner to Briceus myself"

"Is that it?" asked Athena in a disappointed tone while she settled her gaze on her brother who perfectly understood the cause.

Aldrich protested.

"What! Did I say something out of place to warrant those eye signals between you two?" asked the Prince.

The Duke remained silent.

But the Queen had her words.

"Do you want to be labelled as a busybody who has nothing to do with his time other than going about bearing news of the said event?" Athena asked, attackingly.

Feeling offended, Aldrich had his comeback.

"And what is that supposed to mean? MOTHER!"

Having foresight of the direction in which the talk was towing, Duke Wauter took the effort to step in.

"I'll go to him myself!" announced the Duke.

Then, turning to Aldrich he cautioned…

"Listen to your mother!" 

"Why should you go instead?" Aldrich asked, feeling reluctant to let the topic go.

"I should go because I would like to use the medium to properly congratulate him on his recent enthronement" Wauter announced.

"Halt there, brother! Those words of yours have caused my fragile ears to suddenly become sore!" said the Queen in a melodramatic manner.

Having something else in mind, Aldrich completely ignored his mother's theatrical performance just now.

"He is my brother, Uncle. And I haven't done so myself—congratulate him, I mean. Therefore let me go and you both can acquaint yourselves over the dinner table much later" insisted Aldrich in a somewhat demanding tone.

"You are perfectly inexperienced at this! For now, simply stay by your mother's side"

'Aargh! I hate it when he treats me like a twelve-year old!' mumbled Aldrich in his heart.

"Well then, uncle… You go ahead and have your chance with him while I remain at my MOTHER'S SIDE" 

Aldrich remarked with a fake smile plastered on his spotless face. 

Duke Wauter wasn't blind to this action of his, but chose to ignore instead.

"I should get on my way now. See you both at dusk!" The Duke's final words as he let the mother and son observe his back.

Once her brother had left her Bedroom chamber, Athena swiftly shot a questioning glance at her son.

"What now, mother?" Aldrich protested.

"You tell me! What was that all about?"