12: TOO FAR?

Alaric smirked, the corners of his mouth curling upward in a way that made Zara's heart race. "Too far? I haven't even started."

Erythian lunged at him, his fist connecting with Alaric's jaw.

Blood trickled from Alaric's split lip, but instead of backing down, he tilted his head back and laughed—a low, sinister sound that sent shivers down Zara's spine.

"Is that all you've got, little brother?" Alaric taunted, wiping the blood from his lip with the back of his hand.

Scarlet, Alaric's loyal mage, stepped forward, panic in her eyes. "Stop this! Both of you!" She placed herself between them, but the fire in their eyes burned too brightly for her to extinguish.

Erythian shoved Scarlet aside, his voice was a thunderous roar. "You've meddled in things you don't understand, Alaric. You always have!"

Alaric's grin faltered, replaced by a cold, steely glare. "Understand? I understand plenty. You stole everything from me, my throne, my home, my family."

"Enough!" Zara's voice cut through the room like a blade. She stood, shaking off her bindings with an unexpected ferocity. Her eyes were wide with anger and they locked onto Erythian.

"Take off your shirt," she demanded, her voice low but commanding.

Erythian blinked, caught off guard. "What?"

"You heard me. Take it off," Zara said, stepping closer, she wanted to confirm the validity of Erythian's story, she hoped it wasn't true, she hoped to not see a scar on Erythian's body because that would confirm Alaric's claim.

"Why—"

"do it!…or I'll do it myself" Zara urged.

Erythian hesitated, then reluctantly unbuckled his belt and pulled his tunic over his head. His broad chest was bare now, but it wasn't his physique that caught Zara's attention, it was the jagged scar that ran diagonally across his chest.

Zara's breath hitched. She reached out tentatively, her fingers hovering over the scar. "This…"

"Courtesy of me," Alaric said, his voice sharp. He crossed his arms, his eyes dark with memories.

Zara looked between them, her head spinning. "You did this to him?"

Alaric took a step closer, his voice quieter but no less intense. "I left that scar on that day when he betrayed me The day he killed my…OUR sister."

"That's enough, Alaric," Erythian growled, his fists clenching at his sides.

"No, it's not enough!" Alaric roared, his voice echoing through the chamber.

Erythian's face hardened. "I didn't kill Iva Alaric!"

"But her death was your fault!" Alaric snapped.

Erythian's silence spoke volumes.

Alaric laughed bitterly. "Still can't admit it, can you? After all these years, you're still the same coward you were that night."

"Watch your tongue, Alaric," Erythian warned, his voice low and dangerous.

"Or what? You'll kill me too?"

The air between them crackled with tension. 

Zara felt her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to make sense of the chaos unraveling before her. 

"THATS ENOUGH!" She screamed as she walked out of the building where Alaric had kept her, leaving both men alongside scarlet, together inside.

She walks outside, hops on the horse Erythian came in with and she rides to calithea, she's burdened and her mind is troubled,

"Who do I trust?" She thought.

Zara immediately began to admire Lysandra and the woman that she was, she imagined that it could only have taken strength for Lysandra to have handled calithea for so long and now she wonders what the queen herself would have done if placed in this terrible situation between Erythian and Alaric; "what would she have done? Who would she have chosen?"

Zara thought; a voice, calm and gentle echoes in her mind. "Your kingdom, you choose your kingdom, your people" Zara immediately halts the horse in shock!

It all made sense!!!

The voice and the force from the night of the assassin!

It was all Lysandra, her soul took over in those moments because of the duty Lysandra believed she owed to the people!

The queen has been speaking to and through Zara all this while and she was only just finding out, it didn't scare her or make her feel bad; it made her feel guided, she no longer felt alone or stupid! Zara became a lot more confident about what to do.

"My duty is with my people" Zara thought "and I will do whatever I need to, to protect my people".

She felt a calmness in her spirit after accepting this reality and for the first time, she really felt like she knew what to do next!

Her duty was not to Erythian, or to Alaric, she imagined that whatever happened between them would stay and be solved between them but right now, what she needed to do for the protection of calithea was to marry Erythian and solidify her army, protection and political standing.

Meanwhile, a while before Erythian arrived Alaric's bound house to save Zara, she had a conversation with Alaric.

"Why did you tell me this Alaric?" Zara's voice breaking.

"Because you deserve to know who you're marrying," Alaric replied; but Zara found it hard to believe that Alaric did all of this for her good, she sensed a deeper driving force for why he might be doing this and she suspected it to be REVENGE. 

"The man who sits on that throne isn't who he pretends to be. He's a liar, a murderer, and a thief." Alaric added with anger in his eyes.

Zara shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes.

 "And what about you? What kind of man are you, Alaric?"

He hesitated, the weight of her question pressing down on him. "I'm a man who lost everything, I do not claim to be good or noble, I am not a good person" he said finally. "And all I want is justice."

"Justice?" Zara whispered. "Or revenge?"

Alaric's gaze hardened. "Does it matter?"

Zara turned away with her thoughts racing. She had always admired Erythian for his strength and gentleness, but now she wasn't sure what to believe. Could she truly marry a man with so much blood and bad deeds on his hands?

The confrontation came to a head the next morning. Zara found Erythian in the chambers, within calithea, staring out the window at the kingdom below.

"Why did you do it?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Erythian didn't turn to face her. "Do what?"

"You know what I'm talking about," she said, stepping closer. "Why did you betray Alaric? Why did you take the throne? Why did his sister die under your command?"

He sighed, his shoulders slumping. "You wouldn't understand."

"Then make me understand," Zara pleaded.

Erythian turned to her, his face was a mask of indifference. "I did what I had to do. Alaric wasn't fit to rule."

her voice shaking with anger. "You're asking me to marry you, Erythian. I deserve the truth!"

He didn't respond, his silence was more damning than any words.

Zara turned and left, her heart heavy with doubt.

But she was hell bent on marrying Erythian, her duty was now fully to the people.