Heirs of the Gods

Ch 19: A bird kept in a gilded cage

Ella paced her room, biting on the edge of her knuckle, a bad habit she thought she'd beat some time ago.

As the first rays of morning broke through, Ella had found herself feeling considerably more subdued than her agitated state the night before. This new state of mind had given way to deep mortification. A sense of shame at having let herself become so overwhelmed with emotion, causing such a scene.

It also came with the notion that she had to put silly existential ruminations behind her and focus on the glaring issue at hand.

She was simply going to ignore much of what had happened and consider it later.

There was much information to catalogue, much to consider and connect. Much more important things. With her mind much calmer, she could now see various things she'd failed to realize since the beginning.

A firm knock on the door brought Ella out of her shrewd thoughts. She made to open the door, the words pouring out of her mouth before the door was even fully opened, "Aedion, look, I just wanted to--"

She swallowed her words and widened her eyes slightly. In front of the door stood King Callan, looking just as uncomfortable as she was, faring only slightly better.

Ramrod straight, Ella bent her head forward and curtsied. "Your Majesty."

He grimaced, shifting uncomfortably. "It's Callan, please. And you don't need to curtsy, Elowen."

That had certainly not been what she'd expected. Taken aback, she nodded, still rigid. "I want to apologize for my outburst last night, it was terribly uncalled for. I had not intended to insult you, or fae culture for the matter."

He sighed, his stern features considerably gentler than they had been last night. "My words were uncalled for and harsh, I apologize. They're still your people, I'm aware it mustn't have been nice to hear my disparaging comments." He paused, looking tired despite his imposing presence. "As you may know, we're under a considerable amount of pressure, and it gets to us all. We've had a few casualties these past few days and I maybe have gotten carried away."

"There's been killings?" Ella frowned. "I only want to say that don't stand for any of this. Although I grew up in a human court, I've don't condone these actions. I'm deeply sorry for the loss of anyone at hands of an unnecessary war. Even before... finding out what I know now," she trailed off, unsure of how to refer to this discovery yet.

"I know that. I've heard you helped Cereas try to negotiate for a peaceful dialogue. Again, I apologize if I accused you last night," he said, again looking uncomfortable. "I came here to discuss what took place at dinner. I was under the impression that you knew, otherwise I would never have been so bold about what I know to be a very difficult matter. Which is why I wanted to set things right. Preferably not in the hallway," he gestured a ring clad hand at the space behind him in what seemed to be a tentative attempt at cracking the ice.

Ella cracked a slight grin, feeling the stiffness of her shoulders ease. She nodded and closed the bedroom door behind her. Callan gave a small smile. It was tense, but Ella had the impression that it might be from lack of use.

"Have a walk with me, our gardens bloom year-round," he said, leading the way.

After a while, Ella broke the silence, "Year-round greenery, like Cereas."

"Indeed," Callan said. "We've got some variety of plants from their lands. I've heard you spent some time there."

"Yes, I was there just under a month, as a political hostage. King Fraser's son found me the night of the attack on the manor and he brought me here. He gave me a place to stay until I came here," she said letting a small frown flitter past her features.