Nanny For The Alien General by Athena Storm
Keilon
Ahollowness takes over where my chest used to be. Serafina’s words and the looks on my children’s faces tell me everything I needed to know. I am King of the Lakes but I am also a father. And…I hope to be something in Serafina’s life.
I can still smell her perfume, lingering in the air. But they marched out some moments ago and I was unable to convince them to stay. The silence is like a knife in my ears.
Leaning over my desk, I let out a long breath of air.
I must do better. I must balance my life better to take care of those I love.
Agonizingly, I realize that I can’t even put that plan into place right now. My audience with the leaders of the Territories begins in mere minutes. Shrugging into my official robes, I resolve to go to Serafina and the children as soon as the meeting ends. The rest of my day as King be damned.
Entering the Great Hall, I immediately sense that something is off. There is an odd tension in the air, almost tactile. All the leaders of the Territories, in their representative robes, many of whom I have not seen in months, look at me as if I was a stranger and not their sovereign king.
Instead of effusive greetings and bows, I receive cursory gestures and averted eyes. Everyone about me is whispering and in such a way that tells me I’m the primary subject of conversation.
What could they possibly be talking about? The news of my return can’t be that salacious still, can it? I’ve been home for days now. Surely they’ve moved on. But to what exactly?
Throughout my procession to the central dais where my seat awaits, I act as if nothing is out of the ordinary. I do not let on that I’ve noticed. When I am seated, the Head of the Guardsmen calls the meeting to order, using the official trident. Its loud rings reverberate throughout the hall. I settle in for what I hope will be a dull meeting, full of procedural minutiae and uneventful discussions about soil erosion.
That notion is shattered moments later.
The door to the Great Hall opens with a great clatter. All heads turn in its direction, most frowning at this great irregularity in the proceedings.
Teraed enters, followed by several heavily armed guards and a tattered passel of humans, all chained together. Their heads are bowed. They look largely unharmed, physically, but I can tell their spirits are the most defeated parts of them.
As I look closer, however, recognition dawns in my brain. I know these humans. There’s Malori, and the villager who initially found the children in the snow and all the others that live in Telleli. Concern and panic rise quickly within me.
But it’s the last prisoner in the string that causes me to stand upright, my gorge rising within.
Her red hair blazes in the bright lights of the Hall. Serafina! She’s been taken prisoner? In my house?
“Teraed! Explain yourself. Immediately!” My voice is a mix of bellow and growl. I can barely contain my rage. Serafina looks at me, her face both livid and scared.
“With pleasure, Your Majesty, although I’m not sure we should use that moniker much longer on you.”
Grumbles and gasps echo through the Hall at this great show of disrespect. Teraed, enjoying the spotlight, continues. “Lords and Leaders of the Great Territories of the Lakes, I present to you this rather bedraggled set of humans as a living exhibit. Of our King’s betrayal.”
He pauses to let the gasps ripple through once more.
“These humans have been gathered from an illegal settlement at Fogfrost Lake. A settlement that housed our King and presumptive heirs for several weeks. A settlement that our King knowingly failed to report.”
Another pause. My fists clench and unclench in abject rage.
“To add insult to injury, he brought one of these…outlaws…back to Cytheira, to our sacred central home, tainting our ways! Taunting us! He believes us too stupid to sniff out treason!”
At this, Teraed grasps Serafina and thrusts her forward. I see red. How dare he abuse her this way?
This will not end well for one of us.
Still gripping her arm, he continues, “I ask you, can we, as leaders, let this behavior stand? If our King does not honor the very laws he sets, he is not fit to rule!”
Teraed lets his words sink in. A confident smile is slapped across his face. He has set this all in motion. He sowed the seeds of dissension before I even arrived. That’s what everyone was whispering about.
“I hereby make a motion to strip King Keilon of his crown and titles! We cannot let this stand!”
All hell breaks loose in the hall. Some call immediately for a vote while others demand more information. Still others argue amongst themselves. Were I not concerned for Serafina, I might have taken stock of who was remaining loyal to me in that moment.
It will surely prove useful later. But right now, all I can do is look to Serafina who stands resolutely in the middle of the hub-bub, doing her best to look proud and tall.
My heart aches for her while it burns with hatred for my cousin.
Just then, I notice a figure with light blue skin sidle into the door of the hall. His appearance is a small balm to my soul.
Especially when he turns to me, from across the room, and simply nods.
Thank the Divine Ones for Staja.
Returning the nod, I let the wave of chaos crest once more before I sit back down on my throne.
This simple gesture is enough to send a chilling pall throughout the room. For the loyalists, they believe I will have some pithy response that will shut down this interloper. For the dissenters, they expect me to cower and plead for mercy.
I expect Teraed believes he has won and that soon the crown will be his.
No one will be satisfied with my response. Except myself. And hopefully Serafina.
Sitting back on my throne, I simply look to the assembled crowd and smile.
