Chapter 38 - Double-edged Sword

  I felt small and vulnerable in his arms as we walked down the dimly lit corridor. The knights' footsteps faded behind us, leaving an eerie silence broken only by the soft ey guardian's steady pace. My mind was rag, filled with questions about my past, my family, and the mysteries that seemed to surround my very existenbsp;"Father- What was my father like?" I asked, my voice sounding small and uain in the cavernous hallway. I turned my head slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of his face. The fading sunlight cast long shadows across his features, making him look more severe than usual. His expression remained impassive, eyes fixed straight ahead as if he were looking at something far beyond the stone walls. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappoi at his ck of response. Was he too preoccupied to hear me? Or was there something about my father he didn't want to share? The corridor seemed to stret endlessly, eanar window we passed a brief glimpse of the setting sun. The warm e light trasted sharply with the cold stone surrounding us, creating an almost dreamlike atmosphere. I found myself torween the desire to press for answers and the fear of breaking this fragile moment. As roached my room, a storm of flig thoughts swirled in my mind. I felt a sudden weakness, not physical, but a weakness of resolve. Why was I searg for reasons to be kind, tive? The very idea seemed absurd after everything that had happened. But then, what exactly had happeo whom? Family. The word echoed in my head, hollow and meaningless. Did I even have a family to speak of, let alone ohat had been wronged? I tried to recall a single person who had remained stant in my life, someone I could trust implicitly. But my memory drew a bnk. No one had ever been that for me. So who was I fighting for? The question hit me like a punch to the gut. Was there even a real vilin in this story, or was I just casting myself as the victim to give my life some sembnce of purpose? The thought was uling. Maybe I was too fortable, too sheltered, and my mind was creating flicts where noed. I probed deeper into my motivations. My mother - I held no love for her. My father - a plete mystery. So what was driving me? Why this burning desire to destroy Domino aablish Kior? Kior...the name brought a pang of something - nostalgia? Pain? But Kior was destroyed, decimated and obliterated. So, what was I ging to? As we neared my room, I felt lost in a byrinth of my own making. My purpose, my identity, my very existence - all of it seemed to be built on shifting sands. Who was I really? And more importantly, who did I want to be?-Helia Pace; Roxana's Room, Evening- As the King pced me on my bed, I remaioic, my face a mask of indifferehe dying light of day cast long shadows ay room, but I refused to let the growing darkness ule me. My uncle, now stepfather and King of Domino, k before me, his left arm resting on his knee. His eyes, usually cold and calg, now held an iy that would have made a weaker person flinbsp;"Luxana," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, yet it seemed to echo iillness of the room. I met his gaze unflingly, waiting. The air grew thick with unspoken words, heavy with the weight of secrets about to be unveiled. "Your father," he began, his words dripping with a mixture of reverend barely cealed bitterness, "was a god among men, a paragon I could only dream of being." His pause was deliberate, allowing his words to sink in like poison. "But dreams, Luxana, are for the weak." I remained silent, my face betraying nothing of the storm brewing within me. "He was adored, worshipped," the King tinued, his voice taking on a haunting quality. "Everythiouched turo gold. Friends would willingly bleed for him, your mother..." Here, his eyes glinted dangerously. "Even she, with all her rese, was bound to him by s of her own making." The room seemed to darken further as he spoke, as if the very shadows were drawn to his words. "With each swing of his sword, legends were born. Empires trembled at the mention of his name." His voice dropped even lower, f me to lean in slightly. "And yrandfather... oh, how he cradled your father's future in his palms, keeping it safe, keeping it bright." The King's eyes bore into mine, his words cutting through the air like a bde. "But tell me, Luxana, what good is a bright future when you've asted the bitterness of the shadows?" The atmosphere in the room was thick with an uling tension, a palpable darkhat seemed to pulse with malevolence. Shadows writhed in the ers, eager to e the st remnants of light, and I stood my ground, a fierce sentinel against the encroag gloom. My voice cut through the silence, sharp and unyielding. "I must cede that your viewpoint possesses a degree of validity," I began, my tone cold as steel. "heless, I feel pelled to inquire—what virtue lies in surrendering oo the ing embrace of shadows if, in doing so, one fails to appreciate the invigorating respiration afforded by the radiant luminosity of the light?" Each word dripped with pt, a challenge ced with venom. He scoffed, a sound that reverberated ominously like distant thunder. "Ah, but what good is breathing in the light if it only reminds you of the depths you’ll sink to again?" His voice was smooth yet ced with a sinister uohat sent a shiver down my spine. A chilling smile twisted my lips, devoid of warmth. "The me drown—because even in the depths, I’ll learn to breathe where you ot." My gre intensified, a fierce bze that dared him to respond. His smile morphed into something darker, a siren’s call ed in shadows. "And when you do, I’ll be waiting in those depths—not to save you, but t you down further." The words dripped from his lips like poison, each sylble weaving a tapestry of dread that threateo ensnare me. The shadows pulsed around us as if alive, eager wito our frontation. With sudden ferocity, I reached out and seized his face, my fingers digging into his skin with a promise of violence. I pressed our foreheads together, our breaths mingling in the charged air heavy with unspoken threats. "Ordua egon...ez nauteko arrastaka eramango. Sakonera hautsiko dut eta nirekin eramango zaitut, Ea maitea." The a words flowed from my lips like an intation fed in fury—a decration of war against the darkness he embodied. {Transtion: "Then be ready—because I won’t be dragged. I’ll tear the depths apart and take you with me, My Beloved Father."} *Basque - The Imperial Language of Domino* His response was equally haunting, eg through the air like a dark promise ed in malice. "Ongi. Gutxienez, sakonak garrasi egingo dituzu biok irentsi baino lehen, Ene Maite." {Transtion: "Good. At least you'll make the depths scream before they devour us both, My Love."} The gentleness with which he took my left ha like a cruel mainst the backdrop of our fierce exge. He kissed it softly—a gesture that sent chills rag up my arm and ignited a fire in my chest. I let out a sigh that was both exasperation and resignation as I processed this ued gesture. "My beloved," he said softly, his eyes b into mih an iy that felt almost predatory. "Is there something you desire?" His fingers lingered on my skin as he pced my left hand back against his cheek—a gesture meant to vey affe but felt more like an invitation into darkness. "Answers. Ao my questions, father." Our foreheads remaioug, an intimate e fraught with tension and unspoken threats. In that moment, surrounded by shadows and illuminated only by the dying light filtering through the windows, I realized we were two souls bound by blood yet divided by ambition and fear. Whatever answers y ahead would not e without cost; they would demand sacrifid perhaps even madness. But I was ready to pluo the abyss if it meant unc the truth lurking within our shared darkness—a truth that could shatter us both or fe an unbreakable bond amidst chaos. My words hung in the air, heavy with implication. "If so, then apaomorrow. I shall unveil all the answers you seek," he said, his voice a low murmur that sent a shiver down my spine. He caressed my palm against his face, the intimacy of his touch both inviting and uling. "But be warhe price is hefty." I tilted my head slightly, my eyes igniting with a fierce glow. I kept my palm resting against his cheek, yet my thoughts began to shift like shadows in the night. If I was to judge him, I o peer into the depths of his iions—what kind of dark brew was simmering in that ing mind of his? "Very well then, I shall py along," I replied, my voice steady and unyielding, revealing none of the turmoil that ed within. A smile crept across his lips, chilling and predatory, as he rose with deliberate grace, pg his hands on his thighs. "Then I shall see you tomorrow," he said, his smile widening as he gently grasped my , pellio meet his gaze. His eyes were deep wells of mystery, promising both revetion and peril. "And remember," he added, his voice dropping to a spiratorial whisper that sent a thrill through me, "the truth be a double-edged sword." With that haunting reminder lingering in the air, he finally stepped bad left my room, the door closing behind him with a soft yet final click. The moment he was gone, silenveloped me like a shroud. Tomorrow would bring answers—answers I craved but feared in equal measure. I steeled myself for what y ahead, knowing that this dah shadows could lead to either enlighte or destru. In this treacherous game we pyed, every move mattered, and I was determio emerge unscathed.To be tinued...