The Heavy Disappointment

Calista’s [POV]

The tension in my heart made it shrivel. It hardened my blood to stone. My lungs ached to breathe but couldn’t capture the air. More than a day had passed since Talon left, and we’d received no news.

I did as he asked wore my armor and carried my sword. It didn’t feel heavy at first, but with every passing hour, it made me sink into the soil from the weight. It became harder to breathe. I barely slept and hardly ate, poor preparations for battle, but I couldn’t do much else until I knew he was okay.

I couldn’t ask Khazmuda if Talon was all right because we were too far apart to speak our minds.

Then we finally got word from a scout that the army had returned.

I waited at the royal palace with Queen Eldinar, hoping that both my uncle and Talon would return in the same condition as when they left. In their absence, I hadn’t spoken with the queen because she would offer no solace. She acted like I didn’t exist, offering no maternal support because she was interested in a familial relationship. She would always blame me for the Behemoths who marched on their lands.

I wouldn’t waste my time trying to change it.

The soldiers began to file in, and the first person I saw was my uncle. But before I could run to him, Queen Eldinar left her throne and got to him first. I hadn’t seen her show him affection in public, but she immediately cupped his face and brought their heads together.

I looked past him and saw Talon, his black armor making him stick out like a spot of blood on a white sheet. His intense gaze was locked on mine, and I grabbed onto him even though he was still twenty feet away.

I didn’t care who saw or what they thought, I ran straight to him.

A small smile came over his lips, and he looked so handsome.

I moved into his chest and rose on my tiptoes to kiss him.

Both of his arms circled me, and he brought me close as he kissed me, not squeezing me like he usually did because the plates of his armor were as solid as stone. He pulled away and pressed a kiss to my forehead before he released me.

“I can see there was no battle,” Queen Eldinar said. “The armor is untarnished. There were no injuries. So, what happened?” She turned her gaze on Talon as if he was somehow at fault.

He stared her down, me standing at his side.

General Ezra turned around and gave him the angriest look I’d ever seen. “I don’t know what happened, Your Majesty. Because the Death King communicated with Alaric in a language I’ve never heard.”

“You heard what I said to him,” Talon said. “I gave him a week to leave your forest and settle somewhere at least a hundred leagues away. Their kind will no longer be a threat to you, and no lives will be lost in the process.”

Queen Eldinar slowly walked up to him, dressed in her pristine white armor and ready for battle. “And he agreed?”

I stepped away because it seemed as if they were about to swipe at each other.

Talon held her gaze. “It appears so.”

“I asked you to defeat them. Not ask them to leave.”

“If they’re a hundred leagues away, then they’re as good as defeated.”

“And why would they listen to you?” Her eyes narrowed. “We’ve been at war with them for a thousand years, and all it takes is the Death King to ask nicely?”

“They fear me.”

Anger flashed across her eyes. “If they fear you, you should have killed them?—”

“Without my army and my dragon, I am far more vulnerable. Why would I risk injury and death if there was another option? Perhaps if you hadn’t handicapped me, you would have gotten what you wanted.”

She shook her head slightly from side to side, her jawline tight as she clenched her mouth to suppress her ire. “You’re worthless?—”

“You thought you could outsmart me when I will always outsmart you, Your Majesty. I’m a man of my word, and now it’s time for you to be one of yours. Take us to the location of the dragons.”

She turned around, walked back to Uncle Ezra, and stared him down. “How long did this secret conversation go on?”

“Minutes.” Uncle Ezra turned his accusatory look on Talon.

“And then they switched to the common tongue when you approached?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Queen Eldinar turned back to Talon. “Why do two strangers have so much to talk about?”

Talon said nothing.

She walked back toward him. “What was said?”

“Nothing that concerns you.”

Even I didn’t like that answer, and I felt uneasy.

“You’re my ally, and they’re my enemy,” Queen Eldinar said. “You should want to tell me.”

“Show me the location of the dragons, and I will.”

“How dare you hold this against me?—”

“Like how you’re holding this against me?” His eyes narrowed. “I’ll tell you one thing, Your Majesty. He told me not to trust you—and now I wonder if I should heed that warning.”

I stood there and felt the tremor in my heart, felt so much unease I wanted to explore. I was so relieved when he’d come back unscathed, but this showdown was just as strenuous.

She stepped back. “When you’re ready to share the details of that conversation, let me know. In the meantime, you can make yourself comfortable in one of our cells.” She gestured to General Ezra. “Take him away.”

No.

General Ezra moved for him.

Talon was faster than all of them, drawing his blade and throwing an elbow into the face of one guard before punching another in the face. It all happened in the blink of an eye, and then he managed to grab my uncle and spin him around, holding the blade to his neck. “I saved your forest from guaranteed annihilation. Behemoths would have claimed this forest for their own, and the dark elves would have infiltrated the Realm of Caelumby now—and you would all be dead. I understand my reputation precedes me, but I have never given you a reason to distrust me. Khazmuda is fused with me by choice. Inferno was always given a choice. And then you send me to battle with my arms tied behind my back, and I make your enemies run like minnows in a pond—and this is how you treat me?” He continued to hold the blade to my uncle’s neck.

Queen Eldinar remained remarkably calm despite the blade to her husband’s throat. “If you want me to trust you, then tell me what was said.”

“He told me not to trust you. I already told you that.”

“Talon…” My voice broke on its way out because I was scared, scared of what could happen to the two men I cared most about.

Talon didn’t look at me, but his hardness faded.

“Talon, please let him go.”

He clenched his jaw like he was furious then released my uncle. Threw his blade on the ground and stepped back.

My body finally relaxed.

“Tell me what was said, King Talon,” Queen Eldinar demanded. “Why do you resist?—”

“Because our conversation doesn’t concern you,” he snapped. “I didn’t betray you. Here I stand, still your ally, when I probably shouldn’t be. You played games with me, and you continue to do so.”

Queen Eldinar stood with a stiff spine and didn’t check on her husband’s neck, which didn’t suffer a bleed. Her eyes were reserved for Talon. “You’re right. I don’t trust you.” She gestured to the men. “Take him away.”

“No.” I moved to the queen. “Your Majesty?—”

“This doesn’t concern you.” She didn’t even look at me.

The guards surrounded Talon and grabbed him by the arms.

Talon quickly twisted out of their hold. “Trust me, if I wanted to get out of this, I could.”

They led him away to the building beside the royal palace.

I went to General Ezra next. “Please stop this.”

“Calista—”

“He did as you asked.”

“You didn’t hear them.” He grabbed Talon’s sword from the ground and then turned to me.

“And neither did you.”

“I couldn’t understand the words, but I understood their behavior. Alaric had a vile grin on his face almost the entire time. They spoke to each other as equals, almost as friends or comrades. Talon issued no threat.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I think Alaric propositioned him for a plot to overthrow us, and Talon agreed.”

“He would never do that.”

“Calista, I understand love makes you blind. I love a woman I’ll love my whole life, and she’ll love me for a second. It’s complicated and messy, and I get that. But you don’t see who this man is.”

I felt the tears behind my eyes. “I see him for all that he is.”

“I didn’t need to understand them to know what transpired. Talon asked them to leave, but I think it’s a red herring.”

“A red herring for what?”

“For the fact that they’ll return and try to take Riviana. And when they arrive, Talon will help them.”

“Why? Why would he do that? What does he get out of that?”

He hesitated.

“There is no motive, Uncle Ezra. You’re making baseless assumptions out of fear.”

“Alaric knows where the dragons are. I’m sure he figured out why the Death King marched with us and offered him the location if he turned on us—and he did.”

“He did not.”

He gave me a look layered with disappointment. “Because you can’t see, Calista.”

“He would never betray you or me.”

“Do you understand that he’s sired by Bahamut?”

Talon had told me the origins of his power, but he didn’t tell me the tale. He said it was too beautiful of a night to discuss something so heavy.

“Bahamut and Riviana are enemies. Have you noticed that the music in the forest has changed? Because every moment that one of Bahamut’s servants dwells in this forest is agony for her. As a puppet of the God of the Underworld, Talon wants to destroy the afterlife as much as the dark elves. It was a mistake granting him access to our forest. Alaric and the dark elves are coming, and we must be prepared. If our scouts report that the dark elves have left the forest by the deadline, then we’ll release Talon.”

“If they’ve decided to stay, that still isn’t enough to incriminate Talon.”

“I disagree.”

When I looked at Talon, I didn’t see a master of shadow or the embodiment of evil. I didn’t see a puppet of an evil god. I saw a broken man with a broken heart…but a heart, nonetheless. “I understand your concern, but you’re wrong about him. I would put my life on it.”

He continued to look at me with pity. “Then it’s a good thing you don’t have to.”

The prison had no other prisoners besides Talon, so Queen Eldinar stationed guards outside the building.

I entered the building and found him behind iron bars, leaning against the wall with his arms and ankles crossed, still wearing his heavy armor like it weighed nothing. There was a small window at the top of a stone wall that allowed some light to come through. He was staring at it when I walked inside.

I stood at the bars and looked at him.

He continued to gaze out the window instead of at me.

“They said if the dark elves leave within the week, they’ll release you.”

He seemed uninterested in that.

“And if they don’t, I’ll get them to release you.”

“I can leave this cell whenever I wish.” He slowly turned to look at me. “But that would require me to do things that would piss off your queen.” His dark eyes looked at me with heavy disappointment.

He would raise the dead to set himself free. Or he would have Khazmuda burn the forest.

“It’s interesting. They say they don’t trust me, but we all know I’m only in here because I’m a willing participant. Because I have too much integrity to disturb the dead now that I understand how much grief it caused their people.”

“Why won’t you tell them what Alaric said to you?”

“Because.” He looked at the window again.

“Because why?”

He didn’t answer.

“Will you tell me?”

After he stared at the window for a while, he turned back to me. “Someday.”

“I—I don’t understand.”

“I told you how my family was killed. I told you the dragons were subjugated by a foul creature with magical abilities. Well, those beings were called dark elves, and they’re the same as the ones in this forest.”

My eyes immediately dropped.

“Not the same ones, but…they’re the same kind.”

“Why wouldn’t you want the queen to know this?”

“The reason they have these abilities is because they’re cursed, and Riviana is the one who cursed them. So, did I lose everyone I love because of the dark elves, or because of the god that lives in this forest?”

My blood ran cold at his words.

“I haven’t decided.” He looked out the window again.

Now I understood why he didn’t want the queen to know because his allegiance was unclear. Would he want revenge against the monsters in the forest…or against the god they worshipped? “There’s only one person to blame, and that’s the person who conspired against your family. Once we have the dragons, we’ll kill him.”

He continued to stare out the window.

“Talon.”

He slowly turned to look at me.

“Did Alaric offer to tell you where the dragons are?”

He didn’t hesitate before he answered. “Yes.”

“And did you take it?”

Now, there was a hesitation, a long pause. “I told him to leave.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“I told him to leave, and I returned in the hope that your queen would honor her obligation. But she didn’t. I’m treated as the villain in this story when your queen is a manipulative liar. I didn’t take his offer, but now I wish I had.”

“Why don’t you tell her this so you can walk out of here?”

He tilted his head slightly, almost as if he didn’t understand the question. “Because she wouldn’t believe me and would try to kill me—so I’d have to kill her.”