The Things We Do

Chapter XVI: Selene

"Dad, I need to talk to you before we leave. Let's go outside." Selene ran to her father. They went outside and sat in the rocking chairs. "I was walking around the palace the other day and I found a room I hadn't noticed before. It was filled with paintings, and I found one with mom in it. And Xayah, and some other people who I've assumed to be the old King and Queen, Annabelle, Anthony and was it Ideus?" she asked. Her father nodded. "That would be right. I remember that painting. They sure captured your mother, didn't they?" he asked as he sighed in grief. "Tell me the truth, father. What happened to Ideus? I know he and mom were... married... but he died on their honeymoon. That's all I know. How did he die?" she asked, hoping for information that would help her truly love her husband as her father had loved his wife, despite Anastasia and Soren's murders. "Well," he started. "They honeymooned in a cabin in the Zellarid mountains in the winter. They ran out of firewood so they went down by the lake and chopped some together. As they climbed back up the steps, Ideus took too many pieces up and slipped on a slick step, tumbling down. The wood knocked the rest of the air out of him, and he died." he finished.
Perhaps it was no murder after all. Ideus was known for being clumsy, and boastful. By carrying more wood than Selene's mother he was showing off for her, and seeing as he was clumsy it made sense for him to slip and fall. "You think she killed him, don't you?" her father asked. "No, but you know there were rumors back then and they stick with people" Selene responded, not wanting to outright tell him her thoughts on the subject. "They think that she killed him for me. We danced at that new years ball. We wore matching colors by accident, though everyone thought it was planned. Your mother never loved Ideus, she barely ever got to know him. We'd been friends for as long as I can remember, they needed to understand that I was her rock in every situation, before we started dating. I had loved her for a great deal of time, she eventually came around. We got married quickly because of my long lasting love and her deep, though quick, infatuation. A powerful Queen such as she needed a King by her side for love and support through the huge undertaking she was under. She just had to kill her best friend and imprison another, I've always been the closest person to her, but especially after that. She had no close friends other than me then. Eventually she became closer with Charlotte and Scheven, but she still wasn't right after Luna held her prisoner and especially after Arlie's death. You don't blame her for the death of Arlie, right? You understand that she did that for Iphica, for me, for you and your siblings, right?" He looked at her desperately. "Yes. That is clear to me." Selene answered, this time meaning what she said.
"Could you get me my bag?" he asked her. She located the bag and handed it to him, and he began to dig. He pulled out two rings and placed them in Selene's hands. "While I don't approve of Soren, I know that you love him. He may have not gotten the chance to kill your mother and thus we'll never know what he would have done if he had, you say he has a good heart. If he can prove to me that he loves you and will protect you and this family, I want you to give that to him and wear the other one yourself. I noticed that the two of you don't have rings yet. Those were your mother and I's engagement rings. When all of this is over we'll have a grand wedding for the two of you so you can remember that as your wedding day, not the somber day it was." Selene studied the ring through her tears. It was beautiful, and she slipped hers on right away. She took the bag from her father but he dropped it too early, causing some of its contents to spill out. They both got on the floor to replace the items in the bag, but one item in particular drew Selene's interest. It was a small scroll tied up in a green ribbon, and her father was reaching for it. Selene snatched it up on instinct.
"What's this?" she asked, studying the ribbon which was stitched with a royal crest. Her mother's crest. "A letter your mother wrote me a long time ago. It's a load of lovey-dovey stuff that I'm sure you don't want to read," he tried to quickly snatch it out of her hands, but she held on. "Something tells me you don't want me to read this." she said, pulling it closer to her. "No, I just want to get on the road." Selene stood and unwrapped the ribbon and threw it towards the mud. Her father dived for it, making sure it wouldn't get dirty. Selene read the letter aloud.
"Oh my dearest, dearest Beau, I hate how we left things that night up to the wedding. I wanted to talk more, hear what you had to say. Then at the wedding, that glance, your sad face, bent in an expression I have never seen on you before; despair. I've seen despair, but never on you. You've always been positive and up-beat, so when you are sad, I know you must be dealing with something horrible. That's the thing, before the wedding I had only seen you sad, never in despair. I wished we could've talked but unfortunately that was not the case. Ideus has made it known time and time again that I should be happy here, in "your precious mountains" as he calls them. But that's the other thing, they've never been my mountains, for they are our mountains. Me and you Beau. We have so many memories together that take place here, some of my fondest memories even are here, with you. I am so very sorry. And I am sorry for rambling, though you know I don't mean to. The truth is, I love you too. I realize now that I always have. I repressed it because I didn't think you felt the same. I know better now. But, this was also for the better. I love you, I always will, but in the folktales the Queen can never marry the farmer without a fairy godmother or a magic totem. We have none of that here. I am so truly sorry, I really am. This is just something I have to do. That we have to do. Unfortunately, my kingdom and its citizens must come before my heart. If we could, you would be here in the mountains with me instead of Ideus. That's why I've decided to murder him. The union has already been formed. I am the Queen of Faormen, and once Ideus is dead, I shall make you my King. I love you, Beau, and am so glad we've finally admitted it to each other. You shall be the King of three worlds, Beau. Zellarid, Faormen, and my heart. You've already conquered the latter, and soon the other two. I love you, my soon-to-be King, and I shall do everything in my power to make it to where we can be together, forever. All my love, Anastasia. P.S, please hide this letter with your life, King. Keep and cherish it, but hide it. Should our plan get out, I'll end up like Ideus is about to. Please, my love, please."
Selene dropped the letter, which her father also catched. His head was bowed. "You, you lied to me. She lied to me. You both lied to everyone! He didn't slip, it was staged! She murdered him too!"

"So that we could be together. If that didn't happen you'd either be half elf or wouldn't exist at all!"

"Better that than the daughter of a murderer."

"Selene, you have to understand why she did what she did!"

"She put herself first, even though she clearly said that her kingdom and it's citizens came before her heart!"

"At that time I was one of her citizens."

"I can't believe this. Her murder of Arlie is forgivable. It was either mom or Arlie, I get that. But Ideus?"

"Elves live long lives, Selene. The time when Ideus' parents were born, my grandparents were being born! Did you want her to be miserable with him for the rest of her life?"

"I just don't see why he had to die."

"He died for your mother. For me. For you. For Tage. For Aurora. For Iphica."

"What about his parents? Xayah, Annabelle and Anthony? His kingdom, his citizens, himself! He didn't love Anastasia any more than she loved him, they barely knew each other! Who knows, maybe he loved someone else just like mom did. Yes he married for Iphica, but he did not die for Iphica. He died for you and mom."

Slene snatched the letter from her father and stormed back inside. "Selene! Wait!" she heard her father yell back at her, but she ignored him. She found Xayah and pulled her into a bedroom, locking the door behind them. "This is going to be hard for you, but the truth needs to be known." She said as she handed the letter to Xayah. She sat down and read, then wept. Selene unlocked the door to let Arlie in, when she ran into her father again. "Why would you tell Xayah?" he yelled at her. "She was his sister! She deserves to know the truth." Selene took off her ring and handed both of them back to her father. "I refuse to wear a ring that once sat on the finger of a murderer." she shoved them into his hand as she walked off to talk to Soren.