Sacrilege

Chapter Twelve

TWELVE

After dinner was finished, the guards alerted us that the sky was beginning to darken signaling

night in Pearu. Kiowa retreated to her quarters after bidding Dyos and I goodnight. I was left

alone with Dyos who was sitting in a chair rubbing his stomach.

"I don't understand why you wish to leave this place so much Aristaeus. You have all the riches

and best served meals than anyone I know in Pearu. I'm thinking about asking the King if I can

move in and become his adopted son."

I rolled my eyes at Dyos. "I'm sure that will go over smoothly with the King. Besides one

adopted son is enough."

It slipped out before I could catch it. Dyos sat up and gave me a look of confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing."

Dyos continued to stare at me. He didn't believe me. Clearing my throat I said, "I'm headed to

bed. You're welcome to reside in my quarters or the guest quarters."

I got up before he could say anything else. Two guards flocked behind me as the rest stayed to

accompany Dyos. Once I arrived at my quarters I turned to nod at the guards. I'm sure they

wanted to follow me upstairs and even guard me while I was sleep, but I wasn't going to have

that. They could guard me with their life when I am King.

I shut the main door to my quarters and headed up the steps to my room. Entering my room, I

saw that the servants had already pulled back my sheets and brought in fresh clothing and towels

for the morning. I stripped down to my shorts and tossed my clothes on the bench in front of my

bed. I undid my ponytail holder and tossed it on the stand beside the bed before climbing under

the sheets. Leaning over, I blew out the candle encasing me in darkness. Folding my hands

behind my head, I lay on the pillow and stared at the ceiling without really seeing it. I couldn't

get rid of the thoughts of my mysterious birth. I thought like my father, that Grethen had brought

me to the palace because he knew the trouble Kiowa was having conceiving a child. But his

disappearance proved otherwise. Grethen knew my father was on to something, so he

disappeared. But what? Grethen couldn't have been a part of Eris company could he? It could

be possible. He did disappear away from the lands of Pearu like Eris did. However, the vision

of the newborn and the Kampe seemed to continue to break into my thoughts. I shook my head

to rid myself of such thoughts. There was no way, is what I told myself. I needed to find more

answers before I acted on anything. Until then, that vision proved nothing. Closing my eyes, I

relaxed my breathing as I fell into a slumber.

I don't know how long it was when I closed my eyes that the usual blackness that accompanied

me when I slept disappeared. It was as if a curtain was being pulled back and I was staring