The King's Possession ✔️

FOFTY SEVEN

Word Count: 2237

I only slept for a few hours, waking just as dusk bled into night.

I know why I couldn't sleep. Being wrapped up in blankets that smell like my old life, seeing books on Tani and the Beast pressed tightly into my sagging bookshelf and knowing my mother is in the next room, pretending I'm not here...it's maddening.

Tugging my hair back into a braid behind my shoulders, I examine myself in my old mirror, the frame still chipping off white paint how I remember, stickers from childhood having peeled back, stained by the sun. I haven't changed, aside from slightly fuller cheeks from the decadent food at court and minor scratches and bruises that litter my skin from yesterdays ordeal.

My eyes track down to my chest, painfully bare. My throat tightens as tears rise to my eyes, flooding out despite my protest.

Who am I?

Who am I without a Tani to believe in, a guardian to guide my through life? My entire identity has been stripped away, leaving me just a shell of a person, with nothing to look up to, to gain faith from. Despite knowing the Beast had no real power, I still wonder if my life is doomed, if my future is bleak. Is it up to nature to determine how my life will go?

"I've missed you."

Through the mirror, I look over my shoulder, meeting my father's muted blue eyes, soft and warm. As I turn around, I wipe my tears away, summoning a sense of calm over myself. You killed the Beast...You must live with that.

"I've missed you too. More than you could ever imagine," I admit.

"I'm assuming you're the reason I'm home right now," he notes with a raised eyebrow, motioning around himself. "An executive order for me to be returned home and disallowed from ever coming back? I can't imagine that happens randomly. Then I come home to find your mother fretting over money being sent to her daily."

The sigh that escapes me shudders, one of pure relief. My room has remained untouched, but I did notice that the flooring had been replaced by thick, warm carpet, the walls donned with a fresh set of paint. I haven't spent much time gawking at their furnishings, but I imagine mother had no trouble replacing them too.

"Tai and I have made a deal, yes."

"It's a gross amount of money, Akara," father mutters, shaking his head. "More money in a day than I've ever made in my life from being at war."

My father has always been a proud man, shrugging off compliments for his fine form and the charisma that he offers to this bland village. He always helped out neighbours with work, and when the General and his posse wandered into our village that day, so many years ago, he didn't hesitate in agreeing to fight for the Jade Province in the war that we know so little about.

I step forward, clasping his large hands in mine. "Promise me you're using it."

He motions for me to follow him from the room, which I do so, stalking down the hallway and to the spare room, where Tai is. "Your mother was reluctant at first, but she seems to be warming up to the idea of free money. Especially with my infliction."

"Wait, what?" I frown, startled.

"I was shot. Whatever technology they were using has ensured it isn't healing. The money will be used to fund the treatment," he explains as we walk into the room. I'm not sure what is harder to face; Tai still being unconscious on the bed, or hearing my father has been shot.

He faces me, drawing up his short slightly to show me the wound. My stomach turns uneasily. There is nothing there by a large bandage, but my imagination sears what I assume it looks like into my mind. Seeing my father injured is startling, an uncomfortable feeling settling over me that I know won't go away for awhile.