The Exiled King

Chapter 6 - The Awakening

Lord Rowan descended the stairway quickly and came face to face with Lirya, who was looking all too guilty. Two guards, dressed in the standard livery and carrying swords, that had accompanied him, appeared behind Lord Rowan as his face morphed from surprise to a livid purple rage.

"Lirya Aylusa Elena Throeyns! What are you doing here?!" He bellowed, striding towards her.

She flinched and took a step back, her hands shaking. Leus stood further back, watching with fearful eyes and unable to do anything to help her, as he was the only thing keeping Jason from collapsing.

Lord Rowan reached out and grabbed Lirya's arm hard enough to bruise, and she cried out.

"Grab the others!" He ordered his guards, squinting against the darkness at the two figures behind his daughter.

"No!" Lirya cried, and reached for the little knife—a dagger, really—and slashed blindly at Lord Rowan's arm.

Never exhibit violence in any form. It is unbecoming of a lady of high society.

Lord Rowan yelped and let go of her arm, although the knife was not sharp enough to inflict more than a flesh wound. The blade sliced a thin red line through Lord Rowan's white silk shirt and soon blood spilled out of it, staining the edges of the fabric.

The 'rules' that she'd memorised came floating back to the front of her mind again as Lirya watched the red blood slowly creep up on the white of Lord Rowan's shirt.

He swore, cursing her under his breath as he motioned for the guards to get her instead, disregarding Leus and the semi-conscious Jason.

I hurt my father, She thought, but felt strangely empty. When had he ceased to be a father figure in her life?

But... he was trying to hurt me. Again. So I hurt him back... that's okay, right? If he does it, then it must be fine! Why is he angry?

As Lord Rowan's guards slowly closed in on her, Lirya's eyes stayed fixed on the slowly spreading stain of red on her father's shirt.

He made me bleed too... So why is he angry when I do the same to him?

Her whole life, she'd lived within the castle walls, ignorant of the outside world. She was a bird that had not known there was a world to explore outside of her gilded cage. Everything her father had done was seen as the right thing for her, the child who had no one to compare his actions to. His anger, she understood—he rarely got that angry, and when he did, Lirya knew it was her fault—but his actions were strange. She had imitated him but had received only wrath in return.

What did I do wrong?

"Lirya!" Leus shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. It snapped her out of her daze and she backed away. Lord Rowan's attention was not on her, however, but on the youth who had stood in the shadows.

"You?!" Lord Rowan hissed, staring in disbelief at Leus, "What are you doing here, Lord Leus? Are you a part of this?"

With nowhere to go and no way to fight, Lirya had been backed into a corner. Her heart beat fast in her chest as her trembling hand clenched the handle of the knife until her knuckles shone white.

She took a deep breath, held the knife to her own throat and then yelled loudly, "Stop! Or I will slit my own throat."

Lord Rowan turned away from Leus but didn't meet her eyes, "Put that knife away, Lirya. We both know you won't go through with it anyways - so stop being a nuisance and halt your pathetic attempt at rebellion before I really get mad," He warned.