Avaryn collapsed to the ground and coughed as he tried to get control of his breathing again, and when he did, he looked up and saw the shocked Roviaryn wince as the knife was pulled out of him.

     He turned around and looked at his sobbing wife as she dropped Avaryn's blood covered fighting knife to the ground.

     Her hands shook in horror.

     Roviaryn let out a weak laugh. "The most gentle Lumynos... who was known for fearing weapons her entire life... now finds the courage to pick one up and stab her own husband in the back... without a second thought."

     She looked up at her husband, tears filling her eyes.

     "How ironic."

     She gripped onto his tunic and sobbed, knowing that a stab through the heart of a Lumynos was the fastest way to kill them.

     It was done.

     Her husband was going to die the second he lost too much blood.

     In a desperate attempt to try and take back what she had done, she hugged him and tried to cover the wound in his back with her weak fingers, trying to stop the bleeding.

     There was no point.

     It was useless.

     His knees let loose and Roviaryn collapsed onto the ground, his wife falling with him as she tried to hold him up.

     When she was on the ground, she pulled his head onto her lap and sobbed as she held his face with her bloody fingers. "I'm sorry!" She cried, "I'm so sorry!"

     Roviaryn had nothing to say.

     The dying man was still staring at his wife in shock.

     "I had to..." she cried and hugged him, "I couldn't let you kill Avaryn... I couldn't!"

     The man coughed out blood and that made Maryryna cry even harder. "I love you," she cried, "I love you so much but I couldn't... I couldn't let you do that!"

     He kept his stare steady though life slowly left his eyes.

     "Avaryn is Kyryn's hope... I couldn't let you kill him, my love," she cried, "please forgive me... I beg you. Would you just sit there and let someone kill Seli? Kyryn wouldn't have... and he wasn't here to protect him so I had to... forgive me­–"

     "You're too gentle for your own good." The man smirked and surprised her by touching her soft and wet cheek.

     But then his hand fell as the fire in his red eyes faded and went dull.

     She cried and kissed his lifeless lips as Avaryn lifted himself up and walked over to her, "Aunty Mary–"

     Her head snapped up, "leave!" She ordered, "if you stay here they'll think you did it­. They'll blame you."

     Avaryn hesitated. "But–"

     "Leave!" She begged. "Please, my child, leave now."

     Avaryn felt miserable... leaving this woman here.

     He was quite sure that this was it for her too... if the stress of the truth was what was killing her before... it was the thought that she killed her husband that was going to finish her off.

     There was a chance that she too was going to die... and Avaryn didn't want to leave her alone.

     "Please, Avaryn..." She forced a smile, "I'll be fine," she said, as if reading his mind.

     "Aunty Mary..."

     "You must go... that's all I ask from you."

     Avaryn looked away for a second before he looked back at her. "You saved my life... and I am forever indebted to you for that." He bowed low, "thank you."

     She shook her head, "nothing has been done that deserves a thank you," she said sadly as the tears still poured out of her eyes. "Please... just leave."

     Avaryn let out a breath and bowed once again before he left.

---

     Besides, if it was true that Avaryn had visited her... then maybe he could get her to tell him what they talked about.

     He was curious.

     But when he arrived at his home, he was surprised by the fact that his mother wasn't waiting for him at the door like she always was.

     And when he entered the home he was surprised by the lack of maids greeting him.

     Then he noticed Am drop her shoulders and look at him quickly with worry in her eyes.

     This was the first time he saw that look on his face.

     Seliaryn hesitated and a second of silence was enough to hear multiple people crying softly from the upstairs floor.

     He let out a breath and rushed up the stairs.

     When he reached his old bedroom, he saw a dozen maids gathered at the door, all of them with their hands over their mouths, crying.

     Their crying grew heavier when they saw the new king, making them almost forget to bow.

     Seliaryn pushed past the young women, Am following closely behind him, and when he got into his room, he felt as if someone had punched him hard in the stomach.

     A shudder rushed through him as he stared at his father who was lying on the lap of his mother who was lying over his body, hugging the man tightly.

     Both of them in a pool of blood.

     He ran over to them, falling onto his knees next to his mother. "Mother!" He called as he pulled her up from her hug.

     Her frail and weightless body simply fell onto him, no effort being made to hold herself up.

     He shook her. "Mother?"

     When she didn't respond, he looked down at the Lord.

     He pushed the hair from his face and saw only a dead man.

     His eyes were open, his usually bright red eyes now dull.

     "Father..." Seliaryn whispered.

     And then he saw something.

     Seliaryn's hands started to shake as he let his mother fall back down on his father. He stood up quickly, his breathing growing heavy.

     When he took a quick step back, he bumped hard into Am. She stepped in front of the wide-eyed Seliaryn and grabbed a firm hold of him. "My King." She said, but when she noticed his stare, she followed it.

     Not too far away from his mother was a bloody knife.

     The same knife that Blood had used to cut Dukaryn's cheek.

     The same knife that Blood used to fight Seliaryn.

     It was Blood's knife.

     Avaryn's knife.

     "He was here."

     When Am looked back at Seliaryn, he was looking at her.

     "Avaryn... you said he was here... didn't you?"

     "Y-yes... but..." Am stuttered, she couldn't believe that Avaryn had done this. The guards had even said that they sensed no threat in Avaryn when they saw him.

     When she went to check... there was nothing strange going on.

     And with that, Seliaryn disappeared.

     Am stood there in shock for a second, but then she shook her head and glared at the maids. "What are you doing standing there?" She hissed. "Call a doctor! The guards! Call someone!"

     Before he could think, Seliaryn was in his room in the castle. His wide eyes tried to comprehend what was going on but it was happening too fast.

     His parents were dead?

     How could they be dead?

     Had Avaryn killed them?

     He paced back and forth and tried to ignore the sadness that filled every inch of his body.

     It couldn't be true.

     It just couldn't be.

     He begged the gods to not let it be true.

     And when he remembered what his father had said to him right before his council meeting not too long ago, his heart sank to the ground.

     "Seliaryn!" His father called as Seliaryn walked towards the council meeting.

     Seliaryn turned around quickly and bowed his head at his father.

     "Do you not hear me when I tell you to go visit your mother more often?" The man immediately said when he approached him.

     Seliaryn hesitated, "father... I've been busy–"

     "So busy that you cannot make time for your mother, yet you make time for that Kyrus girl?"

     The new King hesitated. He had nothing to say to that.

     "Do you not understand, boy, that this woman is dying?" Lord Roviaryn said, harshly. "Every day that goes by where you choose to not see her is a day that may be her last."

     Seliaryn bit the inside of his cheeks. Those harsh words hit him deep.

     "And I swear to you boy that the day she dies... you will regret not seeing her more often. And it will be too late for you to fix that."

     "I understand, father." Seliaryn said, not looking him in the eye.

     The man let out a breath, "Seliaryn... you know your mother loves you more than life itself. And that is exactly the reason why you must make sure you remind her in every way possible that you love her too. Do you understand?"

     Seliaryn looked at his father with surprise, but he nodded. "I will go to visit her as soon as the meeting is over."

     "But do you understand what I'm telling you?"

     "I do."

     "Good." He said, "It is your duty as a son to protect your mother, and protecting her includes making her happy."

     "I know."

     "Good." The Lord repeated.

     Then there was an awkward silence for a moment, before Lord Roviaryn spoke again.

     "It may surprise you but your mother isn't as week as she looks," he suddenly said.

     Seliaryn hesitated, not understanding his father's sudden words.

     "She's strong. Very strong. Maybe even stronger than the both of us. After all, she has endured a lot of pain and sadness. All of which was thrown at her because of the two of us."

     Seliaryn nodded slowly.

     And then his father sighed. "All I ask is that you help to relieve some of that pain and sadness. It's simple. Just go and see her more often and that will be enough."

     Seliaryn nodded and then smiled. It wasn't always that one got a chance to see the more caring side of his father. "I understand."

     Roviaryn looked at his son for a moment before he surprised him yet again by placing his hand on his head.

     "Make me proud," he said as he messed Seliaryn's hair up.

     And then he walked away, leaving the shocked Seliaryn standing there... making him late for the council meeting.

---

     Seliaryn crumpled to the ground and found himself crying. Crying for what felt like the first time in his life.

     His parents were dead.

     He failed to protect his mother.

     His father too.

     And as Avaryn's knife flashed through his mind he felt that sadness turn into rage.

     Avaryn killed them.

     That was all he could think.

     Any form of rationality vanished as he stood up, took his crown off his head and tossed it across the room.

     It hit the wall hard enough to dent the gold.

     And it rattled against the ground.

     But Seliaryn was gone before it stopped moving and sat there in the empty, dark, anger filled room.

---

     The sun was setting and Meenu was making her way home from training alone in Feyran. She had been training alone all the time for the past little while and she was starting to miss getting trained by Master Red.

     He knew exactly what to say and do to get her to learn fast.

     But what she missed more than that was training with Blood.

     Obviously things were never simple when she was with Blood... but it was simpler than it was now... with Avaryn.

     He was always busy...

     She wondered when she'd get a chance to sit down with him in Feyran and just talk like they had once before.

     Meenu sighed and shrugged her bow over her shoulder.

     When she made it to her home, she waved at the maids that tended to her mothers garden as Knight ran around to play with some of them.

     And then she felt the strong presence of someone familiar.

     She turned around quickly with a huge smile on her face, seeing Seliaryn approach her. "Hey! Seli!"

     The usual happiness that filled her when she saw him was starting to fill her.

     But as he got closer, she could see the strange expression on his face.

     Knight's ears pointed and he surprised Meenu by starting to growl.

     Meenu looked at her wolf, and when she turned back to Seliaryn, he was standing right in front of her.

     Meenu gasped. "Seli..."

     His eyes were burning in anger and Meenu could see it instantly.

     The growling Knight started to run towards Seliaryn, ready to attack but at the same time, hesitant of attacking a friend.

     But then the angry Seliaryn simply waved his hand and that was really when Meenu knew that his evil had been released.

     Because when he waved his hand, Knight went flying backwards, smashing into one of the gardeners and knocking the poor man down.

     "Knight!" Meenu shouted as she went to run towards her wolf and the probably wounded gardener.

     But Seliaryn grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her so harshly that he could have pulled her shoulder joint right out.

     Meenu stared at him in confusion.

     Firstly, she couldn't understand how his evil could be released but his eyes still look normal... no tears of blood or anything of that sort.

     And secondly, she couldn't understand why he was even mad.

     Mad enough to hold her so aggressively.

     His tight grip on her arm made her wince. "Seli! What's wrong?"

     "Where is he?" His voice was so deep that it came out as a growl.

     "Who?" Of course, Meenu knew who he was talking about.

     "You know who!" Seliaryn hissed. "Where is he?"

     Meenu hesitated, grasping his hand with her free hand and trying to pry it off her arm. "I don't know, Seliaryn! I never know where he is!"

     Just then, Meenu could hear her worried mother and father shouting in confusion.

     "Don't lie to me, Meenu." Seliaryn hissed.

     Meenu continued to wince and just as she felt her bones begin to crack, she let out a small cry of pain. "Seli! You're hurting me!"

     Almost instantly, the man released her arm and for a second, his usual look flashed through his eyes.

     But it vanished after that second.

     "I will ask you one last time, Meenu..." Seliaryn said, a little more calmly. "Do you love him?"

     Meenu stared at him as she rubbed her arm. "Of course I do, Seli... You know th­–"

     A strange rush of darkness pushed Meenu back slightly as Seliaryn glared at her.

     "Seliaryn! What's wrong?" She asked again, wondering immediately if Avaryn had done something to upset him.

     "In that case..." Seliaryn said, "you too are my enemy now."

     "What..."

     She was so sure that things were going to work out between them.

     So confident in that...

     And now, things seemed to be, for whatever reason, worse then ever before.

     She reached out to touch is hand but suddenly, as he pushed her hand away, she too went flying backwards, slamming straight into her father and almost knocking him down too.

     Meenu looked at Seliaryn with wide eyes as the man glared back at her. "What is going on?" She shouted.

     "Tell him to keep his filthy crown." Seliaryn growled, "he can have the kingdom, he can have you and he can have everything he desires."

     Meenu stared as she let her father help her to her feet.

     "He can do whatever he pleases." He then started to smirk, "but tell him... when he least expects it, I'm going to come and ruin him. I'm going to come and destroy everything that makes that bastard smile. Including you, Meenu Kyrus."

     Meenu placed a hand over her mouth. "Seli..."

     "Make sure you tell him that."

     Her breathing hastened as he turned around and vanished.

     But the last thing she saw in his eyes was what changed her fear into sorrow.

     It was despair.

     His eyes were filled with despair.

     And suddenly, Meenu was crying for him.

------------------------------------------------

Hello everyone!!

Thank you for all of your comments in the previous chapter!!!! I had SO MUCH FUN reading them!! I love reading what you all think!! And as you can tell, MOST if not ALL of you were right!! HEHE!!

I hope you enjoyed this quick upload hehe!!

And again, HOW DO YOU FEEL? hehe! Was this expected? Unexpected?

Happy Holidays to all you beautiful people!!! and as always, thank you so much for reading! <3

Take care,

Luckycharms <3