Chapter 30: Chapter 30

“The hybrid had fallen into the hands of the demons!” Henry raised his eyebrow at his raging brother sitting across the desk, the second prince, who was a manly version of his twin, Nara, was trembling with anger, the young king wanted to ask his brother of how he knew about such news, as he himself only learned from the demon they captured, but the prince barely gave him any chance to as he kept on raging about the matter.

“She was right here, and she slipped away!”

“We didn’t know it was her at the time, Nicholas.” Henry sighed, tired of his brother talking over and over about the matter, the girl he met that night was indeed unique but he never thought she was his half-sister, nor the hybrid the demons were after, no wonder he felt that close to her.

There were no doubts left that the half-sister they never knew was the hybrid the demons were after, and Henry understood the consequences of her falling into the night creatures’ hands.

Thousands of years ago, a curse was placed on the demonkind by the Gods, a curse which was meant to last forever, the one that doomed them to not be able to walk the human lands in daylight, putting an end to the terror and bloodshed they caused, and for thousands of years the demons had barely survived in darkness, without any way out of their curse.

Until a hybrid with blood capable of breaking their curse was born, and her stupid father who was also his kept her alive.

“And whose fault is that?” Nicholas slammed his fist angrily at the desk, his blue eyes shining with a murderous glint as he glared at his elder brother, and Henry didn’t hesitate to glare back at him with the same intensity.

“I thought you would be better than father, Henry.” Nicholas hissed as he stood up from his chair, he walked a few steps in the study, running his fingers in his silky red hair before turning back to his brother.

“If you haven’t narrowed the priests' circle of power and authorities, if you have given them their rightful place in the kingdom, in the decision making, then we wouldn’t be facing this problem now!!” So his brother was still upset about his decisions, Henry thought as he stared at the raging Nicholas calmly, he knew his brother was very religious, probably the only religious person in their family, and from his deep unshakable beliefs came to his unquestionable loyalty to the holy council, a loyalty, Henry feared, was greater than the one he had for his own blood.

Their father wasn’t the best king, he had made many mistakes, minimizing the holy council’s authority wasn’t one though, his brother, however, couldn’t see things from their angle.

The holy council once had the power to add, change, or remove laws and clauses from the kingdom’s constitution, they had the power to oppose the political decrees they didn’t like, and even affect the noble families, their power came from centuries of sanctification as they were the servants of the Gods, they had the people’s hearts in their hands.

Religion was the best way to control the commoners’ minds, and the priests knew that very well. no longer sticking to their educational and spiritual role, they started to mend with politics and the kingdom’s affairs and relations.

Henry knew the holy council didn’t move a finger about the late king disappearance and then his eldest son’s coronation because they believed him to be, unlike his father, a naïve little cub they could easily control, especially since they were already controlling his brother as well, However, Henry made sure to put them back in their place and assure they stayed there once he secured his position, and because of that, the council chose not to attend the coronation ball as an obvious sign for their unhappiness.

Henry never cared about their happiness, he thought to himself, but if the priests were in the ball then they would have recognized the hybrid and the demons wouldn’t have captured her, he knew the priests would have possibly killed her to ensure the night creatures can never have her, and even though she was his sister, he knew it was the best thing to do for the kingdom.

Necessary cruelty.

“You can still fix this, Henry, call for the other kingdoms’ support, and prepare the…”

“I assure you I will do what is right for the kingdom and the people, Nicholas!” Henry was having enough of his brother’s behavior and disrespect; the second prince was completely blinded by the council to the point where he couldn’t see their obvious lies and intentions.

“What is right is to take shelter near the center! We need to be close to the Gods!”

“Why? So, they can use us as a shield?” Henry stood up, ready to defend himself against his brother who looked at him as if he was about to jump at his throat.

“And why not? Isn’t it our so-called father and his bastard’s fault in the first place? We have lived by the Gods' mercy and it is our duty to defend the center, that is what gave the Yoren dynasty it sanctification in the first place, that is why you are now a king and that is our mission in this life!”

“Funny!” Henry smirked at his brother but there was no sign of humor in his voice, “Funny indeed how the mighty Gods need us, humans, to defend them!” Henry knew he had hit a nerve when he saw his brother’s face burning red as the prince took threatening steps towards him, something Henry welcomed as he really wanted to give his younger brother a good session of beating, one might wake him up, but before they reached each other with their fists, their sister walked in the study with teary eyes and terrified expression.

“She is gone! Mother is gone!”

Sara stared at the strange place around her through half-closed eyes, a roofless room with grey walls and a grassy ground, the grass was so green and soft, with different varieties of flowers, but what caught her attention about the strange place was the sky above her.

She didn’t know whether what she was looking at was the sky or something else, for it didn’t look like the sky she came to know, instead, it was a mixture of moving, soft, almost fluid clouds, some very white, others very black, the clouds were intertwined in a way as if each tried to infiltrate the other but they were still unable to mix up, like water and oil floating together.

Standing up, Sara looked down at herself, her smooth skin was glowing, she stared at her hands like a kid seeing a firefly for the first time and giggled softly, enjoying the warmth coming out of her, her nakedness didn’t bother her for she didn’t feel exposed, as if she was in a universe of her own.

“You cannot stay here.” Sara turned around at the sudden voice, the gentle whisper was coming from a woman in the middle of the room, the woman who looked so much like her but wasn’t her, Sara didn’t feel threatened by her this time though, only confused by her words, why can’t she stay there? She liked the place; it was calm and peaceful.

It was safe.

As if reading her mind and knowing what was confusing her, the woman raised a delicate finger toward the sky and Sara followed the motion with her eyes.

She didn’t know what was the woman point out at first, but after few seconds she was able to notice it, the black clouds were becoming bigger than the white ones which looked as if they are shrinking or being swallowed, the light was fading, and the sky, as well as the universe, was becoming darker each passing second.

Looking back at the woman, she saw she still had her pure eyes on her, but not meeting her eyes, Sara looked at herself to see what the woman was seeing, and indeed, the glowing light was fading as well.

Sara looked back at the woman, her earlier confusion turning into fear.

The woman, with pitiful eyes, took a step to the side and behind her, a door appeared, a rusty metal one, Sara looked at it warily, afraid, the book gave her the wrong vibes, but the urging stares of the woman left her no choice but to walk towards it.

With each step, Sara felt her body growing heavier, a dull pain spreading in every joint in it, holding the knob Sara took a deep breath before opening the door, the dull pain becoming sharper and stronger suddenly, distracted by it, she didn’t notice her surroundings changing until she heard the woman call her name.

But before she could turn back to her, the scene was changed and she opened her eyes in a dark room.