Chapter 5
Evander couldn't help but wonder if he would ever see his family again. He would like to think that perhaps they were still looking for him, but it had been months, he thought.
It felt like years to him.
But he knew that being kept in a single cell without anyone else to see or talk to for the vast majority of the time could play tricks on a man's mind. Perhaps it had only been a month. Perhaps it had been all of a year.
There was no word or sign of Alyx.
Which, Evander thought, should be impossible. If he were Alyx, he would be burning down the lands all around to find him. He would be killing people indiscriminately to get back to him. He would do everything within his power and his power was great.
Alyx held that same power.
Evander left specific instructions for this very event. Alyx, and no one else in the royal family, had the final say over what happened to the country. Alyx and no one else could raise an army, call on their allies, and tear down villages and cities to search for Evander.
But so far, there hadn't even been a whisper of a whisper.
Sure, there was talk of the Ataton Kingdom and Prince Eamon tending to Alyx and the others and while Evander would like to think the most of his friend and his husband, there was nothing here to do but think.
And consider what possibilities he had left behind.
Eamon was a smart man, a gifted warrior, and if he so chose to ask for Alyx's hand, joining their two kingdoms only made the most political sense. And if Evander was right about the amount of time that passed, no one would even blink at their engagement and wedding. Eamon could protect Alyx and Evander's family in a way that Evander had neglected. Eamon was, in every sense of the word, a better man than Evander.
At least Eamon hadn't been kidnapped by his own father, back from the dead.
So if Evander did escape, which was looking less likely by the day with his failing health and strength, he wasn't sure if returning home was even the wisest course of action. If he were to claim a simple life, perhaps with some livestock, a piece of land, no one would be the wiser. The Ataton Kingdom would have their coffers filled once more by Cerith Kingdom's wealth and the people of Cerith would be protected by the fearsome warriors.
It could be a pleasant life. A simple one, one that he had dreamed of.
Then he remembered that he only dreamed of it so that he and Alyx could be together and live simply, with only each other to love and not an entire nation to carry as well.
The next time Evander was dragged from his cell and thrown at his father's feet, he did not even bother sitting up. Instead he lay on his side and stared at the fireplace and the flickering light there.
"Is there something on your mind son?" Thomas asked.
"No," Evander whispered.
"Did my guards finally beat you senseless?" He pushed.
"No."
Thomas remained quiet and Evander could feel his eyes on his back. "When you pushed me off that bridge that night, I swore that I would drag you down with me. I could not believe that the boy that I raised as my own would raise a hand to me in such a manner. The boy that all the people in my kingdom called golden, raised a hand to his father and struck him down. What would your people think of you if they knew that?"
Evander did not want to point out that Thomas had raised his hand to his own children plenty and beaten them till they bled and or their mother screamed at him to stop before he killed them. Neither did Evander point out that Thomas had almost pushed their country into ruin with his mindless spending and extravagant and unneeded purchases.
"I swore I would take you with me and I thought perhaps I would. Until Edward and your mother pulled you back and the last thing I saw was you and your mother watching me from above as I drowned when all I needed was a simple hand up," Thomas went on. His words were drilling into Evander's brain. Evander closed his eyes and thought of Alyx during their wedding day. "And I thought that was it. I thought that was the end of my time here and that I would go above or below, depending on which god snatched my soul up first."
Evander wanted to snort at the thought of his father being worthy of the goddess above. Instead he blinked slowly at the flames.
"But do you know what happened, Evander? Do you?"
"No."
He had wondered, of course. He thought long and hard about how his father had come back, how he had managed to fool them all.
"A fisherman and his daughter. Their line got snagged on my cloak. I was barely alive for months. The daughter stayed by my side and the father hid me. He kept me alive by lying and she stayed by my side every moment of the day and it was like I finally found my real family, people that were true to me in my hour of need, instead of standing back to watch as I drowned."
Evander wanted to say that there wasn't much of a chance that Thomas would have drowned if he were sober. If he were even close to sober, he would have not drowned. The river was not swift or deep and if Thomas had even the slightest bit of sense, he would have merely stood up.
"The daughter stayed by my side even after her father died and she grew up on the stories of all the ways that you all wronged me. She was the only one who understood my anger and my hatred. After he father died, we moved away, my new daughter and I, to a place where no one knew us. She grew up strong and faithful to me, her father," Thomas stood and then hunkered down over Evander. "Did you know that was all I wanted? For a family to be faithful to me? To do as I asked, to follow what I ordered? In all of your life, you never did that. Hiding behind your mother's skirts, you and all your siblings."
Thomas stood and rocked back on his heels. He stared down at Evander with such an open look of disgust that Evander wondered if this was it. If this was the last day he would be on this earth.
As the thought occurred to him, he began to pray.
I pray to the goddess above, give me peace as I pass on
I pray to the god below, give me strength as I leave those that I love
May my mind be clean
May my soul be righteous
I give thanks and praise to both, for the time I have been given
Give me peace
Give me strength
The words played on a loop in his mind and Evander kept repeating them in his mind even as Thomas continued to speak, "You thought that I was the worst father in the world to have hit you a few times but it only made you stronger. You went up against a man twice your strength and experience and bested him. Did you not? And when it came down to the hard decisions, you chose which one of your brothers went in instead of you. None but the strongest could do that."
"Cade never would have fought York. That was never an option," Evander said and his voice cracked.
Thomas turned away. "A stupid one. He could have killed you. And then what of Alyx? He had nothing to offer, save his body."
"They would have cared for him. They love him as a brother," Evander whispered. He closed his eyes and thought of his siblings, of how good they were and how they would have made Alyx a place in their lives, even if Evander wasn't there.
"That's what they tell you, but you told me you loved me too, didn't you? That you would always follow your king's word."
"I swore fidelity to my crown and country. Never a man who couldn't even rule over his own house."
Evander expected the kick but did not turn away. At this point, it no longer mattered.
"You are a traitor to your father. The man who gave you life," Thomas hissed in his face when he was finally pulled to his feet.
Evander nodded. "But I was always the better king."
Another blow and then Evander was being dragged outside.
"What happened to his daughter?" Evander slurred. He did not expect an answer. "Where did she go?"
He half expected another blow to the head or to be ignored altogether.
Instead, a gentle hand tipped his head upward and through a rapidly swelling eye, he saw Miss Vail.
"I never left his side," she said and her smile reminded Evander of knife.