" Tuck in!" Dakran's voice boomed inside the dining room, interrupting, and all eyes went to him.
The clatter of forks and knives scraping against the plates quickly filled the room, and everyone went silent, stuffing food in their faces. Rhya's appetite wasn't much. The guilt she was carrying kept her full enough. Tyla and Athan didn't seem to have a problem since they shoved food in their mouths as if they hadn't eaten anything in aeons. Azra kept poking at a piece of meat on his plate and turned to her with a questioning look.
" Eat it, Azra! It's just meat!" Rhya said with a genuine smile. Her beautiful amber eyes shined with so much kindness that he lost himself in them. Her ebony hair clashed against her fair skin. Her plump red lips were cracked but desirable nonetheless. Azra stared at her for a moment, nodded, and returned, poking at the piece of meat on his plate, stabbed it and reluctantly brought it to his lips, gave it a lick, and made a face at it. He was adorable in his cautiousness.
" Thank you for aiding me!" Dakran raised his glass of wine and looked around the table." To all of you!" his voice boomed in the stone room, and everyone nodded and raised their glass.
" You're not eating! Are you not hungry?" Azra asked, a little worried. Seeing she hadn't touched her food.
Rhya turned to look at him. " Not much!" she briefly answered and took a sip of wine.
" Rhya!" Azra paused for a beat." Are you alright?" he frowned, his eyes raking her face looking for an answer.
Rhya smiled and hummed, " Don't worry about me, Azra!" she turned her attention to the food and stared at it for a few moments.
" You're not one of us!" Rhya said loud enough for everyone to hear and raised her head and looked at Iris and Ian.
Everyone and everything stood still, eyes on her, the silence was suffocating, and she regretted speaking the words in the first place. The guilt was killing her slowly but surely. She had no idea how Tyla and Athan did it, but she couldn't. Not anymore.
Iris let go of her fork on the table with a clatter. " What do you mean? Explain Rhya. Who is not one of you? There are a lot of people at this table!" Iris was increasingly getting frustrated as she spoke, and Ian's deadly stare was boring holes into her skull. If looks could kill, she would have been dead the moment she'd finished the sentence.
" Rhya!" Athan drawled, giving her a disapproving look. Rhya took no notice. She hadn't even bothered to look at him.
Rhya took a deep breath. " You !" she mumbled, closed her eyes, and covered her face with the palm of her hands. She could bear to see the look on Iris's face. Disappointment, sadness, anger, and everything were etched on her expression.
" Speak!" Iris roared across the table. Iris was fuming. She had never seen her this angry.
" We..." she took her hands off her face, her eyes darted to Tyla, then Athan." We knew this would happen!" she cowered in her seat, pushed the plate of food in front of her, and stood up to leave.
" Oh, no! Don't you even fucking dare Rhya to leave? Sit the fuck down right now!" Iris barked, stood up, and walked around the table to where Rhya was. Burning fury emanated from her that she could feel it in her bones. Reluctantly, Rhya sat back down, Iris towering over, looking ready to rip her head off. Not that she didn't deserve it.
Rhya's eyes went again to Tyla and Athan, and Iris felt compelled to follow her line of sight. She didn't know what the fuck Rhya was talking about, but the way she cowered wasn't anything good.
Iris pulled a chair and sat down, turning Rhya's chair to face her. Iris's expression softened on her, almost pitying her. She didn't deserve pity.
" We knew...this had begun long before you came along. We...' Rhya licked her lips and rubbed her temples. " We did something that ..." she paused and looked around the table," the former queen, Hella we, " she paused again. Rhya didn't make any sense. At this point, Iris was inclined to believe the woman had gone mad. The harrowing journey had taken a toll on her.
Rhya closed her eye; her shoulders slumped, " You're not one of us!" she reiterated her earlier words. That's it. Iris thought Rhya had gone insane. The woman was rambling, speaking nonsense.
" Alright!" Iris pursed her lips and nodded." Then, if I'm not one of you, then who am I?" she indulged Rhya in her madness—hoping that maybe she would eventually say something worthwhile. Saho said something similar to her. Perhaps she hadn't completely gone mad.
" We...when," Rhya cleared her throat
" Fuck Rhya, just speak! Stop fucking about!" Ian barked across the table, and Rhya's breath hitched and flinched.
Rhya nodded. " Uhm.....This began before either of us was born. Hella knew this would happen. She had visions of Arkathiras' destruction and what would leave in its wake. Sithrians have never had full control over the source. Our connection to it is not natural. It's forced. The bond that Seth has made between his kind and Arkathira is fading away. It has been for aeons. Yours, on the other hand, is not! You're not a Sithrian; you never were. We," she paused again." Our parents, we were tasked to carry on their work. In their search to reinforce the bond without having to turn to the Guardian of the Hollow. They stumbled upon a realm where a few of the A'Khina people had fled right before Seth sacrificed them in the name of his dreams. A' khina were the only ones who had full control over it. They entered the realm through great sacrifice; they knew we needed someone from your kind in the realm, and they were right. The moment our parents brought you to Ellora, the source sensed your presence and settled. Arkathira lashed across the realm, scarring it, people died, a lot of people died, it ravaged the realm for many millenia finally settled the moment it sensed your presence. Soon enough, everything returned to normal. And then you got taken away, and I'm sure that this time, Arkathira destroyed the realm." Rhya stopped speaking, looking distraught.
Iris was shell shocked; she couldn't find her words. Their betrayal was beyond what she could have possibly ever fucking imagined. It was no small thing to hide for such a long time. They should have told her the truth from the very beginning.
" If I perish tomorrow! I'm taking all of you with me! Consider it a mercy. I will let you die on the same soil you were birthed on!" Iris coldly finally spoke , stood up from her seat, and walked around the table.
" Pack your shit! We are leaving !" Iris thundered, but none moved. They sat there looking at each other, surprised, at her tone and attitude.
" Now!" Iris roared, her fists that up until now were balled up burst into flames, spread down to her legs, across the floor and Tyla, Rhya and Athan jumped out of their chair and scampered out of the room.