Chapter 30 - The King

It all goes silent, so silent one could hear a pin drop. Everyone present, holds their breath; including me. 

The steps of the king, fade towards the direction of the throne. The horn is blown again, and everyone bows deeply; and I follow suit. I could see Holden do the same from the corner of my eyes, but I don't react.

Everyone takes their seat, and there's suddenly a weight of tension in the air.. or rather water. It was so thick you could use a knife to cut through it. I train my eyes to look at anywhere else but Holden's eyes as I try to listen in on the announcement, this king had to make.

"I welcome all the representatives of the states of blueblood. I want to thank you, for making out time to attend." There's a pause, and I can't deny the fact that this King's voice sounded awfully familiar. Almost like... 

In front of me, I could visibly see Holden stiffen as well, perhaps he had sensed it too. Before, I could draw any further conclusions, the voice of the king cuts through my thoughts. 

"I have assembled you all here to make an announcement, one which is crucial enough to decide the future of we bluebloods." Now he had my full attention, I couldn't help but be filled with curiosity about what this whole announcement was about. And most importantly, why did Myst want me to be present here?

I look up, turning my gaze to the King, who had a mask on his face. A foot on a stool at the feet of the throne, and the other on the ground. A hand placed on the handle of the throne seat, and the other on his right thigh. His sitting posture, giving off an authoritative aura.

"The moment we all have been waiting for, the most critical time of this century... The heir to both races, the one who can end this long started war, has returned to us." He said, turning his head to me, and my breath gets caught in my throat. 

My eyes lock with his, before the weight of his words set in as I feel the eyes of everyone in the room turn to me.

"Me?" I ask, feeling ridiculous about the whole thing. He nods his head slowly, and I could hear the murmurs of the people.

I was the heir... the heir my grandpa had told me about?

I was still in shock and couldn't believe it.

"Trigon will be upon us soon, and we will be left with no other option than to fight." I hear the king say again, causing me to lift my gaze from my hands and stare at him. He was on his feet now, that's when I notice a sword strapped to his waist.

 One I hadn't noticed earlier.

"I can't guarantee our victory, but I believe with her return; despite all the losses we will have... we will surely defeat him." He said with so much conviction, that I nearly believed him for a split second.

"But how, your highness? Our soldiers aren't strong enough to fight, and the able ones are still in recovery from the previous attack." I hear one of the representatives say.

My eyes widen in realization, Trigon had attacked the bluebloods not too long ago. The king just nods at the flaw his representative had pointed out. 

"I am well aware of that fact, we have more little ones than youths. This could prove to be a liability to us all." The king states, " this means, Trigon will probably attack the little children first to make us drop our guard." I say subconsciously, without realizing it before I could stop myself. 

I don't miss the surprised looks all the twenty representatives shoot at me, but I was least worried about that now.

"Correct." The king concluded.

"It means, he's already aware she's here." I hear Holden's voice, something I didn't realize I'd missed. The king nods at this observation, before returning to his throne.

"We have to gather as much man power and train as many soldier as we can. If my estimates are correct, war will be upon us in a month's time." The King says, as a matter of fact.

Suddenly, Myst's eyes rest on me and so do the eyes of everyone else present in the throne room. 

She swims slowly from the side of the throne, to where I was seated. Her hand outstretched towards me., which I reluctantly take. I stare at her with uncertainty once I'm on my feet.

"Are you ready for this responsibility, Mystic?" She suddenly asks, and I blink taken aback by the question.

"What do you mean?" I ask, my heart thundering in my chest. 

"You're the heir, Mystic. You're the queen." She says softly and I stiffen.

Me? A queen?

The King slowly gets up from the throne, and everyone present gets to their feet. Including Holden. 

He carefully and slowly descends the throne and makes his way towards me.

"What's going on?" I ask, already panicking. But no one answers, as a matter of fact, they all bow their heads as the king makes his way towards me.

He stops a few steps away from both I and Myst, before unstrapping the sword from his waist. And stretching it out towards me, I stare at it in shock.

What was he doing? He was the king!

Just then, he does what shocks me more. He falls to his knees, and I gasp. "Will you accept your throne back, your highness?" He asked, bowing his head as he stretched his hands with the sword in them towards me.

I stare at it for a few seconds, before turning to glance at Myst. She gives me a reassuring squeeze, then I turn towards Holden. He gives me a small reassuring smile.

I finally turn my gaze back to the kneeling King, who was currently handing his throne over to me. I close my eyes, inhaling deeply before opening them again. I pull my hand out of Myst's grasp, then carefully take the sword from his hands. 

The moment I do so, everyone falls to their knees, heads bowed. 

"Welcome back, My queen." They all chorus. 

I gasp, scanning everyone in the throne room. "Your throne awaits, my queen." I hear Myst say, I turn to her, to see a smile on her face. Then she leads me to the throne seat, and makes me sit on it.

"Hail your queen!!" She yells at the top of her voice and they do.

----

Soon after the meeting is over and everyone is dismissed. And we all have concluded a strategic plan to take out Trigon's army, I turn to face the king who had stepped down from his throne willingly for me.

"Why did you do that?" I ask, and could feel both Holden and Myst tense.

"Because it was never mine to begin with, I only took charge temporarily waiting for your return." He said, and I get to my feet.

"Who are you?" I ask, taking intimidating steps towards him.

"I'm your servant, your majesty." He says, bowing with a knee on the ground.

I clutch my fists in restraint, "I didn't ask of your status, I asked for your identity. Your name." I say, and there's silence.

"You really want to know?" He asks me, standing on his feet now.

"Yes, I do." I reply, he places a hand on his mask, and then slowly pulls the mask off his face.

I gasp in shock, too surprised to even move.

"You?" I hear Holden ask, he nods and I stare, and stare at the man in front of me.

"Yes, he is my husband; Kylan and your former king." Myst says from my side.