Her words rung clear in his mind and it left him feeling unsettled. Elias had to expect this. As much as he told himself not to take it to heart, it was becoming near impossible. It was interesting how different people treated you when they believed you to be less than them. If she only knew the truth. Would it be better or worst for him? Her knowing that he was a prince; albeit a lunae prince at that. The knock at his door was unexpected and had he known it was her, maybe he wouldn’t have opened. The hurt was still so fresh.
He was too exhausted to even be surprised when he first laid eyes on the girl before him. Leaving the door ajar, he made his way back towards his chair, watching over the grounds from his window. A moment of silence settled between them and he was the first to break it. “I thought there was nothing to speak about?” he said, his voice trailing off. “I am but a mere servant boy.”
It was Solis. He had to remind himself of that much. They were conditioned to hate everything about magic, disgusted by its very nature. To be taught to hate your very being for something that you cannot control however, was a terrible fate for anyone. He was lucky he was brought into such an accepting and loving environment. The upbringing of the girl before him,was a very different story. For this reason alone, he did hold some sympathy for her.
He let out a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. “Do you truly believe that I would have gone to all this trouble to assist you, if i was evil?” Elias was trying his best to understand that beyond everything that they had gone through, she still didn’t trust him. “The concern for my people- our people,” he corrected warily. “Is unparalleled, okay? It weighs on me like nothing else.” This much was true. Knowing that the Lunae court had nothing to do with the attack and yet were in the eye of the oncoming storm, caused him the kind of anxiety that others wouldn’t dream of.
He could barely register anything that was happening anymore. He wished for a moment that he had the ability to block out everything. Solis was now in attack mode. The gifted were being hunted and taken at every turn and Elias had to sit through countless hours of blasphemous hatred aimed towards his very own. “-but anything i say is just futile, right? because i am just a servant, not only that but i am cursed with magic. I am dirty and unnatural and i guess i deserve what is coming, right m’lady?” he spat, his words a mess of emotional fury. He felt tears well up in his eyes and he was quick to turn away.
Zara hadn’t known what to expect when he opened the door.
The tension was palpable in the air, and she observed idly that he hadn’t been sleeping, despite the late hour. She didn’t want to delve into why, though, as he made his way over to the window. That was dangerous territory, and her mind was already fraught with various thoughts that came together with jagged edges; not at all.
He said nothing, and she said nothing. We have nothing to speak about. She was right about that, wasn’t she? She believed she was. Then, why was she here? Why had she came to his room in the first place, in the dead hours of the night? She could not figure why, only that she had come anyways; with no logic or reasoning behind her actions.
She was taken aback, as it unfolded before her. She had never seen him or heard him sound so... bitter. It was unfamiliar and uncomfortable, his anger as it escalated. The young woman was used to his softness, and although frustrating, his wit. He sounded exhausted, raw and utterly sullen. She was used to him being a mentor; a reluctant term to associate with him. A guiding hand. Not whoever this was before her very eyes. The man before her very eyes was foreign.
It gave her pause, if only for the sheer shock of it. And his affirmation was not wrong, because he was still a servant, and yet she was still here. Despite her anger, despite the loathing hatred, despite everything. Zara couldn’t tell if that meant more about him or more about herself. Because the truth was this: the problem was not- the problem was her. She had spent her entire life dedicating herself to being the perfect daughter her family needed her to be. Her future was plain and clear before her, a comfortable life of nobility and status and doing what is done for the sake of her family. Her service was stalwart and true to her Princess, to her kingdom.
And yet, she would always be the problem standing in the way of everything. No matter what, that is what it came back to. She was the very thing she hated in this world, and she hated it. Her mere existence would now always be treason, her life so close and yet so far away from her grasp. At that thought, she felt bitterness rise up in her too. She thought about a year ago, of how she had fallen apart, and he had picked up the pieces when the world around her shattered, like a broken mirror.
He had seen her as few people have seen her; vulnerable, and ripped open, and utterly lost. Magic was impure, a defiance of nature and their late king had paid the price for that. “You have magic.” She stated, eyes narrowed at the servant. Her tone was clear, and resolute, and angry. “Who’s to say that you aren’t evil and wicked; that helping me wasn’t part of your plan to destroy our kingdom, to tear apart our people. We were supposed to believe that there was peace, when Lunae were attacking Eden all the same!”
She stalked up to him, uncaring of her damaged hands and shoved him square in the chest. “Has our kingdom’s history taught you nothing? Magic brings nothing but destruction!” She allowed herself to flinch at the use of her title; she was used to him being condescending, being mocking but never with vitriol. Their weight is nothing, because magic is nothing.
Zara watched as he was brought to tears, and he turned away from her, and she still couldn’t comprehend why. “They do deserve what is coming for them even more.” There’s a part of her, shoved away inside of her, that knew there was a thousand words she could’ve said instead. The part she didn’t acknowledge, because admitting it would mean- she shoved it aside, focusing on her hatred, her own fury instead locking with his.
“And you just side with them all the same, and turn against your kingdom? For what? You were wrong, Elias! You attempted to turn me against our kingdom, and you failed. Magic doesn’t belong here, and never will.”
