Xenon

They lay on the bed, with the king holding Izel in a protective embrace.

“Do you think about your family often?” he asked as he caressed Izel’s face.

“Sometimes. I try not to think about them too much, since it brings up a lot of bittersweet memories. My parents were decent people, but life was hard and we often didn’t have enough to eat. Some of my siblings didn’t even make it past childhood.”

The king had noticed that Izel was rather thin and not that tall and figured it was due to malnourishment in his younger days.

“My life is here now, Your Majesty.”

The king ran his fingers through Izel’s hair. “When did you enter the palace?”

“About…thirteen years ago. I was eighteen then. Only several years older than His Highness the Crown Prince is now.”

“Oh…”

“At first I was just a regular servant, doing things like cooking and cleaning. The Palace Elder oversaw the rest of us eunuchs. He taught me to read.”

“Oh? I’m impressed. You read so well that I didn’t think you learned it later in life.”

Izel smiled. “He did say that I picked it up fast. None of us had any formal schooling in the village I used to live in, so when I had the opportunity to learn to read, I just went for it. After our daily duties were done, I was allowed to look at the books in the Palace Library. As I became literate, the Palace Elder started assigning me to duties that involved reading and writing. He also taught me to play music.”

The king smiled.

“At some point,” Izel continued, “he started letting me accompany him to His Highness the Crown Prince’s lessons. Eventually, he just let me teach His Highness myself.”

“You’ve come a long way.”

“Your Majesty…”

The king kissed him.

***

As the days went on, Izel spent his mornings instructing Prince Thallios in barbat playing, calligraphy, and painting, and his afternoons accompanying King Xenon to High Council meetings. They would retreat to the king’s chamber to dine in private.

“That son of mine has become more diligent it seems,” remarked the king.

“Indeed, Your Majesty. He is becoming more patient and asks a lot of questions. He seems very curious about the outside world.”

The king smiled, although it seemed to be tinged with sadness. “He’s growing up so fast. Sometimes I feel like I am missing out on key parts of his life.”

“Your Majesty…forgive me if this is too forward of a question, but…”

“Go on…”

“Why do you not interact with His Highness the Crown Prince more often? You often watch him from a distance and ask me about his progress, but you do not actually speak with him.”

The king frowned pensively and turned away.

Izel began to fret. “Your Majesty? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked…please forgive me…”

The king turned back to him. “No it’s fine, it’s a fair question. I wish I could say it was because I myself did not interact much with my own parents when I was the same age…but that would not be the whole story…” He sighed.

“Is something wrong, Your Majesty?”

“...”

Izel looked at him with worried eyes.

The king reached out and caressed his face. “Izel…”

Izel leaned into him.

The king wrapped his arms around Izel. “There’s something…I haven’t told anyone else…”

Izel looked up at him.

“It’s about the late Queen and the visions she had before she passed away…”

***

After the king told Izel about the queen’s prophecies, Izel stared at him in disbelief.

“Your Majesty, you don’t think this will actually happen, do you?”

“I wanted to believe that it was just her fever dreams…but then she passed away within a fortnight as she had predicted. And our kingdom is stagnating…” he sighed. “All the conquering of lands that we had done in the early years, it was all because of her powers.”

Izel looked at him but said nothing.

“When we first married, we were living in Anaptopolis, which is a smaller kingdom further out west,” the king continued. “Neighboring kingdoms would attack us sometimes, and we had to defend ourselves. We sought out the Sword of Ages to protect our kingdom. Once we were able to defeat the other kingdoms, we decided not to simply sit back and wait for them to rebuild their forces and attack us again. My father, King Argon, passed away during this time and I ascended the throne. We consolidated the entire Western Region into one empire and moved our capital to Ishkhandar. I had this grand palace built for my Queen. Once we settled here, she gave birth to our son. It was a joyous day…”

Izel smiled. However, he noticed that the king’s expression became more solemn.

“Although we already ruled over the entire Western Region, my ambitions did not stop there. Also, to support the extravagance of this palace and the empire as a whole, we needed more resources. We decided to send our forces into the Southern Region…” He sighed. “That was our biggest mistake, encroaching into another Goddess’ territory. The Goddess of Earth, the most powerful of all the four Goddesses, cursed my dear Queen and she fell ill. The illness slowly brought her down over the years until it finally took her life.”

Izel looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

“Ever since she passed away, I sometimes wonder if it would have been better if I had never met her. Or if I should have just left her alone in the mountain where her temple was…”

“But Your Majesty, you did love the Queen, did you not?”

“I loved her dearly, more than life itself. But if I hadn’t been so earnest in courting her, she might still be alive now…even though we would never have seen each other again…”

The king turned his gaze toward the mosaic of the queen on the wall.

“She did originally warn me that priestesses were not supposed to engage in relationships or involve themselves in the affairs of the world…and she said that the palace would burn in the end and that Thallios would be hunted down…” He turned to Izel. “Perhaps you can see why it is hard for me to interact with my son, knowing how it will all end…”

Izel stood still, unable to respond.

“Unless the other part of the prophecy comes true, the part where the stranger from the Eastern Region rescues him…” He turned his gaze downward. “I often wonder if I am cursed to bring everyone that I care about down with me, if that was the price to pay for being too ambitious…” He looked back at Izel. “Oh…”

“Your Majesty?”

“I’m afraid…”

“Afraid, Your Majesty?”

“Afraid that something will happen to you too…”

“Me?” Izel approached the king and embraced him. “Your Majesty, growing up in the circumstances that I did, every day that I am still alive feels like a blessing…”

The king pulled him in closer. “Izel…”

***

In his dream, the king saw a lone figure standing in a golden field. The figure turned around, revealing her face. It was the queen.

“Selenia,” he murmured. He made his way across the field and as he was about to embrace her, she disintegrated into wisps that were carried away by the wind.

“Selenia!” he cried as he awakened and sat up in bed. He breathed heavily in the darkness of the chamber. Putting his face into his hands, he began to sniffle.

Next to him, Izel opened his eyes. Ever since he told me of the Queen’s prophecies, he has been having many nightmares. How lonely it must be for him to have to hide this vulnerability from everyone.

Izel sat up and gently caressed the king’s cheek. The king turned and embraced Izel, burying his face in his hair.

“Izel…”

“Your Majesty…”

The king leaned back and cupped Izel’s face in his hands. “You can just call me by my actual name.”

“Oh…but isn’t that…improper?”

“When we’re alone…it’s fine…”

No one calls the King by only his name, other than the Queen, Izel thought.

Seeing Izel’s hesitation, the king added, “I would be happy if you did…”

“Xe…non…” Izel said shyly.

The king smiled and kissed him.