THIRTY NINE

Word Count: 1648

~Akara

I freeze, staring at him as the information sinks in.

"Where is she?" I question breathlessly.

Tai's mother survived, or at least that is what I've been believing since I read Tai's journal, and now, this confirms it. I must have figured it out prior to reading the journal, meaning my distrust of Tai during that time was impossibly high.

"She's staying in the room next door," Grey tells me. "I found out where she was and wrote to her regarding you. Thankfully she came here to speak to you."

I breathe out slowly, processing that. This is just what I need, to talk to someone who has a deeper insight about who Tai is.

"Take me to talk to her," I demand, closing the gap between Grey and I. Maria...I know her name only because Tai uttered it once.

He grabs my arm, stopping me from barging past him and out the door. "Woah...hold on. Can't we talk first?"

"Grey, you need to understand that you and I will never happen, okay?" I tell him firmly. There is no point hiding it from him, that there is no chance he and I will ever be lovers. I wish I could take back what I did and said to him before I lost my memory, but I can't. My heart belongs to Marek, and many kind gestures from someone who is basically a stranger isn't going to change that.

The pain in his eyes makes my heart ache. Regardless of what I think about him, he deserves none of this, and somehow, I'm going to find a way to pay him back for everything, even after how he brought me here.

"But I've done all this for you." He extends his arms, as if to physically encompass everything.

"You also hit me over the head," I remind him.

"I made you a Summoner, and I got the King's mother for you," he exclaims. His hand slips down my arm to hold my hand, grip tightening around it. I watch the movement, noting the feel of his skin against mine.

"Okay..." I breathe out slowly. "Thank you. I mean it."

Grabbing him, I tug him close to me, enveloping him in a hug. He freezes, unmoving for a moment, before he eventually hugs me back. Right now, it's the only gesture I can think of as a way of saying both thank you, and sorry.

When I pull away, Grey appears far less tense, as he regards me. "Come see her now."

Nodding, I follow him from one hotel room to the next, knocking on the door. My heart is pounding, threatening to explode through my ribs as I envisage the woman behind the door. I've always wanted to meet her, even when I thought she wasn't alive. How Tai could lie about the state of his mother only cements how truly evil he is, and likely always has been.

The door opens a crack, a tentative pair of pale green eyes looking back at me through it. I know immediately who I am looking at.

"Wow. You're Tai's mother," I breathe. She is even more beautiful in person, as she props the door open slightly more, looking over me with a sceptical eye.

"I am."

"Can I come in and speak to you?" I ask gently, looking back at Grey, who watches on from behind me. I can imagine he is trying to figure out what is truly going on. He too would have thought Tai's mother was dead, and yet here she is, clearly hiding herself from the public eye.

She nods, motioning for me to come inside the room. "That's why I'm here."

I stride in, steeling myself. It feels strange, to be in the presence of someone who birthed my two greatest enemies. She turns, a grace about her that can only belong to a fallen Queen. It is clear, just by looking at her, that she should have ruled over Kailor, over Tai.

"You're supposed to be dead," I breathe, looking out the view of the window, at the stunning Scarlet Province.

She smiles. "According to who?"

"Tai...Your son, he told me you were dead." He told me she died not long after his brother did, likely of heartbreak. And yet here she stands, appearing stronger than ever. How can a coward such as Tai be anything related to her? In fact, I see more of Vaia as I look into those verdant eyes.

"So you're the girl he was marrying, before the rebellion, right?" She doesn't sound judgmental, although I get the sense that she isn't trying to be kind.

To her, I am not the hero here. I am Tai's betrothed. A man I can't help but wonder if she despises.

"Yes," I rub the back of my neck, hating myself for even having to admit it. These days, it feels embarrassing, to look back upon how naïve I was. "I was told you were dead. Somehow, though, I figured out you were alive, and I knew I had to speak to you."

"Not many know that I'm alive. How did you figure it out?" She folds her arms over her chest, still seeming apprehensive about me.

"I think I was relying on a feeling," I whisper. "I know that sounds foolish, but something was off about Tai, and I knew it."

"My son wasn't always a bad man, I can assure you," she says carefully. I can tell she has thought about this for a long time, perhaps blaming herself for how he ended up. "But I knew his mind was too bright for him to remain so sweet. Something was bound to corrupt him."

"He killed his brother..."

That is not corruption. That is a burning infestation of the most horrific kind.

"At first, I believed him, that it was his brother's idea, that it was Kailor who pressured him. But I no longer believe that," she admits, starting to pace. Even when she is incessant in her worrying, she is elegant.

"Why not?"

"Because I was the one on his brother's bedside while he slowly died from what Tai gave him. He had no reason to lie, and told me Tai had encouraged him until the last moment, even threatening to force him to take the cure," she explains. I shudder, the horror of that slowly sinking in, filling my hollow stomach with nausea.

"He spiked my drink with a variation of that cure. It didn't kill me...In fact, it saved my life when I was forced into the river by your daughter," I tell her.

She frowns, shaking her hand as she looks down at her hands. "He shouldn't have done that..."

The pain etched into her features has my heart aching. It's clear she has carried around the burden of having such a son and daughter for a long time. But I know, despite everything that has happened to me, that none of it had anything to do with her.

"I know he shouldn't." I step forward, pulling her attention back to me. "But now, he has a terrible plan. One that is going to kill a lot of people."

"I know about it. I'm not sure what I can do," she admits.

"You have to help me get through to him. He's conflicted, I can tell," I exclaim. If he is willing to wait with the weapon to win my favour, I can't imagine what he would be willing to do once his mother comes back into his life.

Maria collapses onto the couch, looking as though she can barely hold herself up. "I'm not sure if Tai is worth the redemption."

"You can't just give up on your son."

"I faked my own death to get as far away from him and his father as I could. He thinks I'm dead...I can't go back to him," she insists. For the first time, her composure has entirely vanished, as she now looks panicked.

"I won't even begin to understand the trauma you've been through," I say slowly, approaching her with careful steps. "But you could stop a whole lot of death's, if you help me."

She picks at her dress. "What is your name?"

"Akara."

"Akara. Did you ever love my son?" she asks softly.

I feel my throat dry. "At one point, yes. I did."

"If he dies, what will that feel like for you?" She questions. Now she is looking up at me with a sense of determination in her eyes, one that I can feel all the way to my bones.

"I don't know if he deserves to die. I would like to think that one day, if he is forced to live a humble life, away from power, he could be happy, and not dangerous," I hear myself say. I haven't admitted that to myself before, that I would want Tai to continue living, despite all that he has done to the people around him.

But it feels like it makes sense.

"He will always crave power. He is too smart to live a common life. We leave him alive, he could hurt more people," she tells me firmly.

I take a step back. "You're agreeing, but only if we kill him?"

"I will help you, and if it comes to it, I will kill my son, and you will not get in my way," she says, standing curtly.

Staring back at her, I let the weight of her words settle over me. Were I to turn away from her, I would be turning my back on so many innocent people as well.

I stick my hand out. "Alright. Deal."

💜••💜

Remember that you can always find this story 10 chapters ahead on Radish (:

You will find it under King's Possession Season Three!!

~Midika 🐼💜