Kaelos remained standing, tension thrumming in his shoulders. His jaw clenched and his eyes flicked once to the door Elara had walked through — as her absence had left a hole in the room.
"Why did you send her out?" Kaelos asked, turning to his mother.
Alaina's hand came without warning—a sharp slap across his cheek.
Kaelos staggered back half a step, his eyes widened. The sting burned across his cheek, but it was the betrayal in her eyes that cut deeper.
"That is for humiliating me," she hissed, her voice low and trembling with fury. "For humiliating your father. For humiliating your wife. For humiliating this kingdom. People saw you yesterday—storming down the corridor like a spoiled child chasing after some common—"
"Don't," Kaelos snapped. "Don't you dare finish that sentence." His voice cracked like thunder between them. The air in the room suddenly became thick.
Alaina's eyes flared. "What do you want me to call her, then? That girl you've paraded around like a badge of rebellion for years? That distraction you couldn't let go of even after your wedding night?"
"You know I love her, Mother!" Kaelos yelled. His voice thundered across the room. "You've always known. And instead, you caged me in this gilded prison and expected me to smile through it. I didn't choose this marriage."
"No," Alaina said coldly. "But you chose to shame your wife. You chose to make a spectacle of yourself. Do you think that because you feel something, you are entitled to everything? That love excuses weakness? It does not." She spat.
"You call it weakness," Kaelos said, bitterly, "I call it honesty. I never lied about who I loved. You all just pretended not to hear it."
"And what good has that love done?" the Queen shot back. "Has it built a kingdom? Has it given you strength? Has it united a divided nation? No—it has left you torn between two women and incapable of honouring either."
He glared at her, his chest heaving, but he had no answer.
"Get out of my sight, Kaelos," Alaina said, her voice low and trembling. "Before I forget you are my son and speak to you as I would any other man who disgraces his crown."
Kaelos took a step back, his eyes not leaving his mother's. "Very well." He said, he bowed slightly and walked away without looking back.
Alaina jumped as soon as the door slammed behind him.
"That child." She muttered to herself. She held her chest as though she couldn't breathe.
She thought of Elara's face as she spoke.
She had told Elara to see her like a mother and now, she had spoken words she couldn't take back.
She had to make it right — she thought to herself. It was the noble thing to do.
______
The palace gardens were still, touched by the golden hush of the evening. A breeze stirred the lavender bushes, carrying the scent of rosemary and sun-warmed stone.
It was the only place in the palace that didn't feel like it belonged to someone else.
Elara stood near the low marble wall at the edge of the terrace, her hands folded before her, her gaze fixed on the horizon.
She had been there a while—long enough for the hem of her gown to soak up dew from the grass, long enough for the weight of the crown to ease from her shoulders just slightly.
And then footsteps approached, soft and familiar.
"I thought I'd find you here," Queen Alaina said gently.
Elara turned her head but didn't smile. "Your Majesty." She curtsied. "I needed air."
Alaina didn't press. She stepped beside her and leaned slightly against the stone rail, letting the silence settle between them.
After a beat, she spoke again—quieter now.
"Elara… I owe you an apology. I know I can be sharp when I speak. Today especially. I didn't mean to be cruel."
Elara stared ahead, not trusting herself to meet her gaze. She shook her head slowly. "It's fine, Your Majesty. I understand. You're doing your duty. You're protecting the crown. And your son."
Alaina looked at her with something unreadable—regret, maybe. Or recognition.
"Yes," she said, almost to herself. "But sometimes, in protecting those things, we forget the weight they place on others."
Elara didn't answer. She only looked out again, to where the trees kissed the far-off hills.
"I keep thinking," she said, her voice softer now, "that if I stand here long enough, I might see Alderidge." She paused. "But I never can. It's too far."
Alaina glanced at her. "What would you see, if you could?"
Elara let out a breath. "The lake, mostly. And the fireflies. In summer, they'd fill the air like falling stars. My mother used to say they followed me because I was brighter."
A small smile touched her lips and faded just as quickly.
"I didn't think the crown would feel like this," she confessed. "So heavy. So… lonely."
Alaina's hand came to rest on hers—light and grounding.
"I've watched you since you were a girl, Elara. I knew even then you'd wear that crown. But I also knew it would try to swallow you whole." She paused. "Let it sit heavy for a while. But don't let it shape your heart."
Elara looked at her, something tentative and uncertain behind her eyes.
"And if it already has?"
"Then shape it back. Or let someone help you."
Elara gave her a look then—not quite doubt, not quite hope. Just rawness.
Alaina understood it at once. Her voice softened even more.
"I know things with Kaelos are… difficult. And I'm not blind to what you're walking into. But you must fight, Elara. Not for the kingdom. Not even for me. For yourself."
She touched Elara's hand again. "You need to show him that you are worth everything he thinks you are not. You are his wife. One day, you will be queen. And you are not someone to be cast aside. Work with him. Be with him. Stand by him, through thick and thin. You need to be by Kaelos' side. Always."
Elara opened her mouth—then closed it again. Her throat tightened, and her chest ached as if holding something too heavy.
But the words slipped out, small and shaking.
"What if he never learns to love me?"
Queen Alaina stilled.
Elara looked away quickly, but it was too late. Her eyes were already brimming. She blinked fast, but a tear slipped down her cheek. She swiped at it with the back of her hand, as if embarrassed.
"I can try to be strong," she said, her voice cracking. "I can fight for this marriage, for this kingdom—for him, even when he won't fight for me. But what if it never matters? What if I'm always… invisible to him?"
She choked out a breath, one hand pressing against her mouth as though to hold herself together.
"I don't want to be just a symbol. I want—" Her voice failed again. "I want to be seen. Chosen. Loved." She began to sob. More than she expected.
Queen Alaina said nothing at first. Then she reached out, Her fingers curled around Elara's trembling hand. She wiped the stream of tears coming down from Elara's face.
"Then make him see it," she said softly. "Make him see you. And do it over and over again until he knows you are here to stay."
Elara nodded rapidly.
"Oh, dear heart. It is alright." Alaina said, enveloping Elara in a tight hug.
Elara didn't speak again. But she leaned just slightly toward Alaina, and the older woman stayed beside her, silent and still—two shadows beneath the summering sky.
Lost in the mystery of one man - Kaelos Pendrell.