Caught up in Elmah’s glare, Liah lost sense of what was happening.
She couldn’t tell how much time had passed, or if it did at all. She only knew in that moment she couldn’t move. It was hard to put in words — being caught in a space between awareness and incomprehension. It was like her mind was awake, but her body was asleep — dead infact.
The moment their eyes lost contact, She saw the Young Lord on the floor — almost completely lifeless, very different from how he was just moments ago.
Beyond him where she was almost sure she had caught a glimpse of His Highness, he wasn’t there. He wasn’t anywhere — he had completely disappeared with no trace.
The soft click sound of the door behind her interrupted her unique state. It wasn’t just her. The two Doormen were also caught in a pin hinch.
They were still in the processing of the sudden ’middle appearance’. They were too engrossed and didn’t notice an approach to the door, until its click sound brought them back from the many waters they were drowning in — and to think they missed another approach. They really had a lot to add to their report.
Looking back it was the Queen.
Though Liah was a bit disoriented she was able to snap out of it and made a bow to Her Majesty.
At the same time she was looking expectantly hoping to see the Prince alongside the Queen. That way she could just theme this entire saga as her imagination — probably from stress.
"Where’s Ajab?" The Queen asked shattering her entire hopes.
The Royal Hall of Rites— referred to as The Royal Rites Palace— though meant to be a room, it stretched with the openness of a hall, framed with doorless archways.
Each archway today had two Eunuchs at each sides adorned in plain mourning attires— moon-whites.
Seeing the Young Prince walking towards them they were first shocked seeing him come alone.
Getting closer they bowed deeply
"Your Highness"
Oblivious to their greetings Ajab walked past them into the Hall.
From the inside, the Hall looked more stretched than it did from the outside. The carvings inscribed on its walls gave it an ancient feel, the stone-lights placed uniquely round the room caused specific spots to receive more lights than others and more so at the very center of the hall in a circular shape — like a moon pool filled with white stone-lights.
In that moon pool, a tidy, unmoving figure— too neat for sleep, too quiet for life— was placed decoratively in an almond carved box.
With his focus unfazed and his steps steady, Ajab walked straight to the foot of the box. His gaze settled on it. His eyes were cold and dry, its chill could freeze the room.
Tim...tim... Despite the dripping of time, his gaze remained settled, unfazed till they turned— nothing changing, just that it was now directed at living souls.
Now that he turned his gaze to actually look he discovered the room was actually overly flooded with beings in white robes — the Eunuchs.
They all stood in a massive circle that surrounded the moon pool. He turned to the lifeless corpse of his grandfather again but this time, not at the corpse itself, but at the figure that had been standing at the head of this corpse — the King.
The King was dressed in White Robes with golden linings all through the edges.
Maybe it was the clothing or maybe the lighting of the room, but what stood there in those gold lined robes was a dignified entity that had an aura of supremacy about him. It felt like before him even death would cower, the only reason this death had stayed just might have been because he only arrived later.
Just like the Prince his gaze was cold and its chill could be felt from many a distance away.
He had not taken his eyes off the corpse since the Prince arrived, and from the way his eyes looked dry, it seemed they had been that way even way before the Prince walked in.
Looking blanking at his father Ajab’s expression remained the same—the cold look in his eyes didn’t flinch despite his blink.
After his second blink—which seemed to have taken its time before arriving— he bowed without any ulterance, not waiting for any one too, he turned to leave.
Just as when he had gotten in, the circle broke into a pathway for him to walk through with bowed heads lining up till the end of the archway.
No one bothered to look at the Prince’s face, if they had not been Eunches who at the moment were conscripted to the task at hand, the sheer chill from him was enough to cause them to leave the hall— who knew if it meant they’d loose a head just from a stare... from such stare, not that it had happened before, but a mantra that has never failed remains a mantra for a reason: "better safe than sorry".
They could only watch his back as he exited the hall.
Getting to the door of his chamber, soundful murmurs crept out from the slightly opened doors of the chamber opposite his — Elmah’s.
Maybe he heard them, maybe he didn’t. His cold eyes hadn’t settled and his attention was rather bleak.
Walking up straight to his balcony he didn’t notice the clear figure that sat legs crossed on his bed.
Seeing him walk past her, her face dimmed as her heart got heavier— she really had to do something.
Walking out to the balcony she found him lost in a gaze—one not drawn towards the skies, but fixated on the vast city.
She took in deep breaths before forcing a smile
"I figured you’d eventually be here"
She said as took a few steps to draw closer — close enough to be able to perceive his view but still at a distance from him
"You do realize being that close to the balcony isn’t allo-"
"Mother" His voice was dry—not from strain, but from plain detachment. "Why do I feel nothing?" He asked
The smile she wore completely shattered as it was replaced with twitching lips, as her eyes began coloring.
"It- You mean the void you feel?"
Seeing as he didn’t even turn to spare her a glance, she could barely hold back her formed tears as they bagan escaping.
"I... Mother is sorry. Mother... doesn’t have words that can comfort you" she tried to ensure the crack from her tears wouldn’t affect her voice, but she failed miserably as she even began sniffling.
Hearing his mother’s whimpers and the sorrow her voice carried— laced with the sharp inhales.
Maybe for the first time since he got the news, his attention remained in the same space with him.
He turned his neck lifting his chin slow to meet her gaze. The slide tears flowing like a fountain caused something in him to crack. Like a stranger in his own body he saw it leak tears from one of his eyes.