Aliya's Shoes-Chapter 578: A promise is a promise! (2)

Though they did not understand the culture of these new people, the team took in everything around. For Geneva and team, it was the swirling red and colourful skies that were unsettling.

But apart from that, they could not get enough of how little Faes zapped around all in a hurry. The castle hummed with a strange rhythm, part festival, part battlefield drill. Servants darted through the torchlit halls, arms laden with bolts of shimmering cloth that looked less like fabric and more like woven moonlight or some sort of strange lights.

They were led along winding corridors and started to even think that they were lost. Geneva and Alex gradually lost their apprehension, especially seeing how many more elders had joined to lead their entourage and how Ian was being literally worshipped as they moved.

They entered a great chamber, where seamstresses seemed to be at work. They were so tiny that all Geneva could make out were flies zapping around a large cloth suspended in the air.

Shelby turned to Fab, signalling that he should stay.

"Gabriel, Ingrid? Stay with Fab in this place, while Mummy goes to complete her task, okay?"

Ingrid was a bit down, but she understood. Gabriel, on the other hand, couldn’t care less. He was already running around the room as if he were already familiar with the place.

Fab bowed, then turned to the children, explaining, "This is the moon-cloak; they are pulling strands of stored moonlight taut and knotting them with dew-thread before it, using it to make this." Just then, one of them hissed when the thread burned her fingers, and another immediately pressed a cooling patch to the wound, soothing it before the light unravelled.

Geneva had one ear trained on this conversation as they exited the place. Shelby had kept Samantha with her because she had become like an extension of Shelby. She also knew that with their new statuses, no harm would befall the children at all.

Beyond the chamber, slightly bigger beings circled the throne itself. The ancient seat was a little different from what they had seen last. It was carved from living oak and veined with crystal.

A high priest and one of the elders were already in place. They paused as he pressed his forehead to the wood and whispered a few unintelligible words, as the throne’s veins lit up.

Before they could watch more, the elders received a command from Ian; each tapped one human, while Ian carried Shelby. Soon they all found themselves in a large part of the dungeons. It was one of the darkest parts, but at this time, it was lit with numerous torches all around.

That was when Geneva saw him. She gasped and placed her palm on her lips. He did not look like he had aged a day! The strange man who had stolen her heart.

Alex looked at the face that had haunted his dreams and waking moments for the better part of a decade. He was not even sure why he had made the trip to this fairy tale land, but at the back of his mind, Alex knew that it was for Geneva and maybe himself?

Isolde, who had very much kept to herself, only took a casual glance and then found herself on a seat, and looked on. Though it was a casual glance, she had ensured that there were no hidden dangers around before she let them be.

Brad was marvelled beyond measure. He looked at the seemingly sleeping figure and then at Ian. He understood one thing at that time. It was because Roman was not in the picture that no one pieced the truth of Ian’s lineage together. Ian had taken some of his looks from his dad, but mostly from Geneva as well.

In that moment, Brad sighed, knowing that had Roman come back, he might not have existed. The man was pretty, and even in that form, he could feel a strange commanding aura coming from him.

’Dad would have never stood a chance against that!’ he thought, shaking his head.

The dungeon was no place for peace, and yet there he was, managing to make it so. Seated cross-legged on the cold stone floor, head bowed as though in prayer, his features softened into a calm so uncanny it made them all hesitate.

The sight caught their voices in their throats. Without meaning to, they lowered their steps, as if any sound might shatter the fragile calm. But every one of them knew: Roman was no longer among the living. The stillness was too absolute, the silence too deep. He was indeed long gone.

The torchlight gilded his face in gold, casting him not as prisoner but as saint. The first and any other instinct was to hush, as though even a whisper might disturb his sleep.

An elder, braver, or perhaps more stubborn, and wanting to demonstrate, stepped forward. "Illusions," he muttered, raising a hand, as if reaching for Roman’s shoulder might banish the false serenity.

The instant his foot crossed the faint ring of shadow circling the body, the air buckled. A crack like lightning ripped through the chamber, and the elder was flung backwards as though struck by a giant’s fist. He hit the flagstones hard, the breath torn from his chest, eyes wide in shock.

Around the figure, the shadows rippled and settled once more. Roman remained unmoved, as if the violent outburst had never happened, as if he truly were only sleeping.

No one else dared to approach, except Shelby.

Ian let her, but she had only taken a few steps, and she held out her hand for Geneva’s.

"Mum?"

Geneva seemed to have grown weary, but she took a hesitant step forward.

As soon as the two women stepped into the glow, Roman’s eyes snapped open. They were glassy, unfocused, yet ’alive’ enough to make the chamber freeze.

Shelby held her ground as she had seen such before; one hand was on the necklace that was pulsing steadily under her hand. Geneva gasped and stumbled backwards, her composure breaking under the sudden weight of his gaze, but he smiled.

"You came... my love," he whispered, voice low and trembling, but his gaze fixed on the older woman who had retreated. For a heartbeat, the chamber was only breath and silence. Then he faltered, his lips twitching into a half-smile. "Ah. No... I cannot call you that, can I?"

He shifted, eyes sliding past her to Alex, who stood rigid a few feet behind her. His tone softened to something both tender and cruel. "But you know," he said, every word deliberate, "you will always be the only love in my heart, no offence, Alex."

The light flickered against his face, serene once more, and the hollowness of his eyes revealed he had never truly returned. He was gone, long gone. And yet...

Alex, who knew his wife’s loyalty beyond question, still felt something sharp twist within him. It was absurd, impossible, the man was dead. And yet the confession, the claim, cut so deep it was as though he himself had been reduced to a shadow in their love.

"Do not worry. I should be long gone. It’s just a little piece of myself left. I really wanted to see them at least once."

He said as his eyes travelled to Ian.

"Shelby told me all about you, Ian. I am glad to have met you once."

Ian nodded, holding the gaze of the man who had birthed him.

Roman remained quiet, but his face showed all the emotions that were going through him. He was as bare as could be. Everyone there could feel his love for the family that he never got to hold.

"You selected a lovely wife... cherish her."

Ian nodded, for once not trusting himself to speak.

"You don’t need to say anything. I know what is in your heart, and there will always be a part of me in you, my son. I am happy to see this day at least, no matter the form that I am in. I hope you bear no grudges against what has already happened...."

"Too late, old man!"

Roman let out a hearty laugh. His laugh and his relaxed face were so bright and carefree that all were captivated.

"You got a part of me that my shadow warriors would have loved! Decisive and Ruthless! I know that your heart is clean and your judgment on things will never be wrong. With Shelby by your side, I know your path ahead is clear."

Father and son shared a look that only they could understand.

Roman turned back to Geneva, adding,

"I didn’t mean to thrust you into my world, but I could not get you out of my mind and heart. I was in too deeply before I could catch myself. I want you to know that, nothing was your fault, Geneva. I chose you, and I understood the risks. Fate had a different story for us, but I’m happy that I at least had that time with you. Live a happy life, that is the only thing that will make me fulfilled."

Geneva frowned, seeing that his aura was dimming, but he continued, his smile as bright as ever. Though a strange occurrence for the humans, they were all caught up in the moment of the emotion and not about its oddity.

"I never broke my promise, Geneva! I wanted to tell you that. I would have come to you if I could, but I’m glad that I left a part of myself with you as a testimony that I was there!

Though I didn’t want you to go into the arms of another, I also didn’t want you to face the world alone. I know that our son had the best of life in your hands. Thank you for loving me and keeping him!"

Then his gaze moved to Alex,

"I apologize for coming into your engagement. There is no excuse of ’I did not know.’ I found out with time. My action then went against everything I believed in, but she was worth it! I’m sure you protected and cared for her throughout the years I couldn’t be there. I’m grateful for that, and I will always love you, my sweet Geneva."

Alex lowered his head, his face also filled with nostalgia. Roman was a good man, for how many men apologized for such? To Alex, he was the one who had come between them. Alas, the good ones never lasted long enough.

Roman stared straight at Alex, as if he could see through his thoughts and the two nodded.

The moment stretched, and then the strange vitality drained from him as though some unseen hand had snuffed out a flame. His message was done. Nothing was holding him to his world again.

His eyes dulled, lids half-lowering, and his body shifted back into that uncanny pose of meditation. This time, the illusion was gone. What they saw before them was not a man lingering between worlds, but a husk, serene in its final stillness.

The chamber, heavy with breath and fear only moments before, now felt cold. An elder bent low, testing the air again, but the force that had thrown the other earlier was gone. Nothing stood between them and the body now.

They knew then. He was truly gone.

All of the elders who had been watching lowered their wings, lying flat down to show reverence.

By dawn, the decision was made. He would be laid to rest in the royal cemetery as an honoured past king. The weight of his presence lingered, unsettling and unshakable, but the rituals of the court would claim him as their own

It was at this time that Geneva’s eye caught the pulsing rings on Shelby and Ian’s fingers. She shook her head as if to clear her mind of the unnatural things that she was seeing.

*********

Thank you so much to all for your votes and comments! I hope we can keep it up ^_^

Support the author by reading only on Webnovel :) ~Uploaded only on novelkiss by Loctovia ~