Chapter 3: What can I do?
>Elayne (Sorin)
-So, here I am, at my ‘father’s’, the former king of the empire, Cedric Maximillain’s funeral.
I look up at my side and see Leonidas standing on the other side of the casket. We both stood at either side of the black royal casket in which the former king was resting and we stood on a slightly elevated stage with about two steps that led up to it where the people from noble families were coming to mourn for the king. A flower was placed in his open casket from each noble family.
I stood there quietly, with a red royal cloak around me that had white fur around its corners. I remember reading it, this was how Sorin dressed. She traveled everywhere with the fear that someone might notice her feminine body and so she kept a cloak around her always.
People secretly made fun of her because of this. It aroused more suspicion than secrecy.
I glanced at Leonidas again.
Indeed he looked like the main character. He should be around seventeen here, yet he has a tall frame with a nice sturdy build. Golden blonde hair and emerald green eyes. A male lead indeed. And just like the male lead that didn’t get along with his brother because the older brother abused him, Leonidas had a cold expression on his face. He didn’t bother looking at me at all and quietly stood in his place as he greeted the mourners.
It’s pretty obvious he’s the favored one here. Every single person coming to the stage to put their flower is going to greet Leonidas but no one came to me. Out of formal courtesy, they would just look at me and nod and I just nodded back.
The people here would have made him the next king if they could, but the law of the country states that the throne cannot be succeeded before eighteen years of age unless he's the last remaining royalty alive.
I wonder if Sorin could have lived if Leonidas was the one who succeeded the throne. I know that she definitely did not have the wish to be king.
Why else would she kill herself?
I know Sorin was afraid, she had hid her identity her whole life and if anyone found that out and exposed her, that means death. Because it also meant deceiving the empire. This is why even the king didn’t know about Sorin’s secret even though he did suspect something but that was not all.
Sorin kept her mouth shut, also because she was not Cedric’s child and she was not related to the former king or Leonidas. Her mother, Olivia had cheated on the king and conceived her. It was something Sorin realized on her own because of a certain incident.
Sorin had a lot of secrets. And while trying to hide them all, she became a monster. A monster she didn’t want to be, but her fears were eating her away. There isn’t a single servant in the palace she hasn’t taken her anger out on and she faced the karma for that.
I stood there by the casket alone, I looked at the people who were looking at me coldly. I will be crowned king tomorrow and I can see that no one is happy because of that.
This is one of the reasons why I hated this novel.
Sorin was such an outcast when she was crowned king yet no one opposed her coronation. I mean if everyone hated her, why not get a meeting going and dethrone her? Well, I guess according to the law they either had to make sure Sorin was dead but that meant killing her. I guess the people weren’t cruel enough to just kill Sorin, well not all of them and so my guess here is that they all are waiting for Leonidas to turn seventeen. Although in the original novel, the wait isn’t peaceful.
I know there are a bunch of them here, who want Sorin’s death too. No one trusts her and there have been a number of attempts to finish her off. Discrete ones but unfortunately Sorin is still here. Well, at least in flesh.
The hall was mostly quiet, the whispers were barely audible but the room was very cold. Especially for Sorin.
I gulped.
I am not her, yet standing where she was supposed to stand gives me a hint of why she was so paranoid. Any person would realize how alone they are in a situation like this.
Any person who looks at me, looks at me with no warmth in their eyes. There is only doubt and schemes. People are looking at me with ill intent and I can feel it in their gazes.
It’s shaking me up.
Sorin’s story wasn’t in the main novel. Us readers didn’t even know Sorin was a female till the time the country gets attacked by the demons and she is running for her life but, she got a spinoff short novel, where we got to read her side of the story and the secrets she held in her.
…
I don’t know why I’m here. Why I came to take Sorin’s place and at a time where there is literally nothing I can do for her. I’m not a smart person, I believe I’m worse than Sorin, at least she was trained to be a king.
Me?
I don’t know shit about politics or accounting or business.
Hell! I couldn’t even do the math when we all had to pitch in money at outings and I have to run a county here?
I scoffed at the miserable situation.
I’m doomed… And so is this whole kingdom.
I glanced at Leonidas again.
He was greeting a count. I looked at them and tried jogging my memory. There should be some of Sorin’s memories in my mind, but nothing is turning up.
I gulped.
I really have no idea what to do. What can I do?
I looked at the crowd again and then looked up at the ceiling to avoid the creepy stares.
‘True Kings’
I tried remembering the novel. It was something I read a while ago so my memory isn’t the best right now but I should try and recall the events that take place right? It’s the only thing that can help me right now.
***
Night fell and after spending hours on what to do, the only thing I could think of was this.
I stood outside Leonidas’s room where I took a deep breath and then knocked on his door.
Leonidas is the main lead of the story and like any other main character, his personality is just and honorable, and that is why I’m putting my hope here.
There was silence first and then I recalled that Leroy stated who he was before entering my room, so I did the same.
“Leonidas,” I called his name, “It’s me Sorin.” Calling myself that felt very weird. It was not my name yet now it was.
There was silence again but his answer eventually came.
“Come in,” He said and I took another deep breath and opened the door to walk in. I closed the door behind me and then looked at him. He was standing in front of his study desk, “Yes?” He asked and I froze.
“Um,” I looked at him but then avoided his gaze, “Look,” I wasn’t even sure what I had to say to him and this all was just making me super nervous. I had hours to think and there was nothing I could think of to make things turn out better for me, except this one thing.
“If you have nothing to say, you can leave, brother.” His voice was calm but it was cold too.
“No um,” I shook my head, “I have something to say.” I said.
“Make it quick then, I have other things to do.” He looked away coldly and I felt the ice between us and I felt the pain of loneliness.
I have a younger brother- I mean, I had one, and I had a very good relationship with him. We got along like best friends even though I was an average idiot and he was an achieving star.
“I’m sorry,” I said and I said that because I had nothing else coming to my mind, “I really am sorry.” Apology was the only one thing I thought might do something for me at this point.
I looked at him and paused. He was looking back at me like I was a zombie or superman or something like that. The look of surprise was very imminent on his face.
“Your what?” He spoke very softly and his tone of voice indicated that he couldn’t believe his ears.
“I’m sorry Leonidas,” I gulped, “I know it's late.” I nodded at him, “And, I know my behavior-” I had no idea how to butter the words up, “-Has been awful.” He didn’t say anything, “But things have changed and I know it might be very late for a new start but-” I looked at him with hope, “-Can we try?”
He had his lips slightly apart as he continued to look at me with disbelief. He then turned his head away for a moment as his brows knitted closer. He was shocked at my actions.
It’s understandable because the real Sorin would never do this. She didn’t apologize to anyone in her entire life and this is why I thought that apologizing might do something.
He turned to look at me again, the cold expression was back on his face, “Leave,” He told me.
Shit…
I closed my eyes in defeat and turned around to leave.
The only hope I had, now shattered.
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