Page 80 of Legacy of the Heirs
The scene changed. Razik stood, staring through giant glass windows at the view of the Vala mountains in the distance. A knock sounded at the door, and he turned with the king’s crown glinting on his head.
“Iahabi,” he breathed, reaching for Vespera when she entered his study.
“What is this?” she demanded, pressing her lips into a tight line as she surveyed the room decorated to match that of Vala. Razik reached for her hand, but she shrugged him off.
“This is what it will be like, marrying him.” Razik said, gesturing around the room. “The cold, the colour, the furniture. You will lose all the possessions you love—the home you love.” He stepped towards Vespera as tears welled in her eyes. “Themanyou love.” When his voice cracked, Vespera turned her eyes up to meet his, resting her hand on his cheek.
“I do not have a choice, Razik. They have signed the agreement.” He gripped her wrist and rested his forehead against hers.
“I cannot lose you,” he murmured.
Nyzaia swallowed, thrown by the emotion she had never witnessed in her father, only accustomed to the anger he showed towards her and her brothers, or the indifference towards her mother. The image changed, and Razik stood in a pew with tear-filled eyes, applauding the marriage of Vespera and Arion, as they crowned her the new queen of Vala.
Nyzaia glanced at Elisara. Tears rolled down her cheeks at watching her parents marry. The image changed again, yet this time, Razik knelt as he married Nyzaia’s mother, Nesrin. He smiled, but it was not the smile he shared with Vespera. A flurry of memories played out, short snippets of time: moments of laughter between Razik and Nesrin and the same between Vespera and Arion. Despite losing one another, they had found happiness, a happiness she had never seen between her father and mother before. When had her father become so cold
The recollection slowed to focus on a baby in a dark blanket, crying in an open wooden box.Kazaar.The door to the palace opened, and Nesrin stepped out to grasp the baby, shielding him against the night breeze. Nesrin ran down the hallway towards Razik’s study but did not knock, as was custom. She opened the door in a hurry, and Nyzaia watched the moment her mother finally realised. Razik was not in the study that so clearly belonged in Vala. The baby stopped crying as she wandered to the desk, moving the many letters strewn across it, all addressed to or from Vespera. Her face crumpled.
“What are you doing in here?” Razik roared, slamming the door behind him. Nesrin backed against the wall as he approached, yet Razik composed himself, withdrawing from her as his eyes locked on the baby. “Where did you getthat?” He clenched his fists and glared down at the bundle in her arms. Fury rose in her mother’s eyes as they narrowed on Razik. She clutched the baby closer to her chest.
“Hewas on the front steps of the palace,” Nesrin said. She glanced away for a moment and then back at him, raising her chin. “Is he yours?”
Nyzaia shook her head in disbelief as her father jerked his head back. She could not believe he had the audacity to appear offended.
“Of course it isn’t mine!” he spat, his anger returning.
“Well, given the state of these rooms, and how little we lie together, is it wrong to ask such a question?” Nesrin fired back. Razikstrode away from her towards the windows. “You know how much I have wanted a child, but with how little we are together, it is no surprise I have not yet conceived.” Nesrin continued. “This could be my blessing, I could keep—”
“Absolutely not.” Razik cut her off, not bothering to look at her. Nesrin’s expression changed, her fury returning as she scanned the room before looking back at the baby. With a clenched jaw, she looked up at Razik.
“It is her,” Nesrin whispered. “It has always been her.”
“Of course it is her!” Razik yelled.
“Do not shout at me!” she screamed back, rocking the baby.
“I will shout at whomever I please when they enter my rooms.”
“Your rooms?” she spat. “This is a shrine to a queen of another realm.”
“It is a grave!” he shouted, blinking back tears. Nesrin paused as he paced before the window, his fists clenched by his sides. “It is a permanent reminder of losing the love of my life to that realm—to him.” Razik pointed towards the mountains in the distance, and Nesrin’s lip quivered only for a moment before she bit her lip to keep the tears at bay. She pulled her arms tighter around the baby. While Nyzaia never had a good relationship with her mother, she admired her strength in this moment.
“So, it will always be Vespera.”
“It will always be her.” Razik said. “She is the air that feeds my flame; she is the pounding in my heart. She is my everything and nothing all at once,” Razik panted, tears streaming down his face. Nesrin gave Razik a final once over before walking towards the door.
“I am keeping the child,” she declared fiercely. Tears continued down Razik’s cheeks as he opened his mouth to protest again. “It is theleastyou can do.” Nesrin bit out. When she glanced around the room for a final time, Razik closed his mouth, his jaw firm. Nesrin slammed the door behind her.
Nyzaia blinked rapidly as the image changed to the father sheremembered. It was the day he left her outside a brothel to be collected by the Red Stones, the day she began training with them. A younger version of Nyzaia glanced back at her father before they hauled her around a corner. Razik hung his head and sighed before entering the brothel.
Nyzaia stiffened when Isha approached, swaying her hips as she guided the king to a quiet alcove. Nyzaia looked at Soren, desperate to wipe the smirk off her face. To this day, she still did not know what was truly shared between Isha and her father.
Nyzaia was surprised to see Vespera again in commoner’s clothing, sneaking through the palace grounds. She entered a side door and stood outside her father’s study. She knocked in a specific rhythm.
“Come in,” Razik called, and his smile was one of remembered heartbreak as Vespera entered. They both stood awkwardly on opposite sides of the study. Neither spoke as Vespera assessed the room, trailing her eyes over each item resembling Vala. Razik rocked back and forth on his heels, framed by the light from the windows.
“You kept it like this,” she said plainly, her eyes finally meeting his.
“I did,” he whispered. Vespera walked towards one of the blue chairs and trailed her hand over the back.
