Touch of Power (Alythian Legacy #1)

Chapter Fifty Nine: Aftermath

"And Patrick?" I ask.

He gives me a sad smile. "We had a mass funeral for all those who we lost," Kit says. "We took good care of him."

Tears form and losing Patrick hits all over again. I saw the light leave his eyes, I saw how burnout just kills you with no remorse when you have nothing left to spare. And he gave every bit of himself out there. He saved me and I can never tell him how thankful I am for his friendship.

"Freya," Kit says softly, my eyes finding his once more. "It absolutely pains me to tell you that I have to go." I sit up now and scream out against the pain in my arm. "Take it easy, Freya," he repeats.

I shake my head. "You have to go? Go where?!"

Kit watches me with sad eyes. "I have to go to the capital. I have to be crowned."

"Crowned? What are you talking about?" I ask as my mind can't think through anything. Nothing makes sense.

"I have to get coronated, Freya. I have to be crowned king." I stare at him in shock. King. No, no, no. This cannot be real. "I've waited as long as I can; I couldn't just leave not knowing how you were. But Alytha needs answers after what happened. I need to step up as king. We were actually about to leave until you had signs of waking up."

"You were second-in-line. This can't be real."

He looks at me for a long time before saying, "Well since the first-in-line murdered the king and is now currently in hiding, the responsibilities are now mine."

I shake my head. "This isn't fair. You're a prince, not a king."

"It's not what I want either but I can't refuse. I'm the heir to the throne." I let go of his hand so I can put my own on his cheek. Kit leans into my touch and I almost cry looking at him. "I'm sorry for everything," he says quietly.

"Why are you sorry?" I laugh.

His jaw flexes. "I have a job for you, Freya. And this is an official order."

A knock on the door startles the both of us. We turn to see a stern guard stand in the doorway. One look at me and he turns to the prince. "We have to go, Your Majesty."

"Give me ten minutes."

The guard huffs but waits in the hallway. Turning back to me, Kit finally says, "I want you to be my eyes and ears here. I want you to rebuild Glasswood and help the students grow to be the best versions of themselves."

I stare at him in shock. "I'm not going with you?" Slowly his head shakes. "You want me to be a teacher here? I have no experience!" I laugh hysterically.

"You saw techniques no one else saw. I trust you and your skills."

I shake my head. "Why do I have no say in this? Why are you doing this to me?"

"This isn't a punishment, Freya. I need people that I trust here. Things are on edge right now and I need some sort of stability. Just please... Please do this for me." Kit places a hand on my knee and says softly, "I need you safe. And this is the safest place I can think of."

I furiously wipe away tears. "You do understand that we were just attacked here, right? Glasswood isn't safe."

"We have better wards in place, now knowing how they got in. Glasswood is the safest place in the kingdom," he says, his eyes telling me everything. While I've been recovering, Kit has been rebuilding Glasswood and the kingdom as best as he can and I'm delaying him becoming that leader that I know he can be.

Sniffing, I glance away and pout, "You're a bastard, you know that right?" Kit sits on the edge of my bed and pulls me into his chest. For a good solid moment I take in his warmth and wonder when we can have this again.

"I know, I know," he sighs. As he gently rubs my back, he talks about what he wants me to do here and how he'll try to keep contact as much as possible. "I'll have a lot to explain when I get back so I don't know how long I'll be away." He pulls away but I sense his hesitation. Standing a bit off to the side, I now realize his regal clothing and how fitting it looks on him. Kit is really going to be crowned king. He notices my stare and smooths out the fabric in his jacket. "I don't want to go," he says quietly, avoiding eye contact.

I throw my legs off the side of the bed to face him. A searing pain in my right one tells me I'm still not fully healed despite eight days of being unconscious. "Take me with you then."

He shakes his head. "I need you here." By the way he's still not looking in my direction, I now know that what I deduced before is correct: I can't go with him because I'll be a distraction, causing a rift if I were by his side. "Yondou will explain more in the next couple of days. But I have to go, Freya."

He turns to me, expecting a fight or a goodbye but I give him neither. He truly is a bastard for having told me all of this after what I just went through, after so many days of recovering. I can tell he's hurt that he's not getting the goodbye he wanted either with me angrily yelling at him or a tearful one, but nonetheless, he nods and whispers, "Goodbye Freya."

One moment he's there, the next he's gone. Kit can't just leave like that, not after all this time together, not after what he said to me on top of that tower. Stupid bastard.

The person that was in here before walks in and stares at me. "You should be lying down," they frown. But I shake my head. Kit can't leave. He just can't. Not without a proper goodbye.

I stand up and the girl - a healer - yells for me to stay down but I ignore her and the warning bells that ring in my head as my body doesn't want to move. I limp out of the room as fast as I can and hopefully he hasn't gotten too far.

I limp fast as I pant through the halls of the medical building. "Kit!" I shout. My voice is frayed and distraught. "Kit!" I make my ways through the halls until I map out a way that he might have taken. I'm proven correct when I see him down a long passageway just about to exit the building. "Kit!" I shout one more time. The prince - I guess the king - turns and immediately runs towards me. Behind him, the scowling guard continues to frown at us. As Kit approaches, I see the worry in his eyes. Making him stop of few feet away, I gasp, "That was a shit goodbye, Kit."

Kit huffs out a laugh. Then as he steps closer he says to me, "I love you, Freya Ellis. This will not be the end of us." Closing the gap between us, Kit takes my face into my hands and wipes away my stray tears. "I'll come back," he promises quietly. I nod and close my eyes. Relishing in the contact as he gently rubs my cheeks with his thumbs, I grab onto his waist. "I promise you, Freya Ellis, I'll come back. I'll always come back to you."

Opening my eyes again, I make myself look into those mismatched eyes. I wipe away his tears and smile weakly. "Until next time then," I say quietly.

The both of us let go at the same time. Nodding, he too smiles weakly. "Until next time," he repeats. I can tell that he wants to stay but duty calls and I can't let myself get in the way, especially when I know how good Kit is and can be for the kingdom.

Nodding once, Kit turns on his heel and walks quickly back down the hallway. He doesn't wait for his guard to catch up as he exits the building, leaving me utterly and completely alone.