Kingdoms End

It was 21:00 hours of the same day, Lizandra’s convoy had arrived the capital two hours ago, but she was asleep on the backseat. Linus had her borne up to the room he’d personally prepared for her and never even woken up in transition. She did wake up now, surprised to find herself in a house instead of a car. She still had on the blue crystal embroidered blouse and black leather trousers she’d been wearing before getting into her birth-father’s car. Her boots were missing from her feet, but she knew someone took them off her for her own comfort.

Lizandra sat up in the bed on which she found herself and was surprised at the majesty of the room within which she’d been sleeping. “Definitely Lord Haavik’s bedroom,” she thought aloud, assessing the space. The bed she sat on was round and very large, 13ft in diameter and covered in white pillows and sheets and two big, white teddy bears. There was a TV stand across from the bed and a wall mounted glass screen hung over it. There was a living room area in one corner, with a ceiling to floor glass which spanned more than half the entire inner wall. The curtains had been pulled aside and the stars were visible through the glass. There was a desk against a section of the wall, with one ornate chair behind it and two simple cushion chairs before it, like in an office. There were some bookshelves behind the ornate chair, one long one which seemed fixed to the wall and two others which stood in front of that one, with enough space between then to give one short row and a spacious aisle There was a fireplace, in which a bright green flame burned. There were three doors in the walls around the room and on the wall, behind the bed hung a large “H” with pictures of late members of House Haavik printed on it, one fading into the other, but each picture enough to give off the full face of the person. There was a set of expertly carved wooden doors which Lizandra knew immediately to be wardrobe doors, though they were quite big. Besides the giant teddies on the bed, everything else in this room spoke of a wealthy, mature and studious mind. Lizandra had been brought up in affluence, her mother’s family was wealthy and her stepfather was lord of a town, but she was neither very mature, nor over studious.

Lizandra was done admiring the room now, it was time to find out which door led out of the space and not into a bathroom. She crawled to one edge of the bed and when she got there, she found her leather boots next to the bed. Rugs were used as sort of demarcations in the room. The bed sat on a rug and so did the office section, the living room section, the area before the fireplace and the one before the wardrobe. The rugs were all the same, purple, with white spots, thick and very soft beneath the feet. The parts of the floor which weren’t covered with a rug, were tiled with white, glossy tiles. The colour theme of the room were white and purple, with a little gold. There was a knock at one of the three doors now and Lizandra quickly noted that that was the main door.

“I’m coming!;” Lizandra replied the knocker, then got to her feet. She crossed the room to the door without putting on her boots. She pulled it open and found a man dressed in the same red armour with the white “H” on the front, which she’d seen on the soldiers who’d arrived Mareda with her birth-father the previous night, or was it the previous day; she wasn’t sure how long she’d slept.

“Sir Linus asks your presence at the main living room, my lady,” said the soldier. Lizandra snickered, she’d never been referred to directly in such a formal manner before, everyone at Mareda either called her Lizandra, or Firstborn. “”You may address me by my name, sir,” she told the soldier. “Sir Linus gave strict orders against doing so, my lady,” the soldier replied sharply. Lizandra couldn’t force the man to do what she said. Then again, it was her family’s soldiers, so she could, but she didn’t want to get into a struggle for power with a msn like Linus, who’d been so nice to her. “Lead the way,” was all she said. The soldier turned and walked down the hall. Lizandra followed him and two of the four guards who stood watch over the door to the bedroom where she’d been sleeping, followed behind her as she went. She was never taxed with security like this at her stepfather’s castle at Mareda, but then she also knew the story of how nearly the entire Haavik family had been wiped out in one day.

The soldier led the way along the well-lit and very wide hallway, until they were passing a glass wall to their left, behind which Lizandra could see a grand living room with a man standing before the massive wall mounted TV that was in there. They came to the set of massive doors to this living room and found three soldiers stationed there, but they weren’t dressed in Bruttite armour. These were the other soldiers House Haavik trained for simpler duties. One Bruttite opened the door and held it open. Lizandra thanked him and went through, then the door was shut behind her. She was now alone with Linus, who was the man before the giant TV screen.

At the sound of the door shutting, Linus turned around and smiled broadly when he saw Lizandra there. “Your father was victorious,” he told her. “Mareda is saved. “-The Queendom celebrates, as the Borduufite’s attempt to take the town of Mareda last night, was foiled and the enemy has fled,-” said the woman on the TV. “-Special thanks go to Lord Greg Haavik of House Haavik, who got there with his family’s elite troops in time to stop the enemies from taking the Lord of the town’s castle and keeping them at bay, until the queen’s military arrived by about sunrise, causing the Borduufites to retreat. There has been no information yet on exactly why Lord Haavik was at Mareda, as the last he was seen was entering the palace of Enders, here in the capital. We......-” The news was cut off, as Linus muted the volume on the TV.

Linus turned to Lizandra who was standing next to him now. “Your father saved Mareda,” he said with joy. “You must be very proud of him,” he told her. “I’m grateful,” she replied, “but I wouldn’t say proud.” “Why not?” Linus asked, his smile vanishing. “Lord Haavik hasn’t exactly behaved like a father who found a long sought after child,” she replied. “Come,” said Linus, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder and leading her to the three seater sofa, facing the TV. Lizandra sat on the sofa and Linus sat next to her.

“First, I’d like to know if you liked your new bedroom,” Linus inquired. “That is my bedroom?” Lizandra asked, very surprised. “I thought it belonged to Lord Haavik.” “Why would you think that?” Linus asked, “there were teddies on the bed.” “Besides those, everything else is so mature and studious,” the girl stated. “I shall handle that, just tell me what exactly you want and it shall be done.” Lizandra got to her feet now and moved toward the glass wall of the giant living room. Linus got up and followed behind the girl. Lizandra got to the wall and stared out at the beautifully lit up city below. “The Haavik manor,” she said, “I’ve heard much about this skyscraper.” “Now, it is your skyscraper,” Linus stated, coming to stand next to the girl.

Lizandra let out a sigh and Linus knew she was still hurting over Lord Haavik’s reactions toward her since they met. “Your father wasn’t always like this,” Linus spoke. “He was a very happy man once upon a time.Once, when our current queen was still just a child, your father’s entire family had been targeted by rebels and wiped out in simultaneous assassinations which also took out the ruling Queen at the time, our current queen’s mother. House Haavik was thought to have fallen, but one little boy had survived, shielded only by the fact that his parents had not brought him along on a planned outing because he was a little sick. House Haavik lived on and so did your father. He had been a happy child, the royal family made sure of it, for House Haavik’s losses had been as a result of their unwavering loyalty to the royal family. Queen Zurnich and your father grew up together, the orchestrators of the mass assassination were either killed, or fled the Queendom.” Lizandra kept her eyes on the scenery below. “I’ve heard that part of the story,” she said gently, “My mother told me.” “Your father met your mother when he was fourteen and she was eighteen. Their love was short-lived, but within that short time, he got her pregnant with you, but never even knew about it. House Burben, your mother’s family, were wealthy and respected. They kept your existence right from the womb, a secret, so as to save face. Your father went on to meet a simple girl five years later, her name was Merri. The last surviving Haavik was in in love with a lady from a simple family, but there were no stuck-up family members to argue it with him, so he just married her immediately. Your father loved Merri so much, but she died a year after their wedding.” Linus stopped here and Lizandra could hear him sniffling. She didn’t look at him, so as to not embarrass him.

Linus turned his back to the girl and dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief. He turned to the glass wall once more. “Please forgive me,sir,” said Lizandra. “I’d ask you to stop this tale since it hurts you so much, but I just need to know the complete story.” “I understand your plight, my girl, you need not bother with apologies,” he replied her. “I met your father when we were just nine and we have been together ever since. I know his pains and he knows mine. We are not brothers by blood, but blood brothers were never as close as Greg and I.” “I understand,” Lizandra reassured him. “Lady Merri Haavik, she was named after the wedding,” Linus spoke next, turning and pointing to a series of medium sized portraits which hung on on a section of the wall. Lizandra looked at the portraits, they were about twelve in number and of the same person: a beautiful, fair skinned woman with bright blue eyes and a beautiful smile. She truly was a beauty to behold and the girl could understand why any man would be so deeply hurt by the loss of one of such beauty. “She was your father’s everything and vice versa,” Linus went on, ” When she died, a great part of your father died with her. He turned into the recluse he now is. He didn’t go outside, socialise, or even eat anymore. Queen Zurnich, who hadn’t been crowned at the time, had to come here and spend weeks with us, forcing your father to live. He only does what she orders him to as his queen and not his friend. He had me dismissed several times, for trying to lead him right, but I just refused to go and fortunately for me, the guards never just decided to throw me out as he ordered.” Linus paused, then continued. “A message arrived about a week ago, that a dying woman had asked your father’s presence at her home, but he wouldn’t go, so I did. The woman turned out to be the one who’d helped your mother’s family in secretly delivering you and organizing your documents. She said she’d heard of your mother’s death and knew that if she too died with the secret, then you’d never be united with your father, so she told me about your mother’s marriage to Lord Berron and your staying with them at Mareda.........everything. I was so glad to hear it. There was yet another surviving member of House Haavik. I told your father and though he didn’t show it, I knew he was happy too. He sent me to make enquiries and that was why I came to Mareda that other day when I came asking for you. I told your stepfather everything and both you and him were happy about it. The rest of the story up to this point, you experienced personally.”

Linus ended his story and the two people were silent for awhile. Lizandra was the one who eventually broke the silence with a question which had been weighing on her mind since her first meeting with Lord Haavik. “Has he ever shown you even the slightest sign of this his love for me which you speak so loosely of?” Linus looked at the girl now, but she still looked out the glass wall. “He was in meeting with the queen and her council when I brought the word to him that you were at the town which was being attacked by the Borduufites. He fears to tell anyone of your existence, so he just rose without the queen’s consent and hurried to Mareda, to save you.” Lizandra didn’t say anything after the reply from Linus, she just stared out at the city.

Linus came close to Lizandra and dropped to one knee, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Your father is a good man, but we have to bring him back from the dead first, before he can live with us again. I need you to promise me that you will help me revive your father, Lizandra. You are my last hope.” The girl looked at the man now, their eyes locking. She held his gaze for awhile, then her lips spread into a smile. “Do you promise to redecorate my bedroom?” she asked. Linus laughed. “You own the house,” he pointed out, “everything in here shall only be as you say they should.” It was Lizandra’s turn to laugh.

Linus got to his feet now, happy with the bonding he and Lizandra were practicing. “Your father should be back by noon tomorrow,” he stated, “you should be there to receive him.” “May I visit my brothers and sisters before Lord Haavik arrives tomorrow?” the girl asked. “It could be dangerous, but I will have it arranged for you,” Linus replied. “Could you please refer to your father as FATHER, or better still, DAD or DADDY? He is your father after all.” “I’ll try,” the girl replied with a smile. “Thank you,” Linus said with a bow, then turned to leave. “I have errands to run, plans to make and this skyscraper to manage,” he said, “You just enjoy your mansion. Ask your guards for whatever you wish and they will see it done.”

Lizandra watched Linus walk to the doors and exit the living room. “What does somebody do with a house like this?” she thought aloud. She went and sat on the main sofa, then picked up the TV remote. Her eyes were drawn to a fireplace in the room, with the same green flame burning in it, like in the one inside what she’d now come to know as her bedroom. She also noticed little, white balls of flame which hovered over floating, silver pans. “Magic in a place like this,” she thought aloud, then turned her attention to the TV screen, putting the volume back on and proceeding to change the channels. Lizandra had lived in affluence all her life,but this was different. House Haavik was arguably the wealthiest family in all of Sanel and Lord Berron’s properties were not as classy or exquisite as what the House Haavik owned. It didn’t matter to Lizandra though, she loved her stepfather; money or no money. The main thing which made this Haavik wealth stand out to her, was the way Linus kept reminding her that it was all hers to command as she so pleased. She was just fifteen, nobody had ever granted her this much control over wealth even half this size.