My Dragon Cultivation System: Rise Of An Empire

King Tharyn noticed Aeron's stare and where his eyes kept drifting. His voice was calm.

"We are alone here," he said. "Only you and I. If anything happens, no one would suspect you. So if that is what you want, what you truly want… then do it. Go ahead, son. Do it."

Aeron's hands tightened at his side. His heart pounded in his chest. The anger in his voice cracked as he shouted, "I am not your son!"

"Of course you are not," Tharyn answered, almost too quickly. His eyes did not flinch.

There was silence between them before Tharyn spoke again. "I can imagine what you are feeling now. Standing face to face with your father's murderer. The man who betrayed him. The man who ruined your life. I understand that feeling."

"No, you do not! You cannot understand!" Aeron said to him cruelly.

"Yes," Tharyn said firmly. "Yes, I do. And that is why I came here. To see you, the son of Lucian."

He took a slow step closer.

"How could I not?" Tharyn whispered. "How could I not face you? You are the offspring of the man who was like a brother to me."

"And yet you killed him," Aeron snapped, his voice still trembling.

Tharyn lowered his eyes. His shoulders sank. "Yes. I did. I did… and I regret it. My whole life I have done terrible things, but the most painful of them all was sentencing your father."

The room became silent. Then Tharyn lifted his head again. "I have never apologized to anyone outside of the Royal Family since I became King," he said, with his voice thick with emotion. "But I will do it now."

He bowed his head slightly. "I am sorry, Aeron. For killing your father. For breaking your family. For being the reason your childhood was filled with pain. I am sorry."

Aeron's chest rose and fell. He could not speak.

Tharyn raised his hand slightly, then let it fall back to his side. "I will not ask you to forgive me. It is not my right. All I can do is hope… that one day, you will find it within yourself."

Aeron spoke quietly now, almost to himself. "Why are you apologizing like this… when you gave him the chance to escape?"

"So he told you, Devic," Tharyn murmured, and Aeron shook his head in affirmation.

Tharyn drew a long breath and closed his eyes for a moment. "I see." He walked a few steps, then stopped. "Still… I apologize, because I knew the choice he would make. I knew Lucian better than anyone. He was a man who would rather face death with honor than run with shame. I knew, when I gave him that chance, what he would choose."

His voice broke slightly. "And yet I still let it happen. That is why I regret it. That is why the guilt has never left me."

Tharyn continued, his voice softer now. "He does not abandon his own people. That is the exact quality I see in you, Aeron Velzorah. I cannot leave without telling you that. You are meant for far greater things than you know. You have many steps ahead of you, and all I ask is this: know who you are as you take those steps. Stay good as you go."

Aeron stared at him.

"Be the leader you were born to be," Tharyn said. "Be the kind of hero who keeps the people in his heart. Be a friend who never betrays. There will be hard times, very hard times. You must not give up. Look after those you can protect first."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Aeron asked. "Why now?"

Tharyn folded his hands together and looked at Aeron. "I do not have the right to lecture you," he said. "But I know what your father would have said. I want to atone in some small way. This is how I try."

Aeron swallowed and said quietly. "Was he really like that?" he muttered. "My father, is he as good as you say?"

Tharyn's face changed. "You have not been told the whole truth," he said. "Lucian was better than the stories. He had a strength of honor that most do not have. He loved his people. He loved his friends plainly and fiercely. That is who he was. He is a perfect man and I want you to remember him that way. Remember who you are, Aeron Velzorah, son of Lucian."

At that moment there was a knock on the door. It opened and Nyella peeped in. "Oh, father," she said with a small smile. "There you are. I have been looking for you. Your horse is ready."

Tharyn rose slowly and gave Aeron a final look. "It was good to speak with you," he said and left the room.

Nyella stepped fully inside and shut the door. She stood close, looking at Aeron with a slight frown. "What was that?" she asked. "Why is my father here? What did he want?"

"Nothing much," Aeron said at first, then added, "He wanted to tell me things my father might have told me."

Nyella's eyes searched his face. "He said that to you?" She sounded surprised and a little moved.

Aeron found his voice. "He told me to stay true, and some other things."

Nyella let out a slow breath. "You would make a better leader than he ever was," Aeron said suddenly. He did not mean to be blunt, but the words came from somewhere honest inside him.

Nyella smiled, but it was small. "I hope so," she said. "I would rather die than become worse than him."

She started toward the door, then stopped. She turned back to Aeron and looked at him straight in the eye. "Aeron," she said quietly, "I mean what I said. If I ever change, if I start to rule cruelly, do not let me go on. Even if it is 1, do not hesitate."

Then she left the room to see her father off.