Chapter 45 - A Fair Sentencing

Mortification was the word to describe the feeling that was passing through Lilith now. She was far past the stage of being flustered and she was sure all the blood in her body was in her face because her legs felt weak. Raymond was paying attention to her. She guessed that the quiet ones looked instead of spoke. She is definitely regretting asking the question now. How would Lilith be able to look Raymond in the eye again without combusting on the spot?

"On that note... what are those songs that you sing? I've never heard of them. Are they native to Martease?"

Lilith smiled sadly, remembering her home. She loved to listen to indie music. If there was one thing that could get her in a good mood, it was that. Lilith missed it too much and she often hummed the songs to keep her in good spirits and remind her what she was fighting to return to. "Yes, they are."

"Do you want to visit there?"

Yes.

"No, I would rather not. It would be all too painful for me to go back. I'm happy where I am. It's all in the past."

Raymond knew better than to pry so he left the topic alone. Instead, he asked a question that would hopefully take her mind off of her past. It was something he was wondering about for a while. "Lilith, what's your favorite book?"

Now that was something I wanted to talk about. Lilith knew it was childish but her favorite books were the PJO series. It was what got her reading when she was young and that was the start of it all. She finds comfort in the books and she would never get tired of rereading them. The smell of the books alone was enough to calm her mind with the influx of memories she gained through the pages.

And so, Lilith started talking, she talked and talked. And Raymond listened. They moved to the side table as Lilith told Raymond the tales about the characters that formed her as a person. Lilith was completely serious when she told Raymond that them being immortalized as teenagers was all she needed to live her life because if there was suddenly a day when their story came to an end, Lilith would also come to an end.

"What I would do to get my hands on any of the books. I hope they're still all there."

"I'm sure they are. And if you ever want to go back, then you can get them." Raymond said to her.

Lilith won't be able to read those books for fifteen years. Her source of comfort for many years and all she is left with are the thoughts of the stories to keep her company. And they won't exist for another two hundred years. That was another motive to try and get home.

But guilt flooded her at the thought of returning home and she looked at Raymond feeling her stomach twist. He wanted to be in a relationship with her and all this time she was planning to leave without his knowledge. Yeah, fifteen years was far into the future but it was not fair to Raymond if her thoughts were preoccupied with leaving him.

Fifteen years was a long time and so many things could happen during that time. If she decided to just let things play out and see how the time unfolded then she would not have to stress too much about getting home. There was nothing Lilith could do for the time being. Nothing. She did not even fully understand how she got here and the Silver Moon was just a hypothesis. And as many things can change in fifteen years, so can her mind to leave. Although she was not sure how staying away from her family was going to change in the years, she would still have to just wait and see.

Lilith stepped into Raymond's space and gently laid her head on his chest. She felt him stiffen under her and for a moment Lilith contemplated moving, but then he put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her properly. Lilith took it a step further and planted a kiss on his cheek before quickly pulling away.

"I won't keep you here. You have work to do, so get to it. It's about lunchtime so I'll go and get that for you." And without waiting, she left, leaving Raymond surprised and flustered.

Time passed and things happened. Like the multiple attempts on the lives of Raymond and his brothers. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the one behind it was since Landon was still alive. Just in jail. Lilith could see Landon trying to kill off the rest of his brothers so that the crown would have no choice but to fall on his head.

Because Raymond was such a stickler for having too many people in his personal space, they were both unprepared for when someone had tried to break into his quarters. Apparently, it had been one of the servants of the castle and they were seen trying to climb the wall to get in through his office. When he was spotted and detained, they found that he was carrying a knife as well as some type of poison Lilith could not even pronounce. Apparently, he had gotten it from Naulis.

Only the attempt on Raymond's life was known to the public so that Rory and Lucan's identities could be kept a secret and Nora had both of them moved to the castle under the guise of political discussion.

Lilith made Raymond get more guards around his quarters for them to be able to patrol at night. It was not much of a fight since Nora came to tell him the same thing. If Lilith had to deal with such a scare again she was sure her heart would stop for real.

Seeing how worried Lilith was and that his brothers were almost killed, Raymond finally decided to visit Landon in prison. It was not exactly the public prison that everyone else was held in. But because of who he was and the magnitude of his crimes, he was being held under the castle. Not many people knew that, Lilith included. He was sure that with her fire, she would charge down first chance she got and give Landon a piece of her mind. Raymond smiled slightly at that thought.

Stepping in front of the cell, he laid eyes on the former Crown Prince. Sitting with his back against the wall and his feet stretched out in front of him, he gave Raymond a sleazy smile when his eyes shifted on him. Raymond's entire body tensed and he easily scowled back at his brother. For someone in prison, he was looking a little too comfortable.

"Finally, the audience of the King. Thought you were too high and mightly to come all the way down here to speak to me but I guess I was wrong. Apologies brother." Landon chuckled. "But I would not get too comfortable with that title, 'King', that was supposed to be my title and it still will be. Just you wait. Everything will go back to the way it was. The way it's supposed to be."

Raymond shook his head. "You would love that, wouldn't you?"

"More than you know. I was born to be the King, and you are nothing but a simple imposter. I still have men who follow my every order, but you should be more than familiar with that I know. So you should be fearing for your life. One failed attempt means nothing. Even if I am executed for my crimes, my men will do whatever it takes to avenge me and once that happens-"

"It's good that you know that you'll be executed for your crimes." Raymond could not bear to listen to his little speech any longer. "Because you're being sentenced tomorrow."