CHAPTER 57:
Imogen wasn't joking when she said the beach was quite far but thankfully, had our horses.
She also informed the queen that we were going to the beach and might choose to sight see other places and the queen and king couldn't be happier.
They said they have 'businesses' to attend to but I won't bother to ask what.
We are eight in total;
Me, Eri, Sam, Imogen, Jackie, Tamar, Rayhan and Cyrus.
The triplets wanted to come but Tamar said the trip was for those 16 and above.
They weren't too happy about it but there was nothing they could do or say.
Every now and then we would fall into mindless chatter and then it would go silent, like how it is now.
I guess no one had anything to say.
Though Tamar and Rayhan were talking to Cyrus about something but since they were all whispering, we couldn't hear them.
"so; what do you think they're talking about?" Imogen asked, wiggling her brows.
"how am I meant to know? It not like I can hear them and even if I could I wouldn't care; I'm sure it's something strictly for men" I dismissed the topic.
"we're getting close to the Bridge of Souls" Jackie said from the front.
She and Sam had grown closer since they came back from their training in the forest and I felt happy for him.
"am I the only person that has noticed how close those two have gotten?" Eri spoke as if she read my mind.
"It's good that Jackie finally stopped treating him like the enemy though he did nothing wrong for her to be this cold towards. They even look cute together" a small smile made its way across my features.
I noticed Imogen and Eri staring at me like I said something out of the ordinary or like I was a hypocrite.
Which I wasn't.
Sam didn't do anything to deserve this from her; but Cyrus deserves to be treated like this from me.
"why are you all looking at me like that? Anyway, What's this 'Soul Bridge' about?" I quickly changed the subject.
"the Bridge of Souls is a place where people can see the ones they've loved and lost. Not in the water if you might ask. If you stay on the bridge long enough, the person you yearn for the most shall be with you on top of the bridge in the form of water" she was suddenly serious.
The idea about it sounded fascinating.
"I normally come here to visit my grandmother every now and then" Imogen wiped away the tear in her eye before it could drop.
Not long after she spoke the bridge came into view.
It was built out of stone and across a small river.
"the river is where their souls rest and those who want to see you shall come to you on the bridge" Imogen's voice was small as we moved across the bridge slowly.
I could feel someone calling out for me.
The voice was familiar and I couldn't pull my gaze away.
And with a blink of an eye, I saw me-maw or Miranda sitting on the bridge with a smile on her face and it almost made me cry.
"Lyra, Cyrus; we need to keep moving" that was when I noticed Cyrus looked sad as well.
I had never seen him look so down before...
King Cyrus' POV:
The bridge had a pull on me.
At a point, I had forgotten about everyone and listened to whoever that was calling out my name.
I wanted to move forward, keep going and pretend like I didn't hear anything but that voice.
It was a voice I hadn't heard in years.
Turning to look at the river, a figure began to form on the edge of the bridge before clearing out into a recognizable silhouette.
I almost began sobbing when I saw the figure of my father come into view.
There was a big, genuine smile on his face and I wanted to ask why he left me to fend for myself and my brothers.
Why he didn't stick around to care for the princes.
The questions kept on popping up until he uttered something that made me freeze.
"I'm proud of you...my son"
"Lyra, Cyrus; we need to keep moving"
It took a while for me to snap out of my daze but I did eventually and kept on moving.
Seeing my father again had made and ruined my mood at the same time.
He left me to do everything when I was just a boy and I almost had a breakdown!
The responsibilities were too much for just one kid to handle.
"Cyrus? Can I talk to you?" a soft voice said from beside me and I turned to see Lyra looking at me with glossy eyes.
She had been crying.
I wanted to ask her what made her sad but she beat me to it.
"d-do you mind me asking who you saw on the bridge?" she whispered so the rest of the group in front couldn't hear us.
"I saw my father" my voice was a bit shaky but I cleared my throat to cover it up.
Lyra didn't say anything after that for a while and I was expecting her to go away before she asked again.
"can I ask what happened to him?"
I let out a small sigh before telling her everything about my family's history.
From how my father had to kill my mother, raise three sons though he mostly focused on me and how he 'died' in the end.
I also told her the real reason why I'm not married yet.
At first she was silent.
I wasn't expecting her to say anything.
Hell, I expected her to make a run for it but she didn't.
Nor did she look at me like I had a dysfunctional family which I did.
She only looked at me like she felt pity and she felt sorry for me.
Lyra had never looked at me with anything but hatred since I arrived in this world, so her looking like she cared.
Though this wasn't a sign of her forgiveness but baby steps.
"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that" she shook her head sadly.
"thank you...so do YOU mind me asking who you saw on the bridge?" I asked for the sake of conversation.
Lyra hesitated before telling me it was her guardian that was more like a mother to her and she died the day she was brought to my castle.
"I had no idea the guards were that rough to you" but not like I was any gentle anyway.
The world was full of pain and suffering no matter what angle you looked at it from.
Everyone has had their fair share of pain with no particular villain coming from any part of the world but from all parts of the world.
The world was cruel to all its people
And it's worse if there's no one to help you carry the burden"
Cyrus getting emotional again
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