PLEASE READ: In case you didn't catch my note I put up in chapter one because you started reading this before I put it up; I have been working on revising the entire story and you can find what I have of it so far on my website(the link is on my bio page). I don't want to hear in your reviews about something that doesn't make sense, or that there is no plot, etc. Because I KNOW. Why else would I be revising?

Chapter Seventy-Six: Love's Hatred

"You do plan to go, don't you?" Cael asked Sala as he followed after her. "You have to go, Sala, Rowan needs you there."

Sala whirled around, her blazing eyes full of tears. "What about what I need?" she shrieked, jabbing her own chest with her finger. "What about what I feel? Rowan only lost the woman he loved, when I lost a sister and a brother!"

Cael stepped back. "I understand your pain, but everyone else will be at their funeral. If you don't go, people are going to think you don't care."

"I do care!" Sala wailed, the tears now running down her face. "But being there will only make my suffering worse!"

"And how do you know that?" he calmly asked her.

She looked away, closing her eyes tightly. "You don't understand the pain of losing someone."

'No,' he thought sadly, studying her. 'But I understand the pain of not being able to be with the one I love.' He shook his head. "Sala, go, please."

Her eyes welling with more tears, she nodded. "Fine, I'll go."

Everyone from both Mystia and Roena was there, as well as friends of Traven's from different parts of the world. All in all there had to be over three hundred people, all there to grieve for someone they loved. And Traven wasn't the only reason they were there, but because they had loved his wife as well.

Rowan stood nearest Nicole's coffin, his infant daughter, Aranna, in his arms. His hair was partly tied back from his face, his blue eyes full of tears of suffering and pain. The broken heart within his chest hurt every time it pulsed. His elegant clothing was black, as was the hatred for himself.

Alex stood by him, holding his hand tightly. His silvery eyes were full of tears as he glared at the coffins that held his parents. His black hair was down freely, the silver colored strands of it brushed behind his ears. Every man and woman that looked at him had to glance away, for the pain on his young face was so hard that it made their own eyes well up with tears.

Sala was on the other side of Rowan, holding a handkerchief over her face as she sobbed, her red hair tied back in a low bun.

"Two people, both so well-known and loved," the man holding the service went on. "They will never be forgotten, always remembered."

Alex felt the anger within him start to rise and boil, his eyes narrowing into small slits as he fought to keep from shaking. Morlas, who was curled up at his feet in her smallest form, felt his turmoil and looked up at him.

"It's your fault she's dead," Alex said suddenly, soft enough for only Rowan to hear.

Indeed hearing him, Rowan looked down, still holding Alex's small hand in his free one. "What did you say?"

"Mother died because she had your little girl." Alex looked up at Rowan, silent tears running down his face. "You killed her."

Rowan closed his eyes, pain flashing across his face as he tried to collect his thoughts. With Alex's hand still in his, he crouched down, holding the sleeping Aranna in his other arm. "Alex, I loved your mother very much. My mother and I did everything we could to save her."

Alex stared at him through his tears, his bottom lip trembling. "If you did everything, then why is she dead?"

"Because we had to save Aranna. If my mother wouldn't have done what she did, they both would have died-"

"So you killed my mother?" Alex pulled his hand from Rowan's, taking a step back and glaring at his half-sister. "You killed her for that?"

"Now, Alex-"

"I hate you," Alex whispered, looking between Rowan and Aranna. "I hate you both."

"Alex-"

"And then you killed my father," he sobbed, "you made him angry and sad when he saw my dead mother and he died." He clenched his fists tightly, shaking in anger, then screamed, "I hate you! I hate you and your stupid little girl! I want you both to die!"

The man holding the ceremony paused in surprise and looked over at Alex and Rowan, as did the other hundreds of guests.

Rowan looked pained and he reached for Alex.

"No!" Alex screamed, slapping his hand away. "It's both of your faults! I hate you!" He turned and shoved through the guests, Morlas trailing behind him. His sobs and cries could be heard as he ran off. Rowan closed his eyes tightly when he heard Alex screaming at the top of his lungs as he ran off, "I HATE YOU!"

Rowan looked down at Aranna, who was now awake and looking up at her father with red eyes. He smiled softly at her, then stood and nodded to the man to continue.

Alex ran about his new room, grabbing whatever he could and heaving it, screaming and yelling in anger. They were dead. The two people he loved more than anything were dead. His father, who might not have been a very nice man to others, had been a wonderful father. And then his mother. . .Little Alex couldn't remember ever being happier when with her.

And now they had both been taken from him by them. By the man Alex used to love and think of as an older brother. And then that tiny baby. . .that little girl. If she hadn't been born, his mother would still be alive. No, this wasn't Rowan's fault, it was her fault.

Morlas, now in her child form, watched Alex run about the room with sad eyes. Her blue ears twitched nervously as he yelled in anger, tearing the curtains from their hooks. She could see something in his eyes, something that hadn't been there ever before. And when he paused to look at her, she was suddenly afraid.

"I will bring them back!" he screamed, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Even if I have to die to do it, I'll bring them back!"

PLEASE READ: In case you didn't catch my note I put up in chapter one because you started reading this before I put it up; I have been working on revising the entire story and you can find what I have of it so far on my website(the link is on my bio page). I don't want to hear in your reviews about something that doesn't make sense, or that there is no plot, etc. Because I KNOW. Why else would I be revising?