Song Suggestion: Why by Rascal Flatts

CAL

You never looked at me. You never saw me. Not when you had him.

Those words burn into me as hot now as they did then. I haven't slept since yesterday, too afraid to face the nightmare's I know will come.

I couldn't leave him there. His body to be possibly mutilated by so many. I asked Farley if she could hold his body from the public, at least until I could get there. She said she would.

No one knows who killed Mare, but my best bet is Ptolemus. It was a shock to see his name on the list of the dead. The fact that both my grandmother and Volo Samos wanted Mare dead still lies in the back of my head. Farley said it herself, Mare had been killed by a sword. Anyone else would have to get close enough to run it through her chest, but not a magnetron. I've seen Ptolemus do it before. I wish now more than ever that I had killed him in the Bowl of Bones. Both Mare and Shade might still be alive, along with so many others.

Now the entire Samos family is dead. A family that had risen to power long before the Calores' did. And my heart sinks once more when l realize I am the last of my family. The last flame.

When I arrive in Archeon, my true home, there is nothing left of what I remembered. If they had ever completely repaired the damage from when we attacked months ago there is no evidence of that now. Most of Caesar Square lies in ruins now, similar to Fort Patriot.

Farley is there when I arrive, looking just as drained as I am. She says nothing as she leads me through the Square. Then we come to a large building. I've seen this place many times and I've never been inside except once. I don't even remember it, I was so young.

"The Royal Tomb," I whisper.

Farley speaks up for the first time. "Where all the kings and queens are buried."

I look over the building. Every edge and corner of the outside is gilded a royal gold. There are no windows, but the statue of Caesar stands mighty at the top. And large stone burning crowns are placed at each corner of the building.

The double doors are just as grand and gilded as well. Five individual panels on each door display a sculpted design of battles. Some won and some lost. The triumphs and losses of kings and princes. I push through the doors, ignoring the stories of the dead family. We cross threshold and into a dark hallway. A chill runs up my spine to match the temperature inside. It's colder than I imagine. But of course, it is. The preservation of the bodies of royals is pristine in every way. I could open my great grandfather's casket and he would look like he died an hour ago.

We walk further down and there it is. A long wooden box. Nothing special compared to the other caskets that lie in crevasses in the wall. There are many empty spots, to be filled by kings and queens to come. Except they won't.

"I'll leave you," Farley says. I wait until I can no longer hear her footsteps echo down the hall. I walk over to the hastily made coffin, running a hand over the rough, unsanded surface. My fingers hesitate at the edge.

Is this really how I want to remember him? The little boy I've loved for eighteen years. Because yes, I loved him even after all he's done. How could I not? Can I look into the box and see the all the wounds in his body? An innumerable amount of diamond glass shot through the room and pierced his body. Am I sure I want to do this?

I remember a day. I was nine and Maven was seven. It was a perfect day. I had just gotten out of Theory. I remember I lied to get Maven out Protocol, saying how father wanted to see us. It was never true of course. Getting away from the Sentinels was harder and almost impossible to achieve. But Maven was smarter than me, even then. And it was because of some of his tricks that I eventually learned how to sneak out of the palace. We were free until dinner time. Exploring the palace is something we did all the time. But that day I had something else in mind. This time I wanted to show Maven something, actually let him hear something.

I lead him to my room and we make the Sentinels stay outside.

"Oh, did you want to play chess early?"

Maven asks.

I shake my head, displaying a wide grin. "Nope, there's something else I want to show you."

I go into my room and lift up my mattress where I had hidden the small black box. I don't why I put it there. It's not like anyone would go through my things. It's just an ambition I've always had.

When I bring the box out I turn to see Maven standing in the doorway, blue eyes bright with observation and wonder.

"Music? That's what you wanted to show me?" I climb on the bed and Maven joins me climbing up from the other side. We both kick off our shoes out of habit, they hit the carpeted floor with a muffled thud.

I lay the box down between us and wait. I keep my eyes on him. The device lets out a sudden burst of music and I snicker as Maven jumps. We listen for a few a minutes until the song comes to an end.

After it's over I turn to Maven, crossing my legs. "What do you think?"

"It's loud."

I laugh and soon Maven joins me.

"Did you like it?"

"Mmm, I don't know. I don't think a lot of people will want to hear it. People in court like that old people music. But yes, I like it."

His smile widens with mine and for the rest of the afternoon, we listen until dinner.

I flash back to the present. Here in the tomb, with my kid brother. The warmth of that day now near nonexistent. Now I am cold.

And so I turn on my heal and don't look back.

ANALYSIS

Okay, I wanted to say thank you. As far as I could tell I didn't lose any of you guys. I think one of my biggest fears is that for some reason you no longer like this where this story is going. And really warms my heart that you guys are so supportive. So thank you.

Something else I wanted to address and that is the killer. I love how guys have so many theories and suspects, it's amazing! And really hard not to say, "nope that's not it," or "yes, you guessed it." But I will say this. Someone has guessed the killer. And its really hard not to say anything. So if I don't respond t your guesses, it just means I don't to give it away just yet.

Moving on. Can I just say..."Poor Cal." :(

So according to Victoria Averyard, the genre of music Cal prefers is classic rock. And obviously, this memory would be before Elara did her thing. So I thought I could best show their brotherly love by displaying their love for music. As well as Cal hiding the music box under his mattress, that is a nod to Coriane, who in Queens Song describes how she put her most precious belongings under her mattress.

Also, I drew inspiration of the description of the doors to the tomb from, The Gates of Paradise. Which were crafted by Lorenzo Ghiberti during the Renaissance.

So there is a lot of symbolism and extra meaning behind certain things in this chapters. And has anyone noticed I've been talking a lot about boxes lately?

So Cal does decide to keep the coffin closed because he chooses to remember Maven as the kid he knew. And Chapter 42 and 43 will also be told from his perspective. But Chapter 44, I can barely keep in my excitement, I am ready.