Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 530: No greater outcome

Silas walked and walked. To no avail, Emeric continued to trail behind him wherever he went.

Evidently, their adventures together in limbo weren’t coming to an uncomplicated end as he had hoped.

There was still something for them to say or do so that moving forward could even be an option.

"So, where do you think you are heading?" hands in his pockets, his father followed in his tracks.

"My wife could be somewhere in this place and I can’t find out what is left between us to address so, I cannot sit and do nothing,"

"You must really hate me then," Emeric muttered.

That got him to stop dead and turn around, but no matter how hard he rummaged through his brain, no words seemed viable to concoct a suitable enough retort.

Well, other than, "I do not hate you," he expressed calmly.

"What is it then? I told you already. This place does not work like the world that brought us to this point. You won’t find your wife by searching. Not like this at least. You are reacting emotionally which isn’t like you,"

That... That sounded accurate. As composed as he portrayed himself, when it came to Arabella even parallel lines crossed paths. Thinking straight became richness when her smile was in jeopardy.

The nonchalance and grin vanished off his father’s face as he pondered his latest observation, "Reacting before thinking is what got you here in the first place,"

Such harsh words those were, but if only they were false. They couldn’t be any truer.

She might have been suffering through an unprecedented martyrdom and he was there... Out of their realm, feeling not a hint of pain.

Shame... He deserved all the pain.

"I am not telling you this so you can feel bad," Emeric brought him out of his train of thought.

"What could be the purpose for it then? I wonder. If as you say, you have no way of helping me move forward then why else confront me with the truth of my own actions?"

One could have believed that spending time with his own deceased father would have delighted him and he was.

Only, there was that incessant scratch at the back of his skull. An itch no hand could reach which told him he had no right to look his father in his eyes, berated him for failing at so many things in life. The littlest of things, and there he was failing at protecting his own wife.

"Take a moment to consider your position then you might see what your options actually are,"

"Thank you for the advice," Silas pushed a sigh and settled back down on the grass.

Emeric did not follow and instead stood tall beside him, "I cannot get the words out of you. You do realize that, don’t you?"

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Contrary to popular belief, the dead do not return to finish unaccomplished business. ’Tis the living that demand a chance, a final audience with the deceased to seal whatever wound remained gaping," his tone cold, he shed a lot of the glee he usually exhibited for no apparent reason, "Whatever it is you think you have to say to me, I will not be able to pry it out of you,"

For a moment, Silas found refuge in counting the number of breezes that kindly brushed past his face. Anything to avoid facing the reality head on which truly wasn’t like him.

"I failed," he finally declared.

"At what?"

That got Emeric to sit down as well.

"At everything you brought me up to be,"

Silas had no idea what to expect, but a smack to the back of his head was the last thing on that list.

He held the affected spot in disbelief and just looked back at him.

"If you came all the way here just to tell me that, then I am disappointed,"

"I merely spoke the truth," Silas broke eye contact and faced away.

"The truth is often not what our minds present, but go on then, tell me what is this everything that you failed at,"

"I failed at protecting my wife. I failed at protecting my mother and I certainly missed my chance to-" he cut himself off midsentence, the burden of those last words too heavy to push upwards in his throat.

"Say it Silas. I cannot read your mind, son,"

"I failed at reaching the battlefield in time... I could have...," he trailed off.

"You wouldn’t have done a damn thing aside from dying alongside me then knowing your mother, she would have definitely joined us. What do you think would have happened to your wife then? Where would she have gone upon crossing the border?"

Silas said nothing at first.

When strung together like that, those words did hit a point.

"So, you really think my presence wouldn’t have made a difference during the ambush?"

"Don’t flatter yourself too much, will you?" Emeric chuckled, "You stand in your own category, but you are not God. There will always be situations out of your control. When all else fails, learn to accept it and move on,"

"Is that what I am supposed to do now? Accept the situation and move on," he half asked.

"Move on to your options," His father nodded, "I said when all else fails. You haven’t tried anything yet, have you?"

After another short moment of silence, Silas found his voice again, "For what it’s worth, I really am sorry for not being there that day,"

"I am not sorry," Emeric turned towards him, his hand rising towards the silver sheets on Silas’ head, "In fact, I am glad you were as far away as you were. I could not have hoped for a better outcome,"

"Really? There was no better outcome?" Silas stared back at his father.

"For what it’s worth, in my eyes, you turned out to be everything I ever hoped for in a son,"

As those words and as the bright smile his father offered him sank in, a stronger breeze hit Silas from the back.

It took all of a split second to unfold, but by the time he turned back around... Emeric was already long gone.