Chapter 84

“So, the reason you sent Lord Duheart to bring us back in such a reckless manner was so that you could put your soul back together during this so-called convergence?” I asked.

Mother nodded as the other woman clung to her arm. “Your father has passed away. You will be the lord of the Pria. If we’re to help you at all, then we need to be together once again.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“I didn’t know about it.” Mom sighed. “We may be the same person, but what she knows, I do not, and vice versa. Aurica worried that if I knew anything of her plans, they may be discovered by others over those years I watched over you. We were both left in the dark. The knowledge I was given was only what I needed to take care of you, the things that she felt she could afford to lose while still being the queen. I’ve only learned most of this yesterday after she took me.”

“And that’s it?” I looked back and forth between the two women. “In two days, you’re going to do some kind of ceremony and unite once again? You’ll be gone?”

“David, I won’t be gone.” Mom frowned. “We’ll be whole again. You’ll have your mother again.”

“I already have my mother,” I responded. “You’re my mother.”

“She’s your mother too. I thought you’d be happy…”

She wasn’t necessarily wrong. Logically, it all made sense. She wouldn’t lose her memories or her personality, it would simply be incorporated with a new personality and other memories. If one was vanilla ice cream, the other would be like adding sundae toppings. The vanilla ice cream was still there, this would just add some flavor and depth to it. I told myself that, but I still couldn’t stop the clenched feeling in my heart.

The really strange part came with the fact that neither woman was even my mother. I had no memory of being raised by Mother, so I had no reason to be more attached to her. My sisters and I had no connection, and that was why I was able to sleep with and impregnant them without feeling any hesitation or remorse.

When it came to this woman, having her mind together would be advantageous to my goals. If she did love me as she said she did, then having the power of a lucid faery queen behind me would only be a positive. If she was going to be responsible for making sure the birth of my children occurred safely, then it was even more vital that the two women merged once again. Yet, for some reason, I felt a strong reluctance toward this so-called ceremony.

Mother was looking at me, a sad and worried look on her face. As for the queen, it was impossible to see what was going through her mind. Her lips were moving, and I could hear light mutters, but only Mother could hear them and her focus was entirely on me. If I told her my doubt, I knew that it would only hurt.

“I am… happy for you,” I responded. “What is the plan after your… um, convergence.”

Mother hesitated for a moment but then continued. “It takes some time before the new king will be crowned. Your father’s funeral has only just been announced, and that will occur in two weeks. Then, there were be a transitory period before the new king is selected and crowned. By my estimate, you should still have at least two months. You already have the permission of three of your sisters. You have two left. The easiest one to reach is in the dwarven realm of Kurcaci. Your sister Arwen is there.”

“I understand… that’s on the other side of the continent, though.”

The human realm was in the center of the continent. To the west was the elvish land of Peri. Just south of that was Benatong, and north of it was where we were, Dongeng. That put us in the northwest of the continent. Mountains divided the region from the plateau and wrapped around. Tucked away behind the mountains in the far north was Dewa, the land of the Celestials, which was starting to sound less like a realm and more like a city, or perhaps even just a temple. The lands to the northeast were largely uninhabited thanks to impassible mountains. However, southeast of the human realm was the country of Kurcaci, the realm of the dwarves, on the opposite side of the continent.

“Once we have reunited, we’ll have enough energy to transport you directly to Kurcaci. I have a token, a favor the royal line of Kurcaci owes me. If you show the king such a token, he will give you our daughter, and also access to an airship.”

“An airship?”

“Yes, the dwarvish people developed all kinds of technology, but they do not share it with the rest of the world. However, if you call in this favor, he will not be able to reject. While you are getting the abdication from your sisters, we will head to the capital. As the king’s former wife, no one would question my appearance, nor would they question if I took authority until I could crown my son. With my backing, the transition will go smoothly.”

I didn’t know how much of this plan was coming from my mother, and how much was coming from the ramblings of the crazy queen next to her. Mother had always been a shrewd woman. She would have had to be to have managed to politically maneuver and keep me safe for all of those years. Then again, I supposed that was Aurica’s intention. She had given my mother her shrewdness to make sure I survived. It didn’t matter who thought up the plan. It sounded extremely promising. However, there was an issue.

“What about the celestials?” I asked.

“What about them?” The faery queen spoke, almost seeming offended that they were even mentioned.

I still felt a bit strange explaining it, but I decided to pass on what Baba had said to me and my conclusions regarding all of it. If the celestials were aiming to use me to start some kind of civil war, then Mother’s attempts to aid me would only end up assisting them in their plan. By the expression on Mother’s face, her mind didn’t contain any knowledge regarding this plot. However, Aurica seemed to show a bit of glimmer in her eyes.

“The celestials are a problem. That’s why we must move quickly.” Her voice sounded strangely lucid for a moment. “The sooner we can become one again, the sooner we can throw off the shackles of the celestials.”

“Shackles?”

“Once we make our move, it will become obvious that we are not on the side of the celestials. I knew that I was being used from the start. Your birth wasn’t just the greatest day of my life, but the day I finally saw the truth. They put a control on us. They put a control on all faery. That is the dark secret that they wish to hide. Only the blood of a devil can break the bonds that they use to control us.”

“So, it’s like that…” I responded as I considered the situation.

The blood of the devil prevented people from being affected by the glamour of the faery, but the faery too had something to gain from the devil’s blood. They were affected by some kind of restraint or control by the celestials. I imagined it as something the celestials put inside them when they were creating them. What was the point of creating a weapon that you couldn’t control?

This ultimately explained why the celestials were so hostile toward the devils over every other species that came from the union of faery and humans. The faery’s reason was only inconvenient, but the celestials were the true power on the continent, and they would stand to have that power compromised. The faery wasn’t just their weapon in theory, but a race that had complete dominion over it.

“In that case, wouldn’t they know that you’ve been exposed to the blood of a devil and be… well, compromised?” I asked.

“This is also why I chose to cut my soul in two…” She responded. “I cut away the parts of me that contained the scent of the devil. This way, they would believe I came through it cleanly. I’ve convinced them that my feelings for you are hatred. The celestials have lived for so long, they no longer understand things like love. All they have left in them is hatred and desire for power. It was easy for them to be convinced when I returned to them.”

“How did you explain mother?”

“A peasant… who I altered magically and brainwashed into thinking she was a queen.” She explained.

I nodded thoughtfully. “It all makes sense.”

Mom let out a breath of relief, letting go of Aurica and walking over to my side. She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a tight hug. I could feel her familiar chest pressing against me again, and it felt a bit comforting.

“I’m sorry we made you worry so much, sweetie,” Mom spoke into my chest.

Aurica watched her hug me, shifting from foot to foot like she wanted to jump across the room and throw her arms around me too, but knew that it wasn’t something she was able to do. It wasn’t a matter of queenliness or what was proper. It was a matter of control. In her current form, she lacked control.

“It’s been a long journey.” I smiled, reaching out and stroking Mom’s hair. “I need to go and rest.”

“Of course!” Mom jumped. “I-I’ll escort you to your room immediately.”

“Thank you.”

“You will stay with me.” The queen suddenly spoke up.

“Ah? But…” She made a gesture toward me.

“Not without me!” the queen responded with a pout.

Mom looked like she wanted to protest more, but I put my hand on her shoulder and shook my head. “It’s alright, Mom. In two days, everything will be settled, right?”

“Ah… r-right.” Mom smiled again.

I felt another gripping at my chest, but I ignored it and left the throne room on my own. As I opened the large doors, I was lost deep in thought. The guards had already taken everyone else and found a room for them, so the hallway was empty except for a small contingent. Thankfully, these were only the queen’s men. I didn’t know how orders were sent, but the faery seemed to already know he needed to escort me to my quarters.

“Follow me.” He spoke shortly before turning and heading down the hallway.

It was clear that he had a dislike for devils, just like the rest of them. Faery didn’t like devils because their blood caused the glamour to dissipate. I wondered what they would say if they knew they were nothing but slaves to the celestials, and that hated devil blood would free them from their restraint. The faery was well aware the celestials made them. They saw the celestials as the gods that they pretended to be. If this was found out, it would likely not cause a single change in their behavior. They might even consider it a blessing.

We only went a few hallways before I was shown into a rather nice room. This room wasn’t far from the throne room, so it probably wasn’t far from Aurica’s quarters or mom’s quarters for that matter.

“Stay here until you are called.” The faery soldier spoke one last time before shutting the door and leaving me to my thoughts.

“This isn’t good,” I muttered to myself, moving over to the desk and pulling out some parchment.

I should be feeling in a great mood. In only two days, I would have everything I needed to take the throne. Yet, rather than peace and comfort, I felt danger. I felt like I was in more danger than I had ever been in before. I was missing some pieces to the puzzle, and I’d need to figure them out quickly, or I’d be the one to lose. I started writing various words on the sheet, using it to scribble down my random thoughts. I had written the word Aurica, followed by the word Mother. I wrote convergence over the two names. On the side, I wrote celestials and faery. As I was staring at the sheet and tapping my pen, there was a soft knock on the door.

“Come in.” I turned to the door, curious if one of my companions had found my door, or if my mother had found some way to escape her other half.

When the door opened, I was pleasantly surprised by the face that poked in. It was a face I hadn’t seen in weeks, but it felt like it had been a lifetime ago.

“Olivia.”

“Brother.” Olivia’s face broke into a beautiful smile, and then she stepped on it, only just stopping herself at the door.

She put her hands behind her back and then started to blush. She was still wearing her elvish clothing, even though she was in the faery kingdom. However, such clothing only accentuated her figure a bit more, and in particular, a bulge in her abdomen. As I got a good look at her, my mouth started to fall open.

“You’re… pregnant.”

“You already knew that.” She reached down and touched the small bump on her stomach.

“It’s only been weeks.”

I had only impregnated her less than a month ago, yet she looked to be three months pregnant. She was only just showing, but it did seem a bit fast.

“Mother instantly could tell I was pregnant with your baby. She undid the binding so that the pregnancy went forward. Mother has been using magic to accelerate the pregnancy.”

“Is that safe?” I asked.

“Would you tell that woman no?” She responded.

“Right…”

The one that Olivia would call Mother is Aurica. It was hard to say how sane that woman was, but even after just meeting her I knew that if she had it in her mind to do something, it’d be very difficult stopping her. I just had to hope that she would never intentionally do anything to harm my children. I had to depend on that.

“Intentionally…” The words came from my lips as soon as I thought it.

“What’s that?”

I looked down at the sheet of paper I was writing on. I reached out and grabbed it. After looking at it one last time, I crumbled it up in my hand and then threw it in the trash.

“It’s nothing. I’d love to catch up, but I am a bit tired.”

“Tired?” Olivia’s eyes widened, her ears flicking unhappily. “Before you go to bed, can you come with me for a moment?”

I blinked. “What?”

“I… um… didn’t just come here to say hello. I wanted to bring you somewhere. It’s a surprise.”

“I’m not in the mood for surprises. It’d be better if you just told me.”

Her tail lashed unhappily. “Will you just come? I promised I would bring you. You won’t make me go against my promise, will you, nya?”

I had forgotten how cute Olivia could be when she wanted something. I had grown used to Lucilla’s repressed attitude, that the more willful and express Olivia caught me a bit off guard.

“Very well, I’ll come, but only for a short time.”

“Yes! I mean, a short time is all I need.” Olivia’s ears immediately perked up and she looked much happier.

I let out a sigh, thinking that being a brother could be a pain sometimes when it involved pleasing my sisters. Well, she was also the mother of my child, so I shouldn’t get in the habit of dismissing her.

I followed Olivia out the door and she started to guide me down the hallway of rooms. She moved with a grace and certainty that said she had traveled these hallways many times. It was good to see that she had freedom and that she wasn’t being locked in her room or anything. As much as I had other worries on my mind, I did feel much better seeing Olivia there. I had seriously feared that she had been hurt. The last time I had seen her, that bastard Gantar had run off with her, intending to use the faery to give him sanctuary. Unfortunately for him, he had touched the wrong woman and paid for it. It was only my regret that I didn’t get to kill him myself.

We finally ended up coming to a stretch of a hallway with windows on one side, and she opened a door that led out into an expansive courtyard that was completely encased within the faery palace. It must be a place for guests to spend some time outdoors. I continued to follow Olivia, her cat tail wagging as she moved with a sensual grace. Occasionally, she’d look back as if to make sure I was still following, and then take several quick steps like she was afraid I’d pass her.

To say that her behavior was strange was an understatement, but then again, I hadn’t seen her in several months, and if her pregnancy had been jumpstarted and then accelerated, who knew where her hormones were at that moment. I followed into the center of the courtyard, and that was when my steps slowed. Olivia took a few quick steps up to a woman who was sitting there waiting for us. When she saw Olivia coming, she stood up quickly.

It was Lucilla, but since I had last seen her, she had a chance to clean herself, do her hair, and put on palace clothing. I had only ever seen her dusty with travel. Even when I first met her, it had been after she had crossed the desert to intercept me. This was the first time I saw her dressed up, and she was stunning.

“Lucilla.” I breathed out. “You wanted to meet with me?”

“Yes, I wanted you to meet someone.” She reached out a gestured.

At that moment, a young girl walked out. She had been waiting behind a pillar until the moment Lucilla gestured. She quickly ran over to Lucilla and threw her arms around the older woman. If I had to plant her age, it was around eight. As I got a good look at her, my expression froze. She looked a bit like Lucy except that her skin was grey, her eyes were red, and her ears were pointy.

“A… devil…”

“David… I want you to meet your daughter.”