Helion Spellcleaver and the Lady of Autumn ; A new start

Part 2

You and mom met when?

'It was during the war, the Hybern forces were at the house she sought refuge with her sisters. Your aunts. The Hybern beasts were unforgiving, but your aunts loved your mother enough to push her to safety first. She ran, but the monsters got up her.'

'You saved her.'

'I did, ripped the monsters with my bare hands.' Helion stoped and stared at the night sky thoughtfully. 'Its just that when I saw Aurelia like that panting because she had ran so fast and couldnt get enough air, but also trembling with fear for her own fate and her beloved sisters, I couldn't contain my anger, I ripped those monster because I felt like a quick death wasn't what they deserved after hurting Aurelia like that.'

'I took her to my palace, and once she was safe, I winnowed back to her sisters. I was very late.'

'They were dead, weren't they?'

'If only they had been just dead, no, they had been tortured mercilessly and than had died of pain. I tried to righten and clean their bodies somehow, and I took them with me to the Day Court. They are buried there.'

'But it wasn't supposed to happen. Danger was never supposed to reach her. Wasn't it?' A distant nod from Helion. 'There is a rumour in the Autumn Court, about how Beron failed at something gravely, that the lady of Autumn Court still hates him for it. Is it about this?'

'Yes,' Helion turned to face him now, 'Beron during the war was - I'm not sure what the right word would be- unstable, at the very least. Changed sides like he changed his socks. Thats why danger could find him from both sides, we could attack him because we didn't know where his loyalty lied and Hybern would attack him for the same reason. He was just too scared for his own ass, and kept most of the guards with him, sent some guards to your brothers and left your mother alone and unprotected.'

WHAT?

Lucien started to shake, tremble so hard with rage at the thought of it, Beron had left the mother of his six sons, had abandoned her, hadn't cared whether she would be safe of not, without guards, because he was scared for his own damn ass, was afraid of the consequences of his own damn actions. Lucien shouldn't have been this shocked, of course he knew Beron, he tortured his sons, belittled and traumatised his wife, made him watch as he (Beron) killed Lucien's lover. And yet...

'So what happened next?' Lucien asked his father. Trying to change the train of thoughts in his  mind. It felt weird to him, to think of Helion as his father, when he had called another man so for 5 centuries.

'Of course, your mother learned the terrible fate of her sisters and was devastated. I felt as if I had never seen such devastation and anger and hatred in one person. Aurelia just broke, she didn't speak or eat or drink, she didn't even sleep.'

'Just like Elain' Lucien thought.

'Almost two months passed and she didn't change, so I thought maybe I could try to talk to her. Just so you know, I hadn't been in her room before to respect her privacy and status as a married woman. But it was too much, when I finally saw her, she was so thin and pale, it almost broke my heart as well. So I just sat on the ground, beside her bed and waited if she would show some response to me being there. She did.' Lucien was trying to imagine his mother, her beautiful hair without their usual shine, face pale and under eyes darkened. Her eyes open but not seeing. Everything blank.

'She turned to me and said "Is it because of me? Did you take long to save them because you had to help me first? I let them die, I ran for my life and left them, I should have stayed. Stayed until the last drop of my magic was consumed, maybe I would have died but I would have been by their sides. I can't live like this." I didn't know how to respond to that of course, but some selfish part of me was happy that she could speak, that her mind was still intact. My mouth moved without checking with my mind, and I said the dumbest thing I could have ever said at that moment.'