Bride of the Dark Lord

#69 The Bestower's Gift

I had not walked twenty feet away from the garden when my path got blocked.

The Village Chief, Ladislas, stood in front of me.

His wife must've told him, that I now knew their long-guarded secret. 'Cause the truth was, there was no way that they would have lived this safely, close to the Capital for years, if they had not (as an entire village), worked together to hide the secret from Randall. Anyway, what was that saying, the most dangerous place, could also be the safest.

I took in a deep breath. He is scared, I told myself. I said to him, "I'm already a powerful Gifted. And as for Regalis, you know, that even in lands and kingdoms, where he has never set foot on, the reputation of his Gift has already reached there. So, we don't need your wife’s Gift. And neither would we ever stop her, from blessing anyone who has shown her..."

"What's going on here?" I heard from behind me. Regalis.

I turned. Regalis, stood with Alistair. As he stared at the huge, broad-shouldered Village Chief, I noticed his right hand go across Alistair's shoulders, as though to protect him from the Village Chief.

Regalis looked at me, "what's going on?" His voice on edge. As though ready to fight Ladislas, if I said he'd threatened me.

"Father. Fa-ther" Alistair lifted the stick of roasted snake in his hand.

Father? Ladislas was his father? Then, his mother must be...Aurora? No wonder she'd been watching Regalis interact with Alistair. Could I heal his condition? I wondered.

Ladislas smiled at Alistair. Moved closer to him, after Regalis reluctantly let him get close, when he'd been certain Alistair was truly comfortable with Ladislas's presence.

With a handkerchief in his hand, Ladislas wiped Alistair's drooping spit, as he stammered away, "the s-nake was in the pond. Ke-wa-lis caught it and roasted it. Can I eat -it?"

"Ke-wa-" Ladislas paused. As he clearly realised who Alistair referred to, that way. "My apo..."

"I do not mind" Regalis said, "friends give one another nicknames".

Alistair nodded, his eyes also not on his father, as it stared around, "friends" he repeated, "Kewa-lis is my first fri-end".

"Your Highness" Ladislas bowed "I came here to ask you both to please come in. My wife, the Village Chief, invites you to come in".

Village Chief.  A woman, was a Village Chief in Armalith. So, Ladislas was just a cover. In case,  we didn't approve. Well, if we ended up removing Randall, then, the whole of Armalith, would realise that they had a lot to learn about their new king.

Women too, could lead.

Nadia had led troops in battle.

Minutes later, Regalis and I, were led into a room, by Ladislas. And then, the door closed behind him.

Standing in the room, was Aurora. Now the truth was out. She no longer covered her skin, from head to toe. She was in a dress with short sleeves.

Then my eyes went to the portraits on the wall of the room. I stepped back in shock. The Walter brothers, from the military camp. The brothers who helped with drawing the plants' diagrams and pasting it round the camp. I said, "you're the Walters' mother?"

She smiled, nodded "yes".

What a coincidence. To leave the North, and then, end up running into the family of the man I saved, while he was almost choking to death.

And to add to the surprise, his mother was no ordinary Gifted. A bestower!

I looked at Regalis, who didn't understand what was going on. A secret they had hidden for years, was coincidentally discovered by a stranger, just after a few hours of staying here.