Broken hero

Chapter 50

  Eclipse takes Anna's hand as she meets her outside the portals. "Hey princess! Ready?"

Anna smiled as she kissed her cheek, "ready!"

They walk towards her parent's castle, the urandian wind blowing by as they walk down the busy street. Urandians flew overhead as they walked. Urandians didn't need cars to travel, preferring their wings. Animals were kept as pets and looked like their earthen counterparts. A purple and white pup runs by with a urandian child chasing after it as they played.

The guards bow as they let them pass through and they see that many of the guests have already arrived. Thankfully this was another casual event so their clothing wouldn't stand out. They walked into the hall where stragglers were standing around, speaking to each other. They walked by and headed towards the banquet hall where the sounds of chatter were loudest.

Midnight looks up from where she was talking to another young woman. "Anna, Eclipse!"

A couple of people turn to look, Eclipse recognized a couple of them from when she went to the noble's school. She rolls her eyes at the few who seemed to eye her suspiciously. She'd been the dark kid in school, most stayed away while others were the definitions of mean girls like you'd see from movies. She did have a small group of friends who were also outcasts, but she doubted they would be around. Zala had run with the more popular crowd, although she wasn't aware of how her friends had treated Eclipse and she wanted to keep it that way.

Anna walks ahead of her, giving Midnight a big hug. Someone tackled Eclipse from behind, wrapping their arms around her shoulders and hanging off her slightly.

"Damn you're way too tall." Spire whines from behind her as Zala laughs at her sister's antics.

"Could we not try to break my back?" Eclipse grunts as she finally let's go, turning towards her. "Good to see you too sis."

Zala smiles and waves over a tall sandy haired man. "Eclipse, you remember Cory from school, right? He's my betrothed."

Eclipse smiles as she turns to the man, he'd been one of the few who acted kindly towards her though he never went out of his way to do so. "It's nice to see you again."

"You as well." He smiled back, though it felt forced to her.

She ignores it for now, making a mental note to investigate it another time. The 3 of them talk for a while with Cory only giving occasional one-word answers. Even Zala was starting to pick up on it.

Eclipse notices her father talking to some men. "I have to talk to father for a bit so please excuse me."

She sighs in relief as she exits that tense conversation. She walks over, patiently waiting for a lull in their conversation. Her father notices her standing there and excuses himself, motioning to the door with his head as he walks towards it. She follows, stopping occasionally as people grab her father's attention for brief intervals before they finally get to the hall. They don't stop as they continue down the hall until he opens a door and lets her into the library. He motions for her to sit and then sits across from her.

"I'm sorry if I worried you before." He smiles apologetically.

"It's fine. Though I'm curious... what's going on?" She tilts her head.

"Let's see how do I put this... on earth they talk about something called soul mates, correct?"

"Yes... people believe they have a partner meant for them called soul mates."

"On Urandia we have the same thing. However, for us it is a little different. When a Urandian meets their soulmate, it's not clear until they are married. Which is why most of our weddings are short and quick."

She raises an eyebrow.

"When a Urandian speaks their vows, it sparks a change in them and their partner. It creates an extreme need for their partner which is almost impossible to ignore. So, they leave as soon as possible. The next week is usually spent unable to think or do anything but satisfy their partner."

Her face turns red at the topic. "Can we skip this talk?"

He laughs. "I can skip that part as it's making you uncomfortable and skip to my point. At the end of the week the couple will find at least 1 'divine tattoo' as we call them. There can be up to 3 tattoos, and each has a meaning. It's extremely rare to have 3 as the last known case was 100 years ago. 2 tattoos mean soulmates. They are someone who was made to compliment you but usually only in one lifetime. If you were to be reincarnated, then you'd get a different mate. 1 tattoo means a copy of your soulmates. They were created to take the place of your soulmate should they die or never be found... and then there's 3... this is a perfect soul mate. They are the ones who have been created to compliment you completely. They say a perfect soul couple was created together and are meant to be found in every lifetime. However, like I said, it's extremely rare. Most never find their perfect mates."

He pauses for a second, letting it sink in. "Most royals never find their mates period, mostly due to the fact that we marry for politics and not love. We find people who fit us but it's still rare for those people to be a mate. Even your dear mother and I aren't mates, though we love each other as if we are. If someone does find their mate then they find themselves drawing closer to each other, their bonds grant special abilities and an understanding between the two."

He sighs. "All of this to say you and Anna may be mates. Nobody will know until after the wedding, but I wanted you to be aware of it now. If you are then of course you'll feel it but your eyes will also change to have a red hue to them. I'm not sure how your wedding is being planned but, knowing you, it's probably being left up to your wife who will be planning a more earth style wedding..." He laughs at the guilty look on her face. "It's fine. In that case, we will keep an eye on the two of you for the signs of the mating process and help you slip away if needed."

"I'd appreciate that." Eclipse chuckles nervously.

"Last thing... I don't know how it will affect Anna. There's no record of a human mate, most likely because urandians rarely interact with humans let alone date them."

"Gotcha... I will let Anna know what we talked about then and see how she feels before we go further then." Eclipse smiles gratefully. "Thankyou."

"Anytime kiddo. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with."

She gets up to go back to the party, but he stops her.

"One last thing." He stops her. "It seems some people still doubt your ability to take over as the Ruler of War. The nobles from the west declared war to try and take the throne before I stepped down. I want you to join us on the battlefield."