Azula's POV
Our other half of our army had finally arrived and now we had to train. Balthazar was looked over the army with a very observant eye. He was forming our long range and close range fighters mentally. When the other half of the army joined, Yulen met his three mates. Bloom was a pixie who was an amazing archer, with the best aim I've ever seen. Stark was a vampire, that I wasn't too comfortable with at first. He wasn't old enough to have been alive when his kind attacked my people, but I still can't push that prejudice aside. For my son I was going to try. Kora was a witch who specialized in ley line magic. Ley line magic pulled from the Earth, not needing any higher beings to worship to use it. The three had already been mated to one another for a couple of years, and were slightly surprised when they met Yulen. Yulen was the youngest in their mating, and although he was happy to have met them, he voiced to me that he wished it was after the war.
All three of my kids have now met their mates, and they were all going to follow the Fae tradition of waiting to mate till they were of drinking age. Thankfully Lui's mate and Yulen's mates all understood, and were more than happy to have a long courtship. It will allow them to take their time and get to know their mates, but it will also, hopefully prevent them from rushing into mating. With the war in a couple of years, who knows how they will feel as it nears and I don't want them to rush into something they may not be happy with.
Seeing our army fully formed, had me wondering if it was too small to face against our enemy. I hated not knowing their numbers. We still had two years, so who knows how large their army will grow. Deckland was using dark magic, meaning he wasn't using living people like we have to use. It left me unsettled.
Unable to sleep, I stood on my balcony wearing my robe, as Balthazar slept on the bed. He's been pushing himself once again. Our little getaway was a great way to recharge our batteries, but I feel we'll run out of juice well before we get to the war. We had to take it one day at a time, but it seems that a single day was crammed with a year worth of things to deal with. I leaned my elbows on the balcony railing as a breeze picked up a strand of my hair. Fall was on the horizon, meaning this year would soon be coming to an end, bringing us that much closer to the war.
We have tried the last eight years to find Deckland and put an end to this madness before we get to war, but it feels our time has been wasted every time we have no results. I was at a loss on what to do. The time was drawing near and so far we had nothing that we could do to stop it from happening. I couldn't help but feel terrified, and feel like a failure as a ruler and as a mother. My kids shouldn't be worrying about possibly dying on a battlefield, especially so shortly after having met their mates. My people shouldn't have to go through another war either. It wasn't fair to them, that we failed to protect them.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't sensed Balthazar had woken up and came to stand behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist, "What's wrong my love?" "I can't sleep," I whispered. I then told him where my thoughts were. "I too have been feeling the same," he confessed with a sigh. "I'm not going to stop searching until we find him. Even if it's down to the last second. Better late than the alternative."
I nodded and leaned into him. "You should get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow," he said to me. I sighed and nodded, "I know." He lead me to the bed and removed my robe. I laid down with him, and rested my head on his chest. He placed a kiss on my head, before sleep consumed me.
When I woke up, I was the only one in bed, and I could smell breakfast being made. I got up and got dressed. I went to the kitchen and saw Balthazar cooking. He's gotten really good at it over the years and it was a really nice sight to see first thing in the morning.
"Good morning mo ghaol," I said with a soft smile. "Good morning my queen," he said before lowering his head to kiss me. I looked around the empty kitchen and dinning area. "Where is everyone?" "The kids are with their mates, no clue where your brothers went, and Mokoto took Sarshay and Jenson out for the day to enjoy their animal forms. So it's just us, meaning I get to avoid Lui's criticism towards my cooking."
I laughed softly and shook my head. Lui never misses a chance to tease his father over his cooking skills. Now though, Lui had amazing cooking skills that he got to rub in his father's face at times. Of course he never did it in a disrespectful way.
After Balthazar and I ate, we decided to follow one else's lead and spend the day trying to relax. We pushed ourselves for the last couple of weeks once our army had arrived and I felt too exhausted to face them today. Balthazar laid on the couch and I laid on top of him as we watched TV.
Yulen's POV
What the absolute fuck was I going to do? I didn't have one, but three mates! It wasn't uncommon to be honest, but still. I found this as fucking karma after feeling lucky I hadn't met my mate yet so I wouldn't have to worry about more during the war. The Gods were most likely laughing at me currently while flipping me off. I wasn't against having my mates, I was really happy to have met them, I just wished it was after the war. I informed them of my thoughts as well, and they understood where I was coming from. I wasn't going to hide anything from them. They were my mates and they deserved to know how I felt since it involved them. However just because I feel this way, doesn't mean I still don't want to court them.
I was raised with a mix of Fae and Demon traditions, and I wanted to follow the Fae traditions with my mating. I will court them till I was of drinking age, and everything will be equal with us. I also had to learn their traditions as well, so it was going to be a huge cluster of things that I was gonna have to learn, and that's why I wanted these years of courtship so I could learn their traditions and not fuck up and get things wrong. Last thing I want to do is offend them.
Today I was spending the day with them, to take a break from training and get to know them. They've been mated for five years, all having met each other around the same time. Stark was bright, bubbly, and nerdy, and it was clear it was the women were the more dominant out of the three. He wasn't much of a fighter either, but he was learning. Kora was quiet, calm, and kept her emotions to herself unless in private. She wasn't one who liked drawing attention to herself with public displays of affection outside of hand holding and simple kisses. Bloom was a huntress and strategist who was always calculating her next move. She was also possessive and the most territorial of the three.
When I appeared at the forest for our picnic, Stark jumped in shock. I gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry." "Don't be," Stark said with a smile. "I just wasn't expecting it." "How do you do that," Kora asked me curiously. "So as you know, every demon is different and there are a bunch of different subclasses we fall under," I explained as I joined them on the blanket. "I fall under the Transport Class. Some are like me and just bounce from place to place, some create portals that take them over small distances, and what not." "And your siblings," Bloom asked curiously. "You're all so different yet only your brother shares any resemblance to your father."
"Laceria and I are both adopted," I explained to them. "Lui is a royal which is an entire class all his own. Laceria is a mix of her biological parents. Most tend to only take after one of the other, but she is one of the rare few who can fall into two classes. She's known as a Scholar with the ability to memorize everything after only hearing, seeing, or tasting it once. She can also read messages in the sky from the Gods in the stars. It's a gift mostly Priest and Priestesses possesses, and her grandfather had been a Priest or Aurick, the God of the Cosmics. Laceria's father didn't follow the Priest hood life, but he did possess the gifts that he carried to Laceria." Unfortunately the Gods weren't giving us any help or hints in the stars, but she searches the sky every night for something.
"That's really interesting," Bloom said to me with a nod. "I didn't think demons could be so complicated as far as lineage." I could tell she was meaning it in a thoughtful way as she had a thoughtful expression.
I nodded, "It can get rather complex. What about you guys? I don't know much on other species besides the Fae and shifters." "Well, we aren't as complex," Stark said to me. "Vampires, there are just the one species. We do have those that could be gifted if they're mixed, one of their parents not being a vampire. Those tend to be the lucky vampires, and can be able to walk in the sun without fear of dying." Wait? What? "I'm fine though," he rushed out. "Kora made me a ring that allows me to be in the sun as much as I want too as long as I wear it. Of course I will never get a tan, but I'm happy to walk about freely."
"Why can't vampires go out in the sun," I asked him. "A curse put on our kind a while ago by the Greek God Ares. A vampire ended up killing one of his nymphs, and he cursed us to never be able to walk in the sun. If we do, we turn to ash and our souls vanish forever, never to go through the rebirth cycle," he explained and I nodded. That was an incredibly long time ago.
"He also can't touch my pixie dust or wings if he isn't wearing the ring," Bloom said with a slight sigh. "That's because your pixie dust is made up of sunlight right," I asked her. She nodded, "Yeah. Our wings are too. We learned the hard way he couldn't touch them. At least it wasn't during sex when we learned that." "Are they sensitive touch," I asked her. "You mean causing arousal," she asked me. I nodded, "Yes." She nodded, "Yes they are. They're almost as delicate as an insect's wing, except our wings can heal and grow back."
That was good to know. "I've made a strengthener to help ensure her wings are as durable as leather for when the war starts," Kora told me. "If we go to war," I said to them. "My parents are trying their best to find Deckland before the ten years is up. They're exhausting every resource they have." "I pray they find him," Stark said with a small smile. So did I.
We then began to eat and enjoy spending time with each other until the sun had set. As we were cleaning up, we were attacked by those same things that attacked Lui. I was quick to summon my sword and face them. "Get out of here," I said to the three of them.
"We can't just leave you," Stark said as Bloom shot one out of the sky. "We're more of a burden staying," Kora said. "We have no combat abilities." I then took a quick second to send the three of them to the castle with my ability. That second got the fangs of one of those bastard's in my arm. I slammed my sword into it's head, and it released me. I faced off with the five I had left.
The moment I finished killing the last one, I went back to the castle. Kora and Bloom were looking at a map with my father, brother, and uncles trying to figure out where we had been having our picnic.
Stark had been pacing with worry. He turned as I appeared and threw himself at me. "You idiot," he said with a sniffle. "Why did you send us away?" "To focus," I said, holding in my groan. When he released me, both Lui and Laceria were giving me a smack in the back of the head. I growled. "Go to the healer Yulen," my father said, relief in his voice, and I nodded. After getting my arm healed, I was left with a scar, but luckily no poison had been in the wound. I found my mates waiting outside of the infirmary. They all hugged me and I hugged them back. "How is your arm," Kora asked me. I held it up, "Just a scar, but nothing else." Bloom was then grabbing me by the ear, "We didn't know exactly where we were compared to the distance from the castle and you sent us away to handle it on your own! You're so reckless! Had you kept me with you, the other two could have ensured help got to us because Kora could have used the bond to find me and open a portal to allow your family to come and assist." The entire time she is gripping my ear, I'm am repeatedly saying "ow". Her grip was tight and merciless.
When she let me go I rubbed my sore ear, "I'm sorry sheesh. It won't happen again." She nodded, "Good." Soon they left to go get rest and I went to my room to do the same. My wolf Bryxon, was sleeping on my bed like the bed hog he is. He wasn't happy I had left him at home today, but I wanted to spend time with my mates, not worry about my wolf scarring the bunnies he finds in the forest. He doesn't kill them but enjoys the chase and sometimes it is rather annoying to get his fur unstuck from a bush he ran into. I laid in bed after stripping off my clothes and he gave me a gentle lick on my cheek and I smiled softly as I ran a hand through his fur. My mates were safe and some of the enemy was killed. I would say today was a good day.