The Forbidden Forest Palace
Once Geoffrey had terminated the telepathy chat, Lord Aslan McTavish, the king of the Forbidden Forest, proceeded in connecting with Kirkwood, his butler overseeing Rosehaven.
"My lord." The man's voice came through. "It's a pleasure hearing from you, sir. It has been a long time."
"It has been a long time indeed, Kirkwood. When was the last time?"
The butler said, "Around five years ago, sir."
"Ahh." Aslan chuckled. "That long ago, eh?"
"Indeed, sir," the butler said.
Aslan didn't beat about the bush. He instructed, "Prepare Rosehaven for the lords of Acaedien, Kirkwood. They will be landing there within the next few hours."
"Yes, my lord," the butler said and didn't seem surprised at all at the very short notice. "Rosehaven is always prepared and ready for any unexpected visitation."
"As usual, you're proficient, Kirkwood."
"Thank you, my lord."
"I'll be making my visit within the next couple of days with Lilly," Aslan said. "Once the lords of Acaedien have sorted out their problem—which I believe you know what it is."
"Yes, my lord. I can smell the scent miles away. It's getting close. I will send my staff to check the perimeter to ensure no dark beast has gone mad due to the scent."
"Do that," Aslan said. "And erect another set of barriers as an extra precaution."
"Aye, my lord," Kirkwood replied, and a moment later, after Kirkwood had reported some other minor details of Rosehaven, they disconnected.
Aslan used Silent Move and shifted from the location of his chamber and appeared in front of a massive, elegant door. He knocked in a rhythm of three, and a gentle voice called out, "Come in."
Aslan opened the door and entered the room. On the other side, a beautiful young woman with silver hair was sitting on the floor by the magical open fireplace, a book in her hands.
"Lilly, my love," Aslan said as he approached her.
The girl looked up at the sound of his voice. She gave him a smile. "Hello, Aslan. Are you done with work?"
"Mm-hmm." He came to sit on the cushion beside her. Because he couldn't help himself, he pulled her into his arms and onto his lap.
Lilly put the book down on the floor and then wrapped her arms over his massive shoulders and around his muscular neck. She licked her lips and then asked, "So I was just wondering, Aslan, if we could go out of the city for a wee picnic tomorrow or something. I've discussed it with Ria, you know, and she said the villages in the country are very beautiful."
Aslan tightened his arms around his beloved Lilly, the reincarnation of his previous wife Bella. Since she had been born in a small village across another realm about nineteen years ago, Aslan could sense her soul and, hence, her pure qi, an orb of white energy bursting brightly within her being. Of course, Lilly herself had yet to find that out, and Aslan himself had no desire yet to inform her of who she was, her past life, and what she and her power were capable of.
Lilly was his beauty, his beloved, and he'd keep her hidden and protect her from the dark beast desiring her qi.
"I'm glad you bring that up, my love," he said, his finger fondly stroking her cheek. "What do you say we visit one of my other estates before we depart for Wulin?"
Lilly brightened immediately. "Really? We're visiting one of your other estates? When? What is it called? How long are we staying there?"
Aslan chuckled at Lilly's enthusiastic questions. He said, "We'll depart within the next couple days. The estate is called Rosehaven. We won't stay long. A couple of days tops, since we have to leave for Wulin."
Lilly looked pleased. "Then I'll inform Ria to prepare everything. Rosehaven, that sounds...heavenly." She laughed. "I can't wait, Aslan. It'll be wonderful."
"I'm glad you're looking forward to it," Aslan said. "The lords of Acaedien will be staying there. They brought along a girl around your age. I'm hoping you and she'll get along."
Lilly looked interested. "Really? There's a girl around my age? My, but I haven't met a girl around my age yet." She turned her gaze to him. "She is really nineteen and not...nineteen hundred or something along that line?"
Aslan laughed. He couldn't help himself. He said, "She is nineteen and is from another realm, like you, my love."
"Wow! Then I can't wait to meet her," Lilly said. Suddenly, her beautiful face darkened. She asked tentatively, "She hadn't been sacrificed by her people, had she?"
Aslan shook his head. "No, love, you can rest assured that she was not."
Despite the fact that Aslan had a pair of magical eyes that enabled him to see far and wide across the distance and even had insight of the past and the near future, he had yet to figure out how the girl named Alfie had managed to be transported into their realm. He happened to just pick up her scent and, hence, her qi one day a few months back. When he had seen her pure qi piercing the Aurora sky and felt the overwhelmingly strong energy, he knew The Great One had returned. Of course, he had yet to contact The Great Sage of Yamato, Eri Hoshi, an acquaintance of his, to ask if she knew. And now that The Great One was in his land, which made it his responsibly to protect her, he had better make haste in connecting with Eri to inform her of the happenstance.
Lilly sighed. "Then I'm glad."
Aslan kissed his beloved on the forehead. "Now then, I have a few things to do. I'll see you tonight for dinner."
She nodded.
Once Aslan left Lilly's bedchamber, he went to his office on the seventh floor of the palace, which was hidden from the world with a protective barrier. Here, he worked on connecting his qi with that of Eri Hoshi.
Indeed, the woman proved hard to find, hiding her presence and her qi from the world. She was a hermit to the core, Aslan thought.
He finally found her, her pure qi made to appear invisible. However, Aslan could still sense it. The line was thin and pale, very faint, so that even the most powerful would miss its existence.
"My, my." Eri Hoshi's voice came through. "I can feel you hunting me down, my lord Aslan. And here I was having a fine time enjoying my tea with Lord Hara too. You're ruining our afternoon, you know that?"
Aslan chuckled. "Then I apologize, Great Sage."
He heard Eri sigh. "Never mind about that. So what is it? You're working hard on hunting me down; it must be important."
"As a matter of fact, yes," Aslan said. "It appears your daughter is in my country."
Aslan heard some spluttering of the lips. He had no doubt the dear old woman was so shocked at hearing the news that she was spraying tea into the air again, as was her habit.
"Really?" Eri said. "Oh dear. Then you know you need to protect Alfie at all costs?"
"Is that her name? Alfie?" Aslan asked. "Although, I doubt I need to participate much in the protection arena."
"What do you mean by that?"
Aslan knew Eri would find this out sooner or later. The fact was that Alfie, The Great One, was now an important figure in their realm, and any information about her needed to be known and shared immediately.
Aslan said, "The seven lords of Acaedien are her protectors, so I doubt I need to step in."
Eri's voice was hard when she asked, "What do you mean by that, Aslan?"
Aslan chuckled. When Eri used his first name, it meant she was no longer polite. He said, "Just that."
Eri's voice was frosty when she snapped, "Oh, for heaven's sake, just tell me already, Aslan. What do you mean by that? That the lords of Acaedien are Alfie's protectors?" She paused and then said, "Oh my Lord! They've claimed her, haven't they? Trust those bastards to claim the first enticing thing they see. They've been sniffing after Alfie since two thousand years ago. Not that they knew it was her."
Aslan laughed. He couldn't help himself. So that was what it was? The seven demon lords had been after Alfie, or Stardust back then, since two thousand years ago, and they didn't even know it.
"Where is Alfie now?" Eri asked. "I will send my men there."
"Rosehaven," Aslan said. "They're heading there as we speak."
"Why are they—" She stopped short. "Oh, for heaven's sake, she's in heat, isn't she? Can those dark beasts not hold themselves back?"
Again, Aslan chuckled. "Unfortunately, we can't, Eri. We dark beasts claim what we want, and we do it fast."
He heard Eri let out a big sigh. Then she said, "I will inform Kuro and his squad to head over to Rosehaven. They're assigned to protect Alfie. Not that she needs any more protection, considering she's now a pack of demon lords' mate, but they'll be my eyes and ears."
Aslan nodded. "Of course."
"Is that all you have for me?" Eri asked finally.
"For now," Aslan said. "By the way, won't you grace us with your wonderful presence at the international conference in Wulin?"
He heard her sigh deeply. "I'll think about it."
Aslan teased. "Alfie will be attending."
Eri said, "Is that so? Is that why she happened to land in the Forbidden Forest?"
"They were on their way to Wulin."
"I'll think about it," Eri said. With that, they terminated the chat.