"You have to kill the mother while the child is still with her. We can say she slept with another man and therefore deserves death," Kasdahn proposed while lifting a glass, filled to the brim with a clear liquid, to his lips. "We shall send Royal Concubine Nova to her family in the east, was it the east?" Kasdahn asked. Campos nodded and took to word before his brother had time to get too carried away. "No one has to know she is pregnant, and no one has to die".
Campos was afraid his brother would notice that his hands were trembling if he picked up his own drink, so he kept them under the tall table that they conveniently had taken refuge behind.
Kasdahn raised an eyebrow and put his glass down again. "You've grown fond of her, brother." He muttered, and Campos didn't see the point in denying it. "Love is the only privilege royals don't get, must you be so greedy?" Kasdahn continued. Campos looked up at him and tried to find a hint of compassion in his eyes. He wanted to appeal to his feelings, but lately, Campos had started to wonder if his brother had any at all. "I just don't want her to get hurt," he explained and Kasdahn snorted "It's you or her, brother."
Campos clenched his fists under the table. He had honestly thought that Kasdahn would help him, but Campos now regretted bringing forth his concerns for him. Now Kasdahn knew his secret, and he was quite frankly afraid of what his brother would do with that information.
"You're a royal, Campos. People care about your private affairs. If you send your concubine away, people will ask questions." Kasdahn claimed with a nod, his brown hair falling in front of his face. His hair had grown long since the last time they'd seen each other, long enough for him to look more like a barbarian than a nobleman, let alone a prince. Kasdahn followed Campos' gaze and brushed his hair away from his eyes while looking at Campos with a criticizing glare.
"Just kill her, you know you aren't allowed to have a half-blood before you're married," Kasdahn sputtered and Campos couldn't help but look around to see if any of the guests had heard him. He knew it wasn't wise to discuss so highly personal matters in public, at a royal banquet in the Black kingdom of all places, but he rarely saw his brother and was desperate for advice so he deemed the risk as worth taking.
"Nova's mark is white, your mark is brown. Conclusion; your child will probably inherit her mark and not yours. You'll be forced to cast your child away, all you get to choose is if you'd like to get further attached to said child, or if you'd prefer to nip it in the bud and get rid of the girl and the child in one swoop." Kasdahn continued, gesturing wildly with his hands. He calmed himself and lowered his voice as he noticed Campos' discomfort, before he again lifted his glass to his lips.
Campos opened his clenched fists and looked down at his palms. He had always wanted to know what it would be like to have a colored mark instead of his brown skin. He had never really been envious of the citizens of the other kingdoms before now, but his newfound covetousness was overwhelming. "I will not kill her," he stated and ignored Kasdahn's deadly glare. "There must be another way?" he asked, desperate for guidance.
"Send Nova away then, don't kill her, but don't come running to me when she gets kidnapped and held for ransom or something like that. Oh, and remember that I warned you that people would ask questions. I prefer that people know precisely what I'm talking about when I say that I told them so." Kasdahn hissed and bumped the table as he walked away, sending small rivers of some alcohol-infused beverage off the edge of the table. Campos moved away before the drink dripped onto him, but he stood still for a while, deep in thought, before he called for a servant to clean up his brother's mess.
In the end, Campos decided to follow his gut. A decision that only a few days later led him deep into the woods. The night had started to fall when Campos woke Nova and led her to the stable. He ditched his guards and rode deep into the woods with her. He decided to focus on the feeling of her arms wrapped around his waist, instead of thinking about their final destination.
Nova hadn't asked any questions. In fact, she hadn't said anything at all. Campos knew that he wouldn't have been able to speak if he tried. Therefore, Nova knew nothing of where they were headed. Campos himself had only received a vague description of the path they were to follow and therefore knew almost as little of where they were headed as Nova did.
The hours passed quickly, and soon enough they arrived at a clearing in the woods large enough to fit an army of one hundred men. The ground consisted of grainy sand. Campos would have been surprised to find a large patch of sand in the middle of the woods if that had not been exactly what he was looking for.
The young prince dismounted and helped Nova down as well. He looked at her. Her blue eyes, and shining white hair. The curve of her lips, and arch of her brows. Her complexion and posture, it was as if she was screaming that she was not afraid, without having to say a word.
He opened his mouth, determined to say something of meaning when a creaking sound, emitted out of nowhere, filled the air around them. The two of them looked around startled when two cloaked and covered figures appeared from behind the thick trees in front of them. "I am Crown Prince Campos of the Brown Kingdom, and I demand you to show yourself," he ordered. The two figures chuckled but lifted their arms to their hoods nonetheless.
The tallest one had silver hair, and misaligned, cloudy eyes that resulted in a natural deadpan glare - while the younger one with pitch black hair flashed a crooked smile and looked thoroughly amused.
Campos guessed that the tall one was blind, and also in charge due to the fact that he had silver hair, meaning he had a grey mark on his palm. He once again thought of how practical it was that everyone had the same hair color as their mark. He instantly categorized them and knew their strengths and weaknesses.
"So this is Nova?" The eldest asked. His voice was deep, and uncompassionate, just as the rest of his being seemed. "I am," she responded and took a step forward. Suddenly the youngest of them disappeared and reappeared directly in front of Nova. She let out a startled sound before the young man grabbed her chin tightly and shut her up.
"Get your hands off of her, young man," Campos demanded and the stranger chuckled again. "Did you hear that Rain? Young man?" The man mimicked and laughed again. "Return, Tennex," the man, seemingly going by the name Rain, ordered. The younger man obliged.
"I apologize for my apprentice's manners, My Lord. He is still young, as you pointed out." Rain said with a bow. Campos exhaled and nodded. "All is well. Your name was Rain?" Campos asked. "That is indeed what you may call me, Prince Campos." Rain answered smoothly. "Alright then, Rain. My source tells me you can provide Nova safe passage to someplace far out of reach?" Campos asked. Rain confirmed with a nod. "The escorts will appear shortly, a family of four are to take this young lady to a parallel dimension. But I'm sure you already know that." Rain explained, and Nova drew her breath sharply. She turned towards Campos, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. Campos didn't look shocked, but he did seem rather uneasy. "I knew only that you would take her somewhere safe from the Royals of this nation," Campos responded. Rain nodded "And we will. Your source, as you call him, has already paid the price. All that remains is for our Tehpas to show up. Which by the way, should happen any second now," Rain said, and just as he finished the sentence, a group of four appeared in the clearing.
The group consisted of what appeared to be a completely normal A4 family. A mother, father, daughter, and son. The fact that they could teleport proved once and for all that looks could deceive
"We're ready when you are," the father of the family said, without a bow or introduction. Campos had a lump in his throat, and his sight went blurry with tears. "I understand what is happening, My Lord. I understand that this is the best solution you could find. Thank you for sparing my life," she mumbled and curtseyed.
Campos looked at her dumbstruck. He was deporting her out of their universe and she was thanking him.
"I will never love anyone as I have loved you," Campos vowed, a tear trickling down his chin.
"Will we ever meet again?" Nova asked, wiping a tear off of his cheek. To the annoyance of both of them, it was the young man, Tennex, that answered. "Probably not, time is different in parallel universes. Perhaps she stays on Earth for forty years, when she returns you will be sixty and she will return to the age she was when she left this dimension. Eighteen is it?" he snickered.
Nova suddenly broke down in tears, and Campos could do nothing more than hold her trembling body. The man with silver hair, Rain, stepped forward and put an arm out to nudge Tennex backwards and into silence. "Traveling through time and space is tricky business, and my apprentice here does not rest upon all the answers and loop-holes out there. I would not abandon all hope," Rain advised, swiftly bowing to the prince.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're running a tight schedule." The father said and tilted his head. The mother nudged his side and whispered something in a foreign language."Take your time," she said with a foreign accent. Campos nodded as thanks but Nova quickly let go of his body. "Remember me, remember us" she begged as she let go of him and walked over to the family. "Take care of her!" Campos exclaimed as the family formed a circle, with Nova in the middle.
Nova and Campos locked eyes. She opened her mouth, but before she had time to speak she had disappeared. The sand where they were standing shone with a dim light as it rose and sunk, as if the sand had been so heavily impacted by the behavior of waves, that it couldn't help but try the movements out itself.
Campos struggled to breathe as he ran over to the silver patch and knelt at the spot where she had stood, just a few seconds ago. "What was she going to say? She opened her mouth. What was she going to say?" Campos muttered like a madman. "You have to leave Your Highness, the stardust will kill you if you breathe in too much of it," Campos heard the blind man, Rain, explain from right behind him.
Campos suddenly felt a hand on his left shoulder and a soothing feeling swept through his body. He closed his eyes. "What was she about to say?" Campos wept, tears running down his face and dripping on to the silver dust. Rain sighed and calmly replied: "Its a girl."