Iftia: Lyx Palace, Main Entrance
• Elianna •
The moment the white wolf turned around and disappeared into the woods, Rowan released his grip on her arm and she sprinted forward. She picked Arell from the bed of snow and hugged him tightly in her hold as she cried, "Arell? Arell, mea lux—"
"Eli, bring him inside," Rowan said. He had also rushed to their side and he supported her up. He placed his hand against the child's skin and his voice was equally pained, "Quickly, love. He's suffering from hypothermia."
She clutched onto her child tightly in her arms as tears flowed relentlessly. Arell was supposed to be in Nvre, he was supposed to stay with Matthias and Indira and he was supposed to be safe. She couldn't make out the reason why he ended up with the wolf, but if he did, it would only mean that something happened in Nvre. Pulling on the sleeve of Rowan's coat, she exhaled, "Rowan, something must've happened."
"I thought so too. When we left the Royal Palace, I sent Ilias to bring Arell back but—" Rowan choked on his words, sounding worried and anxious. Once they entered through the main doors, he removed the thick mantle off his shoulders and spread it on the marbled ground. He reached to take Arell from her arms and rested the child above the soft material, speaking in Iftiac as a soft light appeared on his palm and white magic dusted through.
Colour finally washed over the child's pale complexion but Arell whimpered pitifully and his brows pinched tightly together into a frown. A pierce went right through her heart when she brushed her fingers through his soft hair, whispering, "You'll be okay. Please endure through this, mea lux."
It took a long while before his small body regained warmth and Arell was finally breathing right. She heaved a sigh of relief, but just when she was about to pick him up from the ground, the main entrance was pushed opened forcefully. Alerted, she whipped herself around and positioned herself protectively in front of her child. Rowan had also wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword, ready to fight against the intruder.
"Arell!"
A loud shout and the man who emerged through the entrance caused her to freeze. His dark hair was messy with so much snow caught in between strands and his emerald eyes were wide with fear and dread as he stared towards the child lying on the ground. He was panting heavily through his laboured breaths, almost messing up the patterns of inhales and exhales. She almost couldn't believe it when she gasped, "Thunder?"
"Eli, w-what happened to Arell?" Thunder almost shouted, his terror apparent in his shaky, trembling voice. "I felt his heart stop. I—"
Her lips parted in shock when she finally understood why she could no longer feel her bond with Thunder. Pushing herself off the ground, she wrapped her hands around his neck. Her voice was strained by the emotions that balled in her throat and she reprimanded him in a cry, "You idiot! Why didn't you tell me earlier? I couldn't feel you, Thunder! I thought I lost you and I was so worried, you stupid cat!"
"For Goddess' sake! I promised both of you that I would return and you're choking me, Eli—" Thunder struggled, suffocating when she clung too tightly onto him.
He was grabbing onto her arms, trying to pry them away from him but she almost wished she could murder this panther for making her worry. From the side, Rowan pulled her by the waist and let out a quiet chuckle, "You'll really kill him at this rate, love."
"Thunder!" Elianna fumed.
The panther moved past them and carried Arell up in his arms, cradling the child close to him. Therianthropes have higher body temperatures and Elianna knew that he was trying to warm the child up with his warmth. Lowering his head, Thunder murmured, "I'm sorry."
"I think you're mistaking me," Elianna sighed. "Thunder, you can choose whoever you want to be bonded with. It's your freedom and choice because none of us owns you — you belong to yourself. I'm mad at you because you could've told me about it and I could've taught Arell how to reach out to you. We needed to know you're safe, Thunder. You're too precious to us."
"I can see why you're so attached to them now."
Behind them, a deep voice echoed through the crisp air. A tall figure entered through the door and the gold in his eyes caused Elianna to still. The amber was the same shade that she shared with the wolf queen. With an arm wrapped protectively around her, Rowan stiffened beside her and tugged her closer to him at the sight of the unknown visitant.
The tension eased a little when Thunder clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned his head around, snarling, "Izekiel, I told you to wait outside."
"Is this how you talk to your elder, youngling?" Izekiel responded funnily with a rumbling laugh. He walked close to her and bent at his waist. Those radiant gold eyes bore into hers and he rested his forehead on the back of her hand. He smiled and revealed his feline canines, "You're the reason why this youngling get to be arrogant, hmm? Her Divinity's blessed child."
"You're creepy, old cat," Thunder scowled.
"You mispronounced charming, youngling," Izekiel joked, smirking playfully at Thunder.
Elianna shot a glance at a displeased Thunder before adjusting her gaze back to Izekiel again. Gripping onto Rowan's arm tighter, she asked, "Who are you?"
Izekiel raised his brows in amusement and mentioned, "Introductions aren't needed, darling. I won't be here for long."
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Iftia: Nvre Palace, Nursery
• Naailah •
When she returned to an empty nursery, Naailah knew something was terribly wrong. The silence in the space seized her in the same manner that her fear did. Turning around she quickly ran down the wide hallway and shouted for Ray to get her back to the Royal Palace. This was the beginning of her nightmare — a noose tightened around her neck and a shackle chained to her ankle.
The guards outside the Queen's bedchamber halted her when she tried to enter. Frustrated and desperate, she wasn't going to let them shut her outside. She trudged her way through and forcefully entered the chamber. At first sight, her heart fell to the bottomless pit.
He was there, together with their daughter in his arms. However, that man who stood ahead of her was neither Matthias nor Lyra. The hazel in those eyes lost every tinge of warmth and light in them in a manner that caused her chest to constrict as rage gripped her and her temper sparked.
"What have you done to him?" Naailah ridiculed, her fingers digging into the skirt of her dress as buried emotions surfaced. She repeated, "What have you done to him?"
That was when everything dawned upon her. Even when she was blessed with the gift of foretelling, she was beyond her fate and all that was meant to happen would still follow the laws of nature. She wanted to laugh, to mock herself on how she believed that Matthias was the best thing that happened to her.
What if they weren't supposed to be good together?
What if they were destined to be maligned stars who were meant to collide and be utterly destroyed into dust and light?
"Your Majesty," Naailah lowered her voice with a well-concealed defeat that she refused to show in the face of her enemies. She continued, "I surrender myself and I give Matthias to you. Please, I'm begging you, leave my child out of this."
"I don't trust you, Naailah Nouraei. But I'll make this simple," Silvestra laughed mirthlessly, pointing towards Indira. "You'll help me win this war. Should you make any mistakes, she will suffer in your stead."
"You're a mother yourself," Naailah spat. "How could you be so despicable?"
"Your opinions of me wouldn't affect me, my dear daughter-in-law," Silvestra said distastefully. "I'm going to offer you a chance again, are you sure you want to stand on the other side of the faction?"
Cornered with nowhere to turn, Naailah was desperate but she had to resist, even for a little. She closed her hands tightly into fists, forcing words through the pain in her chest, "You cannot force me into your darkness, Silvestra Cazeau."
"Can't I?" Silvestra snatched Indira from Matthias' arms and the wails from her baby caused Naailah to shake in fear. The malicious look on the Queen's face and her fingers that dug into the small jaw only intensified the desperate cries of her poor baby. Naailah reminded herself that she had to resist because of the many lives that rested heavily on her shoulders. Yet, the maternal side of her had already taken a step forward. She didn't stop until she took her own child away from the Queen's arm. A moment of weakness caused her to fall to the ground and she kept her head low as guilt swallowed her in whole.
"Good choice," Silvestra sounded triumphant.
Holding Indira closer to her, she bit back on the insides of her cheeks so hard that she could taste her own blood. She hugged onto her child so protectively as she forced herself to hold back the tears in her eyes.
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Iftia: Lyx Palace, Main Entrance
• Rowan •
Ilias rushed through the main doors amidst the reunion. Judging the paleness of his fear-stricken expression, Rowan knew that the news he brought with him would cause his stomach to drop. And it did.
"Nvre is under siege and surrounded by Royal Guards now," Ilias announced gravely. "The Royal Declaration of War has also been issued by the Royal Secretariat. War is inevitable now, Ro."
Rowan raised a hand and rubbed across his brows in vexation, realising that things would only move at an escalated pace from this moment forward. Elianna wrapped her hands on his arm and looked towards him with concern washed over her expression. He brought her closer to him and sighed in dejection, "I'm afraid we've got much more to lose in this war."
"What do you mean?"
"Now that Silvestra holds over Naailah, I can't imagine how this war would be like," Rowan said, his tone dreadful.
"Silvestra wants to use Naailah's gift to predict the war?"
"That's a given," Rowan exhaled. "But every gift has consequences, Eli, you know it. If Naailah excessively changes the course of fate through her foretells, she would die. She's gifted with foretelling to ease the flow of fate, not an allowance to steer it apart."
"There's really no way to get her out?" Thunder asked from the side.
"I cannot save them anymore. The declaration of war had been made and this meant that she had rights to aggression," Rowan sounded utterly defeated when he couldn't think of anything that could salvage the situation. "Now, my priorities had to be all the lives that exist under my command. I cannot risk anyone else's life to rescue them until I can ensure that everyone that's going in that mission can leave alive. This is war time and my personal emotions are beyond me now, I cannot let my people down even if it meant that I had to suffer losses, even if they are the people I loved."
No one said anything but everyone shared the same solemn understanding.
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