I drop to my knee, "Prince Thietian, Thank you for the honor of this visit."
John and Temple joined and gave their respect and greetings.
"You may rise. Temple, is my order ready?" Thietian asked.
"I have two more bottles of Graves to make for you, I can go see about filling it now. My Prince."
"Please do. ....." Thietian said and Temple quickly headed to the basement stairs. "Oh... and Temple... There's no need to come up until you are called." Thietian words had Temple pause and bow.
"As you command, Prince Thietian." He quickly left leaving me and John with him.
"Sir, John? Do you like wearing egg? Please you may go wash that off unless you do." Thietian looked at John.
I scrunched my lips holding back a smile.... As John thanked him and went to the bathroom.
"Would you like to sit? Or something to drink perhaps, Prince Thietian?" I asked out of curiosity, he's always said no before.
"Yes, Please. A glass of the blood, if you have a murderer downstairs, that'd be perfect. Give it a kick with some of your favorite spirits too. I shall wait here." He sat in a heavily cushioned seat and waved me off.
I took off for the basement and thought about it... I snapped my fingers and a bottle of blood was in my hands.
'This is more like it...' I smiled and went to the kitchen pouring a glass and a dram into it. I placed the glass on a tray with both of the bottles and carried it to the room where the Prince was. I heard talking going on and hurried up to join John and the Prince.
"My Prince, your glass." I offered him the glass and he took it and thanked me.
"I was talking to your husband here Sin, and I must say.... you did well in choosing a life partner. If only my mother had been as wise as you..." He sipped the glass and nodded taking another drink.
"Thank you, Prince Thietian." I nod to him.
"Oh you two may drop the formalities. I tire of all the pompous rituals and honorifics of the court, that I must endure all the time. I would rather when it is strictly us to talk as ..... friends." Thietian seemed quite relaxed with us.
John and I glanced at each other before nodding. "You honor us, thank you, Thietian." John thanked him for us both.
"Well then, I saw the egg-cellent little trick you did when I arrived. I'm impressed Sin, you didn't even have to snap your fingers. Congratulations." He raised the glass and took another sip. "So did you know some of us Fae can do more than just apparition? It's few and far between the the Fae you have surrounded yourself with. Fairies, Elves, the Fae that tend to be part of the courts have the abilities to do more."
"I was not aware, Pr..." I tripped on my word. "Please, I am limited in this knowledge. Could you tell me more?" He said we could speak as friends but I don't want to push it too much.
"Here... watch." He holds his hand out and his hand begins to change, elongating and growing claws.
I sit back farther in my seat as his hand takes on the appearance that went with the form he had when angry at Graves.
"Don't worry Sin." He chuckles, "See, already gone." He waves his hand showing both sides of it to prove his words.
"How did you do that?" John is looking at his hand still in awe after watching it up close.
Thietian laughed, " It's a little different than apparition but the basic is still the same, to reach for and control the magic. You must have a clear picture in your mind of what you want to morph into. I suggest drawing a rough sketch or painting something to focus on while attempting to do it. I wouldn't stay in the form longer a few days though. It becomes harder to change back after words...My father stands testament of that..." His voice trailed off as he became lost in thought.
"I'm sorry but what do you mean?" I ask curious, I had never seen anything other than a short video clip that didn't show his face.
Thietian sighed, "I forget very few have seen him among the human race. ... Here."
He sets his glass down and closes his eyes and begins to morph himself.
Antlers twisted and branched out on top of his head like a crown atop of long, silver, straight hair.
His face became slightly hollowed in the cheeks and eye sockets, his mouth grew wider and his ears pointed out 4 inches farther out of his hair than before.
The skin started to take on the appearance of an old, dry tree stump that had lost its outer layer of bark.
When Thietian opened his eyes they were still completely black just flecks of electric blue and green could be seen scattered throughout the area where an iris would be located. The face was longer and the chin swirled so acutely, that it resembled a wooden spike instead of a chin. There was no warmth in it, no sign of compassion, it was cold, hard, and ruthless. It was intimidating to say the least.
Just as quickly Thietian had morphed his face back to his own. I didn't realize until after I sighed, I had been holding my breath.
Thietian grinned, "More terrifying then you anticipated?"
John gave a nervous chuckle, "That is one way of putting it."
Thietian nodded, "Try having that as your father, who is also the King and an asshole."
He cleared his throat and clapped his hands. "Moving on. I wanted to warn you. There seems to be certain .... entities... that wish to use you to lure my mother out still. I implore you to be careful and not get caught up in your .... missions to help eradicate the evil that Graves and others have been implementing through nefarious means. In fact I'd like to help you. I can give you some of the places, some of my trusted men to fight with and all of it I give willingly as long as we keep my mother safe and away from this conflict for now."
"Thietian, thank you first of all. I appreciate this gesture immensely. I'm just curious why some people think that your mother, the Queen, would come for me? That I could some how lure her out? I looked for her for years, tried to communicate for years, and other than a cryptic warning letter, I have received nothing."
Thietian looked curiously at me and thinned his lips as if holding words back at first. He seemed to relax and picked his drink back up and downed it before speaking annoyance evident, "Since I was little, I have not seen or heard from her, not even a letter. She's stayed closer to you then you know and realize. Even one of your friends received a letter from her."
He raised his hand to his face framing his chin and cheek with his thumb and finger. He was obviously sizing me up again.
"I have watched for a long time the dealings of man, the wickedness that occurs to so many. I've also seen the good workings and defenders, like yourselves. I've paid closer attention to you than I know you ever realized."
I'm in awe why would he care about me so much?
"You're shocked, I can tell. So please, pay attention to my next words. There is a greater plan at work to enslave the human race, to kill the majority and make the rest dependent on their medications to survive. This .... puppet master..... I believe is how you have been referring to him, he must be stopped."
"Why would you care about what happens to the human race? Please, I don't mean to offend. I'm simply wanting to comprehend your thoughts on the matter." John asked hoping to clarify his intentions. The curiosity evident on his face.
"Because I have had close relations with humans for decades, while I've seen the evil that can be done, I also have seen the good." He pauses letting a thought roll around in his mind before continuing.
"I hold a few near and dear and if this is allowed to go on, they will die, be enslaved, or worse. All of which, I will not allow as long I breathe." His fingers are tapping the edge of the chair arm lightly showing his mind being per-occupied and irritated.
"Your highness, we agree, but why us? There are so many that are powerful and have plenty of numbers to help you take out this threat. We.." I motion to John and I, ".. are few, we have some allies but even those are limited."
Thietian sits up and crosses his knees to grab the top one. " I chose you two, because, I believe in you both. This connection that you share with every person who comes to your aid, your consideration for my, our people not just the humans. I believe you are the one who can rally so many of our people to fight back against the wrongs that are being inflicted today on humans, and the ones that have been inflicted among our people for centuries."
"Wait... does that mean the enemy, the spider of this giant web.... is it?" I look to Thietian questioning if I should say my thoughts or keep them to myself.
Thietian finishes my thoughts for me.
"Is it my father? The King?..... " Thietian smiles wickedly.... "That would be correct."
John makes an odd sound and I notice he is sitting there with his mouth open, eyes wide.
I must mirror his face because our lips seem to close at the same time.
"Thietian, so what is it exactly you are expecting of us?" John is straightforward wanting an outline of duties to be performed.
" I want you to be the leaders of my groups specifically trained and masters in the martial arts and other lines of warfare. You both specialized in covert operations and espionage. I need that help in taking this operation down and dethroning my father. Ending centuries of his cruel and iron fist rule, the tyrant that he is."
"So you want us to help you perform a coup, to replace his leadership with you?" I quizzically look at him and he smirks humbly.
"I'd rather my mother feel safe enough to step forward than I step forward. I'm going to be a father soon and would prefer a quieter life during my child's youth than that of the monarch."
"You're risking something very precious." John remarks looking deeply off into space.
"That I know, but if I Prince Thietian, can not step forward and take the risk for all future generations and families.... Who will?" He responds determined and hopeful.
I look to John who comes out of his trance like thoughts to nod to me.
"We will Thietian. We will step forward with you."
I pause remembering Hawthorne. "But there's someone we need to see about first before we can dedicate completely to your cause."
"Are you speaking of the female officer..... oh what was it... Hawthor? no .." He seemed to be racking his brain.
"Hawthorne? You know of her?" I ask excitedly.
I can tell by the look that crosses his face it will not be good.
"Sin, I don't know what to say, except, I'm sorry. She was killed the same day she went missing."
I shook my head and closed my eyes tightly, pain filled my voice, "Thank you for telling me."
"I'm sorry that it was not good news."
..........
Thietian had left snapping to fetch his case and bottles from Temple before leaving and I sad and weary of mind decided to go upstairs and lay down.
Thietian would be getting in touch with us again soon of the hows, what, when, where, and why's then. So many thoughts were running through my head I couldn't make sense of them all. It was time to rest my body said, for once I listened.
I was awoken by Cass and Johns voices outside the door talking about moving. John came in shortly and discovered me awake.
"Hey sleeping beauty, you're awake." He smiled as he came and laid down with me stroking me hair and face.
"Hey, I miss anything exciting?" I ask as I stretched out.
"Well, Cass wants us to move out to the country house, he thinks the Dojo in the back and it's large property would be better situated then staying here at Temples. He wants to go ahead though and set up a thicker perimeter of drones and sensors around and inside to make it safe for Elena to be there too. He's mainly concerned about her and the babe's safety at the moment."
"He is going to join us with the prince? I would have thought he'd feel safer about his family staying out of this." I pull John close to me and curl up in his arms.
"His words were, 'If a prince can choose to step up why should he not?' "
"When did he get back from his classes?" I look at the time.
"Not too long ago." John whispered to me.
"Hmm... must of watched the video on his phone then. How's Elena feel about all this?"
"You'd have to ask her. I'm sure she must be okay with it. I don't think Cass would force her to do something she wouldn't feel comfortable with."
"Yeah you're right." I yawn.
I guess we were wrong though....
..............
A few days later...
"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU ASK ME FIRST?!"
Elena's voice reverberated throughout the ground floor as me and John were packing some items up in the computer room. Our faces shot up and were devoid of any expressions as we heard the arguing continue, going back and forth between Italian and English. We hurried up packing the rest of the items up and snapping them to the house.
We were finding it much easier as we continued to snap things to the house. The one draw back.... was the blue bottle.... We had resigned ourselves to drinking it like shots and were disgusted each time. The bottles kept it from going bad and thickening so we couldn't do much other then muscle through it. However Temple and Lar were right, the more we practiced the less we used and this made us have to drink less then before. However, at this moment I think I would rather chug a big blue bottle then be Cass in the next room over.
After a few minutes of some serious Italian cursing and yelling from Elena, she stopped. We had not heard Cass yell once at her either. John and I being the 'spies' that we were, had been packing the stuff next to the wall to catch the details.
Cass had only mentioned it in passing before and now had pretty much assumed she was moving there with us. She had her flat that still had 3 months on the lease before she could move and wanted to be closer to a hospital, just in case something went wrong. Now we could hear her sobbing as Cass spoke apologies and more to her.
John looked at me and mouthed 'hormones?'. I smacked his arm and mouthed 'ASS?' right back at him as he looked appalled at where I smacked him as he rubbed it.
We finished packing up the computer room and snapped things before quietly walking out of the computer room to head upstairs and make sure all of our stuff was done in the room.
Halfway up the stairs we heard Elena do a quick short scream.
Pausing to look at one another we heard a muffled yell and so we bolted downstairs and opened the door to Cass's room.