Nyota
3:00 pm
Am I the only one who sees this pup having a moment with my baby girl over there in the corner? Like I know, we have tacitly agreed that we will agree if they get to the courting stage, but is he for real flirting with her in front of us? I was two seconds away from going over there to teach this youngling a lesson when I saw my daughter straight up lick his nose.
I laughed in shock, not believing my eyes. That's my Little Queen. I had no doubts before, but this confirms she is my child. I observed as the young man sighed and placed his forehead against hers, then walked her over to the center of the ritual circle. He gently tucked the silly girl into the eldergloom wooden nest bed constructed by Mal and me, bowed to her, then to us before heading out of the space to his guard position.
We all watched this last bit of entertainment with amused gazes before getting back to preparing to begin the Working. Since I had nothing to do, I decided to keep my precious Little Queen company. She was shifting onto her side as I approached. Her position on the bed didn't really matter in the overall grand scheme of things, but Aspen would have an aneurysm if he saw her not in the most optimal position, so I did what any other peace-keeping parent would do.
I pushed her onto her back. She is so adorable, looking like a turtle surprised to be on her back. I perched myself perfectly on the edge of the bed. I even placed a basic barrier around the interior of the bed so no unaccounted for contamination would get near her. Creators know I will never hear the end of it from Aspen if he starts ranting about the ritual failing because a strand of my luxurious platinum hair with blue highlights was found on this bed.
"Little Queen. Behave and lie as you were positioned. We will begin as soon as the others finish the final adjustments and we do a last check-up on you. Don't fall asleep. You still have a task to do. While we wait, do you want to talk to your Azrail about what is going on with you and Elias Cress?"
Little Queen blinked owlishly at me before she snuggled down into the bed with a thoughtful expression. It took a minute for her to focus long enough to answer me. "I'm honestly not sure what is going on, Azrail. I mean we are friends." I opened my mouth to say something, but I closed it when she pointed in my general direction. Yeah, she was pointing over my head, but at least she is pointing towards this side of the bed.
"There are no benefits. So we aren't that type of friends. Don't be a perv, Azrail." She cutely stuck her tongue out at me. I pointed at her, and her eyes crossed trying to focus on it. I snorted, enjoying this silly moment with her. "He is my trainer and will be my year-mate when I return to school. I also suspect he is my Rhazin guard. Is he my Rhazin guard, Azrail?"
I already knew she had asked Mal this in a roundabout way. Incidentally, Elias Cress had requested we not confirm or deny his role. He has some weird notion in his head that he wants to tell her himself. We saw no reason not to allow this request. So…
"You should ask him after you recover." My response obviously didn't please her. "I'm always fucking recovering from something. I'm so sick of being sick!!!!" Her yell brought everyone's attention to us, but I waved it away, knowing we didn't have time to go down any rabbit holes with her right now.
I was going to say something to bring us back on track, but she got us back on track on her own. "Yet these roles don't cover everything he is to me. I feel a deep connection with him, Azrail. Like a soul deep deep connection to him. Like we just click on a level like I do with ya'll but different. I don't know if I'm making sense. Am I making sense?"
Her silver moon eyes blinked up at me, questioning. I had to school my face to hide the revelation she shared. Is Elias Cress her fated mate? Is my child so lucky that she has found not one but two fated mates? The odds of this happening in this era without help from a matchmaker are so low it's almost improbable.
I wasn't trained in seeing mating compatibility threads, but I could see there was a significant bond between them. It's why we are approving of him. With that reminder… I pulled out my notebook from my pocket space. No electronics were allowed in here, so I have to go old-fashioned with this reminder to check in on Koba Dillard. If the bond I see between Elias and Little Queen is any indication, then the warped bond between her and Koba must mean they might be fated as well.
I'm reminded that my daughter had asked me a question when she knocked on the barrier. "Azrail, was I not making sense? It made sense in my head." I knocked back on the barrier. "You made sense. A lot of sense actually. You just move things along at your own pace. Once you get the memories you need from Grey, you will most likely better understand how to proceed with Elias. And with anyone else, you feel the same way about."
She was blinking owlishly at me again. "You would be okay with me having more than one mate? I guess this world does accept multiple types of relationships. So I can feel this way about others? Not just Elias? And that is okay? Cause I think I felt this way with someone else, but…it was faint. Not as strong as I feel about Elias."
Well, isn't she just a revealing little chatterbox today. I was pretty sure if she remembers telling me any of this, she will attempt to either silence or threaten me. I look forward to it. I'll finally have another child to play war games with. I corrupted Lux before Davi and Mal could stop me, but they've watched my interactions with our other sons and Grey too much for me to properly corrupt them.
"And who else have you felt this way about? You haven't had contact with many people, so it must be someone here in the complex, right?" I was pretty sure it was Koba, but I wasn't going to outright say that in case it wasn't. Her eyes narrowed at me suspiciously. "I suddenly find you very mysterious. I'm not telling you. I'm going to be quiet now. When are we going to start? I want to go to sleep."
It was my turn to blink owlishly. She finds me mysterious? What the hell does that mean? Did she mean suspicious? I covered my mouth to smother the laughter that wanted to come out. From now on, I'm Mr. Mysterious. Oh, I'm going to tease her about this for a while.
"Ok, Little Queen. You don't have to answer me. And yes, we are about to start. Aspen, Cornelius, and Zira are coming over to give you your final check-up." I stood up and released the barrier. I stepped to the side and away from Cornelius's approaching presence. He paused, looking aggrieved for a moment before his face shifted to its usual resting bitch face expression.
If he weren't so useful, and if it wouldn't break Davina and Hael's hearts…he would never see the light of day again. One day, once all the kids are grown and walking their own paths, we will have our day of reckoning. I'm a patient demon. Cornelius Ajei-Elaris, you will pay for your crimes.
I put my hatred of the man back into its box to focus on this Working we must do to completely root my daughter to this world's reality. The others stepped back once their assessments were completed. I stepped close once more, then drew the glyph Vel'thirra (Thread). It sank into her, creating a bond with me. Both I and Aspen had roles of monitoring her journey.
Aspen will monitor from the overall Working aspect, while I'll be monitoring her personal journey as far as I can go without actually venturing more than partway into the Astral.
"Moonbeam, are you ready to begin?" Aspen asks as everyone goes to their places. Aspen and Cornelius, as the lead coordinators, will remain in the center circle with Nyxara. I, Mal, and Davina will be in the middle circle managing the memory cache that will be incoming.
In the north and south quadrants of the outer circle, Lux and Zenaida Salgrave were getting into position to be the protection barrier guardians. Hael and Zira stood against the wall, ready to jump in wherever they were needed.
Distantly, because I wasn't giving them my full focus, I sensed Keir, Elias, Rhodri, and Taen patrolling their sides of the building. Anyone who did not take our little sea serpent and vampire youngling seriously would be in for a huge surprise when the youngsters pulled out essence blasters to disintegrate their limbs. They are under strict orders to shoot first, and we will clean up the mess later.
Anyone who approaches this hidden sacred hall without notifying Keir first that they were coming would be shot on sight. Anyone with enough capability can change their appearance, so even a friendly face could be a mask for an enemy.
This was especially true for Pavo, who is our emergency medical support, and Venus, who has been given provisional authority to handle all enclave matters until the Working is completed. They were both waiting for us in the Pavilion with Rakesh and Mrs. June for backup. All contingencies were in place. We were prepared for anything and everything except the Creators descending. According to Mother, that is not likely to happen for reasons no one ever has ever bothered to explain to me, no matter how many times I asked as a child.
"I'm ready, Aspen. Should I start the chant you made me memorize now?" Her sweet voice was like a shot of pure sugary goodness into my veins. As he walked past me in a ruby red tunic and wide-legged pants, Mal popped me on my ass. "Focus, Ny. You can gush over our daughter later."
I pouted and rubbed my butt. I turned to Davi to get some sympathy, only to meet cold eyes daring me to act up. With raised hands, I backed away, then went to my position. I sat down in my designated spot, then took out a potion to drink that would help me fall into a trance to better follow Nyx.
While I could perform my role and help my mates with the memory management, it was voted that I would be less likely to get distracted if I stayed stationary. It wasn't a surprise that only Davi and Cornelius voted that I didn't need to be locked into one spot, but then again, only those two knew what I was fully capable of.
Mal had suspicions, but I've never confirmed them because then he would have questions I couldn't answer at this phase of our mission.
Aspen was instructing Nyx to wait for his signal to begin the invocation. Lux and Zen signaled they were ready. Hael and Zira were next to signal readiness. Davi looked at me, then at Mal, before signaling our readiness.
With a nod to Cornelius, Aspen got into position to begin the Working.