December 31, 2111
Catharine Darcrose
As Cathy was on her way back to her chambers, she found Kaizerious in the Grand Hall, staring at the family tree of the royal family going up like vines dozens of meters high. But his eyes were locked onto just one picture - Erryn Wolph. He held a piece of paper in his hand.
"How did your interrogation go?" Kaizerious asked, his eyes unmoving, as Cathy arrived by his side.
"She gave me a lead to go on," she replied. Kaizerious nodded, almost not even acknowledging her. He was in a zone, deep in thought, distant even. Cathy hadn't seen him like this before. "Kaizerious?"
"There used to be a saying that the dermmotifs of a child would be the shadow of the parent that sat opposite," he spoke.
"Dermmotifs?"
"That is what the omelics call the patterned-black markings on their faces and skin."
"I enjoy fun facts as much of the next, but I'm not sure I follow your point."
"A bit before you showed up here, I came across an interesting study while browsing Saulomon's Temple - one done a long while ago. Depicted in the study, I read that omelic children can actually be traced back to their parents by their faces alone. All omelics have two major pigment genes that determine the tint of their skin and how the pattern of their dermmotifs will show. When a bunch of those black cells bunch together, the dermmotifs are visible to common eyes. However, some black cells would still remain separated, remote from the rest and mixed in with their normal skin cells. Those aren't things the common eye would see, but with the right kind of microscope, they can be seen. That riddle I mention earlier… it means that a child's dermmotifs would take after those hidden patches in the parent of the opposite sex. So a son would take after his mother, and a daughter after her father. Though, it's worth noting that this wasn't an infallible method."
Cathy's eyebrows furrowed. "I still don't see where this is going."
He pointed to the parents of the king, and Cathy looked. "When I saw Erryn, something about her stood out to me," Kaizerious said.
Cathy gazed at the pictures. Nothing stood out to her. All she saw were unique faces with unique dermmotifs. Erryn's was the simplest - two black lines starting just above both her eyes and going straight down and past them until it stopped halfway down her checks. The king's father and mother's masks were all around their face. And the king had just a small patch below his nose and another between his eyebrows, making it seem as if he had a unibrow.
"I don't see the differences," Cathy remarked.
"To the naked eye of a human, I would imagine so. To me, I can see those hidden black cells. The king's father, in particular, has some around his cheek bones. The king's mother has some around her ears and down her neck. Erryn - she just has a tiny patch above her lip and one in the shape of a teardrop above her right eyebrow." He handed Cathy the paper he was holding. It was dry with a thick texture and torn away from something. "That was taken from a mortician's journal nearly twenty years ago."
Cathy read the top of the page where Kaizerious pointed. "Logbook December 2, 2093: Deceased body of the Queen Cateron Wolph identified. Beginning preparations for her royal sendoff."
Kaizerious continued. "That logbook says she died on the second of December. However, King Kaydon's mother's official date of death released by the doctor at that time for Cateron Wolph was December 27 - three days after the day that the current king was born."
"That doesn't make any sense. His mother couldn't have died bef--" She stopped midsentence.
Kaizerious finally turned to Cathy with an expression of revulsion and alarm. She thought about what he said. The king's dermmotifs were patterned below the nose and between his eyebrows. Queen Cateron had nonvisible markings nowhere near the king's visible ones. But Erryn did!
Cathy's chest grew heavy, the hairs on her arm stood tall. She shivered at the thought - the vile thought. "No! It-it can't-- Erryn?!"
Kaizerious nodded. "Erryn."
Cathy sighed. The palm of her hand ran up her face and through her hair. She couldn't believe it. Erryn was not just King Kaydon's sister, but his mother, too. "Frak. I gotta… I have to talk to her before she leaves."
Kaizerious tilted his head. "Are you sure you want to involve yourself in this… unclean family business?"
"I can't in good conscience let her leave this castle without saying what I have to say."
"Leave the castle? She's chained up, isn't she?" Kaizerious asked. By the tone in his voice, Cathy gathered he knew the answer.
"I gave her the key."
"Very well. If she hasn't escaped yet, I know where she is likely to go."
"Take me there."
Kaizerious led her through the lower parts of the castle past rooms and chambers long abandoned. Dust and old decorum were all over these damp and dark parts of the castle. Into secret rooms and hallways they ventured until Kaizerious led them to a tunnel opening. It was a surreptitious way out of the castle.
⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕
Kaizerious and Cathy waited in the tunnel. The only light source was a flickering torchlight hanging just to the left of the ladder they had lit earlier. There was movement, and lo and behold, Erryn slid down.
She nearly jumped back at the sight of Cathy and Kaizerious. "Frak! I thought I saw the last of you," she told Cathy. Her eyes were wary of Kaizerious, however.
"Took you long enough," Cathy fired back.
"Had to wait for a guard to open the door to check on me," Erryn sighed. "What do you want now anyway? I mean, I already helped you with your quest and shivf… sooo--?" Erryn shrugged.
In the long while it took for Erryn to arrive, Cathy had been running scenarios as to what she should say when Erryn finally showed. Now that she was here, Cathy wasn't sure if what she had come up with was the right way to tackle this particular situation. "I just wanted to know how old you were when your brother was born."
Erryn shot her a sideways eye. "Fourteen. W-why?"
"That's umm… young to have a kid."
You could've heard a pin drop. Erryn was frozen in place for a tense couple seconds. She balled up her fists, cheeks turning pale. "Excuse me?!" she barked, holding back much of the anger.
Cathy took in a breath. "See uh… we know the truth. We know King Kaydon is your son. We--"
"You don't know a damn thing! You… you don't-- You couldn't even begin to understand--"
"I do, actually. I do understand. You killed your father. I now know why and damn-sure may have even done the same in your shoes. I mean, to have your very own father take advantage of you."
"Take advantage? Let's get this in the air, shall we? He raped me! Mother was too sick to carry a child, so he--" Her voice caught in her throat. Tears dripped from Erryn's eyes. Cathy couldn't hold back either. "He turned me into his object… his baby factory. He wanted an heir so so-very bad." Erryn used her arm to wipe away her tears. "I was held prisoner during--" She stopped as her voice caught.
"It happened to my mom, too," said Cathy. This was why Erryn's situation was all too close to home for Cathy. "She kept the child, though - my older sister. And… despite that she wasn't his, my dad, rest his soul, loved my sister just as much as his own children. And her other siblings never even knew." A tear hit the floor before Cathy started to wipe it away. By now, Cathy could feel Kaizerious's stare on her back.
Erryn was a mess. Cathy was just as bad. For a few seconds, no words were spoken.
"Was your mother raped by her father?" Erryn asked.
"She wasn't."
"Then it isn't the same."
"Maybe. I just know that my sister grew up to be who she was because of her parents. And her parents were so proud. Even if it wasn't by the choice of my mom to have a child then, my sister was gifted a life to live. That was something her parents never even considered taking away."
"Look, that's cute and all, but I didn't… I didn't have a choice. Mine was made for me. And if it had been my choice, the king wouldn't even have been born. They locked me up to keep the precious heir alive inside me."
"So what? You try to kill him to correct that?" Cathy was sympathetic, but she felt it was wrong what Erryn was trying to do.
"It's none of your business!" Erryn shouted.
"Oh, please," Cathy sighed. "We are so past that! Why try to kill your own son?"
"He never should've been born!"
"But he was. And that won't change. Why can't you let him have his life? For all you know, he could change the world."
"It isn't about that," Erryn wept.
"Then what is it about?"
"It's… it's about hate - my hatred of him."
"Did he do something to you?" asked Cathy.
"No. He doesn't even know th-that I'm his--" Her voiced pulled away.
"So why hate your child?"
"I hate him… I hate him because I never wanted him."
Cathy extended her palm, trying to sympathize with Erryn. She had to make her see, she just had to. "My mom didn't want a child at the time it happened. She went on to love her anyway."
"I hate him… because when I see him, I see his father, my father. I see that monster."
"King Kaydon isn't like your father. He has done nothing but good for this kingdom. He helped bring it back from the fringes of destruction."
Erryn was in tears. "I know, I-I do. I… I hate him. Because if I didn't hate him… I'd love him. And love… love is weakness. I will never be weak again. Never." She wiped the tears away and flexed her jaw. She used anger to fight away her pain.
"Weakness would be letting your past define what you do now. Every time you go after your son, you prove yourself weak. So don't let weakness be what kills your son."
Erryn began walking past them. Cathy didn't try to stop her or block her path, nor did Kaizerious. As she made it to Cathy, she gave her a long stare, then gave her a nod. She then trudged by them, without saying another word, until she faded away into the dark of the tunnel. That was that. They waited alone in silence, staring in the direction Erryn disappeared.
"You don't have an older sister, do you?" Kaizerious finally asked Cathy.
"I am the older sister."