"Father." The children walked into the courtyard and bowed to Kasian. "Heri and Jailin, you two got sit by your grandfather's side." The two youngest did as they were told.
"King Lanin, I'm having a hard time trying to decide whether you should stay there or sit." Kasian looked at Melire, who Lyria was desperately holding onto.
"What do you think should be down in this situation, Kai?" Kasian looked at his oldest. "I need to know what is happening first, father." Kasian chuckled. "Ask your sister, your aunt and that Queen over other."
Lion looked at Lia. He grabbed her arm. "What did you do?" He hissed angrily. Lia remained silent. Kai heard a muffled sob from inside his father's room and turned his attention to those inside.
"I think what every happened can wait until Madam Jade is stable." Kai said. "Oh. You already know?" Kasian asked, amused. "I wouldn't have realized if grandmother wasn't crying." Kasian nodded.
"Serin, have the servants get our guests some warmth and chairs." Kasian stated. Serin bowed and turned to a servant.
Two hours later, Kana rushed in. She bowed to Kasian as he sipped hot tea and walked straight into the room. Kana headed straight to the bed. "It's a liquid. Help her sit up." Dasa sat on the bed and lifted Opal, so that her back was against Dasa's chest.
Kana placed the bottle to Opal's mouth and poured the liquid into her mouth slowly. Opal coughed once and settled down. Kana checked her pulse. "Okay. Now the rest is up to her." Kana slowly stood up.
She reported Opal's situation to Kasian before heading back inside the room. Kasian remained silent for a long time, only drinking the cup of tea.
He put the cup down once he was finished and looked up. "Tell me. Who created it?" Lia stepped forward. "I created the poison and slipped it to Lyria." She admitted. "Reason?"
"She must die." Kasian leaned forward. "That's not much of a reason." Lia nodded. "That's all the reason I have. She wants to take you away from Mother, so she must die." Kasia sighed.
"Are you a three-year-old?" Lia didn't answer. "You don't want to say the right reason so let me guess." Lia looked at him. "It has something to do with your mother poisoning her but she's alive, isn't it?"
"The three of you are hiding a secret that you don't want out. At first I thought it was to protect your mother but the more you pushed it, the more I realized that it had nothing to do with your mother."
Kasian stood up and walked over to his daughter. "Who tried to kill this woman? Tell me the truth before I find it out." Lia looked up at her father.
"Aunt Ri was experimented on people. She was one of them." Lia glanced back at her aunt. "Was she afraid of your mother finding out?" Lia shook her head. "Mother wasn't there. She was afraid that Lion would see her."
"What kind of experiment?" Kasian pressed. "She wanted to make someone look like Mother." The air felt heavy. "How?" He asked. "Constructing the skin and using poison." Kasian reached out and patted his daughter's head.
"How did you know?" She looked down in shame. "I saw it by accident while playing nearby."
"So what? She was a failed product?" Lia shook her head. "No. She was successful. Too successful. Aunt rearranged her features to make her beautiful but not looking like mother."
Kasian chuckled. "So, this is the reason for your attack on her?" Lia nodded. "Kai's right. When Opal wakes up, I'll deal with you then."
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Ten days later, Rain and Kain were standing in the snow looking in the direction they came from. They were out of Regila territory, but their hearts weren't at peace.
"It's cold out." Varin spoke softly as she placed a thick cloak over Rain's shoulders. "It's fine." He mumbled, shrugging it off. He barely spoke to his wife and Kain didn't speak at all.
"Rain." Varin grabbed his arm. "Don't be like this." He looked her in the eyes and pushed her hand off his arm. Tears filled her eyes. "Rain." She called out to him again, but he ignored her.
"Leave me alone, Varin." She grabbed his arm. "I'm your wife and the mother of your-." Rain pulled away from her roughly, she stumbled back and he caught her before she fell.
Soria rushed over when she saw the scene. Once he released Varin, Soria slapped his across the face. The slap echoed in the dark night. She raised her hand again and Kain caught it.
"You are the mother of my children and my wife, but you made me. Made us. Choose between you and our mother. You know what she did for us. You know how much she sacrificed. A mere ten years and all of that was ruined with one trip here."
"You two think you're the only ones that love mother? I know everything she's done for us! For me and my sister. For our family! I know clearly. You think I wanted to leave her in that Kingdom? Even if it meant losing this child, let alone my life, I wouldn't have left her there!" Soria pulled away from her husband.
"Mother was the one that told us to use our lives to make you leave." Varin touched her stomach. "I begged her not to go but she knew that he had a trap set up already. If we had left without going to the palace, he would've killed us and drag her back." She whispered.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Rain reached out to her and she stepped back. "Mother didn't want you to know. She knew that you would risk your lives to save her. This was the only way that everyone lived unharmed." Varin grabbed Soria's hand and the two walked towards their tent.
The camp fell back into silence.
In the Palace, Opal hadn't woken up but Kasian didn't leave her bedside unless he was pushed out of the room by Malari so she could wipe down Opal's body.
Kasian sat on the ground by the bed, holding her hand in his. "I knew from the moment you showed up that you hadn't regained your memories, but my heart and mind couldn't accept it." He kissed her hand.
"Was it because our interactions were short? Was it because you were angry the last time we talked?" He looked at her hands. "You're her. I know you are. If you never remember that's fine, I'll remember for the both of us." He whispered, holding her hand while looking up at her, sleeping face.