“Hades is going for quantity and not quality evil doers,” Nikolas said and chuckled. Leave it to Nikolas to make light of our imminent peril. Lucien sent him a look that clearly intended to scold.
“What do you suppose we do, Lucien?” Evan asked.
“Move to another space in time,” Lucien answered as a sea of faces nodded.
“Run and hide?” My voice shook with shock.
“It will be fairly difficult for the Apolluon to find us in a different place in time,” Lucien said, in an even tone. “Also, I feel that the mortals here are beginning to sense that we are…different.”
“The mortals are not a threat,” I said, easily finding Heracio within the crowd before me. Our secret would have to stay hidden a little while longer.
“The people of Nickel City may very well be a danger if they band together. They out number us a hundred to one and can make living here and remaining hidden impossible,” Lucien explained.
“Well I don’t see that being an immediate problem.” I said.
“Empress, if I may interrupt?” Hedea asked. “I’ve noticed some… aversion to us in town lately.”
“So have I.” Nearly every Ischero admitted in unison.
“I’ve been gawked at by most of the town’s folk. Those stupid mortals think I don’t see them pointing at me or hear them whispering.” Hedea added.
“Maybe it’s your choice of dresses.” Julius winked at his sister as she rolled her eyes.
“Is there anything else, Hedea?” I asked, ignoring Julius. I wanted to know just what had been going on in town for the past month.
“I overheard Rhett Clarkson whisper to his wife that I was a demon and that the deadly shadows, devouring the ‘fine folk of this town’, were after me and my evil kind.” Hedea’s eyes blazed.
Rhett Clarkson was the proprietor of the dry good mercantile and practically ran this small town. He considered himself a man with high morals. He was always shouting out the mouth about how he will only be associated with ‘fine town folk’. The last thing the empire needed, besides a full Apolluon attack, was Rhett Clarkson’s attention. If he had been in town and saw Heracio and me then he would definitely suspect we weren’t ‘fine town folk’. In no time, he would have the whole town turned vigilante. I knew that the town’s folk could really be a problem, since the day of the shootout, but I don’t see any reason to run and hide.
“What so funny, Hedea?” Her laughter irritated me.
Hedea stopped giggling and stared down at her feet before saying, “I just couldn’t believe that any of these mortals actually have a brain, that’s all. I don’t think that it’s funny, just surprising.”
“Well, never underestimate anyone – mortal or immortal.” I said, clearing my throat. “I still feel that the Apolluon are our greatest threat and they will search for us to no end. It’s only a matter of time before they find us all again. I just don’t feel that it makes any sense to flee. Ischeros don’t hide. Besides, I plan to dispatch the first warrior teams tomorrow to search for my parents’ bodies,” I informed.
The silence was deafening. Every pair of eyes, but one, turned away from me.
“I understand your passion, Empress, but we are in a perilous situation and defenseless without our children to safeguard us,” Lucien said, stepping forward.
The other members stood almost motionless, listening intently. They all seemed to agree with him. It was obvious that the elders had discussed this without my presence. I was up against a wall – a wall of elders.
The earth, water, and sky teams were the children of many powerless elders whose auras could be sniffed out by the Apolluon faster than the younger member’s auras could be. It was no secret that they needed their children’s protection. Nevertheless, I needed my parents, and the only way to find them was with the teams. They were the strongest, and most powerful amongst the descendants. Their sight, intuition, and strengths were keen.
“I understand,” I nodded. “I will dispatch the teams and every elder will be safeguarded.”
“How? Our children are the only members who can sense when we are in distress?” Lucien’s words spilled out in a shocked tempo. I looked over at Evan. He nodded, adding some reassurance.
“I guarantee your safety. All of you,” Evan promised the elders. He would stay behind to guard them.
“For how long?” Lucien asked, looking away from Evan and glaring at me. The look of anxiety on the elder’s faces proved that they didn’t trust me.
“I can’t answer that,” I said, solemnly. However, my mind was made up.
“Lord Evander, forgive me if I offend you in anyway, as it is not my intention. I speak for all my fellow elders when I say that we do trust that your objective is to keep us safe. We have no doubts. However, we feel that your response may not be as swift as our children’s.” Lucien stared at me. “Suppose your parents aren’t found?” He asked, as his voice trembled slightly.
“They will be found,” I declared. The high pitch of my voice rang in my ears. I felt Evan’s eyes piercing through my profile. I didn’t want to appear angered by the member’s lack of support in locating their former leaders my parents or the fact that they didn’t trust me. Their objections were out of fear. “My father was your Emperor. He deserves the most thorough search. The warriors will be dispatched at sunrise.”
“Empress, you must reconsider. Now is not the time for a search considering the Apolluon’s increase in presence in the past few weeks,” Lucien bellowed. His thoughts were desperate.
“I’ll put my faith in the warriors, you’re children. I would expect you to do the same. I know that they will be expeditious and successful.”
“Empress –”
“There’s no need to worry. You will all be safe.” I cut Lucien off, and fingered my medallion. The coolness of my medallion calmed me down a bit but I wasn’t budging. Not an inch.
Where was their allegiance to my father, my mother, and to me? I read all sixteen of the elder’s thoughts. I was growing madder by the second with every notion that popped up in their heads.
“I’ve already considered all that there is. My decision is final and in effect immediately. This meeting is over,” I said in a high-pitched voice, losing the battle to keep my anger concealed, proving his insult of me behaving hostile.
“You don’t see the entire picture, Empress.” Christos, an elder and a descendant of Apollo, who had been quiet up until now, had made up his mind on me. I was too young and clueless.
“The entire picture? Please paint it for me.” I demanded, staring at each elder with contempt.
“She is not ready. She is not prepared for this great responsibility,” Delilah added. She was another elder and descendant of Hera – the matriarch Olympian goddess and Zeus’ sister and wife. Her face reddened as the violet shade of her eyes darkened to a smoldering gray. Unfortunately, at her age – fifty-five in Ischero years and over three hundred years old in mortal years, that was the extent of her power. Since Ischeros aged a year older by the decade, her skin was still fairly smooth and delicate, where you would expect to see decay. The color of her eyes shifted back to violet, and then to a brilliant turquoise – all the exotic colors a of a peacock’s tail. She was a true daughter of Hera.
“Indeed she is not,” Lucien said, glaring at me. Now, the heat was building and spiraling within me, which was not for the best. I couldn’t allow them to get to me. I wouldn’t allow anything to deter the mission.
“Empress Cordelia, your behavior is purely hostile. We feel that the delay in your anointment by Zeus may be hindering your judgment.
“I don’t need to be anointed in order to make sound decisions.”
“Empress, please. It is not our aim to upset you. We want your parents found as badly as you do. We just feel that the timing is wrong, and that you are basing all of your decisions on your emotions.” Lucien said.
“And when would be the right time to search for my parents?” I asked sarcastically, i
gnoring his last remark about my emotions.
“Perhaps once we have the Apolluon under control,” Lucien suggested.
I was shaking. I wasn’t sure if my trembling was visible and I didn’t care if it was. I needed my parents found now. I needed their guidance on how to handle this thing with Hades wanting to make me his wife.
“We?” I asked. “You say that as if you’ll be in the front lines battling the Apolluon yourselves. Don’t you mean how I and your children will put a stop to the shadows?” I knew I was behaving with some hostility but I was exhausted with the elders and their superior attitude. I stared at the face of every elder. They weren’t thinking of safeguarding the empire. They only wanted to safeguard themselves. It didn’t seem to occur to them that the Apolluon could very well over power their offspring.
The silence engulfed the mine and allowed me to listen in on their thoughts. The notion of not being protected by their offspring left them feeling vulnerable. Only one elder, the descendant of Artemis, seemed to sway to my corner.
“As long as it’s not for an eternity, Julius and Hedea would be honored to assist in any way, Empress Cordelia. Your father was one of the greatest and fairest emperors this empire has ever had and he was my friend,” Stephan Hepolis said.
“Thank you Lord Stephen. My father will appreciate your support when he returns.”
He bowed and the other elders followed suit. We all had said enough and the elders vanished. Now it was time for their children to weigh in like a wheel barrel of bricks.
“The Apolluon are attacking by the hour. The number of mortals in town is slowly decreasing, although they still outnumber us considerably,” Hedea said, stepping closer to me. “We are at your disposal.”
“I can’t predict how long it will take to find my parents, but I promise each and every one of you that your parents will be protected.”
“We know this,” Julius added as all the other warriors nodded and agreed. They were my loyal disciples and willing to fight for my cause. I had to be careful of how I used them.
“I will lay out our strategy in the morning. Until then, prepare.”
The young disciples nodded, bowed, and then disappeared, retreating to wherever they were and whatever it was they were doing before the council was summoned.
Now that it was only Evan, Nikolas, Victor, and I left in the mine, I could no longer hold back.
“Ugh! I can’t allow the elders to treat me like some child. I am an empress. Their empress. I demand their respect. ”
“I will put the plan into motion by nightfall,” Evan said. “I know the meeting was difficult, but I think you handled the elder council well. Soon they will see that you are right.”
“Cousin, you had them by the ba–,”
“Ehem,” Evan coughed and half laughed, cutting Nikolas off before he had a chance to be obscene.
“Well, the ball is in my court now. We must plan carefully. This search must be done carefully and thoroughly,” I said.
“Lucien isn’t used to having a younger member reign. He’s as stubborn as your father used to be,” Nikolas said to Evan. I noticed Evan’s eyes clouding at the mention of his father, but he didn’t utter a word.
Thaddeus Capius had only been gone for a month, so it made sense that Evan still couldn’t put his father’s evil deeds behind him. Thaddeus had murdered too many, my parents included, and even though I had banished both he and Evan’s mother to the Underworld, it was as if a part of him was still present.
“Let’s stay focused.” I wanted Evan to relax and I hated seeing him in pain.
“What areas do you want to cover, Delia?” Evan asked after taking a couple deep breaths.
“All.”
“Further than the Sierras?” Nikolas asked as he raised a brow.
“Yes, Niko,” I said. “The entire continent.”
“Underground?” Evan asked, although he already knew the answer.
“Absolutely,” I said. “Search the seas and land.”
“I love a challenge!” Nikolas chuckled. “And I have a suggestion – a wine cellar in the mine. The meetings could be so much more enjoyable with refreshments, don’t you think?” Niko chuckled, boisterously.
I couldn’t help but laugh and neither could Evan and Victor. Nikolas was a descendant of the Olympian Dionysus, the jolly God of Wine, therefore I was convinced that the finest wine pumped through his veins.
“Nikolas, would you escort Victor back home?” I asked as I watched Victor’s jaw tighten.
“I can get there on my own.” Victor interjected, stiffly.
“I’m sure you can,” I said and witnessed a faint smile creep across Evan’s face. Victor caught a glimpse of Evan’s smirk as well. This only irritated him even more. “But that’s not the point.”
“I don’t need a chaperone, Cordelia.” Victor’s face flushed. I wasn’t going to waste time protecting his wounded ego. He needed protection, and his ego would have to heal on its own time.
“Niko, would you mind, I need to speak with Evan, privately.”
“Not at all.” Nikolas eyed Victor, raising an eyebrow, and then spoke in a dramatic voice. “Come along young fire breather, I will show you the way.”
Victor smirked at Niko, and then glared at me for a moment. He was not amused. He said nothing and walked past Evan and me, heading out of the mine. Finally, we were alone. When Evan reached for my hand, I took it, desperately. I felt his squeeze of assurance immediately.
“I think it may be time to fortify Victor with his powers,” I said. “It’s becoming harder to keep him secluded and protected.”
“It’s too soon,” Evan said too quickly. His eyes darted around the cave and finally paused on mine. The dimness of the mine made his eyes look like two glowing turquoise stones. It was my turn to squeeze his hand reassuringly.
“I believe he can be very instrumental in the search,” I said, anxiously. Why was I so nervous talking to Evan about this?
“I didn’t think you wanted him on this mission.” Evan’s brows tightened in the center of his forehead.
“What gave you that idea?”
“The fact that he was very much involved in the deaths of your parents, even if he didn’t physically kill them, is what,” Evan snapped and his face grew red.
“Evan, Victor has come a long way from morphing into an evil gargoyle and he wants to be a part of our family again. His family.”
“His desire for you doesn’t mean that he’ll be trustworthy. He has not passed the test.”
“What test?” I quizzed and Evan paused.
I realized that we weren’t holding hands anymore, and he was strategically blocking me from reading his mind. I hated when he walled off his thoughts. Also, I didn’t like fighting with Evan. We never did unless it was about Victor.
“Delia, he’s not ready. He hasn’t been put in a situation where he can prove where his loyalties lie. Until then, we can’t risk the empire’s safety. We must wait.”
“Wait for what? For the Apolluon to devour him? And what about the Lykanos?”
“And what about the werewolves?” Evan shrugged, seeming completely uninterested.
“They want revenge and you know they answer to Hades now that Victor’s spell over them has been broken. Even if Victor wore silver chains all over his body, it wouldn’t prevent those beastly wolves from tearing him apart at the first sighting of him.” Surely, Evan had to see my point.
“Well he shouldn’t have killed their leader and brainwashed their pack into doing his dirty work,” Evan countered, harshly. He wasn’t budging.
Evan was right. Victor had made many enemies while building his empire. He killed Donatella, the most feared leader of the strongest and oldest werewolf pack. Victor had put a spell on the Underworld’s werewolf hybrids and made them his personal slaves of terror. For that indiscretion, the Lykanos waited for the first opportunity to tear him limb from limb. Victor would never survive the streets of Nickel City as a mortal, unless
he had an Ischero member by his side.
I stood there staring at him. Jealousy blinded Evan and he couldn’t see that there wasn’t any reason to be. I was stronger than the magnetic-like force, which the gods used to push Victor and me together. I wasn’t in love with Victor. I just had to protect the second strongest Ischero who would soon be second in command.
“I see that this is not something we can discuss,” I sighed.
“Victor is not ready. It has only been a month for the gods’ sake,” Evan proclaimed.
“I will discuss it with the council in the morning,” I said, walking away.
“Maybe the elders were right.”
“Right about what?” I asked, stopping abruptly and spinning around to face Evan.
“Your hostility and about you not thinking things through.” Evan’s gaze didn’t waver.
“So you’re on their side?” He was really pissing me off now. How could he agree with them?
“No, I’m on yours.”
“Then what? You don’t believe I can make sound decisions without my emotions weighing in. Is that it? What about you? Your decision to keep Victor as powerless as a mortal is based solely on your jealousy of him,” I bellowed.
“You’re wrong.” Evan glared at me and for the first time I could feel his hatred for Victor’s position. He vanished suddenly, leaving me alone in the mine and I never felt more alone.
Four - Cordelia
Two Wills
Later that evening, after Nikolas, Victor, and the children and I finished dinner; Victor joined me in the library. He stood in the doorway staring at me for a moment. When he walked into the library, I pretended to not notice him and dove deeper into my novel. When he stared at me intensely as he did now, I could feel the heat radiating from his gaze and it sent waves of heat through my soul. As he leaned against one of the many bookshelves, I couldn’t help feeling this irresistible attraction to him. I thought I had better control over it, but the lure was getting stronger with each day and I felt nearly powerless against it and that really infuriated me.
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