by Jaime Marks
“Thanks Dad.” He smiled.
He nodded pulling back to watch as Trina embraced him and then Star.
When they were finish Grifyn cleared his throat and spoke above all of them. “It’s always a wonderful day when we add to our lines. My son and Staryana have truly blessed me with the news of my grandchild…” He paused and pulled Trina close. “And my mate has blessed me with the news of our young.”
Byryn grinned broadly as he stepped forward embracing them both. “Congrats Dad, Mom. I know you were hoping.”
“Thank you, Byryn,” Trina beamed almost seeming to glow.
Star smiled brightly. It was amazing the love and joy flowing between all of them. She just hoped they could hold onto it. Tensions were running really high between her Dads and Byryn and Kyle lately. The comments that Demytria had made earlier didn’t exactly help, either.
Steph stepped up to her. “Hey you.”
“Hey. How are you holding up?” She asked, surveying he friend.
The bruises on her face were almost gone, but they still pissed her off. The pain Steph was enduring was even worse. Her eyes were red and she looked exhausted.
“Don’t worry about it. I did this to myself and I’ve survived worse.” Steph shrugged but then forced a smile for her. “So you’re gonna be a Mom, huh? Who would’ve thought you and Byryn would ever be parents?” She smirked shaking her head. “I’m really happy for the two of you, though. You’re solid and you deserve this, Star.”
“You deserve that happiness too though, Steph.” She tried to reach her, “He still loves you and you need each other.”
She shook her head. “I’m poison to him. He’s better off without me.”
Star sighed. “You’re wrong. John is the one that’s poison to you and you’re letting him win.”
Firm hands rested on her shoulders as her uncle’s essence washed over her. “Staryana, I love that you are trying to defend me and help Stephynia, but she needs time and I have promised her that. She knows how I feel and that I am always here, but I do not wish anyone pressuring her.”
She sighed but nodded and left it go. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have enough of her own issues to worry about. If Steph didn’t want her help there was nothing she could do. She’d give her some time, and then if need be, follow it up with a swift kick to the ass to straighten her out.
Mythos held her gaze a few moments. It was the hardest thing he had ever done to be this close and yet so far from her. The truth was this was killing him, and he could see it was no easier for her. He wanted nothing more than to have her in his arms, but he knew it was too soon. She needed to reason all this out in her own mind.
“I love you, caria. I will always love you, whatever you decide…I will always protect you,” he promised before turning his full attention to the others and forcing a smile he did not feel. “It is indeed a great time for our lines. Recent weeks have seen the first additions to our lines in nearly a century and in a cycle, we will see the birth of the next generation. The Divine has truly blessed us.”
Cymeryn smiled ruefully, “That is not entirely a true statement, my lord. There is something more we need to announce. Narysia, my dear, will you join us?”
He motioned to a young girl with wavy mahogany hair that rested just below her shoulders. The girl seemed nervous and glanced back to Wytheryn, but he only smirked and nudged her forward. She smiled shyly as she approached but a small piece of gold at her neckline immediately caught his eye.
Cymeryn took her hand, pulling her close. “Mythos, I would like to introduce you to the Lady Narysia a Cymarcion.”
His brow arched in shock as he stepped forward. “May I?” He asked motioning to the artifact he clearly recognized. She nodded, obviously very shy by nature. He lifted it, recognizing both the glyph and its essence before turning to Cymeryn and Marcus. “You have verified this?”
“Indeed,” Kato spoke from just behind him. “She is definitely Cymarcion and human. She will awaken Fae of Storms. It has already begun presenting in her blood.”
Mythos studied the girl in surprise. “Amazing. You will, of course, need to fill me in on how this came to Light? Your Father?”
“Passed before her birth according to the information her Mother provided to her. It’s a long story, and a lot of it we have no real way to sort out, but we’re grateful to have found her,” Marcus offered resting his hands on her shoulders.
She seemed to almost tremble a moment and Kyle immediately stepped up as he motioned to Wytheryn. “Uncle Marcus, Dad.” He sighed shaking his head. “It’s alright, sunshine. This is just too much, too fast.”
Wytheryn was there pulling her close a moment later. “Narysia, no one’s going to hurt you. I promise.”
“Is she alright?” Mythos prompted in concern, unsure of what had just occurred.
“She’ll be fine,” Byryn offered. “It’s been an extremely long day for her. Which is part of what we need to discuss.” He sighed looking somewhat stressed and tired.
Kyle looked to him. “I can field this if you want.”
He shook his head. “See to them.” He turned to Staryana and Astryn. “Go sit down and rest. You’ve both stressed yourselves out enough today and I want you both off your feet.”
They exchanged an amused glance but he measured them sternly and they giggled as they went to sit. He saw the small smirk that crossed Byryn lips as he shook his head, but it faded quickly as he focused back into dealing with the issues at hand.
As they all took their seats once more, Mythos measured Stephynia. She curled into the couch where she sat beside Grifyn. He looked up meeting his eye and frowned, studying her again. They may not yet understand what had occurred but at least she had her family.
“Last eve,” Byryn began as he crossed his arms. “There was an attack against Narysia. Tomas a Alayne was handing out orders from his cell to three Shade, my brothers, that were able to use a Dark form of shroud to conceal themselves. Vilyn a Trevyn ordered some of the unawakened to attack her as punishment for Wytheryn’s betrayal.” He motioned to his brother who held the girl in his lap. “They didn’t know Narysia’s lineage, none of us did until this morn. She’s already been moved to our corridor as of last night because she’s Wytheryn’s mate and I afforded him a suite.”
He paused waiting for reaction but continued when none spoke. “Now, this is more of a private matter and I’m not going to go into a lot of details about it. However, in an attempt to diffuse all the headaches over it, and since apparently there are some questions about whether or not I can be trusted based on statements and reactions, I’ll explain. Wytheryn was bound to Alayne since he was young via binding rituals. In an attempt to break that bond, and so that I could better help him transition to this life, at his request, I bound him to me. Wytheryn is my brother. He needed the bond broken and I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow anyone else to hold that sort of influence over him. He’s been through enough. Kyle and I will mentor and care for him. I suggest if any of you have questions about it or doubts about my intentions you voice them, because I’m done dealing with it already.”
Mythos sat back in shock, taking in all of the information. From what he understood of the Shade, to bind one to them in such a manner was to claim them as a slave of sorts. Moreover however, he was concerned about what had occurred to make Byryn believe that they would doubt his action in such a way.
Byryn waited surveying the room and Demytria sighed. “I didn’t mean to make you feel as if I don’t trust you, Byryn and I didn’t think about what I said earlier. I know you have his best interests at heart. It just caught me off guard.”
“It’s nothing new, Demytria. I’ve been fighting to get out from under Trevyn’s legacy since I got here. I just wouldn’t have expected you to jump to such conclusions without realizing there was more to the story.” He shrugged. “I get it. I was a bastard. I’m still a bastard when someone crosses me, but since we returned from the Dark Domain you all seem t
o be waiting for the other shoe to drop, which I’ll address in a minute if there are no other questions about my connection with Wytheryn?”
Kyle misted to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder a minute. “If you’re going to judge Byryn then know you’re judging me as well. I’m the one who conducted the ritual binding Wytheryn, and I’m the one who convinced Byryn this was the right course.” He faced Byryn’s brother. “You’re brother never wanted to deny you, but he would rather have granted you your freedom if it was a choice. It wasn’t, and neither us, nor the girls, would change what’s been done. This isn’t about you, Wytheryn, so please don’t take it that way. This is about trust and the benefit of doubt.”
Cymeryn groaned, “No one is saying we do not trust you. We are just concerned because of recent events. I, myself, was there last eve when you bound him, and never once did I question your intentions. I know the reasons. I understand them. That is not the issue.”
Byryn nodded. “Fine. As you all know, we both left the realm to retrieve Kyle’s brother a few days ago. There was a reason we chose not to involve any of you. First we needed to see how the Brood was going to react. Second, no offense Grandsire, but you are Pravyous’ primary target, not me. If you were there we’d have ended up fighting regardless because Pravyous wants to destroy you. The thing is, I don’t believe he wants you dead. He wants you to suffer.”
“That is my choice to make,” Cymeryn reasoned. “I will decide what danger I choose to risk. You boys could have been killed and none of us would have known.”
“That’s not true,” Staryana interrupted. “Astryn and I were monitoring them both from the cape the entire time. We were given specific directions of what we were supposed to do if fighting broke out. I was to go directly to Devyn while Astryn spoke with either Grifyn or Demytria, whoever was faster to locate.”
Astryn nodded. “We also had a set time limit before we were supposed to let you know they were gone regardless of what happened.”
Kyle pursed his lips in thought. “You’re one of the Kings of the Realm, Reyana is pregnant, and your presence would have put us all in danger. Cal is our brother. Mine and Star’s. When his safety is involved, I’m sorry Dad, but it’s our call to make.”
Byryn rested his hands at his hips. “The point is, it’s done. The mission was a success. Yes, we kept it from you to make it happen, but that’s only because you never would’ve allowed us to go otherwise and seriously, you both took that same risk without including us when Bryce was at risk. I’m extremely grateful you did, but let’s be realistic. Kyle and I are every bit as strong as you and Marcus. You treat us like kids that need to be protected, but we weren’t given these gifts to sit idle on our thrones and we won’t.”
Devyn leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. “They are right. I have seen you chastise and restrict them for the very actions you, yourselves, would not hesitate to risk. They are awakened with families of their own. Both hold esteemed positions in the Kingdoms that grant them a great deal of responsibility. You cannot, on one hand, expect them to act as adults, and then punish and restrict them like young when they do.”
Marcus scrubbed his face, “You’re right, but there’s more to this. Something is going on and they are either being set up or there is something we’re missing.”
“We don’t deny that,” Byryn conceded. “Something is going on, and we’ve already admitted our concerns to you, but you were there when the Divine Being told us that Lazurys has no hold over us. Is he baiting us into a trap?” He shrugged. “Maybe, but do you really think we haven’t considered that?”
Kyle crossed his arms. “And then when we finally get a chance to potentially figure it out, you take the only lead we have available to us and isolate him, refusing to allow us to question him for our own protection. I get what you were trying to do Dad, but after everything else that happened today, did you really think Byryn would feel any differently? Hell, I’m a bit pissed off on his behalf.”
Rising to his feet, Mythos stepped in between the four of them. He had heard more than enough. This needed to be dealt with. “Enough bickering amongst yourselves,” he interjected. “Tell us what brought this about.”
“One of the Shade apparently awakened John.” Kyle glanced warily to Stephynia but continued. “When he moved to attack my Dad, I misted in his path and engaged him. We were told the Brood won’t engage us and apparently they were telling the truth.”
“Neither will any other Shade,” Byryn offered. “They basically allowed us to walk out of a group home, unchallenged, with ten unawakened because we told them if anyone intervened we’d fight them. Pravyous showed up and pretty much told us they wouldn’t fight and forced everyone to stand down.”
Kyle nodded. “Then today, Vilyn pulled John back and apologized on his behalf because he met my blade. He referred to me as Lord Kyle, even bowed to me.”
“We don’t know what that was about, or why they insist on the cease fire, but we’ve tested it. They literally will not fight us. We were told Lazurys has requested the four of us to present ourselves to him. That’s obviously not going to happen. He’s given us a month and promised us a show of the power he has over us at the end of each week we deny him. We’ll know tomorrow how realistic of a threat he’s made,” Byryn explained.
“Pravyous basically warned us we’d wind up mindless vessels under his control if we deny Lazurys. It’s not what they want. They want our willing cooperation,” Kyle continued. “They won’t get it. We’ve been upfront about all this from the beginning. We said from the moment that we returned from his domain that it was too easy. He allowed us to escape.”
“We haven’t tried to hide any of this. We’ve spent hours trying to reason it out and searched for what they could be trying to distract us from.” Byryn sighed scrubbing his face. “We’re supposed to be able to rely on all of you, to trust you, but after today? In all honesty I find myself questioning that. It’s the first time I’ve really ever felt like maybe I can’t come to you about this. If you’re questioning my actions, separating me from my newly Redeemed brother so you can question him in private without my influence because you know he’s always been loyal to me, how am I supposed to take it?”
Mythos turned towards the twins. “You mean to interrogate his brother without him? Byryn is the Liaison of Redemption and head of his line, despite the fact of his Claiming. We have all allowed and accepted this. This sets a precedent I am not certain I approve of.”
“He didn’t just isolate him. He denied his request to talk to Byryn and I alone openly,” Kyle interjected.
Mythos scrubbed his brow as Devyn rose, “Cymeryn, I understand your thinking but let me be frank, you would feel the same if the situation was reversed.”
Felycia spoke quietly, not looking up as she bounced Bryce on her knee. “Byryn puts himself on the line every time there’s a threat to the realm, every time. He has more than enough reasons to ensure he never turns. Kylion, Bryce, all our brothers, Staryana…me.” She shook her head. “He deserves our trust.”
Stephynia looked up immediately drawing Mythos’ gaze. “I trust Byryn, and I know he’d never do anything to hurt Star, but you’re all forgetting that Cymeryn never does anything without a reason. He’s said earlier that it’s not about not trusting them, but trying to ensure they don’t need help they can’t ask for, which is exactly how Star ended up in Lazurys’ possession in the first place.”
Mythos considered it. “I see both sides of this and understand it, but the distance between the four of you needs to be bridged. I can understand how Byryn and Kyle feel about the restrictions, and Byryn obviously feels alienated to the point where he is telling you. At the same time what Stephynia says is correct. The two of you need to hear their concerns and allow Marcus and Cymeryn to take actions to help you where necessary. You have voiced concerns about Lazurys’ reach and intent, and they are investigating them as they see fit. Perhaps the issue lies more in the communication of it.”
Byryn grunted, “No, the issues lies in the fact that we’re allowing this to cause a division amongst us just as Lazurys intends. Even my brothers are starting to see the line drawn in the sand and it’s giving credence to Pravyous and Lazurys’ claims. They’re now worried about what they aren’t seeing and whether I’m capable of turning. It’s crap that instead of you all supporting me they see restrictions placed. Instead of reassuring them that my actions always have a purpose, they’re assured they’ll be investigated because my own family is suspicious of them. The worst by far though, is when in front of my brother, who you know damned well will soon be reunited with the others, you draw that line openly like you did. How am I even supposed to respond to them when they come to me and tell me their loyalty lies only with me and mine? It’s always been their way to latch onto a figurehead. I can tell them we’re all on the same side until I’m blue in the face, but they see the lines have been drawn clearly, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m a fool to deny it.”
He turned as Staryana misted in front of him, looking down at her impatiently. “I thought we agreed you weren’t to mist?”
“I’m sorry, I forgot. I’ll work on it.” She sighed wrapping her arms around him as Astryn walked across the room to join them.
The four of them were making a stand and it was not good. They should not be separated out like this, but with the intense bonds between them it seemed to be occurring more and more. It was difficult for them to understand and the timing of it was the issue.
Mythos and Devyn exchanged concerned looks trying to figure out how to manage this. It was the first time in a century they were united. This could tear them apart easily. That was after all the point, was it not? Driving a wedge between them now would leave the Kingdoms vulnerable.
Wytheryn rose and looked at Narysia. “You know where my allegiance must lie in this, but I will not force it upon you with what we now know. Either way, you are always mine and I will always see you are protected,” he offered softly, but went to stand beside Byryn.