Bravery

by Layla Heart

  Mum comes over to me, taking my hand carefully as her face softens. “We took you out of this world to protect you as long as we could, so you wouldn’t have to deal with all of this. But you’re no longer a child. This is reality. This is the world we live in. This is the world you were always meant to live in.”

  I carefully nod and Bane turns around to me, putting his hand over the hand Mum is holding. “We always knew this would be our future. We knew what life would become once we met you. This is what we’ve trained for our whole life.”

  Kit also turns around, taking my other hand. “You know I’ll always protect you, I’ll always be yours.” His eyes are hot and sure, strong.

  Behind me, Finn puts his hand on my shoulder, squeezing a little. “We won’t let any harm come to you. You’ve seen what we can do, you know we’re up to this task. We’ll protect you. We’re here for you.”

  Rune puts his hand on my other shoulder. “I may have a painful leg, and I can’t shift into a dragon at the moment, but that won’t stop me from ripping people’s heads off when they won’t listen to you. When they pose a danger.”

  Then, Phoenix leans in, kissing my shoulder softly, her eyes so sure but also sweet. “No harm will come to you. And we’ll always back whatever plans you have for us. Anything. We’ll do anything for you.”

  My stomach is all twisted and I feel very nervous, but having them all at my side, I think we’ll be fine. This will work out. I just have to believe in it as much as they do.

  I nod, taking a grounding breath. “Okay. Let’s go. Let’s show them that we’re all here, we’re all together, and we’re going to rule the world one day.”

  Mum lets out a laugh as Bane opens the front door, bright light spilling inside. “Grandma, and generations of royal witches before her, would be proud of you. Watch out, world, a new Queen has arrived.”

  We all burst out laughing, because it still feels silly, too far into the future to take seriously. Even when I rationally know that that time is much closer than I can even wrap my head around right now.

  Becoming a queen isn’t something that just happens. Every choice I make, every step I take, it brings me closer to the moment that I will take the title of queen for real.

  Even small acts of defiance, like modifying my dress, modifying Mum’s dress, it all brings forth the day that I’ll be queen, and it all shows what kind of queen I’ll be. Even when others won’t like my choices, when they’d rather have me comply with whatever they’ve got planned for me. I will do what I feel is best for everyone, and those are my choices, my own.

  I’m not someone who easily accepts plans to control me, I never really have, even my parents only had so much control over what I did or didn’t do when I was younger. But now that I know how distorted the ‘known’ version of the prophecy really is, I will do everything in my power to make it my own. I will do anything to get the best results, for everyone.

  They created the narrative of ‘The One Queen’. The One Queen who chooses the One King to rule all kingdoms, bringing peace in the process. They turned me into a pawn to be played by their hand, not a player in my own right.

  And I will rewrite not only the prophecy, but the whole damn narrative. I will be queen, I will have my kings and my priestess at my side, all of them, all equally, and they’re not going to mess with that plan, not anymore, not now I that know the truth.

  10

  Normally, we get plenty of looks when the four of us have to dress up nicely to show up at places, but with Litha, Litha’s mum and Phoenix added to our group and us all dressing up in much more traditional clothes... We get a lot of looks, even though the campus is pretty empty, with lots of people having gone home, both out of safety and because there aren’t any classes at the moment, but the people who are still here are staring openly.

  The road to the main gate of the campus seems longer than normal, but that’s just my nervousness. I don’t know why I get this nervous over seeing my uncle again, or even seeing Kit’s family, but this being a very official meeting, more than we’re used to, does make it all a lot scarier. The implications of this meeting could change everything we know once again. Not fun. Especially not when I don’t want to have to take on more official roles as a prince, or things like that, just because we’ve now met Litha, but it does seem to be going that way. Things that I didn’t expect to happen for another four or even more years just a month ago are already happening, like our connection to Litha... Like Litha taking us all as her lovers...

  At the gate, Mum and Dad greet us, and after a quick nod, since we’re already running late, they start walking in front of us, ‘accompanying’ us to the portals near the edge of the town. The portals are used to get the students here at the start of the school year, but during the rest of the year, they’re used by just about anyone who wants to get to the town. There are more of these places around town, but they’re not as big as this one and not as conveniently close to the campus or town centre.

  “What am I supposed to do when we get there? How am I supposed to introduce myself to anyone? Do I have to curtsy or something?” Litha whispers. I’m not sure to who exactly, but when there isn’t an answer in a couple of seconds, I answer the question.

  “You don’t have to do anything. My dad will probably introduce us when it’s needed. Or, maybe even your mum, I don’t know. But the introductions will be taken care of. Other than that, you don’t have to do anything. Just be there and... try not to get too bored.” I smile and that gets a soft laugh from Litha, making my heart a little lighter. It’s good to hear her laugh, since this whole situation is making me very nervous.

  “That’s not very nice to say.” Dad turns to us a little. “But, I guess it’s a fair observation. Apart from showing up and looking presentable, I’m afraid there isn’t much else for you to do there. We’ll try to get you out of the official stuff as soon as we can. My brother and his wife will show up first, and then Kit’s mother and her court will show up. After they’ve arrived, we’ll go back to the campus. At the campus, we’ll go to the main hall, where there will be all sorts of formal stuff going on. The ‘boring stuff’ as I know my son and the other guys like to call it. When that’s over, we will return to the meeting and you can go back home. It will just take a couple of hours, and I’ll try to get you out of it as soon as possible.” He looks back over his shoulder, to Litha. “And don’t think about sneaking off, I know that Kit and Rune have a habit of doing that. Don’t let them tempt you.”

  “Why did you have to spoil the one way we survive sitting through those ceremonies?” Kit quietly grumbles, but he’s also smiling.

  “Because it’s not ‘sitting through those ceremonies’, it’s you two sneaking off to do whatever you do and missing half the ceremony.” Finn never liked it, that they would sneak off and leave us to pretend that they were on an ‘important nature break’ when they’d obviously been gone for over half an hour. And now we also know what they were likely doing during that time. I’d somehow always imagined that they were just picking up other people to have sex with or simply hanging out somewhere more fun together, but now that I’m more aware of their relationship, and how long it’s been going on, it’s pretty obvious that they were just finding a quiet place to fuck each other. How we were totally blind to something so obvious.

  Litha’s mum laughs. “Well, I’ll try to make sure they don’t leave.”

  Mum looks back at her, raising an eyebrow, not looking convinced. “Fairly sure you did the exact same thing back in the day... Sneaking off with Kai whenever you had the chance. Not sure I trust you to keep an eye on them so they won’t sneak off. Or any of them to keep an eye on each other...” She sighs, but it’s not in frustration, more like a chuckle. “What a group... Two princes with a habit of sneaking off. Two princes who have always covered for them. A mother who never used to be much better at staying where she had to be in official situations herself. One daughter of a highest priestess who always managed to find othe
r ways to simply never be around for official ceremonies, so she never had to even try sneaking off. And then our Queen-to-be, who has no clue how all of this is supposed to work. What great examples you will all be to her. I like it.” She grins and takes another deep breath, straightening her face. “Okay. We’re almost there. Everyone looking presentable? Or, presentable enough?”

  “Yeah.” My voice is rough, the nerves back at full-power.

  This shouldn’t be scary. This is basically a very boring ‘meet the royals’ event, but with Litha here, and our whole group having changed so much recently, it’s hard not to be nervous.

  We all walk onto the square with the many doors around us. The square has been set up in a way to make this official stuff easier, certain areas being enclosed by poles with rope between them, to divide everyone up into their own groups. Dad nods towards an area on the left and I guide us to it, standing in front of some poles with rope between them, and when I look back, everyone is trying to find the best spot to stand.

  I sigh. “Kit and me at the front, Litha a step behind us, the rest of you in the back, you can fight out the order yourself, just make sure you’re visible and Litha is protected.” Litha is looking at me nervously and I take her hands in mine, squeezing a little. “It won’t be complicated, it will likely be a little boring, so try not to fall asleep. Yeah?”

  She bites her lip slightly, but then nods, her face going smooth, her whole stance changing, pulling herself up, becoming a queen.

  “Good.” I kiss her hands and then turn to face the square.

  On the other side of the road we came in, mirroring our positions, are my parents, there as the headmaster and his wife, Phoenix’ parents, her mother the highest priestess of the witches, her husband always there to back her up, also known for his excellent attack magic in his own right, Litha’s dad, there both as a father and a husband, his reputation being that he has powers rivalling Phoenix’ father’s strength, and then there are a mixture of people either connected to the defence of the town or the defence and protection of the campus and the academy. I know that people dealing with the armies and defence of the werewolf and the succubus kingdoms are already on the campus, probably waiting for the others in the meeting room they’ve been hiding in for the last week. But even then, it’s a pretty big group of people on their side, and they all look exhausted, which isn’t odd, seeing as they’ve been having meetings almost non-stop for the last couple of days...

  One of the doors opens and my uncle’s secretary steps out, taking a deep bow, and then he holds the door open as far as he can. Everyone in the square has gone quiet and is now staring at him. “Your Highness, Alarick, King of the werewolves, and his Queen, Meadow, have arrived.”

  The few people who somehow had managed to get chairs to sit on to the square stand up, and everyone goes really, really quiet.

  First, my uncle steps out, wearing close to what I’m wearing, but with added details and designs to his pants and wearing bands of beads and golden bands on his arms and neck. No crown, as we don’t tend to favour them. He’s wearing a very imposing necklace instead, decked in crystals and other fancy things.

  He holds his head up high, taking in the people in the square and then steps to the side, holding out his hand behind him. My aunt steps out, taking his hand lightly. She’s also wearing pants, in a lighter colour, matching her hair, a wrap around her breasts, and some simple gold jewellery, but that’s it. Werewolves aren’t that much about fancy jewellery, they’re annoying to take off if you have to shift suddenly.

  They slowly make their way to Dad, the king’s eyes on him, but I can see how my aunt keeps glancing our way, curious to get a glimpse of Litha, always curious.

  Dad first introduces the people on his side, which takes a while, and I feel Litha get more and more nervous behind me. I reach out to her and take her hand, trying to calm her down and, instead, she starts nervously playing with my fingers. I close my hand around her hands, holding them, hoping it makes me less nervous if she stops fiddling with her fingers.

  Then, finally, Dad guides Uncle and Aunt our way. They’re now both openly staring at our little group.

  “In the front are your nephew, Bane, with at his side, Kit, crown prince of the incubi. Behind them is Litha, the prophesied queen. In the back is her mother, Eve, with Finn, crown prince of the fae, Phoenix, who will be the next highest priestess of the witches, and Rune, crown prince of dragons.” Dad looks at each of us as he mentions us and I get a strange feeling in my stomach. He’s proud, he’s very proud of us all standing here, proud we made it this far.

  He’s always protected Litha and her family, always. And to finally have her back here, ready to take her prophesied role, it must be everything that he’s always wanted, or at least, what he’s always fought for.

  And that makes me feel proud too, of us, of Litha, of how we managed to survive this long. Now we ‘just’ have to stay alive and actually fulfil the prophecy...

  We ‘just’ have to manage an impossible task...

  11

  The king of the werewolves is staring at Litha in a way that I don’t appreciate, a mixture of fear and curiosity. Which is normal because if we fulfil the prophecy, his right to rule will not actually go to Bane, but instead will go to Litha. Only, he doesn’t know that yet, all he knows is that Litha will ‘choose’ one of us, and her standing here with all of us at her side means that she’s not chosen yet, and that Bane could still become the ‘one true ruler’.

  Dream on, dude.

  Luckily, we don’t have to endure this for very long, as another door opens and one of my cousins comes out, waiting until everyone is quiet and has found their places again. The werewolf king and queen stand near us, closer to the street up to the campus, a more important position than us.

  “Our Succubus Queen, Juno, and her court, are here.” My cousin is dressed in a light skirt and her skin is covered in silver swirls, denoting her as having a role close to the queen, but not an actual part of her court. Her swirls are silver, like the colour of stars, denoting the people who help my mother run her household. I suspect that as soon as she finishes high school and college, she’ll actually join my mum’s court, as she’s been raised her whole life. Or maybe even Litha’s court, depending on how the next years go. My cousin holds out her hand and I watch as Mum, ever the greatest performance artist, makes a grand entrance.

  Through the light of the door, which is billowing white smoke ahead of her, Mum reaches out to my cousin, her hand covered in silver jewellery, including fake silver nails to make them look like the claws she’ll grow when she turns into her monster form.

  Then she appears fully in the square, wearing a see-through purple skirt, her breasts bare, apart from the silver piercings through her nipples, with shimmering purple stones on silver strings hanging from them. She’s covered in shimmery swirls, not silver, but they’re definitely visible on her skin. Her eyes are darkened, like mine, and she’s wearing her hair loose, making it fall down her back in waves, purple and shimmery strands visible in it.

  Then Mum kisses my cousin’s hand and lets go, stepping to the side of the door and holding out her hand for the next person to step through. My cousin walks to the other end of the open door, waiting there until everyone is here, which can take a while, depending on who Mum is taking with her.

  The first one to step through the doorway is my aunt, Lux, she’s my cousin’s mother and my biological father’s twin sister. She doesn’t wear any clothes, simply decked out in silver jewellery, some of it accentuating the stretchmarks on her belly, from having given birth to my cousins and others pure decadent decoration. Her swirls are also shimmery, as they will be for each of the court members, as they’re closest to the queen. She has a thin silver chain around her waist, a purple stone in the middle, hanging a little under her belly button, a sign of her being someone’s partner, quite a few partners, more likely, but she has at least one partner.

  Mum smiles at her, her eyes
hot, giving a quick wink. “Lux, first member of my court, and my right hand in ruling.”

  Mum kisses Lux’ hand and she steps to the side, lining up next to my cousin, giving her a flash of a grin.

  The next one to step through the door is my biological father, carefully taking Mum’s hand. Behind me, I hear Litha gasp and I can’t help my grin.

  “I thought you were kidding.” Litha loudly whispers to Phoenix behind her.

  “I wasn’t.” I can hear the way Phoenix is smiling at her. “Kit is definitely very much dressed down in comparison to the rest.”

  I grin, because Phoenix is right. Although, I’m not so sure how ‘dressed down’ she’d consider me if she knew how much everything under the kilt resembles how the other men in my mum’s court look...

  My father’s cock is hard, pointing up proudly, staying that way with the use of a cock ring and a piercing in the tip of his cock, which is connected to a simple silver chain around his waist, just like my aunt has, although in the case of the men from the court, the chain connects to their cock piercing. He’s not wearing a damn thing otherwise to hide any parts of his body. His skin is covered in shimmery swirls, accentuating the pale marks on his body. He’s a warrior, so he’s been in battles, and we’re proud of our battle scars. From here, I catch sight of a few marks that are still very pink, from when we were attacked by the fae this summer. He doesn’t do much other jewellery, just some silver bands around his arms and silver and purple beads in his long hair, his biggest pride, not counting the size of his cock...

  “The second member of my court, Cy, general of our army and biological father to the incubus heir.” Mum leans and kisses his hand, her lips lingering on his skin just a little longer than needed and I see Dad’s lust spike in him.