by Tiya Rayne
Assassin shoves Rykan in the chest, “I will kill you if you ever say that again. You know nothing about her.”
“Oh, and you do? Everyone knows you don’t care about anything but yourself. So why are you so concerned about Lilly?” Rykan ask accusingly.
“I should kill you now.” Assassin’s sword reappears out of nowhere.
Bartus steps in the middle of Assassin and his son. “Rykan is right; she had to find out sooner or later.” I have had enough. I hate people talking about me as if I’m not here.
“HEY!”I shout to the room. Everyone freezes and turns to look at me. “I think I have been very sane giving all that I’ve seen in the last 72 hours, but can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” No one speaks at first and my irritation grows.
“Assassin, please?” I plead. I don’t know why I ask him, but I feel connected to him. Yes, I am carrying Rykan’s twins and yes he did not too long ago see me in a very intimate way, but it is Assassin that I trust. He walks towards me and places his hand on my shoulder.
“You should sit.” He waves his hand out in front of him and immediately I feel a chair pressing at the back of my legs. Assassin pushes slightly on my shoulder and I drop down into the chair.
“I guess I should start at the beginning.” Avalia says placing her hands on her hips. Assassin sits on the edge of the glass table with one leg bent and the other stretched out in front of him. He is close enough to me that I feel comforted but not too close I feel crowded. Rykan looks suspiciously at Assassin and when his eyes catch mine he smiles. Everyone seems to relax now that no one is arguing.
Avalia sighs. “Our world was created by the great God. He created many realms for his children. The Locke was created for his daughter, Eva, and we come from her. This is all before your world was ever created. We magicals were the first here.”
“Magicals?” I ask confused.
Avalia smiles. “Yes, Elves; like Assassin and myself,” She says sticking her hair behind her ears so I can see the pointed tips. “There are also witches, nymphs, fairies, trolls, shifters and many more. Our world was filled with them. We lived freely but divided. It was our division that almost brought our world to an end. We were destroying each other.” She looked away but I still caught the remorseful look in her eyes. “After many centuries, Eva, the goddess daughter, saw our destruction and decided to place the non-magical beings in our world. She created them to resemble the humans of your realm and hoped they would entice us to live civil as your humans did. By the time the first non-magicals came we were already nearly extinct. They did not convince us to follow their ways; instead they survived around us allowing us to destroy each other. Eventually our people began to breed with the non-magicals causing a race of Immortals. Artumis, Fisgal, Geronis, Bartus, Rykan and even your sons, are Immortals.” She says pointing towards my stomach. “It was during this time that O’Rydan was born, the child of a non-magical and a fey. It was O’Rydan that saved the Locke.” The proud look on everyone’s faces let me know this O’Rydan guy was pretty important. “He tried to gather the magicals together to work towards peace. He wanted us all to unite and save the dying land that he so loved. Many of us, growing tired of the hatred and the death, agreed upon the union, but some did not want it, mainly the witches, shifters, giants, and the goblins to name a few. We went to war, dividing our world in two. With the great O’Rydan’s help we defeated our adversaries and took back our world. We agreed upon an arrangement that the Locke should be governed to keep the peace and the unity. The land was divided into five kingdoms. The Eastern.” She says then nods at Fisgal. “The western.” And I look towards Artumis. “The Southern, which your sons are heir to, and then there is the Elvin kingdom which I rule. It sits in the middle of the other four kingdoms.” Then something dawned on me. I was only introduced to three of the kings.
“Where is the Northern King?” I ask. Rykan flinches and Avalia’s lips thin.
“The Northern kingdom is held for the true king, the one that rules over all the land. For many centuries that kingdom went to the direct descendant of O’Rydan. However, it has fallen into bad hands. We call him the Dark King. He is an immortal with witch blood. 1,000 years ago he stole the northern throne from the rightful king and he has ruled our world for far too long. He is cruel and evil. Under his rule the Locke is starving, dying and brutal. Families are being pushed from their homes. People are being captured and enslaved or killed at the whim of the Northern King. We are at our last hope to save our world.” As Avalia pauses in her story I take the chance to look around. Upon first notice the men in the room were all attractive in their own way but with a closer look I see just how tired they are. Dark circles sit under every one’s eyes; scars line their arms and faces. Even Rykan has a new small cut under his eye. They look as if they’ve been fighting a long war.
“So where do I come in?” Avalia smiles brightly at me.
“You are our last hope.” What? Are these people insane? My emotions must be written on my face, because Avalia quickly says, “Relax, Lilly. I was given a vision about you a long time ago. This vision informed me that you would carry twin boys that would grow up to be our future kings. The Two Kings from the direct bloodline of O’Rydan. They will revive our land.” Everyone’s eyes look to my belly, their faces fill with looks of pride and admiration. I don’t think anyone has ever looked at me that way before. Well, once in middle school I climbed on to a power line for Uncle Buddy to hook up his free cable and mistakenly gave free cable to the entire trailer park for a week. I was every ones favorite person and for a week I had friends. However, this felt distinctly better.
“So you want my sons to be your Northern Kings?” I ask just to make sure I had all this right. “No one’s going to take them from me or sacrifice them, right?” Something crosses Assassin’s face. It looks a bit like anger or hurt. It is a tightening of the lips and a narrowing of the eyes. It comes quickly and is covered up by his usual look of disdain.
“They are the direct descendants of O’Rydan, rightful rulers of our world. Your boys will never be harmed.” Avalia says. It is something weird about the way she says that last part, it makes me think I should look into her sentence, but maybe I am just being paranoid.
“Why do I feel like I’m missing something?” I ask staring back and forth at the overly happy faces in the room. Mama says if you ever want to find the devil in the crowd look for the one that is the happiest; because they have more to hide. Right now everyone was happy. Assassin winks at me. I’m sure he did it because I had just asked a valid question, however it sent a lustful shiver down my spine that makes me feel like I am sitting naked in front of all these people. A smile creeps to my lips that I fight to hide. I look away from Assassin to hide my high school crush behavior and my eyes land on a very pissed off Rykan. He is fuming as he stares daggers at Assassin.
“I won’t lie to you, Lilly. There are people in our world that will do anything to keep you from delivering those kings.”
“Like the lady at Paulie’s diner?” I ask.
“Ofilla.” Assassin supplies her name.
“Yes, Ofilla works for the Dark King and she, among others, will try to kill you.” Avalia states unapologetically. “It is why I ask that you stay here until you deliver the twins or at least until we can make sure you are safe. I cannot promise that you will not be threatened here, but if you stay we will protect you with our lives. We cannot offer that protection in the human realm. However, the decision is completely yours.”
Artumis opens his mouth to say something but before he can Avalia holds up her hand to silence him.
“What do you say, Lilly?” Avalia ask.
Ok Lilly lets break this down; if I go home I run the chance of being hunted and killed by characters from Narnia, not to mention I put Mama and Uncle Buddy in harm’s way. If I stay here, I will still have the threat of being killed, but here I will at least have people who better know how to handle the fire ball woman. Grant
ed, every house on the trailer park does have at least one gun in it, but I don’t know how well guns fare against balls of fire.
“Alright, I’ll stay.” Everyone in the room let out a collective sigh and cheers erupt. “What about my family? What do I tell them?” I ask speaking over the cheers.
“Don’t fret; your family was made to believe you went away for a while.” I was going to ask how could they think that, but I just saw a sword disappear in thin air I’m pretty sure the same magic that did that could make my family believe what they wanted them to believe.
“And you’re sure there is nothing else I should know?” the room falls silent again. The mood shifting from cheers to discomfort. That’s odd.
“Lilly, you ….”
“We want you happy, Lilly. That is all we want.” Avalia says cutting Assassin off.
“Assassin?” I ask. It seems like he wanted to say something different. And, I trust him to tell me if anything is wrong. Avalia seems nice and all, but my gut is telling me to go with Assassin. He looks back at me for a moment and I thought he was going to say something but then he just nods and turn towards Avalia.
“May I see you alone, my Queen.” Assassin says pushing off the table and rising to his full height. Avalia never takes her eyes off me. Yet she seems to be in deep thought. Finally Assassin storms out of the room. I rise from my chair ready to follow him, but Avalia grabs my arm gently.
“He needs a moment.” She says nodding towards the empty door Assassin has just left out of.
“Let us celebrate! We waited 15 years for this day. Tonight we celebrate the safe finding of Lilly and our future Kings!” Once again the cheers erupt and the room begins to fill with servants carrying large trays of food and well-dressed people speaking and pointing towards me. I take another look at the door Assassin walked out of and right away wish he would come back for me.
**************
After only three hours of the so-called ‘celebration’ I was starting to wish I had chosen to go home. I’ve met Barons and Baronesses, lords and ladies, senates and chancellors, and a few generals. There was also the Southern Queen who considers me as family and the Western Queen and her daughter. I’ve even met a few of Fisgal’s concubines, and to tell you the truth I don’t remember any one’s name. After the first ten people every name starts to sound alike. The only way I can keep track of who I’ve met is by giving them nicknames based on their appearances. There is ‘also pregnant’, he is a baron of the southern kingdom. His stomach pokes out over his pants as if he is nine months pregnant. There is also ‘sour face’ who I believe is Sarafine’s mother. She looks a lot like her daughter with the same slim nose and long model legs. They both seem to be sporting that same sour look every time they look at me. It’s the same one Mama and Aunt Millie gives Ms. Riker and her 20 something year old boyfriend whenever they come to the trailer park cookouts. I don’t feel bad about giving people nicknames, I must have told everyone here at least three times to call me Lilly but nobody seems to remember that. To them, I am the chosen or the human and according to the whispers, the bitch that ruined Rykan and Sarafine. That’s my favorite. Living in a mystical world isn’t much different from living back home, except here its whore being whispered behind my back rather than racial slurs. Don’t get me wrong, I do seem to have some loyal friends. Rolynn, Artumis’s daughter, is actually pretty nice despite her father referring to me as Rykan’s pet human. As if I was a dog or a fish. Avalia has been my life line, I’ve tried not to stray too far from her but we seem to keep getting pulled apart. Rykan has barely said a word to me. At one time tonight we ended up beside each other and I thought he was going to speak to me, but the entire room stopped what they were doing to turn and stare at us. It was like he and I were a movie and the best part was just about to come on. Rykan immediately walked away and haven’t come near me again. Occasionally I will catch him staring at me or glance at me briefly from across the room. My biggest disappointment was Assassin. He never came back. I’ve glanced at that door a hundred times wishing he would saunter back in with that arrogant walk of his. This night has been exhausting, I was so glad when it was finally time to eat.
I’m sitting at a large rectangular table on the right side of Avalia, with lord sweaty hands to my right, listening to people talk about me but not at me. I stuff another piece of roast beef, or what I think is roast beef, into my mouth.
“So, my King,” ‘Also pregnant’ starts. “Will the bastard kings be raised fully in the Southern Kingdom?” by now I’ve learned not to take offense to the word bastard being used to describe my sons. After hearing it a hundred times I’ve realized, though it means the same as it does back home it is used more loosely here.
“They will be brought up in the finest Southern learning as did their father and his.” Bartus answers proudly. Of course nobody asked my opinion.
“They should spend their summers in the Western kingdom learning to sail the ocean.” Artumis adds proudly stroking his beard.
“Aye, Artumis, and on a few occasions I shall send them to the Eastern kingdom and let Fisgal teach them the ways to woe a woman.” The entire table erupts into laughter. Avalia catches my eye and smiles apologetically to me. Did these people think they have control of my sons just because they were royalty and had power? Well, where I’m from there’s nothing more dangerous than a mother protecting her young and even though mine are the size of peanuts right now I still feel very protective.
My legs begin to shake with fury under the table. Avalia places her hand on my knee to calm me down.
“When will they start their military training? It is wise to start them as early as possible. With your military bloodline I’m sure they will exceed all expectations.” ‘Bushy eyebrows’ says. ‘Bushy eyebrows’ is a general in Bartus’s army with eyebrows the size of squirrel tails.
“I agree. I would like to start them as early as four or five.” Are they insane? I look over to Rykan to see how he feels about this but he is still refusing to make eye contact with me. Well he could sit back and let these crazy people decide his future, but I’ll be damn if they plan my boys.
“Since no one seems to ask my opinion, I’ll just give it.” I announce. “No offense, Bartus, but I think it is Rykan and my decision on how our boys will be raised. As I’ve told you once before, as soon as this trouble is over, my babies and I will head back to North Carolina where they will be raised in the manor I see fit.” The room becomes eerily quiet. You could hear a pen drop. Bartus’ eyes narrows slightly at me, but I’m not backing down. These are my boys; I could care less what they will become to these people. Great kings are not, I’m their mother and I choose what school they go to and how they will spend their summers and the only military training they will have is shooting squirrels in the back yard with Uncle Buddy.
“You are absolutely right, Lilly. You have to excuse my husband; he is just excited about being a grandfather at such a young age.” Again the table erupts in laughter. Lalana, Rykan’s beautiful mother, nods slightly to me with an approving smile. She purposely lightened the mood and adverted attention from me. Bartus and the other gentlemen get wrapped up in a conversation about being young. The servers begin to bring in the dessert and I was sure that the night would end positive. Until I hear her voice.
“Tell me, chosen.” Sarafine says deliberately using the name I told her not to use. “What makes you think you are so qualified to raise OUR future kings?”
“Sarafine, that’s enough.” Lalana says coming to my defense.
“Pardon me, your highness, but I am just asking the question everyone else seems to be thinking.” Once again the room is silent; it is the deafening silence that follows a comedian’s bad joke. Sarafine is goading me. She’s been waiting for this opportunity all day. I can see the delight in her blue eyes, when she thinks she has me stumped. I have spent most of my life being taunted and picked on.
When I was five, some older girls chased me home from school throwing m
ud at me; I locked myself in my room and cried. Uncle Buddy came over and sat at the end of my bed chewing his smokeless tobacco and spitting it in his empty Pepsi bottle. He wiped my tears with his dirty red handkerchief and told me, “Lilly-Pot, I reckon you gone get picked on for most of your life. Not cuz of something you done wrong. Mostly on account of the world just too ugly and stubborn to look pass simple things. The way I see it, you got two choices, you can be a victim or you can be a fighter. Both will cause you to have scars, but only one will leave them where you will be proud to see them.” My Uncle Buddy was always saying brilliant things like that. That day, I made my decision. I chose to fight.
“Well, my qualifications must be pretty stellar seeing that I am the one chosen to carry your future kings.” Everyone else in the room is watching us like an audience watching their favorite soap opera. No one ate; I don’t think I even heard anyone breathe.
“Let’s be honest, chosen, it doesn’t take much to carry a child. All you need to do is lie with the right man, I’m sure any whore could do that.” Wow! Sarafine really know how to hit below the belt. If this was middle school her comment would have been followed by collective ooh’s. Well, if that’s how she wants to play it.
“Well Sarafine, Everyone knows it requires a little more than me just lying there. Then again, maybe that’s why Rykan came to me.” Now, if Mama was here she would say, Lilly Ann that is called boasting and it is the tools of the devil. Thankfully, Mama’s not here.
“Well, Well.” Fisgal says nodding towards me. “Seems Lilly is my kind of girl.” The table laughs and begins to fill back up with conversation.
“Well done, Lilly.” Avalia says speaking low into my ear. “I’m afraid you will always have an enemy in Sarafine, but don’t worry, I think tonight she has learned that the little human can take care of herself.” I laugh. As always it feels good to stand up for myself, rather its racist little kids on the playground, or your mystical baby daddy’s fiancée. I glance at the end of the table to Rykan who quickly winks at me and smiles then turns back to Fisgal to continue his conversation. Oddly my body is still reacting to Rykan. Flashes of our steamy night race through my mind. Images of naked bodies and convulsing orgasms make me blush. I turn my head and find Sarafine staring daggers at me. If looks could kill, this would be my last supper.
