Wings, Beasts and Claws: Violet Embers

Ch. 20 : Birthday Peace, Dark News

Preparations for Reya’s birthday soon came crashing down and the big day itself arrived after a heavy snowfall that had the children coated in the soft powdery cold that turned their noses pink.

I had spent the morning with them and Ivy outside while Morina and Drako finished setting things up for Reya in the main dining room. But while I was out with the children trying my best to relax, Cal started to come up to me every five minutes to ask if it was time for his cousin's celebration yet. He was excited to get inside and present Reya with the gift he had picked out for her when he accompanied me on my rounds through the Capital. Cal even included Calix in the gift as well, though Calix did most of the planning while my little Cal provided his opinion on the things he knew Reya would like.

By the time we started making our way to the dining room though, Cal was nearly dragging Reya along, beaming brightly at everyone as he passed. Reya’s little eyes went wide the minute she stepped into the room and I couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction.

Ribbons of lavender were hanging all over the room with a few clear crystals shaped like stars scattered here and there. Large white vases with pale grey bows held beautifully arranged flowers in all of Reya’s favorite colors. The table runner was also lavender along with the ribbon tied to the backs of chairs. And in the corner there was a table with a small mound of presents that was taller than Reya herself when she went to stand beside it.

After a few minutes of calming down the children who ran around adoring the decorations, the meal was served and we all dug in.

Lanalee joined us soon after sitting down and started to joke about how my brother would be acting if he was here to see Reya next to Calix while they ate. And our laughter grew as we watched Calix help cut up Reya’s food and even reach out to clean her cheek when she had a bit of sauce on it.

When the meal was finally over and the children pulled us all towards the presents, we sat back and watched as each present was personally given to Reya to open.

The first to come up were her brother and sister who gave her a few boxes that contained some new dresses and shoes in her favorite colors. Then came Melina who had chosen a large dark brown teddy bear with deep purple eyes that nearly brought me to tears, realizing how it resembled my brother Arden in color. Teris stepped up after her and surprised us when Reya opened the box to reveal a slightly larger, new cloak that she had openly said she wanted. Ivy helped baby Thea push her gift to her cousin which made us all coo when it was revealed to be a small box of hair adornments, though we all knew that it was a secondary gift from me. Finally, Cal and Calix walked up to Reya before she started opening the gifts brought in from other Noble families and handed her the gift they had gotten.

My little boy quickly pulled out the gift from the box once she lifted the lid and I smiled as Morina and Drako gasped. It was a bracelet of braided silver that had small diamonds taking over a few gaps between each braid. And Calix, making his mother yelp and Morina tense in her seat, kneeled down and fasted three little charms to the bracelet that he had picked out. One was a little bow with a blue diamond arrow going through it, displaying how Reya’s dream of becoming a Master Archer. The other was an obsidian that had been cut into a raven perching on a branch made of silver, Reya’s Soul-Animal. And the third was an oval shaped amethyst with a wolf’s paw and sword made of silver over the top, the Delphia Knighthood crest.

I was stunned that Calix had put so much thought into the charms he had picked, as well as how he had, rather gallantly, kneeled to her level to fasten them onto her bracelet for her. Lanalee didn’t know what to say or do as Morina stared at the children, both too mute and frozen to react.

Reya then moved on to the others and the children helped her set them aside while the rest of us finally started talking.

It was nice to take this moment to enjoy each other's company and act as though things weren’t nearly unraveling outside of the room. Being able to smile, laugh and joke around with others had felt almost impossible. So doing it now and actually feeling genuine joy was helping me relax and unwind from the recent madness. And I could see that everyone else was cherishing this small moment of peace. Noting how their smiles truly reached their eyes, their laughter bouncing playfully off the walls and their bodies leaned back against their seats.

As the hours passed our duties and responsibilities started to call us back out into the world and one by one people left.

Calix was one of the first, giving Reya and Cal a hug before apologizing to us, explaining how his mentor had left him with daily practice routines he needed to do in order to keep gaining strength and skill. Lanalee followed after him, needing to get back to her responsibility of looking after the Central Palace Library. Ivy ushered the children out next, reminding Cal and Reya of their lessons while also needing to put Thea down for a nap.

“Shall we, my dear?” Drako got up after they all walked out, extending a hand out to me with a smile.

“Of course.” I nodded, placing my hand in his and letting him escort me back up to my office.

Inside I was greeted by a mountain of paperwork and an immediate ache pulsed through my head as I sat down, taking a deep breath before I dove in.

I needed to look through the reports of eyewitness accounts from the attack in the city as well as those that witnessed the sudden ambush of my son's birthday. The list of damages was also something I was looking into to see if there was anything unique about what they had targeted, and the families they went after. The evidence that placed involvement of the Orders crimes on the Wyvern Royal family were also among the things that needed my attention.

I was a bit surprised to see that it was a piece of fabric from someone's clothes that held half of the Royal Wyvern crest. It wasn’t a shock that we had a less than ideal relationship with them, but with the new information gathered by the Green Foxes it seemed to point to some secret plot to turn the Azuren and Fafner Kingdoms against each other, breaking the dozens of years of friendship and potentially inciting a war.

“Drako.” I called out, needing a pair of fresh eyes to read over the Green Foxes letter to help me confirm that I had understood it all correctly. “I could use assistance.”

He smiled and got up from the loveseat, placing the reports of the Knights that had fought against the Order aside. I watched as he read through the papers, glancing at the fabric that had been tucked into the letter and narrowing his eyes further the more he read.

“I wouldn’t put it past them to try something like this.” His words spilled a needle like chill down my spine as I understood what this meant. “They have always hated how they’re bloodline would come in second to us or to Azuren and have a history of scheming against us in many ways.” He set the pages down and looked back into my panicked gaze, sighing as he shook his head. “It’s strange that our Green Foxes were able to find so much about their plans so quickly… but if Wyvern is truly trying to use us and Azuren as pawns in a grander war, then they could very well have some sort of scheme cooked up to include the Kingdom of Ladon, since they’re territory is larger than ours and Azurens combined.”

He glared down at the pages as silence dominated the room while I felt my heart nearly stop.

If the Wyvern Kingdom is backing the Order, supporting them financially as they attack us, then use false claims and evidence to turn the Fafner and Azuren families against each other… the war itself would grow tenfold and drag on for years. And if the Kingdom of Ladon gets involved, Dorian could end up being apart longer than we have been married.

He would miss seeing our children grow… their many birthdays, milestones and achievements. Something could happen to him too, while he’s out there fighting. And my brother, who has been by my side since before we were even born… he would be kept away from his wife and kids too.

The many Knights fighting along side them, the hundreds of families waiting for their safe return… everyone would suffer at the hands of time.

I started to drown in the scenes of a dark future without my loving husband and brother around when an urgent knock struck the door. Drako placed a hand on my shoulder after seeing me jump at the sound, giving it a light squeeze before calling the person in.

Thomas stepped in a moment later, panting as he slowly made his way to me. He smiled weakly and pulled out a letter from his bag, sliding it across my desk to me before bowing and turning to leave. I was about to call out to him to thank him and ask why he was running around so late in the day, when I caught sight of the symbol in the wax seal. It was a flower and sword that were so very familiar to me because I had spent ten years living within the main estate that bore this crest.

A strange heavy feeling dropped into my stomach as I grabbed the letter and broke the seal, noting how the corners of the letter had been stained in red ink, marking it as urgent.

‘Amara, my dear sister, please forgive me for not using proper titles and for cutting into your time when I know that you’re so very busy with everything going on. But you need to know that our father has returned to the All Mother Goddess’ arms last night. He had become sickly after having tea with me in the afternoon, and by the time the sun had gone down he was gone.’

A rush of chaotic emotions began to choke me as I continued to read, my hands trembling with each word that passed.

‘I need help in finding who was behind his death, since it was clear that some type of poison had been used. I want to know why anyone would dare do such a thing to our father when he has no enemies. My husband is away at the moment helping deliver some much needed supplies to nearby cities that had been attacked recently. And I fear that whoever is behind this will try to harm me, my Leo when he returns or our children.’

I then noticed a few darker spots on the page that had dried on before being folded, realizing that they were my sister's tears.

‘The estate is under lock down right now and I have a strong suspicion that it was one of the servants that I had granted a second chance to stay after many were fired all those years ago. I hate that I’m bothering you like this, but I need your help. And I can’t perform the final rights to our father alone.’

My heart clenched as I realized that, with Arden away at war and the rest of the Du Pleasant family serving life behind bars, she would have to say good-bye to our father by herself if I didn’t go.

‘I’m also so very afraid that one of my brothers might have been behind this.’

Those words floored me and for a second, I felt like I was chained up in the greenhouse again with my older half-brothers, Marcus and Samuel hovering over me with those cold, hate-filled eyes.

‘I’ve received word that someone somehow managed to break into the prison where our brothers were being held two months ago. One was killed and the other has gone missing. The prison officials won’t tell me anything more, though they have assured me that my mother is still tightly locked away. And I know that it’s unfair of me to say this, but I beg you. Please come home and stay by my side for a short while. I feel like I can only trust you in this situation.’

‘With love, Rosanna Du Pleasant.’

I continued to stare at the paper for a long moment, looking through the words yet not really seeing them before my body collapsed back against the seat. Thankfully, after showing Drako the letter and getting some much needed kind words from him, I shook off the dread, despair and heartache that tried to sink into me and began planning my next move.

The first thing I did was write a letter to Queen Laurinette, explaining the current situation between our two Kingdoms and the things I had discovered about the Wyvern Royals and the Order. I needed to see if the assumption that the Wyvern Kingdom was plotting to break apart the tightly held friendship between our two homelands was true. I also asked her how things were going in her own lands with the attacks, wanting to see if they had experienced anything like we had in our Capital.

After that I pulled in Morina and together with Drako we started planning out different places to keep our children hidden incase of another attack. As well as security details for them and the names of our most loyal Knights to perform those duties.

This needed to be taken care of if I was going to be away from the Capital for close to a month, since traveling to Du Pleasant city takes six days. Not accounting for the funeral ceremony, helping Rosanna find the culprit and the travel back, so I could be gone for longer. And since I was one of the main, weapon ready sources of protection for the children, new security measures needed to be drawn up.

Once everything was settled and my day of departure picked, I wrote to Dorian.

I told him how much I missed him and how badly I wanted to be in his arms again. I explained what I had learned thanks to the Green foxes, as well as my plans moving forward. The death of my father and my departure from home were also written in, and I soon realized that I had filled almost three full pages. Though most of the start was nothing but lovey whining when I read through it again, making me feel embarrassed. But I left it as it was, sealing my signature with a soft pink imprint of my lip paint before folding it and sealing the letter with wax, stacking it with the other letters I was preparing to send out.