THE KINGS SCEPTRE

part 19

Betty didn't bat an eye when she saw jay, her face was calm as ever betraying no emotion at all, tight smile formed on her lips.

"jay, never thought I would encounter you here." she told him in sweet voice. "such a pity that fate can't be blamed for having twisted sense of humor."

Betty took slow steady strides and went past them not even daring looking at jay only to stop at the front. There were a total of eight people in dark blue cloaks with their faces covered in capes of their cloaks.

Jay was totally confused, he didn't know what was going on, his mother died in car accident along with his twin brother at leat that was jay's belief until then. Another person came out of the pillar shadows, he wore a cloak but his face was uncovered, jay was in for another shock it was his brother Otto.

Otto went and stood beside his mother, Betty pulled him closer by the shoulder. All this time ava and irina stood still, silently watching as events unfolded in front of their eyes.

"wish we could've met under different circumstances or not meet at all." betty told jay flatly.

"we thought you were...dea...dead." Jay stammered, then added in low voice. "both of you."

"that was the way we planned for it to go." betty told him, before sighing. "we wanted to leave silently."

"what do you leave?" he asked in strained voice.

"they are berserkers." irina told him, jay looked quizzically at her.

"berserkers was one of the clans in Skyler city, but were exiled long ago to outlands." irina explained, watching betty intensively.

"they live true to the name given, for all of berserks are hell bent on fights and revenges. Dispute or any disagreement to them is cleared by a fight, that's why were chased out of the city. having a clan such as theirs whom don't settle and employ diplomacy under your rule is calling for trouble." irina stopped to watch betty, still she didn't dare making a move. "Last time rumors had it they entered to war with themselves wiping each other out, don't know how your mom or whomever she is ended up here with her merry band though."

"looks like even our little traveller got a scoop on us, i'm honoured knowing that our reputation precedes us." Man in front of them said in amusement, then initiated an action resembling a bow.

The man had a blade in his right hand and tattoo across his left cheek, his voice was hoarse and upper half of face was under cloak cape.

"you curious our little traveller of knowledge on how we reached here, allow me to quench your thirst." he said shifting on his other foot. "there had been a power struggle among our clans, we were the unlucky side it went badly for us. before the last straw our chief gave us an easy out by throwing us here saving us from treacherous action of execution as rebels, and that was over twenty years ago."

This was scoop which irina never had caught insight on, berserks once were thrown it became hard keeping track of their movements. Their government decided to leave them off chart for they didn't seem as trouble to them.

"so, now it happens you just missed your home where you are fugitive?' irina mocked him.

" not much longer, we are gonna change that." the man told him confidently, then looked at betty.

"what makes you so sure? you have already been beaten before." irina inquired returning her gaze to betty.

Jay stopped asking questions after hearing his mother was also a Skyler, his head was overloaded in processing that info, still he couldn't get around it. On top of that all this time she was alive and not once she had visited them, the question was bugging him why she did so.

"you are so dense." betty spoke up, then proudly added. "It's because of my son here Otto, that's what changed."

The statement made jay to stare at Otto, he noticed his mother was holding him close as if it's her most precious gift. Jay felt a pang of jealousy.

"what about us?" jay demanded, his voice broken. "give me at least an understandable reason, of why you had to come into our lives if you knew at the end you were just gonna leave."

Betty stared at jay as if it was her first time seeing him. Ava knew that look anywhere, she used it to scare people away before she could tell jay to back off saving him from more pain and disappointment. Betty forced a low humorless laughter.

"you sure are persistent, well it's your fall. After we were thrown out, my people needed to find a way back in. one physician in Skyler had told me that I carried some traits in my DNA which would've made it possible for me to have a child with gifted capabilities, all I had to do was finding a perfect man to help me having the child. That is where Derek your father came along it was twenty seven years ago, he was young and active back then." She then paused, having a far away look in her eyes as if recalling the memory.

"knew it right then and there that he was a perfect match, two years later we were married. In our second year of marriage I had you, you were too human nothing more or less, I had to stay waiting to bare another child. Then came your brother Otto in the following year, now him was a wander and not just any mundane." betty told him, her eyes expressing deep joy.

"gifted as your traveller, Otto can control people by mind compulsion. What I sought I found, my time in marriage was done. I needed returning to my people and lead them home, saving you the pain together with your father I faked both of our deaths." betty then kept quite, letting the news to sink into jay.

"couldn't do it myself of course, my people helped me then. Bribing few of hospital workers and sleeping on that mortuary bed, though it was disgustingly horrifying but had to be done. Derek carrying my last wish of cremation which helped in removal of evidence that was the checkmate." she then shook lightly Otto. "Now we have the power to take what was lost in the clan, our vengeance will be swift no one is gonna notice what hit them, with Otto by my side. That is the reason of why I have done what I did."

jay felt his legs weighting a tone, all of his body felt weak, before he knew it. he was down on his knees.