Tania's wing cocooned around him and Eltanin loved the warm feel. He closed his eyes feeling safer, feeling like he wanted to recede in this world. He felt her feathers caressing his arm and his cheek. It was like a balm on his emotionally charged mind.
She continued, "You don't have to go now. Go tomorrow. Give her time to process what she told you. You too should stay with me. I won't let you go anywhere until you have calmed down."
He chuckled. He pulled her closer to him and inhaled her scent. It calmed him to a great level. The light caress of the wing and her closeness did the magic. Soon, he went off to sleep.
When Eltanin woke up, his turned his head to find that Tania was still sleeping on his chest. He pressed a kiss on the crown of her head and she woke up. Tania retracted her wing. She lifted her head to gaze in his dark eyes. "How are you feeling now, love?" she asked, her lips curling up.
"Better..." he replied.
For the rest of the day, he cancelled all his meetings. They received messages from the spies that the kings of the Aquila and Eridanus Kingdom placed the two princesses under arrest. They were not allowed to step out of their kingdoms. Another set of spies sent the message that Nyxers had completely emptied the borders of its bordering kingdoms and that there was no activity.
Although Eltanin was pretty surprised at the latest development, he was no fool to think that this was just an eyewash.
As per Tania's advice, Eltanin didn't visit his mother for the whole day. In fact, in doing so, he felt better and much more settled than the previous day. He found time to think about the questions that he thought would be necessary and sufficient to ask.
Next day, he didn't go to the throne hall and again cancelled every meeting that was supposed to take place in the morning because he reserved the entire time for his mother and father.
He sent a message to his parents that he wanted to meet them. He asked Tania whether she wanted to go with him or not. She said, "I don't think I should go, Elty. This is a private matter between you and your parents. I will--" she bit her lip. "I will feel awkward..."
He cupped her face with his hands and pressed a kiss on her lips. "I understand, love," he said. "You don't have to come with me."
"However, if you like, you can tell me whatever you have talked. I wouldn't want to miss a detail!" she added.
He barked a laughter. "Such a gossip monger!"
A pale blush rose on her cheeks and he traced it. He pressed kisses on her cheeks and then got up from the bed.
As Eltanin walked to his parents' bedchamber, he couldn't help but feel slightly disturbed. All the questions that he thought he would ask, vanished from his mind leaving him completely blank.
The guards opened the door for him and as he stepped inside, he saw that his mother was sitting on the bed, looking pale, while his father was serving her with hot lemon tea.
Taiyi's gaze locked with her son's and she gestured to him to sit in front of her on the bed. Sucking in a sharp breath, he closed the gap between them and sat in front of her. Alrakis served tea to him as well.
Eltanin sipped his tea as awkward moments of silence passed between them. He was unable to meet her eyes.
"Ask away your questions, Eltanin..." Taiyi said in a soft voice. "I will answer them honestly."
Eltanin swallowed emotions down his throat and said, "Mother, I want to you tell me whatever you want to. I will listen and then go away. I don't want to ask you questions about your previous relationships after this." In normal circumstances he wouldn't have even bothered about them, but this was different. His biggest enemy was his own half brother.
Taiyi placed her cup on the tray and sighed. She started, "Before I found that Alrakis was my mate, Nerio and I had common friends. I didn't know when Nerio developed interest in me. He asked for my hand in marriage to my father, but my father declined." Taiyi left the ugly details of how she was forced by Ukdah, but she covered it all until Felis was born. "Ukdah wanted to keep me forever because according to a prophecy that Nerio had told him, I was supposed to give birth to a demigod. Ukdah thought that that child would be his son, but he never imagined that violation of a prophecy would result in something else."
"Felis was born and then when my father came to rescue me, Ukdah snatched my child from me and ran away with him in the darkness of Hydra."
A sob wrenched out of her body at the memory. "I cried for Felis and wanted him back, but Ukdah had managed to hide him very well." She squeezed Alrakis's hand. "My misery got over a hundred year later after I met your father and had you..." he voice trailed off as her lips quivered. "The rest is history..." She looked at her son and found that her vision was blurry. She wiped her tears as misery jolted her all over again. "You don't know how much I tried to get my son, but all my attempts were futile."
Alrakis went to sit by his wife's side and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't cry..." he said as he caressed her arms.
Taiyi took a ragged breath and said, "Eltanin, do you want to ask any question? You can. I am willing to answer it all."
Eltanin's throat choked with emotions. He had thought that perhaps Ukdah was her former lover and that she committed a big mistake, but this-- this was so horrible that he couldn't even fathom it. If Ukdah was present here, he would have killed him.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m