Two months later.
Rigel and Lerna had come to meet Tabit and Fafnir with their babies. As soon as Tania heard that her friends were meeting, she too pushed Eltanin to go and meet them. So currently, there were six babies and three sets of parents in the courtyard of the north wing of Pegasii Palace. And all the babies were awake and making various noises.
Lerna had just fed her son and Tabit was feeding her daughter while Tania seemed like she was on a twenty-four duty to feed her triplets. They had put their mother on rotation. She was constantly feeding one or the other.
After giving her son to the nanny, she took a sigh of relief and sagged against Eltanin who curled his arms around her shoulder as he watched his three pups with so much pride swelling inside his chest that tides at the Jade Sea would be small in front of his feelings. "Aren't they the most beautiful babies in the world?" he said to himself rather than others.
Lerna's daughter cried the moment Rigel gave her to the nanny and so Rigel took her back from the nanny and cradled her in his large arms. The baby sensed her father and immediately quietened. "You are spoiling her, Rigel!" Lerna commented, rolling her eyes.
"There is no such thing as spoiling," he replied with a grin.
"I fully agree with Rigel," Eltanin said, feeling his emotions. They both looked at Fafnir for support but Fafnir was so busy changing his daughter's nappies that he didn't respond to the question. After changing the nappy, he picked her up and she giggled. Fafnir immediately grinned and cooed at her in response.
"Why do I feel that he is giving all his attention to our daughter?" Tabit cried. "He has all the time for her and no time for me." She was sitting next to Lerna.
Lerna chuckled. "Welcome to the club dear. Rigel too has no time for me. As soon as he is back in the room, his first priority is seeing his pups."
"Well, you can't blame us!" Eltanin replied, supporting the men. "We love our kids a lot and in fact if given a chance, we would like to have more." He genuinely wanted three more.
Tania jerked herself away from him and swatted his hand. "You can dream on, Elty!"
"See, this is what I mean!" Eltanin replied. "If your wife refuses to have more babies, the ones you already have, become extremely precious!"
Rigel and Fafnir laughed at his comment. They couldn't agree more.
Eltanin looked at his friends and their wives and warmth rushed in his chest. They had come a long way. They were a family and loved each other. The bond between them was beautiful.
They all talked for a long time and the conversation steered to the Hydra Kingdom.
"I wanted to talk to you all about it," Lerna said, sitting up slightly. "It is high time we go and check what is going on over there. We should remove the seal and see how things are over there."
Rigel gave Lerna a strained look. She was getting impatient about breaking the seal but Rigel was stalling her requests. "Lerna, do you have to talk about it now?" he said.
"I have to, Rigel!" she snapped. "It's been long. A year since you all sealed it. I can't imagine what is going on out there."
There was a tense silence in the room. The topic of Hydra Kingdom always brought bad memories. It made Tania remember her parents. She got out of the bed and walked to the window. Her gaze went to Flora who was with their eldest son, walking him around, talking to him in the language only she knew.
"Maybe, we should wait a little longer," Tabit suggested. "Let the children grow."
"And then what?" Lerna snapped at Tabit too. "Another year?" Her gaze went to all in the courtyard. "How many years do you want to wait? Till all Hydra people die? Till they starve to death?"
"Lerna!" Rigel scolded. "You are thinking too much!"
"I am not!" she shot back. "I stayed quiet for a year because you all said that we could remove the seal after children were born. But you are reneging."
"No one is reneging!" Rigel said. "We are just happy that Hydra Kingdom is sealed and there is peace in all of Araniea!"
"There can be no peace in my mind and the common people in Hydra," Lerna argued. "They must be starving. Can you think of the condition of women?"
Rigel let out a rough exhale and looked away. He was tired of explaining things to Lerna at this point. He looked at Tania who was still very quiet, watching out of the window.
It was the faes who had sealed the Hydra Kingdom and all faes were loyal to her. It was because of her that the faes had opened the portal to Araniea and that meant that she had the power on this decision.
Lerna was getting frustrated by the minute. "If you all can't go there, then I will have to go there. It is my kingdom and I want to save its people."
"You cannot save the Nyxers!" Rigel countered. "They are born and bred in a way that you can't save them."
"I want to give them a chance!" Lerna replied with anger flaring in her chest.
"Lerna—" Rigel said.
She picked up her hand to stop him. "Rigel, I will go." She turned to Eltanin, "All I request is that you remove a part of the seal and let me enter Hydra."
Rigel shuddered at the thought of letting his mate go alone. "You aren't going alone there! What about our children?"
"They will—" Lerna said, but Tania cut her off.
"Enough!" Tania turned to look at all of them. She gazed at everyone as silence fell in the room. When her eyes fell on Lerna, she saw how agitated Lerna was. "I know that you are feeling about your kingdom Lerna. I really like how you keep thinking about your people. I will ask the faes to open the seal."
"What?" Eltanin got up, his back ramrod straight.
Tania continued, "But only a part of the seal will be opened. First, we will assess the situation. If you want to go there, then I will send you with at least a dozen faes so that they can help you in case of danger."
"Really?" Lerna said excitedly, her eyes becoming moist with tears.
Tania's lips lifted up. "Yes. I do feel that it is high time you can go and see your kingdom. And it is time that we shed our inhibitions. But that is going to take time."
Eltanin's lips curled up. His wife not only thought about the people of Hydra but she was also concerned about Lerna's safety. "In that case, let's form a team to go to Hydra," he said.
"I will be a part of that team!" Fafnir said as if informing them.
"Fair enough. In the first phase, I will go with Fafnir and Lerna," Eltanin said.
"I will also go," Rigel said mulishly.
Two days later, a part of the seal was broken.
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