Mythe || Folkelore

⚔︎ 5 ⚔︎

"We need to help Queen Octavia out, things are getting messy." Bastien looks around the room, trying to get someone to make eye contact with him.

High Queen Calypso sighs. "Bastien, for the last time. We are not going to create a situation out of nothing. Octavia got herself in this mess by kidnapping Princess Gaia."

"She didn't kidnap Gaia. Who told you that?"

"The report was that Lord Kenmore was tasked with bringing the Aeryan Princess to Scle," High Queen Calypso explains.

"What? That wasn't Lord Kenmore's mission. His job was to find a woman by the name Demia. I don't know who she is or why she's-"

"I do," I interject. "Demia is the Sclian heir. She's Octavia's daughter."

Gasps echo around the room. High Queen Calypso's brows furrow as she processed this new information. "Alright, any thoughts on this new revelation?"

King Axar places a palm on the table. "I still don't understand how the Sclian heir connects to the kidnapping of my daughter."

"I might." I look up at King Axar. "Octavia mentioned your ward, and asked your wife to return her daughter. Could Queen Freya know something about Demia's disappearance?"

King Axar folds his arms, glaring over at me. "Are you accusing my wife of kidnapping, Calla?"

My eyes widen. "No, of course not! I just wonder if she might know something. Why else would Octavia mention it?"

"Axar," High Queen Calypso begins. "If there's anything you know that can help put this whole thing behind us, please share."

He's still glaring at me when he answers. "Myah is just an orphan that caught Freya's attention before we had Gaia and Daesyn. I think I'd know if she was secretly the Sclian heir." Tilting his nose up, he adds, "And besides, Freya would never do something like kidnap."

"That settles it then," High Queen Calypso announces. "Octavia must be mistaken."

I nod, but suspicion still fills my gut. Something's not right here...

A warm hand presses against my thigh, and Apollo sends me a wink. He has no idea how much that small gesture means to me. Someone is on my side.

Apollo's hand drifts to where my wings were tucked and I shiver slightly from how intimate the touch is and force myself to focus on the meeting and not the man besides me. Returning my attention to the High Queen, I don't even need to see my husband to know his prominent smirk is peeking through the edges of his professional mask.

His attempts to distract me are proving only one point, that what I'm feeling, the tingles, the butterflies, he as well is reciprocating those feelings. Casually, I reach up and bring his hand down, interlacing our fingers as our joined hands rest on my knee. There. Not at all distracting.

That is, until Apollo starts stroking his thumb across the back of my hand. That- that is very distracting. His smirk is sly as he trails his thumb and finger pads along the soft part of my inside arm making me squirm slightly. Why was this affecting me so much?

Part of me wants to pull away and focus, while the other part wants to forget about this whole meeting altogether. It's conflicting to say the least. Eventually, the responsible side of me wins, and I shift away from my husband with a "be good" look in his direction. My eyes lock on Adonis who looks thoroughly amused. He glances between me and the High Queen in quick succession, and I get the idea. I made the right choice.

"Folkecrest will go on as usual, and I don't want to hear any more arguments against it. The people need stability, and we will give it to them. Is everyone prepared for that?" High Queen Calypso asks, looking around the room.

I reluctantly nod along with the rest of the room. I really would rather not, but life must go on. Loam will hold the festival as planned, and people from all Courts will be there to celebrate. Still, the echo of Deimos's words roll through my mind. One day you'll wake up and find you know absolutely nothing at all.

We all will.

The meeting ends not too long later, and Apollo and I return to Loam for a little bit. Our fingers interlock as we walk up the steps of our palace. I take a deep breath of the cool Loam air, my muscles relaxing in the atmosphere of my home. Even my crown seems to sense it's in the right place as it shimmers brighter in the afternoon light. It feels good to be back, although it's not for long.

Apollo and I felt it best to check on the Folkecrest preparations after High Queen Calypso's insistence that it go on. 

We find Mother and Father in the banquet hall, an arrangement of servants surrounding them. My welcome isn't as warm as Apollo's was when he returned home, or even as I'm sure Adonis's is tonight when he returns from a CORE mission, but it's a welcome nonetheless. Mother and Father each embrace me tightly.

"Calla, darling. It's good to have you home. We didn't expect you back so soon. Is there a reason?" Mother questions, holding my elbows after our hug.

I laugh. "I'm sorry to disappoint, but it's only for tonight and then we're back off to Flare. While it's good to be back, we just came to check on the Folkecrest preparations. How are things coming along?"

She sighs, exchanging a glance with my father. He's the one that answers. "Everything is coming together fine. This is really what High Queen Calypso wishes?"

I nod, my lips pressing together. "She was quite insistent about it. Something about stability." Taking a deep breath, I tilt my head. "It's not a difficult thing to do for the people so at least there's that."

Mother chuckles, reaching up to cup my cheek. "When did you get all grown up?"

"She's been grown up for a while, Esarosa, you just keep forgetting," Father counters, tucking his arm around her waist. She leans into him, and I'm reminded of their epic love story. When they were leading the Court, they maintained perfect propriety and it was easy to forget my mother refused a Prince for a lowly blacksmith.

"Wait, Mother, weren't you supposed to marry the Sclian Prince?"

She pulls away from Father slightly, eyebrows narrowing with confusion. "Yes, but I could tell he wasn't all that interested in me. Why are you suddenly wanting to know?"

"With every new piece I learn, things with Queen Octavia seem so much more complicated than they appear." I sigh, rubbing my eyes. "I just want to figure everything out."

Mother places her hand on my shoulder. "I can tell you this: Demetrius was a good man. His death was quite unexpected, in a war not too unlike the one that's happening." She pauses, looking over at Father. "I don't have all the details; it wasn't something that was talked about much. High King Draigh and his Queen Aella tried to cover it up because — from what I heard — it was a trivial matter and many lives were lost. It's when Scle separated completely. Some speculated that it was Queen Octavia's response to losing her husband. Others believed it was her losing it." She sighs, closing her eyes.

"It was a hard time for everyone," Father whispers. "We can all hope this time it will end differently."

A/N: AHHHHHHH CALLA AND APOLLO ARE JUST SO- *tries to find the right words and realizes there aren't any good enough* yeah. They're that. And the war is a repeat of the one that killed King Demetrius??? Is this one going to be different or is Deimos right? Thoughts ----------->