Tempest

17 : The Royals' Consortium

Galan walked into the large office with Tempest by his side. Reed, Otis and Dean walked in behind them. He took note of all the Royals before him and bowed, as did the troupe that was with him. The other supernatural leaders had left early in the morning following the attack, worried for their own people.

"Mother, Father, this is Tempest. And this is Dean," he introduced. "These are my parents, King Tristan and Queen Rainey. King Erdel and Queen Faleya are our hosts."

Tempest and a Dean bowed again.

"It's good to see you fully recovered," Rainey said as she walked over to give Tempest a tight hug. Tempest cast a quick look in Galan's direction but was unable to figure out what his expression meant. Actually, his face looked too innocent. She narrowed her eyes at him and he grinned, unperturbed.

She looked up at Erdel, Tristan and Faleya, noting the knowing look in their eyes. She sighed. They knew she was Galan's mate. She wondered exactly how much they knew and a fresh wave of guilt assaulted her.

"Tempest has something she wants to share with you," Galan said, watching his mother as she went back to her seat. "It may explain some of the things that have been happening of late." He turned to her and held her hand, encouraging her to speak. She smiled a little but did not pull her hand away.

She started to talk, her head held up high and her tone even. She explained what she had seen to them, everything that she had shown to Galan. They listened attentively, not asking questions until she finished. When she was done, there was utter silence. The Royals were deep in thought and frowns marred their faces.

"Have you ever met these people?" Erdel asked finally.

"No, your highness," Tempest replied. "The night we were attacked, my parents held them off so I could escape. I never saw who they were. I believe they are the people who took my family. Dean's as well. It appears they have taken a lot more than my people."

"Were's have been taken all over the land," Tristan said. "We thought initially that they had been killed but the more we looked into it, we realised they had been taken. Thousands of our kind. We have not been able to find them."

"This tattoo you saw, Tempest, can you describe it again?" Rainey said.

"We can do you one better," Galan said, taking a step forward and handing his mother a piece of paper. There was an image drawn on it. Ceres looked at it before she passed it to Tristan. Tristan passed it to Erdel after he too had studied it, then he to Faleya. Faleya sighed when she saw it and all eyes went to her.

"You know who they are," Erdel said, studying his wife.

Before she could respond there was a loud hiss and cloud of white smoke appeared in the room. Immediately the gathered group of people surrounded the smokey area and got ready to attack.

"Wait!" Tempest spoke up. "They mean no harm."

Faleya laughed and put a hand on her husband's forearm. "She is right. They are friendly."

When she finished speaking, two figures walked from the smoke which disappeared behind them. Tempest immediately threw herself into Aida and Sam's arms.

"Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes!" she told them as she hugged them. "Thank you for coming."

"Anything for you, you know that," Sam said as he hugged her close. They finally let each other go and Tempest turned them to the waiting group of people.

"This is my family, Aida and Samual Daly," she introduced.

Faleya walked up and hugged Aida. "Hello, sister." She then turned to Samual and bowed. "Your majesty, it has been too long."

Tempest frowned, looking at Papa Sam. Surely she hadn't heard right. She caught his eye and he shrugged. He turned back to Faleya. "I gave up my title centuries ago," he told her.

"Still, you will always be a Royal," she told him.

Aida walked up to Dean and gave him a big hug. "Good to see you again, son," she said. Dean grinned and hugged her back. She cupped his face with her hand and then ruffled his hair a little. He chuckled, not minding. When she released him, she turned to Galan. She smiled at him, but said nothing, before heading back to stand by Sam and Tempest.

"If I'm not mistaken, teleporting takes up a lot of energy," Faleya said. "And I don't believe our guests have had breakfast yet. Let us adjourn to the dining room so we can eat. There is a lot to discuss and it would serve us better to do so with a full stomach. Shall we?"

She held her arm out and the king took it, leading the group out of the study. Ceres and Tristan walked out hand in hand, and everybody else followed behind them. She turned to look at Galan as he walked behind her. Her arms were linked with Sam's and Aida. He smiled at her and nodded. She smiled back and turned to Sam.

"Royalty, huh," she said to him.

"Ex king of the Ogres," he told her. "Gave it up to be with this beautiful, young thing."

Aida chuckled and kissed his cheek. "And he doesn't regret a single second of it."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Sam said and Tempest chuckled at Aida's loud "Hey!"

Aida untangled Tempest's arm from hers and pushed her slightly towards Galan with a knowing smirk. Tempest growled at her but Aida merely laughed and continued out the room with her husband. Galan walked up to her and fell into step with her. Dean followed behind them with Otis and Reed. They walked to the dining room where breakfast had already been laid out.

They kept their talking to a minimum as they ate, not wanting to be overhead by unsolicited ears. When they were done eating, they were led back to the study, where more chairs and a large desk had been setup for them so that the large group could be accommodated.

Erdel sat at one end with Faleya to his right. Tristand sat in the other end, with Rainey to his right. Galan sat next to his mother with Tempest next to him. Aida and Sam sat next to her. Reed, Otis and Dean sat on the other side.

Aida had cast a spell to keep their conversation limited to the beings in the room, despite Faleya's assurance that it was not necessary.

Erdel turned to face his wife. "You were about to tell us about the symbol," he said to her.

Faleya put the symbol on the table in front of her and then stared across the table at Aida. The two women stared at each other for a long time before they sighed simultaneously. Faleya leaned back in her chair and her lips thinned into a straight line.

"This symbol is the mark of the Dark Druids," she finally said. "They are a group of mystical beings who were initially set up to record the goings-on of the supernatural World. They were supposed to be record keepers and note down all the major events that happened in our world. They were primarily observers but in some cases they would intervene to help keep the peace. That was their role for the longest time."

Faleya was quiet and she closed her eyes as though in pain.

"What happened, Faleya," Erdel asked her, squeezing her hand where it lay on the table.

"The High Priest's pregnant wife was killed by a werewolf," Aida told them. "A rogue that had become feral after losing her mate. After that, he swore to rid the world of all supernatural creatures."

The room was quiet. They looked at both Aida and Faleya, their eyes drifting between the two.

"How do you know all this?" Tempest asked.

"Because, Tempest," Faleya finally said. "I was the High Priestess when it happened and Aida was my second in command."

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18 October 2020

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Just because it was my wedding anniversary yesterday! LOL! I'm running out of reasons to update "Just 'coz!"