The Phoinix: Age of Demigods (23 page)

“Your mother is a beautiful and
powerful woman, Alina. She grew suspicious when I would not fulfill
husbandly duties for a year. On the morning I was to meet Pwyll to
switch back, she cast a spell to enjoy her husband’s company not
knowing it was me in disguise. Later that night, Pwyll returned and
performed as a husband should.” Arawn avoided Alina’s
eyes.

“Does she know?” Alina
asked.

Arawn refused to answer.

“Does she
know
?” Alina demanded, her voice booming
through the trees.

“She does. Rhiannon knew after she
gave birth to you and your brother. Your father was so ecstatic at
your births that he invited me to celebrate. The moment Rhiannon
saw me, she knew you were my child and your brother was Pwyll’s. We
shared too many features for it to be mistaken. Your mother was
furious, but she knew it was her own fault.”

Arawn moved closer to Alina, “I was so
happy you were born, dearest Alina. Unbelievably happy you were my
beautiful girl.”

Alina recoiled behind Remus,
disgusted. “He trusted you,” she whispered. “My father trusted you
for all these years, yet you have done nothing but lie to him.”
Tears poured from her hazel eyes and she buried her face into
Remus’ back.

“Please, don’t cry,” Arawn begged as
he moved closer, arms extended desperate to comfort her.

Alina shot a ray of silver light from
her palm, shielding her and Remus from Arawn. “Do not come near me.
Remus, take me away from here,” Alina pleaded.

Remus did not know what to do. He
looked between his brother, Mars, and Arawn. Mars surprisingly held
back his laughter at the situation.

Arawn winced in pain and defeat filled
his voice. “Go. She wants to leave and trusts you. Take her home. I
am sorry I caused you heartache.”

Alina closed her eyes to control her
breathing. Even though she despised his deceit, it broke her heart
seeing Arawn wounded.

Arawn whistled Cnaimh to his side and
twisted around to leave.

“Wait!” Alina called out, stepping out
from behind Remus. Alina slipped her hand into Remus’. “I am truly
angry with you and my mother, but,” Alina paused, debating whether
she should continue, “but you are family. I fear you may be the
only family who will want anything to do with me when I return
home.” She glanced at Remus with apprehension.

Remus squeezed her hand to comfort
her, giving her the strength of his conviction.

“
And why is that?” Arawn’s
said with his curiosity tainted by suspicion.

“Because we are engaged to be married,
and…” Alina answered until Arawn cut her off.

“And Pwyll will not approve of your
marriage to an outsider. Neither will the fairies.”

“Ha! He takes after his old man! You
take her, son!” Mars applauded. Cnaimh growled at the war god. “I’m
your grandfather, mutt. Don’t take that attitude with
me.”

Arawn rolled his eyes, “Lupa gave me
her puppy. The only one allowed to scold him is her.”

“Pft, I can handle my daughter,” Mars
said with a smile. “Well, looks like I’m no longer needed. You’re
welcome, boys, for saving your behinds…again.” Mars saluted his
sons before vanishing.

Arawn ground his jaw at the missed
opportunity to fight Mars, but turned his attention back to Alina.
“I can’t say I approve of your taste in men. However, he has shown
respect and intelligence. I’d say you picked the better of the
two.” He glanced at Romulus, who feigned being offended. “You will
always have my protection and assistance.”

Arawn and his hellhound, Cnaimh,
disappeared without another word.

Alina and the Twin Kings returned to
Dyfed and announced Alina’s engagement. Pwyll kicked the twins out
of his castle and threatened to kill them if they returned.
Rhiannon knew it was not his place as a father to forbid their
marriage. She enchanted a horse to bring Alina to Remus under the
cover of night

“Tintreach Ban, or White Lightning if
you prefer, will bring you to your future husband. I gave him her
mate, Dubh Draíochta...”

“Black Magic,” Alina finished her
mother’s sentence and smiled. She instantly forgave her for hiding
the truth about her real father. She flung her arms around her
mother and squeezed tightly as she whispered in her mother’s ear,
“Goodbye, mother.”

Rhiannon kissed her daughter on the
forehead then watched her ride off.

“
Protect our daughter,
Arawn,” she called out into the night. “Do you hear me?” Her words
were more of a venomous warning than a question.

The forest floor shook in
response.

* * *

“
And you rode right to me
that night, just like Rhiannon promised,” Remus said ending their
nostalgia. His arms tightly wrapped around her like a protective
wall against harm. No matter how strong he was physically, he could
not protect her from the pain inside her heart. It was an
inescapable suffering.

“Three weeks later, we were married
and you were forced to jump the walls at Palatine Hill.” Alina
frowned at the memory.

Remus spun her around and lifted her
chin. “I do not regret anything after the day we met. Don’t you
dare feel sorry for me and don’t you dare regret what we have done.
It will diminish our legacy.”

Alina smiled weakly. “I miss you,
Remus.”

“And I you, Alina.” Remus bent down
and respectfully kissed her hand.

“Alina,” a woman called out behind
Remus.

Remus closed his eyes and shook his
head. “Don’t frighten her, Völva.”

“You should have told her, Remus. Do
not blame me for your faults,” warned Völva.

“Völva? The Norse shaman goddess?”
Alina sidestepped Remus to face the goddess.

The goddess dressed in a purple cloak
covering most of her body. She wore a hood that came to the crown
of her head with a long silver chain connected at the sides and
draped over her forehead. Her eyes glowed an eerie
purple.

Völva nodded, “I must be quick because
your party is not far behind. I leave you with this warning: The
Queen will rise again and half will be stolen. A cultures pantheon
will fall and death will solidify a still fluid future. I regret to
say what you love is not long lived, but true love will reunite.
Your daughter alone, despite her power, cannot stop the fire. Upon
royal death, they will fail.”

With her final warning, Völva’s eyes
glowed brighter until she disappeared. Alina stood there with her
mouth open, staring at Remus.

“Did you know of this prophecy?” Alina
demanded.

“You will know more when it is time.
Völva took fate into her own hands because she is afraid. You will
discover why. That is all I can say for now.”

Alina wanted to interrupt him but he
passionately kissed her lips before she could. His kiss left Alina
breathless, unable to speak. He then bent down and whispered, “I
love you.”

“Alina!” voices in the background
called. “Alina, where are you?”

“You have Lysandros and our sons to
help. They need your guidance, just like you will need
theirs.”

“Please take me with you,” Alina
begged.

“Shhhh, shh, shh, shh, it is not your
time. I will meet you at the end. I will be the one to take your
hand. That, I can promise. No matter which lord of the underworld
protests it.” He gave her a defiant smile that made her breathe a
small laugh.

The thumping of horse hooves drew
closer and the voices of her sons grew louder.

Remus kissed her intensely again and
slid his fingers through her silky hair. He pressed her closer to
him to feel as much of her as he could. When they released each
other, tears of goodbye ran down their faces, neither sure whose
tears belonged to who.

Remus faded in the moonlight before
their sons reached them.

“Mother!” Cole arrived first and
jumped off his horse before it came to a stop. “Where’s Remus? Are
you ok? What happened?”

“Et er alk, tummy.” Leo arrived next
with a mouthful of turkey, trying to say ‘let her talk, dummy.’
Alina laughed at the sight of him with his crooked Viking hat. He
was such a child at heart.

“Oh my boys.” She said as she wiped
her eyes and embraced them both. “Your father had to go. He is with
your great, great uncle now.”

Cole and Leo’s mouths dropped at the
news of their father’s death.

“Alina, are you ok?” Lysandros arrived
with Nikolaos trailing him.

“I will be. But I do know where we
need to go from here.” She realized Remus brought up the memory for
a reason. He revealed their destination was Cymru, where Arawn
would help them.

Alina explained they needed to get Bre
to Cymru in order to develop her powers. She continued to explain
that she was born with a great power in her soul and that she
needed to pass on to Breanna. “She will die without the power I
safeguard.”

“What are you talking about? What type
of power can be transferred to another person? And how did Father
die? He is a demigod, son of War. None of this makes any sense,”
Nik said frantically.

“It was your uncle Romulus who killed
him; you have heard tale of how Pluto made them invincible except
by the hand of the other a hundred times from your father. As for
the rest of our problems, you will understand in time. All you need
to know now is Breanna is more powerful than a demigod after Remus’
power transferred into her. And at my end, so will mine,” Alina
said sweetly. She smiled and stood up on her toes to kiss Nik’s
cheek.

Nik wanted to ask more questions but
Cole grabbed his arm to silence him. Alina mounted White Lightning.
She reached into her boot and withdrew her dagger, slicing her palm
open. She dripped three drops of blood on the ground and said,
“Lorg Prophetia De’ Breanna Regina.” Suddenly the blood formed a
ball that floated in the air ahead of Alina and soared off down the
coastline. Alina whipped her horse and sped after her tracking
spell.

Chapter 20

The Awakening

W
hen Breanna woke up, she
lay
in a tent on a makeshift bed of cloaks and
animals. Leora purred loudly, nuzzling against Bre’s head. Aurora
sat next to her, guarding the entrance.

Bre smiled
gratefully
;
a
sense of peace overwhelmed her. Inside the tent, she was safe and
warm with two of her four new animal companions. Outside the tent,
men screamed and objects crashed together. Leora growled in
disapproval as Bre stood up to peek outside. It was dark, but
through the dim firelight, tall cliffs loomed in the background
with high wheat grass spread across the terrain. The sweet scent of
fruit from a nearby pear tree made Bre hungry.

Bam!

The crash startled
Breanna, distracting her from the view. To the side, Eoghan sat
around the fire irately confronting three soldiers. Breanna
recognized the wolf sigil in the center breastplate and the faded
colors of their tunics as Etrusci
uniforms
.

“She needs to be
protected
,
or can
you not see her unconscious state? She’s been like this for a week
now!” Eoghan yelled as he
furiously
motioned to her tent.

“Her state doesn’t mean
anything. Yes, she needs to be protected, but is that not what you
and your clan is charged with? Not the first time
your
lot
failed
,
is it?”
the annoyed soldier in the middle retorted.

“I got her out of the
palace
.
What have
you done for her, Cole?” Eoghan pointed his finger
at the
tall man standing
in the middle of the three soldiers.

Cole tightened his grip on the hilt of
his belted dagger and glared at Eoghan.

“Easy,
Cole
.
what fun
would this fight be? It’ll be over too quickly for our tastes,”
said one of the other men
,
placing an arm around Cole’s shoulders and
jostling
him
loose.

“Enough
,
you two,” said the third man, tall
and scruffy by the fire. Bre sensed he was the leader of the three.
“Eoghan, I understand you are frustrated, but how do you think we
feel in all of this? We constantly watch from a distance, have to
bide our time, have to stand by and let history take
its course
without us.
Twenty years have passed since we have been a family. We want to
help, but it is not our battle.”

“Are you kidding,
Nikolaos? When have any of you sat back and let ‘history
take
its course’
without you?’ You are the eldest, you need to help her,”
Eoghan implored.

Nikolaos sighed, “We need to leave,
Eoghan. We cannot be involved in this, regardless of what Alina
says.”

Nikolaos and his brothers
stood to pick up their camp when Nikolaos spotted an eagle flying
in from the horizon. Its feathers glowed gold in contrast to the
silver moonlight. A shiver ran down his spine,
and
goose bumps caused his hair to
stand on end. He had heard rumors of golden eagles and their taste
for demigod blood.