Hearts
POV: Lucien
The words that spilled out of Talia’s mouth had lingered in the air as a silence set in. Reggie’s head was hanging down and tears were pooling in his eyes. He started to wring his hands together. I couldn’t imagine what he was going through. The loss of my own father happened swiftly so I didn’t have to go through the emotions of watching my father die slowly. Darren was a pillar in Vellum, without him, my own father would not have had the successful reign that he had. Darren was instrumental in bringing peace between Vellum and Seely. Even the two sisters that occupied the room with us were grief-stricken. Nystasia was the first to speak, “I knew this was going to be something potentially devastating to Alexandra. She adores him, you can feel it when she talks about him. I will need to be sure though and the best way to find out is with Dream Weaver.” I looked over at her, “Can you explain how that works?” She nodded and shifted in her seat, the normally bubbly Nystasia was the most serious I had ever seen her in my life. She looked at me, “Okay so while Alexandra is asleep, I will put myself into a sleep-like trance. This will allow me to enter into her dreams. I will place the scenario of what is happening to her grandfather right now and guide her through the dream. She will process the emotions of going through his death. This will also disconnect her emotions from the physical state of her body. This ability will also give me an insight into what her body would go through while being injured and processing grief. This will help us determine if she can take the news at this stage in her healing process.”
She turned to Reggie and Talia, “I know this is a terrible question to ask but I need to know. How much time does he have?” Reggie sighed, “Our family doctor told us that he is not sure but that it wouldn’t be too long.” She looked down, “I was afraid of that. May I ask what ails him?” Talia answered this time, “It was a heart attack. He’s now bedridden and we were told that he may be in a coma for a while.” Apollo chimed in, “I assure you, Talia, that that is not the case. He should be waking up very soon. It will likely be by the time we finish our discussion here.” I was confused by something so I had to ask, “Wait you said that Darren told you that he didn’t want many to know with the exception being the Seely envoys. How do you know that?” Reggie clenched his jaw before he spoke, “He was conscious for a little while before he slipped into his slumber. He was far more worried for Alexandra than for himself. The doctor believes that he was cognizant of what happened to her as it happened. He described it as a psychic connection.” Sylphia nodded, “That can happen amongst family members sometimes, especially when their emotional connection is so strong. What I’m not understanding though is how she isn’t already aware of this.” I remembered reading somewhere about psychic connections and so I chimed in, “It is likely that her body is protecting her.” Talia nodded in agreement, “Her brain is probably blocking his trauma to help heal her. I wonder, though, if that connection is stored somewhere for her to process later.” I sighed, “I’m sure if Theodore was with us, that he could explain it.”
Aphrodite stepped forward, “On that note, Lucien, you will want to encourage a relationship with them. He is certainly no threat to her falling in love with him or him falling in love with her. He had a crush on Derek for a while but he has moved on knowing he would likely never catch his eye.” I nodded, “I was going to encourage it anyhow. I am secure in the fact that Alexandra loves me. He is too brilliant to keep to himself and I believe her personality will bring him out of his shell. I don’t know exactly why but I have a feeling the relationship they can form will be beneficial to both of them.” Given what Aphrodite said, it seems the rumors about his preferences were not unfounded. It was likely one of the reasons he kept to himself and I hated that he couldn’t be his authentic self because there was still that stigmatism amongst some nobles. I would likely ask Malinus to pick him for our one choice of a royal scribe. He would be instrumental in helping me to make Vellum more welcoming amongst nobles. I wanted everyone to be comfortable in the kingdom but I had to get through this issue with Alexandra and Darren first. I refocused on the people in the room with me. I looked over at Nystasia, “So when will you get started?” She looked over at her sister who nodded at her, “Well I should probably get started right now.” Sylphia stood up from the couch and she helped her sister lay down. She took Nystasia’s hands in her and they chanted something that I didn’t understand. The clasped hands started to glow a golden color and the Seely language scrolled glowing letters across her forehead. Her eyes glowed gold and she closed them shortly after. Sylphia looked up at me, “She is now in Alexandra’s dreams. We will just need to sit here and wait. She will determine how she will react and the effect it will have on Alexandra’s body.”
Talia sighed in relief and looked at Sylphia, “You don’t know how thankful I am for you and your sister being here.” Sylphia smiled, “To be honest, Talia, my mother speaks of you often. You created a friendship bond with her while you attended the peacekeeping envoy. Darren may have been the one to bring peace but you were the one who softened my mother’s heart to the people of Vellum. Before we left for Vellum, my mother implored me to seek out your daughter and form a friendship. I had not known then that it would be so easy to become friends with her. We are doing this for you but we are also doing this for ourselves. We humbly request in return, that you allow her to visit us soon.” Aphrodite smiled and then whispered into Apollo’s ear. He smiled and then nodded at her. I did not know what that meant but I could figure that was what they meant when they said I would have to let her go. Perhaps her leaving to Seely would help her to grow in her strength. I would just need to be patient to see All Mighty’s plans for her. Apollo looked at me, “Hey, Blondie, you get it now. Good for you. I’m impressed you caught on.” Aphrodite elbowed him for the third time. He glared at her, “You do that again and we are going to have words, woman!” She glared back at him, “I’d like to see what you’ve got, pretty boy.” I had never seen a God blush before but his face was starting to turn into a cherry color. He cleared his throat and spun himself around. His dark hair swished back behind him and it almost looked like Alexandra’s hair when she tossed it back over her shoulder. I looked down and closed my eyes and told myself that she would be okay. I clasped my hands together and bowed my head and silently in my head prayed to All Mighty. When I opened my eyes and looked up, Aphrodite smiled at me gently.
We all sat looking at Nystasia, wondering when she would wake and bring us the news of how Alexandra would take the news of her grandfather. I took this time to really think about what his death would mean for me. I enjoyed a rather close friendship with him because I was trying to get to know about my father’s younger years. Darren was older than my father but they had a very close relationship. My father once told me that Darren was his greatest advisor. Darren wasn’t a scribe, he was a diplomat but he was able to help my father navigate through many decisions that were critical in the growth of our realm. My father was the one who got the ball rolling on letting those that were attracted to the same sex or those that weren’t comfortable in their own skin, to be able to come forward and be seen. Darren was instrumental in that. Darren had never asked to be an ear for my father but because of Darren’s ability to calm down, my father leaned on him often to calm him. That was Darren’s purpose, at first but after a while, my father began asking him for advice. When I thought about losing the man instrumental in my father’s success. I felt a strong steady ache with each beat of my heart. If I was feeling this way, I couldn’t imagine how Alexandra would take the news that her grandfather was passing away. That thought made my heart ache harder for her. I found myself grasping at my shirt where my heart was. My next thought made me realize that Apollo was right about my not sheltering Alexandra because I thought that if it was up to me I would take away all of her pain. He really was right because the pain we experience in life helps us to grow and realize the precious things we would normally take for granted. She would need to go through the grief to grow her strength and take on the challenges that she faced in the future. The Order was after her and likely so was Loki, she needed to take them on.
I looked over at Nystasia as a conversation between Talia and Sylphia was proceeding in the background. You could see her face twitch every once in a while but it wasn’t an alarming thing by itself but small beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. I stared at her until I felt a hand on my shoulder, I looked at it and it was slender and pale. I looked up at Aphrodite, “You seem very quiet, Lucien. Now that I have you here. I would like to talk to you about Alexandra without being interrupted by Apollo. We’ve never had a chat with each other and I want to remedy that while we wait.” Malinus placed a chair next to me and she sat down and smiled at him, “Thank you, Mr. Malinus.” She turned to me, “What Apollo said about not coddling Alexandra and letting her go was correct however harshly he put it. I know how deeply you love her but the best thing you can do is to let her go for a time. This will also be instrumental in her rule by your side should she win this silly little competition you concocted. I wanted to set a timeline for you though. She will finish out her apprenticeship and school year so you have some months to go before she leaves your side. I believe you should have a bride chosen for you by then. If all goes well, it will be her. You’ll have to wait to marry her until after her studies are finished anyhow. Between you and me, she will go off to Seely for a time and then to the Heavenly realm for a short time. Semi-mortals cannot stay there very long before they cannot leave again but it will be enough time for her to learn from her soul father all she needs to. She needs to master her fire magic, Lucien, and what better person to teach her than the God of the Sun. Do you understand?” All she said made sense and my brain understood everything she was telling me but my heart did not. That ache returned as I processed the information she was giving me. I inhaled deeply and looked at her. I didn’t need to say a word though she understood perfectly what I was thinking because she patted my shoulder, “The old heart will need to understand eventually. If you need to, I can give you a potion to ease it for a time.” I shook my head, “I don’t want anything interfering with how I feel for her including the sadness of letting her go.” She looked at me with admiration in her eyes, “That is why I knew you were the most suitable for her. The others would have taken me up on that.” I heard Nystasia’s voice behind Aphrodite, “Lucy has always been a loveable softie.”
