Busted
POV: Alexandra
Loki was looking up at Apollo as if he wanted to faint. He likely knew that since he appeared in front of me in the Seely realm, he was now busted by the very beings that were searching for him. I felt a large hand on my shoulder, “I certainly don’t like the way you were looking at her and I won’t let you use her for whatever purpose you think you were going to.” A hushed silence fell over the hall yet again as everyone stopped what they were doing to observe the newly appeared God by my side. I looked up at Apollo who smiled down at me and winked. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I hope you don’t mind but I cast a spell on you while you went through the portal so that I could know the instant you felt real danger. I knew that little weasel couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see you. I’m glad my hunch was right.” He straightened himself up and snapped his fingers and two orbs floating in the air appeared. One was black and I knew instantly that it was Hades, the other was grey which I had never seen before. As expected Hades appeared behind Loki along with a woman who immediately grabbed Loki, “I have been waiting a while to get you, chaos. You will be held in Tartarus until our father decides what to do with you.” Hades yawned and looked up at me then cocked an eyebrow, “I might’ve known he was after you. You seem to be the root of many troubles for our father.” Apollo cleared his throat, “Hades, you aren’t suggesting my baby girl is trouble….are you?” He shrugged, “I’m not suggesting, I’m saying it outright. I’m sure you could agree if you looked at things objectively.”
I heard a shout from the crowd, “If I may speak on behalf of the lady, my lord.” Apollo scanned the crowd until he trained his eyes on the person who had addressed them. The man emerged from the crowd and looking into his teal-colored eyes, I knew instantly the voice that had addressed the Gods. Apollo nodded at him, “I’m curious to see what a fae can say about my daughter.” Calypso cleared his throat, “I wouldn’t say she was a source of many troubles for the Gods. I would say that she is the victim of circumstance.” He turned to Hades, “Wouldn’t you agree, my lord?” He shook his head, “I don’t see how she would be a victim of circumstance. Explain fae.” Calypso nodded, “Well, she didn’t ask to be born to two Gods. Was that not All Mighty’s decision?” Hades rubbed his chin, “I suppose it would have been.” Calypso continued, “Then it stands to reason that All Mighty created his own troubles by allowing two Gods to form this perfect soul.” Hades grumbled, “You have a point there.” Calypso finished his point by stating, “You seem to just hate Alexandra just because All Mighty uses you to help her out.” Apollo chuckled and hit the back of my chair, “Well, child, are you sure you don’t want to rethink marriage with that Lucien brat? I like this one better.” I clenched my teeth, “You can explain to me later why it is that you don’t like His Majesty but for now, don’t you think you should pay attention to your prisoner?” Apollo cleared his throat and puffed his chest out, “Quite right, my dear, quite right. Adikia, the prisoner is yours.” The woman who was cuffing Loki in gold cuffs nodded at Apollo, “Much obliged to you and Solamor. I am sure All Mighty will reward your child for helping us to bring Loki to justice.”
With that Hades and Adikia disappeared from the room with Loki, Apollo turned to leave but Calypso called out to him, “My lord, will you not stay for the celebration of your daughter?” Apollo turned back and looked down at the fae prince, “I would love to stay but I am afraid I do not have permission to do so from my Father. Alexandra understands this. Right, dear?” I nodded, “All Mighty only grants them leave from the Heavenly for a very short period of time. If he were to spend more than his allotted time, he’d be in a whole lot of trouble. That’s precisely the very first infraction that Loki committed against the Heavenly realm. I certainly wouldn’t want my soul father to get in trouble for me.” I felt a tight hug from behind and the chair lifted slightly off the ground, “You called me father again. I just can’t resist hugging you when you make me feel so happy.” I sighed, “Put me down or I will go back to calling you your name instead.” He gently placed my chair back on the floor, “My apologies Alexandra, I just get so happy when you call me my proper title from you. My other children are fine but for some reason, you are so special to me. Probably because I made you with Aphrodite and you are the image of her.” He sighed, “I’m being called back now. I will visit you again soon, my lovely child.” He disappeared into his golden orb and I heaved a sigh of relief. I turned to the Queen and said, “My apologies, Your Majesty. I had not intended to drag you into this Gods business.” She giggled, “Well, I will say that we don’t often get visits from the Gods. I knew that it was possible with you here.” She leaned in and whispered, “You helped to get rid of half my headache in the King’s court so I am grateful.” I looked over at the King who was looking at me through narrowed eyes and he leaned to his son and said something to him. Calypso clenched his jaw and turned his head. I thought to myself at that moment what it would be like to be a fly on the wall behind the King.
Sometime later, Ny turned to me, “I have been dying to show you the gardens here and I want to get you out there before the sun sets. Would you accompany me to the gardens if I get permission from my mother?” I nodded at her, “Of course, I would love to see these infamous gardens of yours.” Ny leaned across me towards her mother, “Mother, would it be okay if I took our honored guest to the gardens before my fae bloom disappears for another year. I think today would be the last day to view it.” Reina nodded, “Of course my daughter. I think it would be great if Alexandra can see it for herself. I’m sure her mother probably told her of it.” I nodded remembering my mother speaking of it not long ago. She had said that it had a unique scent that she had smelled before. It was like a combination of rose and sandalwood and the plant itself was a lovely shade of pink and looked like that of freesia. Ny took my arm and hooked it in hers as I rose from my seat and she pulled me to the glass french doors to the right side of the room. We stepped out into what the fae considered a garden which was really just a like a well-groomed jungle. There were plants with large leaves but as with everything in the Seely realm, it was colored a dark purple. She explained the various plants that were there and some of them were used in fae medicines. I understood that some of the plants that humans, pyrios, and lycans could consume were poisonous to the fae and vice versa. I had asked her if she knew the equivalent of our plants to Vellum. She had affirmed that she knew and I had explained to her how I would need that information since I was going to make potions for her mother. She had said, “Oh, I didn’t even think about that. It was a good thing that you mentioned it. Perhaps you can give me the list and we can gather the ingredients before we return to Vellum so you can make fae specific potion.” I nodded at her as we neared the center of the garden where the fae flower stood. It was a large plant, the flowers were as big as my head and the fragrance of the flowers wafted through the air. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. Ny said to me, “Oh, I wanted to get something for you. Could you wait here a second? You can have a seat on the stone bench.”
I walked over to the bench that was closest to the flower and took in the fragrant air once again with my eyes closed. I felt a presence near me and I opened my eyes and turned my head, “Oh Your Highness! You scared me half to death. What are you doing out here?” He gently smiled at me, “I was walking in the garden to clear my head when I saw you sitting here alone. Shouldn’t you have your guard with you?” I shrugged, “I very much doubt that The Order would attack me here and most of my fear came from Loki in your father’s court. Now that he is gone, I decided to let Jess enjoy the banquet. There were a few fae in the Queen’s court who had asked her to dance.” He leaned his forearms on his knees and he looked down at his feet, “I came out here to get away from my father. He was not pleased that your soul father took Loki away. He blames you so I really don’t know if you are really safe alone here. If he knew you were out here alone without Ny or your guard, he would take advantage.” I looked over at him, “Wouldn’t that cause some problems with your mother?” He bit his lip, “He’d find a way for the blame not to fall on him. He has his ways.” I sighed, “Okay but what about Vellum. I am in line to be the Queen of Vellum.” He muttered, “Alongside two others.” I shrugged, “In Vellum, they consider Queen candidates to be equivalent to royalty since one of us would be Queen in the future. He would cause a war with such actions.” He leaned back against the garden wall, “He doesn’t care. He wants the power within you, you are a God Maker. Did you not know that? You are in danger here so I wish you would take that more seriously than you are now.” I leaned back against the garden wall as well, “I understand now. I appreciate you telling me that. I know your father probably didn’t want you to say something like that to me so I appreciate your candor.” He took his head away from the wall and looked me in the eye, “I don’t think you’re aware. Are you?” I mimicked his actions and shook my head, “Aware of what?” He reached and stroked a single finger across my jawline, “Of how very appealing you are to me. You have captured my heart within a mere dance. One I shall treasure for a lifetime even if you wouldn’t grace me with the honor of having your heart.” I didn’t know what to say to him at that moment but he leaned forward and very gently placed a kiss on my lips.
