Spring Into Action
POV: Reggie
The announcement that Teddy gave hung thick in the air and no one dared to speak for a little while. Each of us was dealing with this news in our own way. I knew that Talia was thinking of what she could spring into action to assist her daughter. Lucien looked conflicted as did Malinus. Blake stared into the fireplace and stood up, “I told Dana to give her a sedative.” He turned to Teddy, “Do you think that would affect your diagnosis?” He shook his head, “I asked Dana if she had given her the sedative that was on her side table yet. Dana said she hadn’t even brought it into the room yet. Alexandra was already asleep in bed by then. This is a legitimate coma. I think we need to bring in Doc.” He looked over at Lucien who had a conflicted expression on his face. I rose from my seat and looked down at Lucien, “Your Majesty, you are the one who needs to summon Doc. He is a state physician and acts on your orders. If you want to make this right, you need to summon him to Blackwood. My daughter is relying on you now. You’ve let her down once today. Make it right.” Lucien rose and looked at Malinus, his voice was shaking as he spoke, “Summon Doc, ensure he knows it is urgent.” Malinus turned back to the secret passage but Mordred entered the room, “I will portal you directly to where you need to go. This is more urgent than you running up to the castle, writing a message, and sending it out. We can get you directly to the Citadel with my portal.” Malinus nodded, “Thank you, Mordred.” Mordred opened the portal to the Citadel right there and just as Malinus was going to step in Lucien walked up to the portal, “I will go and send him directly then.” Mordred shot Lucien a glare, “Yes, I think that might be best.” He kept his glare trained on Lucien and opened the portal.
The three men stepped through and the breath that I didn’t know I was holding was slowly let out of me. I turned to Teddy, “Do you think her potion would help her?” He shrugged, “I’m good at medical stuff but I do have some limitations. That’s why I think Doc should take a look since he’s pretty much the best doctor in all of Vellum.” I looked at Blake, “Is there anyone else we need to inform? Elder Council? I know Lucien won’t be level-headed enough to do what needs to be done. It’s precisely why he needs to have a level-headed Queen by his side.” Blake nodded, “The Elder Council, yes but we now have the complication of having Seely Royalty here and they regard her as a living God. Any attempt to conceal this issue will be seen as an act of war.” I sighed and nodded, “I will see to it that it is done. Anything else?” Blake rubbed his chin, “I think I need to go see my mother since she is overseeing the selection council.” He sprung from his spot on the settee. As he passed the gilded cage in the room, he turned to look at it. He turned back to me, “What’s this?” I smiled at the cage sadly, “It was a gift from Prince Calypso. She sings a lovely song most of the time but now that I think about it, she’s gone silent.” I furrowed my brow and looked at Talia, “Can you get Lucy?” Talia shot me a look, “Are you sure? We don’t want to subject her to any unneeded drama.” I sighed and tapped my knee, “She’ll find out eventually. We can’t keep this from her. Xan is essentially her adopted mother.” Blake asked, “Adopted mother? Did I miss something?” I nodded, “I’ll explain while Talia fetches the child.”
Talia nodded at me and she got up and left the room. As promised, I explained to Blake about how Alexandra was helping Doc with medical issues during the earthquake in the Glades. I continued to tell him about her work with Lucy, how she fell in love with the child and how we opened our home and hearts up to her. Blake nodded, “I see. If you need anything to help with her care, please let me know. If Alexandra loves this child, then I will love this child.” I smiled at him, “You haven’t met her yet.” He shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. Alexandra is such a kind, caring, and loving soul. Most of all, I trust her judgment of people so this child must be her kind of person. I’m confused though.” I got up and walked over to my beverage cart, “What’s that, Your Highness?” I waved at the cart and he shook his head, “What does the child have to do with this bird?” I nodded at the bird, “We suspect the child is a beast master. She can talk to animals. I received a note this morning that Elder Enzo would come and assess her in a few days.” He nodded, “That’s quite useful in this situation but the bird may tell her what is going on with Alexandra. Don’t you think this would harm her?” I sighed after I took a sip of the bourbon I had poured for myself, “That’s why I’m going to explain to her gently what is going on. In House Batiste, we don’t like to keep secrets so if something needs to be said, we say it honestly. I find this keeps everyone close.”
Talia walked through the door with the dark-haired child linked to her hand, “Papa has asked for you, little one.” She smiled up at me and ran to hug me as she always did. I picked her up and cradled her on my hip, “So, little one, I would first like you to meet His Highness Prince Blake.” She turned and waved at him, “Hello Uncle Prince Blake.” He chuckled, “Sweet girl, you can call me Uncle Blake.” She nodded and held her hand out to shake his, “Then nice to meet you, Uncle Blake.” He took her small hand in his and gently shook it, “I’m good friends with Alexandra.” She smiled at him, “Oh, so you’re the Blake that Mama Lex told me about.” He blushed, “Sh-she mentioned me?” She nodded, “Hmm-hmm, she said that you were protective of her and that you are a very good friend to her. I hope you treat Mama Lex well.” He smiled at her sadly, “I will try.” He turned away from her and sat back down on the settee. She turned back to me, “What did you want to see me for Papa?” I looked over her shoulder at Talia who had been standing next to the cage, “Well, something has happened that has made Uncle Blake, Grammy, and Papa very sad.” She gasped, “Oh no! Do you guys need an ouchie all better kiss? Mama Lex says that is the cure to what hurts a lot of the time.” I smiled at her, “Most of the time, yes but I don’t think an ouchie all better kiss will help with this one.” She shrugged, “We can try.” She laid a small little peck on my cheek and I didn’t know my heart could melt out of my body but it did. I sighed, “The problem is that Mama Lex has an ouchie which made her fall into a deep heavy sleep and we aren’t sure that she is going to wake up.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and squeezed, “Can we give her an ouchie all better kiss like in the fairy tales Mama Lex reads to me?” I shook my head, “I’m afraid not, we have to get a doctor to help her feel better but I need you to tell me why her bird went quiet after we found out about Alexandra’s sleep.”
The child squirmed out of my arms and walked over to the cage and hooked her fingers in the cage. She asked, “Azula, I noticed you aren’t singing anymore. What is going on?” She kept her fingers hooked in the cage and nodded. She turned to me, “Azula is what they call a heart bird. She sings when the heart of her owner is happy. She cannot sing because Mama Lex’s heart is broken. She said Mama Lex is in a lot of pain. She says that Prince Calypso has been asking for her but she can’t get through to her mind right now. She’s trying but it is hard.” I looked at the bird who looked sad and exhausted, “Is there anything we can do to help her?” She looked over her shoulder at the bird then shrugged, “Prince Calypso might know but she doesn’t really know either.” I sighed and leaned against the cage, “Can we get through to her? How do we tell her not to be heartbroken? Does this sickness kill?” I heard a voice behind me, “I won’t lie to you, Reggie, it can absolutely kill. She is dying, I know it.” My eyes widened and I turned to see Aphrodite, “Is there something we can do?” She was holding a rose in her hand, “We can delay her death by heartbreak but we need to find a way to get through to her. I currently cannot tell you how. I must go see her now.” I nodded and led the goddess up the stairs and into my daughter’s room. Aphrodite walked up to her bed and placed the rose in her hair. The rose then glowed brightly before it turned into a silver rose. She stared down at her and picked up a necklace that was around Alexandra’s neck. She turned to me, “What is this? I feel a strange power emanating from it.” I walked over and looked down at the necklace, “I have never seen it before in my life.” She furrowed her brow, “I hope she is not cursed again by the use of this necklace.”
Just as she said this Mordred walked through a portal in her room, “It is not cursed. This was a family heirloom I gave her earlier when I took her to House of Dark. It was a gift to my family from Apollo. I felt that this was a proper gift for our girl.” Aphrodite stroked the necklace and nodded, “It is appropriate. I think this has probably kept her in a state beyond death.” Lucien said behind us, “What do you mean death?” She sighed, “I am going to preface this with it doesn’t matter what you did or didn’t do, what matters is the perception of Alexandra. Got it?” Lucien nodded, “Yes, I understand. Please tell me.” She turned to Alexandra, “She’s dying of a broken heart, Lucien. She saw your kiss with Melody…it broke her and she cannot recover.” Lucien looked at Doc, “Is there something we can do? Will the light-healing potion work on her?” Doc walked over to Alexandra and looked at her, “Without conducting the water diagnostic, I can tell you that her skin is pallid and clammy. I can tell she is hanging on but for how long.” He shrugged, “I couldn’t say just yet. Let me set up.” Doc proceeded to set up the diagnostic and conducted it. His face fell as he read the results, “As I feared, she’s on the brink but I will say that the power of Aphrodite is keeping her here.” He sighed, “Light-healing potion might have worked but we used it all when we had to clear up the illness at the Glades. We are out of options that I know of. We need to get creative, people, because as far as I know no one has ever recovered from this.” We heard a voice from the doorway, “I have an idea but it will require some trial and error.” Apollo stepped forward and kneeled by Alexandra’s bedside. He picked up the pendant on her neck and smiled, “This might get a whole lot easier than I thought though.” He turned to Aphrodite, “We need all of them. Gather them here.” She nodded and Apollo stood up, “I will be back when they are gathered and it will have to be just before the full moon.” He disappeared and she turned to me, “I will need you to gather Lucien, Blake, Derek, and Calypso here the night after tomorrow. We will conduct a ritual to bring her back.” She turned to walk away but Lucien called out to her, “Why the four of us?” She turned back to him, “Those are all the men that have loved her. All but one of you still do. Love put her in this mess so love will bring her out.”
