The Oath of Silence
POV: Alexandra
I had brought the message back to the castle and up to the office. I handed it to Malinus. He beckoned me to come inside the office where everyone else was. I had not been around Lucien since seeing him fawn all over another woman. Ordinarily, I would have been upset but he was affected by the blood magic which we all had just discussed before. That being said, I couldn’t lie that I had a small tinge of hurt and jealousy. I tried to tamper that down when we were confronted with the reality. I was outwardly calm but inside I wanted to haul off and punch her in the face for doing this to Lucien. He sprung to his feet when I entered the room, “Alexandra, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to call you names and make you feel like you weren’t wanted.” I shook my head, “It’s okay. You weren’t yourself.” He sighed, “I am just glad the General took charge of the situation. It was like being trapped in my own mind. I hated it but I couldn’t control what my body did and my mouth said. It felt really dirty.” I sighed, “I imagine that is what all of the people who have been affected by my so-called ability felt like. I just wish I knew how to take it back.” Queen Mother Helena shook her head, “You cannot beat yourself up, dear. You didn’t ask to be shot and you certainly didn’t mean for anyone to use your blood on Lucien. So I understand that you went to the Elders about who they will appoint until Lucien is…better…from his illness. That’s what we will officially call it, I think.”
I nodded, “I brought the official orders to Malinus.” He presented them to the Queen Mother. She opened it and nodded, “You were there when they voted?” I nodded, “I cannot say I don’t understand the rationale considering you could have been the one on the throne had you chosen to be. Instead of passing it on to His Majesty, you’d be the ruler.” She smiled at me, “I appreciate the sentiment, dear, but I never sought to be in charge of the whole realm. That is not something I ever aimed for. Lucien was born to be a King. Blake will do fine with Lucien in an advisory role and that is what the orders say.” Lucien shot up, “Now hold on a second, are they quite sure? They could have picked him to be King but they thought he wasn’t really suited for the role.” Helena shook her head, “I imagine that is why they have chosen you as his advisor until you are well. It says here that Elder Enzo seems to agree with me that we should officially put out that Lucien has taken ill. No one but all here will know that he is well but in an advisory role. We will take the vow of silence. This is not to be taken away from this room.” I raised my hand as if I was waiting to be called on. Helena smiled, “Is there something you wish to add, dear?” I puffed some air out, “It is possible that King Mordred knows about what happened here. We have a psychic link, he can listen in on my life quite a lot.” She widened her eyes, “How incredibly intrusive! I wonder if we can summon him here then.” A portal opened and Mordred stepped out, “You summoned?” Helena jumped in her seat and held her hand to her chest, “Oh! You frightened me, Your Majesty.”
He bowed at Helena, “My apologies. Oh, and I hope you don’t mind. I brought a young friend.” Lucy’s face popped out from behind Mordred’s leg, she gasped as she looked around the room, “Mama Lex!” She ran over to me and hugged my leg. She looked over at Lucien and smiled, “Oh! Hello, Your Majesty!” He smiled back at her, “Nice to see you, Lucy. How are you?” She ran over to him and he pulled her up on his lap, “Uncle Mordred has been having me with him today. We got to yell at a bunch of guys for doing an awful job. We got to taste a few yummy desserts but I’m not supposed to say why.” She leaned in and whispered a little louder than she probably thought she was, “It’s a surprise.” She looked up at him, winked, and shushed him. He smiled down at her, “My lips are sealed.” Helena was watching the whole scene enamored with what she was watching. She looked up at Mordred, “We don’t mind at all, Your Majesty. Why don’t you have a seat? I’m sure you know why you have come here.” He nodded, “I don’t intend to betray His Majesty, he’s been very good to me. My loyalty lies with Vellum always since you have been so kind as to give us our own little sanctuary to rule over. I will take the oath willingly, I only ask you keep the child out of it. She knows nothing and she is under the protection of House Batiste who is House Doré’s biggest ally.” Helena looked over at the child, “Is she a ward of your House, Alexandra?” I nodded, “Yes, her parents were taken by the earthquake in the Glades. I didn’t want to see her in the orphanage so my father agreed to keep her as our ward until a time she can be legally adopted.” She nodded, “I will keep her out of this, granted that she doesn’t know what happened. As adorable as the child is, they often have the loosest lips.” Mordred nodded, “She only knows we are visiting friends.” She sighed, “Okay but as soon as The Befent gives his oath…quietly…I will have him take the child into the other room.”
She summoned me over and whispered to me, much quieter than Lucy had, “We need to have tea soon so you can tell me about her. It seems Lucien is enamored with her.” I nodded, “As you will it, Your Majesty.” Since we had all agreed to take the oath of silence, we each went around the room pricking our fingers and adding a single drop of blood. Teddy was first, of course. He took the oath in the far corner of the room with Ronan as his witness. He quickly took Lucy out of the room on the premise he was going to show her where Mama Lex was working. She was really excited to see that so she ran out of the room quickly. Every one of us took the oath seriously knowing that the consequence would be the loss of one’s voice, permanently. No one wanted that, not that being mute was a bad thing. We just couldn’t each imagine what learning to live with that would be like. Each of us had surmised how they might cope with such a thing but not Mordred. He brought us all back to the fact that if we don’t spill the secret that we were all trying to protect, we had nothing to worry about. Helena sighed, “I suppose all that is left is for us to get the message to Blake that he’s been appointed the Regent and put out a press release.” Malinus nodded, “I suggest calling a conference, Your Majesty. Soon I would think so that we can suppress too much speculation.” She sighed, “I suppose you are right. I didn’t want to have to make the announcement. I had hoped Blake could come soonest.”
I looked at Jynx and then back at Helena, “We can likely play messenger for you, Your Majesty. I have Jynx…that is if that is permitted by her King.” Mordred smiled, “As long as it is nothing illegal in Vellum, you can have Jynx help you out as you wish, dear one. I know you will ask nothing of her that you wouldn’t ask of yourself. Ever the level-headed child, I imagine that is good old Reggie’s influence on you.” I looked at the Queen Mother for her order confirmation since Lucien wasn’t in charge of the operations. She nodded, “If that gets Blake here the fastest, that is the option I wish to take but make sure you take your guards with you. As well as Blake would protect you, I don’t know if that would be enough if just the two of you were to go. Best to take the guards from the Citadel and Seely.” Lucien nodded in agreement, “He may have spies but the place is sometimes crawling with The Order considering how many countermeasures Blake has had against them.” I looked back at Jynx, “Can you take me to Mesha?” She nodded, “Of course. My best friend is the sorceress of Mesha.” I was shocked to hear that her best friend was Panshad and I looked over at Jheelis, wondering if he would react to her the same way he had reacted to his half-brother, Tyleesh. I don’t think he knew about Panshad so I thought I would have a quick word with him before we left. I looked back at Helena, “I need to speak with one of my guards before I set out. It’ll only be a minute.”
I pulled Jheelis to the side, “So there’s something you need to know. I’m going to tell you this ahead of time so you don’t get caught off-guard.” He looked at me confused, “What is it?” I inhaled deeply, “Ny told me about Tyleesh and his mother, your mother. I need to tell you that we are going to see your half-sister Panshad in Mesha. I’m asking that you please do not react for now. I do think we need the three of you together, no matter what Ny thinks. It’s cruel to keep you all apart.” He smiled down at me, “Thank you for telling me. I will do my best to behave. I think, had you not told me, I probably would have been irrational about seeing her as I did with Tyleesh. My mother, Belshad, never knew about her oldest children surviving the war. As far as she knew, they died in the crossfire. I knew the truth because Ny and Syl told me. I wasn’t allowed to say anything to her. I am glad to know my brother is in good hands at your house. I would be happy to see my sister in good hands as well.” I sighed, “About Tyleesh…we probably should have a…conversation about him later on. He’s had a rough patch and you won’t be happy about it. I think you deserve to know as his true family.” He nodded, “We have a mission to do first. Let’s talk about it later on when we’re back in Blackwood. I don’t feel comfortable about having that type of conversation with His Majesty Renier around…considering he was the one who ordered their execution and isn’t aware of them being alive.”
I turned to Jynx, “Let’s all go now.” The Queen Mother looked over at Malinus who was writing something down, “Just a second, Alexandra. I think you’re forgetting something. You have to have orders or he may not come along when called for. He’s a headstrong one, much like myself.” Malinus brought the official stationery over to the Queen Mother for her signature. He handed me both the orders from the Elders and the Queen Mother, “Good luck, Alexandra. Safe travel.” Jynx opened the portal and we all stepped in and came out from the castle-like structure of the stronghold of Mesha. The guards were startled, “State your purpose here.” They had not seen me since I was surrounded by the men and woman on my guard team. I stepped forward, “My name is Alexandra Batiste and I am here to see His Highness Prince Blake by order of Queen Mother Helena.” They stepped aside and let me through, I made my way up the stairs to his office. The Mesha Castle was laid out exactly like the castle in Tarn, only smaller. I stepped into his waiting room where Panshad was. She hopped up upon seeing me, “Your Grace. We did not expect to see you here. Is there something wrong?” I nodded, “I’m to deliver these orders to him. It’s serious so if he could take a look right away.” I looked back at Jheelis who looked at Panshad and I knew instantly he knew who she was. True to his word, he did not react but she did look at him curiously too, “Have we met before?” She asked him that in a straightforward matter but I didn’t let him answer, “You can say you probably know some common people. We’ll leave it at that for now. Can we please give these to him?” I handed her the orders and she nodded, “Right away. Please take a seat while I check in with him.” She disappeared into the room but a short while later, he emerged, “Alexandra, is he okay?” I inhaled remembering my blood oath, wondering if I would lose my voice if I told him. I thought it was worth a shot to speak a half-truth, “It’s best if you just go to Tarn and see him for yourself.” He nodded, “Okay. Panshad, I am going to go with Alexandra to Tarn immediately. Can you ensure you pack my bags and bring one of the others to help you carry them?” She nodded, “Yes, Your Highness.” He looked at me with genuine concern for his brother in his eyes, “Let’s go.”
