I nod again and he kisses me. “Come, we must go to the Light. Aelfric will want to know of Drake’s plans.”
Chapter 6
“No, this isn’t the way it is supposed to be.” Sebastian is yelling at his father and I am thinking again what a bad idea this was to begin with. “Neither of you are taking this child. It is mine and Aefre’s and we will be raising it back at home. I expected better from you than from him,” he spits out furiously.
“Kalen,” Aelfric says in a calming voice. “You must realize how precious this child is. You have been gone for so long and you are still not the son I wanted you to be. That cannot be changed, but the child can take your place,” he adds in that pseudo-soothing voice he has. Don’t let the fact that he is Light Fae fool you. He is just as conniving as Drake is, only less overt about it.
“The child is not taking anyone’s place. It is supposed to make its own place. That is its destiny.” Sebastian is still yelling, and I am getting agitated. I want to go home and forget about all of this. Go away with Constantine before things start to show and he rebuffs me.
“Sebastian, let’s go,” I say quietly, pushing my blonde hair out of my eyes in defeat, having been prudent enough to Shift to back my natural form before entering this Court, which is acceptable to the Light.
He turns to me and I can sense his emotions going off the chart from where I am standing. He is about to have an apoplexy and that is not good news. I need to get him out of here before he does some damage.
“Please,” I say. “I just want to go home.”
He softens slightly at that and nods briskly. “Of course. We need to get you back home safe.”
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Aelfric says, motioning to the Light Guards to block the way out, which normally wouldn’t be a problem, only we are unable to Teleport or Astral over here, so we are either stuck, or will have to fight our way out. “There is no way that this child is going to be raised by Drake. I will not allow you to leave here and be vulnerable to attack and kidnapping by the Dark.”
“We are capable of looking after ourselves,” Sebastian says through gritted teeth.
“Be that as it may, you aren’t leaving. You will stay, be married, and have this child here,” Aelfric says.
“And what of my husband?” I ask, now getting highly irritated with everyone telling me what to do. “Am I just supposed to leave him to wonder where I am?”
“Your husband?” he scoffs. “Your husband will be Kalen. There will be a Holy union before this baby starts to show, make no mistake about that.”
“I cannot leave my Empire,” I say, trying a different tactic, as duty means something to him whereas family clearly does not. Or at least my family does not.
“I am sure it will be fine left in your Halfling’s hands,” he says dismissively, and if anything, he was going to say was going to anger me to the point where I am about to kill, that was it.
“Halfling?” I yell at him, stepping forward. “How dare you call my daughter that?” It is the biggest insult he could use, and I will not allow my precious Cassis to be slandered in such a manner.
“Father!” snaps Sebastian at the same time, also angered.
Aelfric holds his hands out. “It is the truth, is it not? Much like you.” He points to me and says, “Her true heritage is most confusing.”
I am boiling with rage now and this only leads to one thing. “Get me out of here,” I say to Sebastian and he catches on that it is now a necessity.
“Father, you have to let her go. If you don’t, she is going to Shift and that is going to be the end of everything,” he says quietly, as my breathing gets more and more ragged. I am trying to relax. Even though I briefly thought this was a good idea a few hours ago, I have very definitely changed my mind. I drop to my knees and Sebastian drops with me. “No, Aefre. You cannot do this. Calm yourself. Please, my love, please,” he begs me, and I am trying to regain control, but it is taking me over.
“What is she doing?” Aelfric asks thunderou
sly, standing up and striding towards us. He is glaring down at us from his towering height, his long blonde hair floating gently around him.
“She is reacting to your insults to her family. Her fury is controlled by her Dragon. Let us out of here now to go home, otherwise it’s the end,” Sebastian explains.
“The end of what?” Aelfric asks.
“The baby,” Sebastian says as I grip his hand tightly as a lifeline.
“What?” he bellows. “No! Make her stop. Now!”
“I am trying to. You are not helping,” Sebastian snaps back at him.
“If anything happens to that baby, I will have her head,” he snarls.
Like Dark, like Light.