Arrival

Chapter 32: Kysael- A new Life

After Mafrien and Kirinae had left, I limped my way with Coal's help to the room of the palace where Kelose was being held.

His body was in chains, shackles.

He was dangerous, violent and noncompliant.

But when he saw me, his dark golden eyes showed his relief.

"You are alright afterall," he said softly. "I am so thankful."

I nodded, swallowing thickly before I responded. "You aren't though, are you, husband?"

He sighed and looked away, and I took a moment to take in his appearance.

His light blonde hair had changed, turned to be solid white. His dark tan skin had gotten much darker, almost a light brown color with gray undertone. His eyes had went from the light gold to a dark, almost orange golden color. His body was more muscular, stronger to compensate for his new transformation.

According to the mages of the city, he was halfway into the transformation. But they had placed a holding spell on him, trying to prolong it.

But each day that passed, he still continued to transition. It was just being drawn out for my sake...to give me time, time to let me say goodbye.

And what would this mean? Was our Soul Bond going to come to an end? Would we both transform? Would be both...die?

I didn't have the answers.

Castiel said that he thought that there might be a solution, but he was doing all the research that he could to find out if he was right.

"You look well," he told me. "I am glad to see you safe."

"You look like you're transforming into something that I cannot be," I said, tears running down my face.

He scoffed. "It's not like much is going to change." "Everything will change!" I cried. Coal stirred restlessly at my side, still trying to help to support my weight. "Dahrahm....they're not able to be here. They've placed barriers on this land that expels them, to protect this land. You will no longer be able to reside here. And I can't leave."

He rolled his eyes at me. "You could do whatever you wanted to, Kysael. You're the queen. Nobody could stop you."

"I am not leaving my new home, Kelose."

"Then you forfeit me."

"You snapped," I sobbed. "I can't allow myself to follow the same dark path. Have I not given enough for you? Have I not given all?"

His eyes met mine, and I could see red swirling around the pupils, darkening his eyes further. "You never did truly want me," he spat. "You never loved me if you're willing to let go of me so easily!"

Tears ran down my face, and as he came to my side to take me away, I let Coal lift me into his arms and speed me out of the room, away from my husband.

*

September, 1103 A.D.

Only a few days into the month, Moserre came to spend time with me for a bit before he made the trip back to Lykra. I smiled as he came and sat at my bedside.

"How are you feeling?"

I groaned. "Lousy, but I've been in worse condition, so I can't complain too much about it." I noticed the tattoos on his hands that hadn't been there before. "What is that?" I asked.

He glanced down at his hands. "Oh, those!" He chuckled, a grim smile on his face. "When the living king of the Wraiths dies, the next in line for the throne develops the tattoos of all of the Wraith clans on their body, stretching to even their feet. It drastically increases one's power, and it shows that you are the king. It also happens if the next in line passes away. Say, I passed away, and so did your infant brother. You would be the next in line, and the markings would pass to you."

"That's interesting," I said softly. "There is still so much that I don't know about our culture," I grinned.

"It's all a bit confusing, but we'll get you up to speed someday," he told me.

We continued to sit and chat for a while, before he finally gave me a hug and made his way home.

*

It was a couple of weeks into the month, when I began throwing up and feeling worse than ever.

I was dizzy all of the time, and I could hardly hold my head up.

I had night sweats, cold sweats.... I had hot flashes. My breasts were tender.

I sighed. I didn't know how much longer I could keep going if this sickness kept bothering me.

Dragon and the nurses began to worry. It was becoming more and more certain that this wasn't a simple head cold or virus once this went on for three weeks in a row.

I had not been to see Kelose since that visit the day that Mafrien had left three weeks ago.

It was early one morning that I was vomiting into the chamber pot in the washroom, when I heard Dragon's usual morning knock to tell me today's schedule.

I heard my nurse go to answer the door. "Dragon, I don't know what to do anymore. I've tried everything that I know."

"What are you talking about...?"

As if to answer his question, I retched again, and I heard his light gasp of alarm, and his feet quickly approaching me.

"Kysael?" He asked me.

"Go away," I said before I threw up again. "I don't want for you to see me like this," I whined pitifully.

"Janoren, how long has this been going on?" "The last three weeks."

"What?" Dragon's voice was shocked. "Why haven't you said anything? And why haven't you alerted me?"

"Kysael refused for me to get you. She said that it was just a stomach virus or cold, but it's gone on long enough." Janoren answered.

"And Kysael told me not to alarm you," Coal said softly. "I wanted to respect her wishes." He glanced at me. "Though I am positive I already know what is going on with her," he said, his tone cryptic.

I finally finished, and Janoren came to rest on her knees behind my quivering body, wrapping Dragon's cloak that he'd given me around my body. It always gave me comfort.

She held a cold, damp cloth to my forehead, running her free hand along my back.

"Kysael, what is going on with you?" Dragon asked.

"Janoren...do you mind...?" I asked, and she sighed, but nodded and swiftly left the room. Coal remained, awaiting instruction.

"Kysael, tell me what is going on. Now. Everything." Dragon said once she was gone.

"Let's see.... I've been vomiting all the time, and can't eat or drink anything. I constantly feel extremely cold or extremely hot. I've been having vivid dreams, and very frequent urination...." my face felt hot, and I knew I was blushing. "And my breasts.... they are very tender."

His body tensed further and further with every word that I said. "Go lie down," he told me sternly.

I didn't have the energy to argue. I tried to get up, but after I fell, Coal ended up lifting me up, and walked to the bed and slowly lying my body down.

He went to stand in front of my door, not allowing anyone to come in, and he averted his eyes away from us, giving us a moment of privacy.

He had taken to his role as my attendant and personal guard seriously.

Dragon stood from his position on his knees in the washroom, and slowly turned to face me. He finally seemed to finish wrestling with whatever he was feeling, and came over to me, sitting on the bed beside of me.

He grabbed the end of my tunic. "May I?" He asked.

I nodded, and he lifted up my tunic to uncover my stomach, and his hands began glowing in that ever warm and comforting lavender aura as they lay on my stomach. He closed his eyes, as if searching for something.

His eyes opened with the lightest of gasps, and his head snapped up to look at me, his eyes a mixture of hurt and happiness. It made me.... strangely uncomfortable.

"Dragon...what-"

"You're with child," he whispered to me. Coal stirred, restless with this news. It was both happy and troubling. He began to pace at the door.

I did give much of a reaction. "I'm…pregnant. You are sure?"

He nodded. "Yes." He looked at me. "But then, you already knew… didn't you?"

I calculated the time in my head. I would have to be at least four weeks along to be showing this many symptoms....

And four weeks ago, I'd had a week full of nights of furious passion with both Kelose and Dragon before getting divorced from Dragon to marry Kelose.

I could see his eyes calculating the time, as well. We looked at each other, before looking down at my stomach, and then returning one another's gaze again.

"This...." He sighed. "I...."

I knew what he was going to say. He and Arthenia were talking, growing closer to one another because I didn't know where I stood with things with him, or Kelose, or anyone else for that matter. And if this was his child, then.... that may ruin everything for them, and further complicate things for us.

My eyes pleaded with him. "Dragon, if.... if this child is-"

"If the child is mine, I will do the honorable thing and step up to claim it. I will not simply lie and pretend that it is not my own. And....Kelose and I differ so much in appearance, that it should be obvious who's child it is. In my family, the first child is always born male, with lavender eyes. It is a gene that has been passed down for centuries."

I nodded. "We will see in nine months, then, since this isn't a Darkelf child and the gestation will be the normal time length."

He sighed, standing. He glanced at my still flat belly, before he met my eyes. He bowed. "Something isn't quite right. But I will be back soon, mistress." And with that, he left the room.

When he shut the door, I asked Coal for his help, and we left the room to go to Kelose's holding chamber.

By this point, his skin was turning gray, and his eyes were golden with a red ring around the outside of the irises.

He was almost through the transition, and it hurt just to look at him.

"I thought you weren't going to come back and see me anymore," Kelose said, his dark voice full of venomous spite.

"I just thought that you should know something," I said, before going over to his body.

He tensed when I grabbed his hand, and I placed it on my torso.

Coal tensed, uncomfortable with my closeness to Kelose in his current condition.

He held his clawed hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw to protect me.

I knew that after his time as an assassin, Kelose had trained his body to sense and feel out energy, as that was a requirement of the job. That, and as elves, our senses of smell were much more powerful than a human. Even Woodelves could smell pregnancy by the scent, but Skyelves? It was on a whole other level of sense of smell.

As soon as he felt the child's energy within me, smelled the scent, his eyes snapped up to meet mine, and his chained body tried to wrench itself away from me desperately.

"Get it away from me, Kysael. I do not wish to taint the child with my dark aura. You shouldn't be so close to me either," he said, his tone full of sadness and concern.

His somber gaze stayed locked with my abdomen.

"I just..." my voice quivered, and I forced myself to stand my ground. "I just thought that you should know. You had the right. With my current gestation, I am not entirely sure at this moment who the father is. Dragon says that something isn't right." I turned away from him, toward the exit of the room. "Oh. And Castiel has found a solution, before you are fully transformed and killed by the magic of the city designed to keep out evil."

"And what might that be?"

"He's going to turn you into a human."

His body jerked with the force of his surprise, and before he could respond, I was already out of the room, rushing back to my room in a haste.

I couldn't bear to look at him any longer.

*

Just days later, Castiel had gotten all of the things that he needed in order to complete the spell.

The three mages that were needed for the ritual were going to perform a spell that would transform Kelose into a normal human, before freezing him in enchanted ice and hiding his body in the catacombs of the city, waiting for the right time to release him and allow him to live out a normal human life.

We simply couldn't allow him to die. It would kill me in the process, due to the Soul Bond. If he finished the transformation into a Darkelf, it could trigger me to change, as well.

But being transformed into a human would lessen the Soul Bond's effects, and cause me to not be so physically tied to him any longer, though the mental and emotional effects would still be just as potent.

And with him locked away in the enchanted ice, I could keep an eye on him until it was time to release him. It gave both of us a chance.

I had gone and given him one last kiss, and let him hug me just once more, before I had left and the mages had entered.

I was not present for the spell, as it drew on powerful energy, and it would sap my strength and power away from me. In my delicate condition of pregnancy, that could be dangerous and detrimental to the child.

Only the mages were allowed to be present.

But as I had stood outside of the room, I heard his screams and cries, heard the trashing of the chains as his body wretched, I heard his breathing and panting. I heard the strange tongue of the mages, the spell that they were performing.

I could hear crackling and I was afraid. I was afraid to see what they were doing and I was glad that I wasn't there in the room for it afterall.

I didn't want to see Kelose go through such pain.

Coal helped me to stay standing, and Dragon stood on my other side, leaning into me and holding my hand, whispering comforting words into my ear.

But when I saw Kelose again, he was trapped, asleep, frozen in a large pillar of ice, and he was taken below the city to rest in the catacombs below us.

I had vomited from shock, before going to his resting place and staying by his side for days. I refused to see anyone for two weeks. I couldn't leave him. I couldn't let go.

Only Coal stayed by my side, helping me move and even offering to feed me, which I turned down.

Dragon had tried to come to me, but I refused him, turned him away.

He tried to reason with me as he stood at the entrance to the catacombs, but I ordered him to leave, to give me time.

I stood at Kelose's feet at the bottom of the ice pillar, looking up at his frozen body. His face looked peaceful, at least.

He looked just as if he were in a normal slumber, but his arms were up, crossed over his chest much like someone's arms would be if they were placed into a coffin to be buried.

Kelose looked different as a human. His hair had been cut to be short, his skin back to being its original light tan color, his hair still white, however.

They told me that his eyes had returned to their once beautiful sky-blue color during the transformation, for which I was thankful. The gold had always made me wary.

Soon enough, I finally started to allow Dragon back in. And he slowly worked through the ice surrounding my heart, and warmed me back up to him as he mended my once again shattered mind.

"Are you going to continue to stand by his side?" Dragon had asked me one night. "It's been weeks. You need to feed. Kelose wouldn't have wanted for you to starve and waste away. And the child needs nourishment."

I slowly turned to face him, to see him on his knees with his head tilted to the side, looking up at me with a face full of sadness.

I glanced back at Kelose. "At least he looks peaceful," I said softly, walking toward Dragon.

"Yes. He wasn't in pain after they turned him into a human. He felt no pain when they froze him."

"If the child is his...." I trailed off.

"If the child is his, I will still rise to raise he or she as my own...if you would like, that is. Your child will need a father...just as you need a partner."

I met his lavender eyes. "What about Arthenia?"

He smiled. "I've already told her that I leave that decision up to you. I cannot deny your orders, in any case. I told her everything. I am not going to lie to her. If you so desired it, I could not stop you, though I have never been able to tolerate to see you in pain, Kysael. And if this is the only thing that I can do for you...then I will. If you desire to remarry me, then that is what we will do."

"You would agree to remarry me?"

He hesitated. "If that is what you wish. I cannot disobey your command. Kelose is gone, now. And even when he is released.... he will hold no memory of what happened. He will not remember anything from this life that he had. It will be a clean slate for him. He will be placed with a family of your choosing, and he will be born into that family after being turned into a fetus inside of a woman, and he will live a new life. He could be awoken someday, but...it is unlikely."

I nodded. "I see."

"Kysael," he said softly. "Please. You need to feed."

I sighed, and I bent over his kneeled form to latch my fangs into his shoulder. He winced, but relaxed after a moment, and reached up to grip his cloak around my body.

"Kysael," he whispered. Tears ran down my face, falling on his skin, and he patted my back. "I would agree to remarry you, if that is what you wished.... However, if you want my honest opinion.... I think that you have found someone to truly be yours. He's surely proven himself." After a few minutes, I could feel his body weakening. "It's been a while," he laughed, light headed. "I need to get back into this slowly."

I thought about what he had just said a moment before. "Who do you mean, Dragon? Who do you think I could open my heart to? Who could be truly mine?"

Dragon's eyes drifted to the side. "You've lost your senses a bit I think, Kysael. Truly, I would have thought that would have been obvious to you by now. It is quite obvious to everyone that the two of you have a connection. A strong connection, at that. I think that it would be good for the two of you to give yourselves a chance. You and I... we have had our chance. And it was good, while we had our time together. It was hard, but it was good. But you have a chance now, a chance to be with someone that could be healthy for you. That didn't raise you. Someone that you haven't been suffering through everything with all of your life. Someone who can be stronger and better for you than I could." He looked up and to the side, away from me. "He's right here," he said, and I turned to face the direction where he was looking.

Coal smiled, stepped up to me, and then kneeled. "I can fill in. Feed from me. I can give you more than he can right now."

I smiled, thanking him for his thoughtfulness before I latched into him.

His blood was a strange flavor, and it wasn't meaty like Kelose's blood or sweet like Dragon's blood.

No, his blood tasted....it tasted tangy, and it wasn't hot, but rather chilled. It was interesting, almost like a chilled citrus fruit. It was hard to describe, and it was soothing and calming, but greatly refreshing.

"It is as your advisor has said... I feel a connection with you. I always have, since I met you. And I believe that you may just feel it for me, as well. I have never felt such a connection before, but it is certainly there. I didn't think that I would have a chance with you, and so I pushed it to the side. But now, with the way that things stand, you are alone. And I care for you, Kysael. Dragon has given enough to you. He deserves to be with his new love, just as you deserve a fresh start. I am willing, if you are," he said, his voice steady and sure.

When I pulled away, I looked up at Kelose's silently slumbering human body. I thought about what Dragon had said, and what Coal had said.

And Dragon was right, Coal had more than proven himself to me. He had been very kind. And I had felt a connection there, it was true.... though I had refused to acknowledge it before that moment. I could feel the tingling in my spirit.

And I decided. I could try. I could open up to this new love. He had been nothing but good to me. I looked at Kelose again.

"Please...forgive me."

And then, I let Coal and Dragon lead me out of the catacombs, hand in hand.

After that, they began to stay with me at all times, even when I visited Kelose's frozen body. I visited him every night as I snuggled and leaned onto both Dragon and Coal as they held me in their arms, our eyes looking up at Kelose's frozen form.

Coal made a lot of effort to be with me, helping me and supporting me, talking with me, having long conversations even during the middle of the night when my mind would refuse to let my body rest, and I would fall asleep against him. I could feel myself getting more comfortable around him, letting myself be free and open slowly.