Chapter THIRTY-THREE: Circumstances-DEVIN

...

Devin walked in first and the Consort and Tailor followed behind.

Dameon jumped up from excitement when he saw all the people suddenly crowding the large room, and went straight to the Consort who was wearing a nice blue robe, thinking that he must also be a druid. Tailor stood at a distance and watched the little boy look up at the Consort with a mischievous smile.

The Sun Priest stood up straight when he saw Devin's menacing glance.

The king then pulled off his crown and went to his wife's side to kiss her forehead; but he kept his eyes on Aydan, fixated and guarded.

Aydan rolled his eyes expecting this from the blue-haired brute, and sighed before he smirked right back at Devin.

"…Devin...love, Sun Priest Aydan and his little boy have come to visit us," Alicia informed him to break some tension. She knew already that Devin wanted answers from the priest. But he wasn't all that bad, she thought, hopeful that Devin wouldn't be too hard on him. However, the sooner the priest would leave, the sooner they could all go back to forgetting Talia again as it had been before.

"Thank you, my queen. I suppose that we shouldn't be too loud...The baby's sleeping," Devin gritted. He then adverted his gaze a little to search for Talia's son and swallowed hard when he saw the little boy pulling at the Consort's robes, realizing that the boy easily could have been his own son by mother and age, had he stopped Talia all those years ago. Though now, Devin was grateful that things had turned out differently or else he wouldn't have his beautiful Alicia at his side and precious daughter.

"May we have a word alone?" Aydan asked intolerantly, after another long tense noxious pause.

Devin nodded and the two went towards the empty corridor.

Dameon looked up at his father, but quickly turned his attention back to the Consort who had leaned forward to reprimand him.

"Young man, don't pull!-OUCH!"

"B-b-beard-d!"

..

Aydan turned around to shut the door ready to say a few things to Devin's face. Suddenly, he felt Devin grab him by the neck and he was thrust against the hard stone castle wall. Devin held his Sword of Thor to his throat.

The Sun Druid quickly pointed his staff at Devin's collar.

"Sooo…we have a lot to talk about Sun Priest, don't we?!" Devin snarled.

"Let go of me you swaggering wretched oaf!-Put your arms down!" Aydan snapped as he managed to push Devin backwards, making him stumble; but he still kept his sword at striking distance.

"No! Not until you say what you did to Talia!" Devin spat out angrily.

"I know spells that would turn you guts inside out, you insolent-bastard king!" Aydan threatened coldly; but felt intimidated that Devin knew he had done something to her.

Just then, both men looked back at the door. Dameon was peering out, but immediately shut the door when he saw his father's angry stare. Aydan and Devin could hear the boy repeating loudly the insults he had just said.

"Coward! What did you do to her?!- How is it that she fell for you all of a sudden?!- I, her friend, who have known her my entire life, know that she would never have a child out of wedlock!"

"You really are a dumb fool…We are immortal. Marriage does not concern us...And what we do is not your business, is it?!-I love her more than you ever did, you pathetic, miserable dunce!" Aydan hissed and readied himself to hit the king with his own bare hands.

"Are you forgetting that I am king here, priest? How would you like to feel your teeth rattle?! Your insults just make me want to kick your ass—"

"-Don't patronize me, oaf! I'm not here to discuss your status of anything!" Aydan said, then surprisingly, let down his guard and staff. He thought about Talia telling him that the oaf and he could be friends, as good of friends as she had been with him. The idea was almost laughable now because they wanted to kill each other instead.

"Then really, why are you here, Sun Priest?" Devin began to ponder suspiciously, but he put his sword away, no longer seeing the need for it. "Speak now before I smack the answer out of you!"

"The only one who is going to get smacked will be you, oaf..." Aydan stopped and refrained from saying more. He tried to regain some composure again and looked away. "A friend of Talia's, will always be a 'friend' of mine, but I suppose the opportunity has been lost with our differences. Nevertheless, it would not stop me from helping you... especially your daughter."

"What does my daughter have to do with this?"

"She is the Chosen One…Our only hope to stop the demon. And if you were listening to the Oracle, she is not safe here," Aydan explained unsure of how to continue after so much animosity.

"What are you getting at?!" Devin said fearful from being reminded of her destiny, once more.

"Talia and I can take her far from here…She will be safe with us in the High Realm until she grows up and must leave But she would be safe until the prophecy must be fulfilled...We can prepare her for what is to come."

"No..." Devin answered resolved without second thoughts. "Did she put you up to this?"

"No, Talia did not...But yes, I'm here on my own volition... I could not bring myself to tell her that she failed to kill the demon. It would hurt her too much…But let's not change subjects. Don't be unyielding. The world depends on her…" Aydan panted in disbelief, but knew that there was no point in objecting any further.

"I said NO! Now leave before you regret it!...I can protect my kingdom AND daughter without your help!"

"Make me regret it then...you detestable oaf! You've had this coming for a long time!-" Aydan yelled throwing his staff to the side.

"Well, if you're asking, then by all means-!" Devin suddenly raised his fist and hit Aydan's face like a serpent's strike, but it hardly made him budge.

Aydan rubbed his cheek and glared at Devin for a second before he flew at him knocking him over.

"You-You will pay for that!"

"ARH! YOU'RE A SHAMELESS BASTARD! -" Devin contorted his body to get on his feet and began to punch without mercy.

Aydan grabbed Devin's neck and began to ring it with one hand as he struck Devin with the other.

"I'LL MAKE YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND-if I have to kill you first! At least it will be done for a good-cause!" Aydan sneered and huffed.

Devin punched him squarely in the face again, making him bleed this time. The fight continued as both men punched and pummeled each other with violent zeal.

Tailor ran out of the room a minute later and slammed the door behind him. He grabbed Devin, since Aydan suddenly pushed him backwards having had enough.

Devin managed to escape and punched the Sun Priest one last time.

"What?! -What's this!? You two are fighting like a pair of school girls! And for what?! It is women, isn't it?" Tailor mocked.

"LET ME GO-I'M NOT DONE- WITH THIS IDIOT!" Devin muttered ferociously and tried to lunge forward.

Aydan quickly turned to get his staff, ready to leave. He now thought of what he was going to tell Talia when he got back, about the demon being alive, and about the bruises the oaf had given him. But most of all, he thought of the prophecy and what it could mean for them all.

"…May the gods have mercy on you if something happens to the Chosen One," Aydan condemned in a quick affirmation, as he walked towards the door to get his son, starting to feel the effects of the fight in all his limbs. But it felt good to have whacked the king silly, which did ease the pain.

"That's right! That's the spirit! Your prayers are all I really need! Thank you, Sun Priest," Devin said cynically as Aydan reached the door.

He turned again towards Devin and pulled out a bright green stone.

"Take it!…It's a traveling rune… Just say 'Aveyond' and you can find me if you change your mind-If you get desperate, summon the Oracle…Oh, and I'll tell Talia you said 'hello'," Aydan murmured and tossed the stone hard at Devin's chest on purpose. The priest opened the door and shut it behind him quickly.

Devin threw the rune at the door making it shatter into dust.

"Wait until he leaves, buddy..." Tailor told Devin as he grabbed his arm to keep him outside.

..

Aydan quickly picked up Dameon who squirmed, knowing he was in trouble for being so troublesome, and left.

..

Alicia stared blankly at the wall as Devin walked in alone. The Consort left immediately, realizing that the king wanted him to leave.

Tired, Devin sat beside Alicia and remained silent as he watched the baby sleep.

"…How much of it did you hear?" he began as he couldn't resist the urge to hold the baby any longer. His bruises aches badly, but the sight of his daughter eased them.

"I heard most of the bickering, but not really what it was about. Though, I have a guess." Alicia started to whimper. "Devin…I want to leave-now! We can leave Thais and I can be a mercenary like I've always wanted and we can go far from here and... "

"There, there, honey. We have a kingdom to protect...You need to rest," Devin said optimistic as he held her and began to tell her everything the Sun Priest had said, which made her more upset. He suddenly stopped, and remembered something that would cheer her up. "Oh, that reminds me. Alicia, do you think you can handle your rapier? I mean if you don't want it..."

"My rapier? Yes, I want it back," Alicia suddenly grinned cheerful with anticipation. "Okay, where have you been hiding it all this time? I think I have searched everywhere."

Devin smiled as he got up and crouched to his knees beside the bed. His arm dug underneath.

"You mean, it's been below me this whole time?!- You!" Alicia exclaimed from surprise and amusement.

"It was the only place I knew you couldn't reach in your condition," Devin chuckled as he handed her the rapier.

"...It looks smaller than I remembered…" Alicia said disappointed, but she laid it beside her.

"Once you're up to it, we can practice again. Tailor is getting way to easy to beat…But first, I think we should name our princess!" Devin said, thrilled, realizing that she had no name yet.

"Devin, once we name her…it will be made public to everyone-The whole world: good or evil," Alicia sighed as tears began to tumble from her eyes again. "...We have to protect her…and that's the simplest way we can for now…We shouldn't name her until we are safe..."

"But Alicia, I have a million names in mind! This is absurd! I…I…" Devin stopped, realizing that she had a point. "I…I will honor your wish, my queen... At least for now."

"No one will notice…They'll just think that we're eccentric and indecisive like most royals," Alicia said, wiping her eyes.

"Alicia, as long as our daughter is safe, I will be happy," Devin said, as he leaned forward to kiss her and hold the babe again. Alicia looked at them and then the rapier, and picked it up again.

"We should prepare for battle, Devin.—Here. I no longer want this," Alicia said, as she handed the rapier back to Devin.

"Um…Are you planning to fight with your bare hands, honey?" Devin asked, confused by this action.

"No, of course not...My dear husband, I want you to teach me sword magic…Father and mother wouldn't allow me to learn it…His way of protecting me, I guess."

"But Alicia..."

"Devin, we need to class up. We have a kingdom and daughter to protect."

...

After the said prophecy…

..

Retold in the darkness, in a brief encounter, in soft whispering with great esteem and submission, while the other voice spoke harsh and cold words. Both voices echoed in a lone stale cavern.

..

"Sire, you are not strong enough, but I must be careful…If I am discovered-"

"My servant, you have done me well. You will be rewarded as promised. However, I long for blood and anguish. This world shall fear my name once again soon."

"Patience, Master. You will recover all power and all will go as planned with the relic. But for now, we must start slow. I cannot afford to be found. We must...must wait a little while longer or they will discover me. That cannot happen-yet."

"Hiss! So be it! Sweet revenge... is very close, indeed..."

Laughing filled the dark enclosure.

In the corner, an old man's body lay, decomposing. Shattered vial-glass and crumbled green mold covered the ground.