Chapter 30

The special and human agents gathered in the agency's library, attending the last minute call. Loreto and Nuada went out of her room and hurried up to join them. Doctor Tom Manning was standing a few steps away from the entrance with the report in his hands. Agent Krauss took his place at his right and faced the group. The director opened the envelope with the speed and calculation of someone who must decide which wire of a ticking bomb to cut. His hands shook. By his side, Agent Krauss remained perfectly still. The Prince advanced towards his sister and they held hands. Agent Sapien was at her other side, being the Princess's real partner. Loreto wished to hold Nuada's hand, yet their previous conversation dissuaded her.

"And well, Manning?," Agent Hellboy said with a rusty tone. "We've had enough suspense. Will you read it or should I?" he muttered, holding a Cohiba Robusto between his teeth.

Agent Sherman took it away from him and told him off with her gaze as she caressed her pregnant belly. The agent clicked his tongue annoyed and opened a bar of Snickers. Doctor Manning read the report in silence. All eyes were on him. He faced the group with his jaw ajar and gave the report to Agent Krauss. How could he read without eyes or brain? Loreto didn't even bother herself to ask.

"All tests on the ichor of the forest demigods and carcinogenic tissue of different degrees and natures resulted positive. Their ichor can influence carcinogenic cells both human and animal and exterminate them in a matter of a week. The ichor has been successfully synthesized."

Everyone gasped and smiled, relieved. Nuada remained skeptical and in suspense.

"Where will we live?" the Princess uttered with a whisper filled with anxiety in her voice.

"Bethmoora is returning home," doctor Manning announced with pride.

The special agents burst in celebration. Nuada stood still. He could barely breathe. The Princess holding his hand was also in shock. Loreto searched his gaze. Her heart skipped a beat. Both siblings could hardly blink. Tears bulged at the corner of their eyes, open-mouthed, shaky lips, their gazes focused in front into the nothingness, their hands held so tight their knuckles stood out in white tensed skin. Suddenly they both turned and faced each other. They held both hands and looked at each other.

"Antrim," they whispered simultaneously like a drowned sobbing.

The twins came together in a tight embrace. They sobbed against each other's shoulders. Loreto swallowed hard and dried her own tears. Agent Sapien faced her while a single tear rolled down his blue skin and hung from his jaw. He stretched his web-footed hands towards Loreto and softly pulled her towards him to hug her. The gesture surprised her, yet she allowed it to happen and hugged him back. We will be family, she heard in her mind. It wasn't Nuada nor the Princess. It was Agent Sapien. Slowly they separated, still holding hands. Suddenly the agent tilted his head and blinked a few times. He placed a hand on her abdomen.

"Loreto, you're pregnant," he said.

What?! Loreto screamed in her mind. Instinctively she put her hands on her abdomen and tried to search into Abraham's big blue eyes for the confirmation of his prediction. The Elven siblings broke their embrace, Nuada turned and faced them both with skeptical eyes soaking in tears. He questioned Abraham with no words, as if he telepathically urged him to verify what he had just said.

"Yes, I'm sure, Your Highness," he said nervously. "My readings are a hundred percent accurate," he pointed at Agent Sherman. "Isn't that so, Liz?"

The agent smiled and nodded.

Nuada turned to Loreto and tentatively touched her abdomen with an open hand. He looked into her eyes. Tears had soaked his eyelashes and crystallized his amber gaze. He gasped at the discovery. He drew a half smile. He leaped on her and embraced her in his arms. Loreto sighed astonished and clung to his back with her face buried in his chest. She let out the sobbing she was holding behind her vocal chords. Nuada hunched towards her neck and could not control his crying. The special agents and the Princess celebrated in their surroundings. Nestled to his chest and embracing him tightly to his back, she heard the good wishes and congratulations of everybody. They released the pressure and separated to face each other. Nuada cupped her face in his hands and without further ado, he kissed her on the mouth. Everyone cheered and laughed. They broke the kiss and looked deeply into each other's eyes. Nuada took her hand and faced the group.

"Loreto shall be my queen and the mother of my first-born, the heir to the throne of Bethmoora," he announced with pride and looked at his sister. "And you, Nuala, seem to also have found a partner in life," he said smiling and looked at Agent Sapien.

The Princess blushed and lowered her head. She took Abraham's hand in hers.

"I wouldn't wish anyone else by my side," she said, choked with emotion. She raised her gaze and with an earnest demeanor she spoke to her brother. "However, the royal council must first approve of these unions for we both would be marrying to beings of other species, something unprecedented in Bethmoora."

"I know," Nuada said dryly. "The royal council must remember that when I ascend to the throne, I shall have to take an oath upon an incomplete crown which is also unprecedented in our history. If they agree with that, why wouldn't they approve of a human queen?"

"After all you've achieved for your people securing their return to the surface, I don't think they'll have the guts to deny you a thing, Prince," Agent Hellboy said and gave him a strong slap on the back that made him stagger.

Loreto couldn't help but crack up at the stinky eye Nuada threw to the red agent.

"The inter-species marriage has yet to be approved by human laws," Agent Krauss intervened. "Of course Bethmoora's laws function independently to ours, however it is good Your Highnesses know that, should your unions not be approved by the royal council of Bethmoora, they won't be it either outside of it."

"This guy doesn't know how to have fun," Agent Hellboy blurted jokingly and dismissively pointed at him with the thumb of his stone hand. "Let the couples enjoy the moment, gasbag!"

The German agent let out steam through his mechanical gills and left the library. Amused, Agent Sherman told off her partner for always addressing the team leader with nicknames to which he replied by clicking his tongue.

They heard a sudden powerful impact coming from the main door, and it rendered everyone on their toes. Loreto clung herself against Nuada's arm. What sounded next left no doubt of its nature. The explosion shook the facilities like an earthquake. The floor trembled under their feet and their ears rang a deafening beep. Her heart beat out of control in her chest, hyperventilating her. Doctor Manning ran towards the inner part of the library while he shouted orders through his walky-talky and drew his gun. The special agents ran to the aisle, already holding their service weapons in their hands and pointing forwards. Princess Nuala begged Abraham not to leave her, but Nuada took her by the arm and gathered her along with Loreto while he placed himself before both of them like a living shield. The stench of gunpowder entered her nostrils and made her tear. She held back the sudden gag effect that watered her mouth with acid and bitterness. Loreto took the Princess's hand, and they exchanged a look of horror.

"FBI! Freeze! Put your hands in the air!," was heard from the aisle.

The shots paralyzed the Princess in an ice cube. She couldn't stop trembling. From the outside they heard Agent Hellboy battling with the intruders. The open threshold of the library allowed Loreto to spot the fire halo of Agent Sherman. Where's Abraham? A group of black-suited agents covered the special ones. The shooting was now crossing and total. Nuada reached for his lance and sword, but he didn't have them on him. Quickly, he studied his surroundings and ran towards a grand stone statue crowning the library, which in its center held a sword. He gripped it and struggled until he managed to get it loose and take it out in one pull. He quickly turned around to check on them both and with his eyes blazing and alert he made sure they were all right. He took position before Loreto and the Princess facing the door and spun the sword from his wrist.

"We know you have Loreto Clair kidnapped!," one of the FBI agents shouted above the beating and shooting.

Loreto opened her eyes, astounded.

"I'm not kidnapped!," she shouted back at the top of her lungs.

The fire ceased. The FBI agents opened their way into the library. Agent Hellboy and Abraham pointed at them with their weapons and followed each of their steps from up close. Princess Nuala sighed in relief as she saw her partner was still alive. Loreto squeezed her hand and held her by her arm. Agent Sherman and the black-suited agents surrounded the intruders.

"That's the man we are searching for," said one of them and pointed at Nuada. "Drop your weapon!," they shouted and pointed at his head at a few meters of distance.

For an instant, a lapse behind the hands of the clock, Loreto saw in her mind Nuada die. The bullets entering his skull, the blood spilling, his proud stature falling to the floor like a tower, his lifeless body motionless on the ground. The inner scream shook her and made her shiver from head to toes. Her heart shrunk and a freezing coldness enwrapped her. Death surrounded her everywhere. First the carcinogenic tumour, the bullet that hit her arm, later the metastasis, the war between elves and humans that never was, the lives Nuada's revenge had claimed. She placed one shaky hand on her abdomen. A new life. A new opportunity for her, for Nuada and his people, for Abraham, for all those who suffer cancer in the world. A weak and far light that through a crack was entering through into the total abyss. She blinked. Nuada, the father of her future first-born, the being she most love in the world, remained stoic and fixed before the agents' weapons. Loreto ran. The Princess tried to catch her by her arm. She called her name that vanished in the background. She ran and covered Nuada with her body. He grabbed her by the arm and ordered her to move. Abraham and the special agents also ordered her so.

"Put down your weapons," she said with a flat voice. "You came here searching for me. Here I am."

The FBI agents looked at each other. One by one they holstered their guns yet remained alert. Loreto looked at the special agents.

"You too, please."

Dubious, Agent Sherman extinguished her fire and Agents Hellboy and Sapien gave a step backwards and reluctantly lowered their weapons. Abraham ran towards the Princess and they embraced.

"I'm fine," Loreto began, still unmovable before the FBI agent team. "Now I am at least. A month ago I still had cancer. If now I'm alive, it's thanks to this agency who removed my malignant tumor and to Nuada," she motioned as if wanting to turn back and gestured behind her. "Who you were about to shoot is the prince of the elves and my future husband."

The FBI agents didn't know how to react. Nuada took her by her shoulders and placed himself before her. He still held the statue's sword in his hand. The agents neared their hands towards their holstered weapons. Loreto grabbed him by his arm and supported her forehead against his back. No more fighting, please, she begged in silence and hoped he heard her in his mind. Nuada turned back slightly towards her and let the sword fall.

Doctor Manning appeared from the back section of the library and explained the situation and the events of the past weeks. The FBI agents had found Loreto's whereabouts through her cell phone's signal, which they had cleared out, Loreto remembered. During her stay since Nuada and the Princess's trip to Northern Ireland, she kept it without battery. She remembered when, after having been cured from the metastasis, she showed Nuada right there in the agency's library the pictures of her apartment surrounded by paparazzi. Her agent had written and sent links to news articles online. Mitch was not to blame for this operation. The investigation about her disappearance might have led to him in search of clues, Loreto concluded.

"Pri-pri-prince Nuada is a five-thousand-year-old elf, you ca-ca-can't just point at him with your weapons like that. He's the oldest royalty on the planet!," Doctor Manning managed to say with growing anxiety.

The agents' jaws fell to the floor and immediately studied Nuada from head to toes with equal astonishment as also curiosity.

"Nuada is not guilty for my disappearance," Loreto interrupted and right away she felt all eyes on her. "I am. It's a long story and the agency's director will tell it better than I. It is only thanks to Elven medicine I am still alive."

Doctor Manning turned to Loreto, pointed at her with his finger and smiled. He ran his eyes through the special agents.

"The power of word, see?" he pointed at Loreto every time. "Everything can be solved by speaking," he said with a triumphant tone and content with himself.

The agency's director turned towards the FBI agents and escorted them to the exit as he explained why Loreto couldn't yet make public the real reason for her disappearance.

Agent Hellboy chuckled and shook his head. He hugged his partner Agent Sherman by her shoulders and walked out as Abraham still held Princess Nuala's hand. She still looked deeply affected and challenged by the situation. Abraham escorted her out of the library at a slow pace as if he wanted to save the Princess from any extra effort.

Nuada turned to Loreto. The depth of his golden gaze knew no limits. Everything about him screamed relief, rage and joy simultaneously as his features remained hard and fixed. His clenched fists, half-opened lips, narrowed eyes, tight frown.

"You shouldn't have placed yourself before the fire line," he said with a rusty and cold voice. He moved a step closer to her.

"And you shouldn't have challenged them when they were pointing at your head with loaded weapons ready to shoot," Loreto said with her voice about to break. "You're not alone anymore, we need you," she uttered in a sigh and touched her abdomen.

The Prince's countenance fell apart. He shortened the distance, invading her space with his presence and lowered his head against hers. He closed his eyes and exhaled, faltering as if he finally let out the immeasurable weight on his shoulders. Loreto hugged him by his waist and Nuada embraced her in his arms. She inhaled deeply the essence his coat emanated. It was his own and unique perfume. A hug to the senses with all his soul, a caress in the dark small hours, a deep kiss reaching the cosmos and back.

"Don't do that anymore," Nuada whispered, hunched on her and nestled against her neck.

His breath against her naked skin gave her goosebumps, and a chill manifested at her nape and went down towards her legs like an expansive wave. Nuada moved away from her and cupped her face in both hands. He looked into her eyes with his tearing up and glowing from his golden pupils.

"After all the road I've walked in the shadows, after carrying with the darkness that took possession of my heart, now that I've found you, a step away from returning home and about to become father and king, losing you would be a terrible joke," he said in a low voice with his forehead leaned against hers. He exhaled and closed his eyes.

Agent Krauss burst into the library and broke with his presence the small bubble that surrounded them. He searched for Nuada and let him know the agency engineers had opened the goblin technology safe brought from Antrim.

"Your Highness might want to check its content," he said and gestured towards the door.

Nuada turned to Loreto and offered his hand. They both followed the German agent until they reached one of the offices in the aisle. A group of specialists awaited expectantly for them, surrounding a working surface. The golden box had a complex gear puzzle at the front and sides of the lid. It was opened ajar. Nuada neared and immediately the engineers and Agent Krauss moved away from the artifact. The Prince swallowed hard and his jaw fell open as soon as he looked into the box.

"It cannot be," he mumbled barely with a thin thread of voice.

He ventured a hand into the box and produced a crown. It was golden with thin golden arms in ivy shapes and tips. In its center there was a large oval-shaped opal with an entire cosmos trapped in its interior and at the sides, cascades of fine golden chains. Nuada turned to Loreto and slowly and carefully placed it on her head. She questioned him with her eyes, completely stunned. Next, she saw him rummage focused in the interior. Loreto leaned forwards and held the crown, fearing it would fall. She was open-mouthed at what she discovered. Among the sea of sparkles and glowing, she recognized a collection of jewels. The opaque-golden box seemed like a treasure discovered after an eternity awaiting in the shadows. Nuada took out a thick ring. It was made of worn-out gold and worked with similar symmetrical engraved details to tree leaves shapes. The center showed an oval opal of similar dimensions than the one in the crown. He took her right hand and put it on her ring finger.

"These are the jewels of the queen of Bethmoora, the last one who wore them was my mother," he said with emotion in his voice. " Bethmoora will at last have a queen once again."

He kissed the back of her hand and put down a knee to the floor.

"Do me the honor of ruling by my side for what's left of our lives. Let us join our races in one pact of love and so that nothing and nobody will ever again threaten our newfound peace."

Loreto took his hands in hers and kissed their backs. She pulled him up on his feet. The knot in her throat didn't allow her to breathe normally. A moment ago, she feared for him, at the aim of the FBI agents ready to kill him. A few minutes ago Nuada had matched himself face to face against human war technology armed only with a prop sword and all his battlefield experience from his thousands of years of existence. All to protect her and his twin sister. He who's willing to sacrifice his life for his people is a hero. She remembered the first time she heard speaking about him. He had been described as a dangerous terrorist. His hands, now interlaced with hers, gave and took away life like the Elemental. His heart opened and closed forever. His gaze shone with equal strength the thirst for vengeance as also eternal love. Nuada didn't know about halfway. He wasn't made for anything less than to rule or to live in exile. To live or to die. To love or to hate. His road in the shadows was reaching an end. It was now the beginning to the return towards the light.