Chapter Eleven

The Other Half

Lunette did her best to avoid contact with the others for the rest of the day, even slipping out to eat dinner by herself rather than to be forced into a conversation when she wasn't in the best of moods. She returned with some books of her own after visiting a Muggle bookstore, coming in to hear Jennifer getting Seren ready for bed down the corridor. It had been raining on her walk back, so Lunette decided to take a quick shower to warm up before slipping into bed and picking which book she wanted to read first.

It was nice to feel calm and comfortable, especially when she found a steaming cup of tea by her bedside. But while she was absorbed in her reading, she couldn't help but be surprised when Bres came in after she had finished the first chapter.

"Are you done in the library already?" Lunette asked with surprise.

"Yes, for now," Bres agreed, pausing at the window. "It is raining again."

"It's not unusual for it to rain a lot in the summer here," Lunette said.

"It is nice," Bres decided. "What are you reading?"

"Just a random novel I picked up," Lunette said, then caught herself. "A long tale."

"Ah, I see. Are all of these books entertainment?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, and mostly from the nonmagical culture, although I did pick up a Wizard Weekly if you want to look at that," Lunette offered.

"What is that?" Bres asked, getting ready for bed.

"Well, it's a digest filled with in-depth articles on some of the news of the day, along with lots of special interest articles and sometimes a short story or a poem or two. So in a way, it's a mix of information and entertainment," Lunette explained. "Come to think of it, it's probably a good resource to learn about the culture here," she concluded, taking it out of the stack and holding it out. Pondering the offering, Bres got into bed, taking the magazine.

But instead of reading, Bres decided to watch Lunette read instead. It wasn't long before Lunette felt eyes on her, attempting to ignore it. Finally, she dropped her book in exasperation.

"What?" she confronted him.

"What what?" Bres asked.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Lunette demanded.

"I am choosing to, because I have spent several hours reading already. Looking at you is more entertaining," Bres replied.

Lunette picked up her book again and decided to ignore him, but had trouble concentrating when he simply kept looking at her.

"Would you read to me?" he asked.

"No."

"Would you look at me?" he suggested.

"No."

"Why not?" he pressed.

"Because I'm a Truth Seeker, and I know better," Lunette parried.

"You are not," Bres said with amusement. "You're hiding from me. You're using that book as a shield. I think that's how you fell in love with books as a child, because it gave you clearer information than the complicated minds of people. It also gave you a reason to put your head down. Books are your defense against the world."

"Do you mind? I don't sit there and babble on when you're trying to read," Lunette retorted.

"You do! You do it all the time," Bres informed her, amused.

"If I do, it's because you bring a book to bed every single night," Lunette complained.

"I didn't tonight," Bres pointed out.

"Yes, why is that?" Lunette asked, finally turning to him.

"You needed me, so I wanted to make sure I gave you my full attention," Bres explained. "I know that you have had a rough day, so I am here to listen, or to at least comfort you with my presence."

Lunette sighed and smiled, finding a bookmark.

"No one would believe you were a human for a single instant," she teased.

"Why? Didn't your other husbands support you when you were having a bad day?" Bres inquired curiously.

"Well, yes, but it would have taken longer for them to notice and they wouldn't have been so open about telling me," Lunette replied.

"Then it's a good thing you didn't marry another human," Bres decided. Lunette laughed softly at that, leaning into him so that he could supportively put his arm around her. She broke into a genuine smile. "There now, is your fate really as bad as all of that?"

"I'm not angry because of you, if that's what you think," Lunette said defensively.

"I'm listening," he assured her.

Lunette grew thoughtful, and they listened to the sound of the rain once more. Then, Lunette sighed.

"The whole reason I decided to retire and give my practice to Liberty and my law partners was because of how tired I am of living my life in cycles. I know I'd have made my life easier if I had just kept to my Wizard practice and let the Muggle practice go, but I couldn't… there were too many cases that came up where someone I read about in the paper needed a defense lawyer who believed them when they said they were innocent… a lawyer that could win. I just couldn't let the Muggle practice go, no matter how inconvenient it was that I had to pretend to be my own daughter every twenty or thirty years to explain away my lack of aging," Lunette said. "Then I became a wizard judge, and it was very rewarding. I had the prestige of a wizard lawyer that never lost a case… because I could always tell from Truth Seeking when they were genuinely innocent and could get to the facts better than anyone. I knew I was going to have trouble as a judge since I saw too much, so I made sure that I was assigned to a certain Wizard jurisdiction in the middle of the U.S.. I knew that area had a very sharp Truth Seeker Auror there named Audacious Belle, who was as talented of a Truth Seeker as I was. So, if she read something off of the witnesses, I knew she'd make sure that it got revealed, and that kept me from ever being tempted to cross the line and get involved.

"That went on for about a decade or so… when Audi asked if I'd come run the next Truth Seeker certification because she had an 'interesting candidate' she wanted me to check out. Audi didn't request me to do that very often, so of course I accepted. That's when I met Jennifer for the first time," Lunette explained. Bres smiled softly, listening intently. "She was young, naive, and extremely idealistic… and intensely loyal to the wizard she had just discovered was her fated match. Back then, Severus was very different from the calm Headmaster he is these days, although I often catch echoes of it in his eyes. He was a spy in a deadly game… a pawn of one of the most evil Wizards of modern times. Because of that, the timing couldn't have been much worse. Jennifer was immediately drawn into his intrigues from the very first year she taught at Hogwarts. If that wasn't enough, she had seen through her Truth Seeking who the man was who had her mother killed, and she couldn't do anything about it. So me, being that I'm a sucker for a Truth Seeker in distress, stepped in. I've been looking after ever since. I even stepped down from the judiciary and went back to being a counselor to better serve her family, not that I ever told her that's why I did it…" she said, then paused when she caught his thoughts. "Did I lose you on a point?"

"I don't want to interrupt. I understand enough for you to continue your story," Bres assured her. "Jennifer and Severus were in peril, and you went from being a judge back to advocate to help them… even though the position was wearing on you before you had become a judge."

"Yes, and it wasn't long before the same thing happened again," Lunette admitted with a sigh. "I became good friends with Severus' sister, Anna, who at that time was working in the midwest as a behavioral psychologist specialist in criminal profiling… that's a fancy term for understanding how a criminal's mind works," she summarized for his benefit. "I ended up hiring her to help me because she had discovered the Wizard world late and was struggling to find a balance in her life. Since my law practice deals with both cultures, I felt like it could help her understand how it all fit together. I, in turn, benefited from her expertise, since she could help me build a case in Muggle courts where Truth Seeking isn't admissible evidence. Of course, that kept me getting sucked into more and more Muggle cases… and by the time I retired, I was back in the same position as I had been before I became a judge. But by then, I had taken on plenty of partners in my practice, including my own grandchild. I had even taken the precaution to allow myself time for my diversions for self care, so that it didn't wear me down. But the truth was that it wasn't just about the practice. It wasn't until Jeff died that I realized the cycle of human marriages I have had was also taking a heavy toll on my heart, and the only solution I could think of to escape the cycle was to be alone… and I don't like being alone."

"And so…" Bres prompted with a knowing smile.

"And so, I retired. I divied up all of my businesses to people who would appreciate them, sold off everything that needed maintenance, and built an investment egg in multiple countries so that I needn't ever worry about funds here even if I decided to stay in Tir Na Nog for an extended period of time. Ever since I met my grandfather, I wanted to get to know him and learn more about my heritage. I knew I could connect with him, and through him, I could reconnect with myself again. I loved his people… my people… even if they still view me as a child, which honestly is both ironic and amusing considering how many humans call me great grandmother."

"And then what happened?" Bres prompted.

"You know what happened next," Lunette pointed out.

"Tell me anyway," Bres coaxed.

"I went home to the fort to find Grandfather still in the process of damage assessment after what happened with Lilith, along with a lot of back and forth with different kingdoms surrounding the Shadowed Lands to establish what his official borders were, that sort of thing," Lunette said. "There were also some specialized scouts there from both Caer Brenin and Lord Minwyll of the Wood Elves to help grandfather survey the land to assess what areas might be brought back to life and what areas were permanently damaged.

"But there was one topic our recovery that Grandfather was quite hesitant to bring up, despite the fact the problem was blatantly obvious; the vast majority of survivors were male soldiers who had been cursed with being unable to have children until the King of the Faelands finally released them from it. And that means that the only way we can survive is if they were to start… well, co-mingling," she said with a soft smirk, but then became serious again. "It would have been bad enough to bring up if it was just a political topic, but it was even more challenging than I thought it, because Fate kept getting in the way."

"Getting in the way?" Bres repeated with confusion. "How is that?"

"Because not only did we have to worry about how wary our new allies were at the idea of holding some mixers, all of the ladies that were fated to meet their mate "in a certain way" had no intention of cooperating. Our first attempt at holding a ball turned out to be a disaster since I was the only woman there who wasn't already pregnant. And while your kingdom didn't have that silly mandate to help repopulate the kingdom's losses like the Faelands had decreed, your father had no intention of allowing any Delvish women attend unless Grandfather agreed to give him some equal compensation for the inconvenience… which turned out to be me," Lunette said dryly. "He wanted me, as crown princess, to be presented to his second son… in other words you, since you had been destined to have a mate from 'the farthest land.'"

"Yes, that is so," Bres said softly. "We needed not only peace so we could rebuild but also a trade agreement to help our food insecurities. Since my father wanted to insure a lasting agreement and knowing my Fate, he presented me. And then I saw you, drinking next to the king just as rowdy as his men, and yet he turned to you often for advice and often replied with a wit that matched my own. I knew then you were the one I had been Fated to be with."

"The fact that I was the only woman there at the time had absolutely nothing to do with it," Lunette said dryly. Bres shifted so that he could gaze at her.

"Do you truly doubt your fate so much that you would deny we were meant to be together?" he asked sincerely.

"Of course I don't doubt it or I wouldn't have married you, but that doesn't mean I'm not uncomfortable with the fated aspect. I rely on my human right of Free Will," Lunette said fervently.

"But you're only half human," Bres pointed out. Lunette stiffened, and would have turned away altogether if he hadn't had his arm around her. "Yes, you look human, and you've been able to lie to yourself to think that was the only part that mattered to you, until their short life span forced you to stop playing pretend. That is what wore you down the most, Lunette, that rejection of the other half of your heritage, until you finally came to your father's kingdom to face it head on."

"And got a lot more than I bargained for," Lunette replied.

"It only started troubling you when we arrived here. Were you hoping that by coming here that you would be free from it? Did you truly believe that you could go back to pretending to be human and deny your Fate again?" Bres inquired. "Perhaps you should have left me behind. You may have been able to make it look more convincing."

"Get out of my bed," Lunette said in a soft but serious voice.

"Very well," Bres said with perfect poise and dignity, kissing her reluctant forehead as he retrieved his arm and putting on a dressing gown. "I shall go and request to sleep in the other room Jennifer offered to us."

"What? No! Go sleep on the sofa in the sitting room! Don't get her involved!" Lunette protested, sitting up.

"You may be a princess, but I am still the son of a lord, and I am most certainly not going to reduce myself to sleeping on the sofa like a pet, especially when I am not the one conflicted with my fate. I do have some earned dignity that I am not willing to compromise. I will ask for another room," Bres said firmly. "Good night, Lunette. Sleep well, I hope you feel better in the morning," he said, then left.

Lunette pulled the covers over her head.