May Death Do Us Part

163 Chapter 163 : Oh my gods..

Renly walked passed an agitated Kazan and inched closer to the withered old man who lay motionless on the bed, if it wasn’t for the steady rising and falling of his chest and the slow blinking of his eyes, one would think this man was a corpse.

“Master,” Renly began to speak, the nosferatu prince has made contact with the woman’s family. I fear the worst, he may be gathering allies to help him in his search for her. And considering the fact that the lycan has taken over two thirds of the continent, we may run out of places to hide.”

The sickly man turned his gaze to Renly and looked at him for a straight minute before speaking, “Thank you for your loyalty Renly,” the man muttered before breaking into a coughing fit.

Kazan rushed to the man’s side but was waved off. His eyes narrowed as he watched his master wipe the trickle of blood that had escaped his mouth. His condition was worsening by the day, why was everything taking so long?!

“I’m fine,” the man spoke. He then turned back to Renly and gave him a serious look, “we always knew that the banished races would retaliate at some point, and that’s why we have been preparing for it. Unfortunately because of that cocky lycan Elric, everything happened much sooner than anticipated.”

“So what do we do master?” Renly questioned, “you are the last hope humanity has and you’re-” the man stopped himself, he didn’t want to say something that would upset his master, but it was no secrete that Ella the experimentation had taken a two on him and he was most likely to die.

“I need you to continue watching prince Aiden,” the old man instructed Renly, “be my eyes out there Renly, we need to know his every move so that we are always a step ahead.”

Renly knew how imperative it was to keep Aiden from finding Estel and their little jewel Damien. If he managed to take them away all their plans to restore humanity at the top of the food chain would crumble.

“I will not let you down master,” Renly responded before flapping his cloak and transforming into a little black raven. The bird spiraled around the room until Kazan opened the door and let it fly out.

.....

After securing the door shut, Kazan walked to the bed ridden man and continued wiping him

with a wash cloth.

“Has the boy presented any powers yet?” The man mumbled.

“Other than his fangs and pointed ears,” Kazan responded with a hint of disappointment in his voice, “the boy has displayed nothing. Maybe we were wrong and the combination of elf and nosferatu blood merely cancel each other out.”

“No,” the old man corrected him, “our experiments have shown that the abilities of an elf and a nosferatu fused as one is what we need to finally end all of this.” he turned to look at Kazan who was now clothing him, “but you know what happened during our experiments don’t you Kazan?”

“All the chimeras died,” Kazan muttered.

“That’s why we need the boy,” the old man continued, “he, unlike the others, is a born chimera, he will be the perfect potent vessel. All we need to do is be a little more patient till he presents his powers and we can incept them.”

*

“What are you doing there little one?”

Damien cocked his head to the side and immediately hid the scribbling he had made on the wall by covering it with his palms. He shook his head hastily and pouted.

“Come on I’m not going to scold you,” Estel reassured her son as she sat next to him and gently pulled his palms from the wall. On it were stick sketches of three people, a man with red hair, a woman with long gold hair, and a little boy who had red hair as well.

“Well this is really pretty,” Estel cooed, “and who are these?”

Damien pointed at the woman and gazed up at his mother with his big blue eyes, “that’s you mama,” his finger then moved to the little boy, “that’s me,” and then he pointed at the man, “and that’s papa, you said he looks just like me.”

Estel pulled her son into her embrace and gently stroked his red locs, “it’s a wonderful drawing my baby.” She pulled him away cupped his little face in her hands, “but unfortunately we’ll have to hide it now, you used your magic to sketch that didn’t you? And remember, we don’t want those bad men to see what you can do.”

Damien had a sad look on his face that broke Estel’s heart, she hated that her son couldn’t be free and expressive like other children, and she hated that he had to grow up locked in a dingy old tower amongst a bunch of humans. Estel waved her hand and the scribbles her son had made vanished, she then turned to a nearby drawer and pulled out a small vial.

“Already? But mama i was still playing” Damien complained upon seeing the green potion his mother was holding.

“I’m so sorry honey,” Estel whispered as she kissed her son’s forehead, “this is the only way I can keep the bad men from taking you away from me. We have to stick together until your father can find us okay?”

Damien slowly nodded, took the vial and gulped down its contents. Within a few seconds of drinking the potion, her little six year old shrunk to the size of a one year old baby. Estel then took Damien in her arm and destroyed the vail with her magic.

Estel had been concealing Damiens true age and abilities over the years to fool the mages. She had been using some herbs and spells she had learned from her grandmother as a child to make Damien look like a stunted baby after she had overheard them talk about taking him to their master once he exhibited his powers. Faking a sickness of stunted growth also gave her an excuse to access the herbs she needed for the spell, because all she had to do was lie that they were medicinal for her son who seemed to not be growing.

She gave Damien one last kiss on the forehead and cradled him closer, “just a little longer my darling, I know your father will come for us soon enough.”

*

Emma Morrell walked towards Carol and gently tapped her on her shoulder, “what’s going on, why is the physician here?”

“Dont worry my lady I’m the one who called him over to take a look at queen Melissa,” Carol responded.

Emma felt her heartbeat quicken, “what happened? Why does she need a physician?! Is she hurt?” The woman was about to make her way to Melissa’s room when Carol gently pulled her back.

“My lady don’t worry,” she reassured the woman, “her and his majesty had a fight and I was worried she may have suffered some emotional distress. And given her condition, I just wanted to make sure she’s okay.”

Carol then turned to the physician, “this way please, but remember, her highness doesn’t know yet so all you have to do is make sure she is fine, no need to disclose her condition to her just yet.”

The tall elderly man nodded and proceeded towards Melissa’s chambers with carol on his heels.

Emma was confused, ‘her condition?’ What was Carol talking about? Was there something wrong with her daughter that she hadn’t noticed? The woman followed the dual down the hall to her daughter’s room, now she was even more worried than before.

When they entered Melissa’s chambers they found Marceline sitting by Melissa’s side and gently rubbing her back, did Marceline know what was going on?

“Honey..” Emma made her way to her daughter and sat down next to her, she cupped her cheek and inspected her face frantically, “what’s wrong, you look pale are you okay?”

“I’m okay mother please don’t worry,” Melissa assured her, “I think I’m just a little stressed.”

The physician walked towards Melissa and crouched in front of her. From his canine eyes and hairy arms, Melissa could tell that he was a lycan. “I’m just going to do a few basic tests your highness, so just relax.”

Marceline got up and turned to Emma, “can we talk for a bit outside,” she muttered with a smile, “there’s something of importance i wish to discuss with you.”

Emma smiled at Melissa and rubbed her shoulder gently before standing up to follow Marceline out of the room, she wondered what important issue she wanted to discuss, did it have anything to do with Melissa’s condition?

When they stepped out into the empty hallway, Marceline closed the door behind them and turned to look at Emma with a serious expression, “Emma, our daughter is pregnant.”

Emma stood frozen in place trying to contemplate wether she had heard Marceline right or she was just hearing things. The woman shook her head in confusion before scofffing, “I’m sorry,” she muttered with a delirious smile, “I think I’m losing my mind with worry because I could have sworn you said Melissa is pregnant.”

“I did,” Marceline repeated herself, she maintained a straight face but there was a glimmer of worry in her eyes, “and she is.”

“What?..” Emma questioned the woman again.

“And it isn’t Elric’s,” Marceline added on.

Way to add fuel to the fire, Emma felt like the floor had started spinning. Melissa was carrying the child of another man other than her husband? Good gods! “Who...” Emma cupped her head and took a deep breath, “who is responsible.”

“Gareth,” Marceline responded.

“Oh my gods..”