The Dying

3

Marcus no longer has time to follow and protect Lady Aurora and Princess Margaret so he sets guards on them. Guards that he has trained and know how to stay in the background so that they don't know that they are being followed and protected.

Marcus finally has some time. He had been busy all night making sure that his throne was secure. It had paid off. The Lady Karla, the ex queen, now is with child. As are his late brother's two mistresses and two favorite servants. There will be no denying him as the rightful king now. With five children on the way, that's more than any of them other than the human males have managed in the last twenty years. The first of their people since the humans came, other than his sister.

He knows that he messed up last night. He's still not entirely sure how, though. He wants to secure Lady Aurora as his wife and queen and if possible his sister, Princess Margaret as his second wife or mistress. He is fairly sure that with Margaret there will be no waiting for her to get with his child. Their DNA has proven to be stronger than the human DNA and immediately starts to change the human over to the Lockheart DNA. Margaret should easily be impregnated for that reason alone.

He's still not sure just how his father managed after basically raping Aurora when she was merely fourteen years of age. With humans it takes time and the right conditions to make them pregnant. Margaret shouldn't have been so easily conceived.

Margaret should also have been celebrated widely instead of barely made known of her existence. The first female Lockheart being born in over two hundred years. 

Marcus scoffs, the first Lockheart to be born since his mother died giving birth to his younger brother. That was more than two hundred years. Again the anger at his father surfaces. His mother, his beautiful loving mother didn't have to die. If his father had paid her any attention, had she received the care she deserved and needed then she wouldn't have died.

Marcus had been in mourning for her and missed her far more than his father ever did.

By then his father had been more interested in male love than in female. He made sure that all his sons were well versed in it as well.

His father was never a good lover, he was far too rough. That was evidenced by how he treated Aurora when he bedded her.

He comes to the last known location of Lady Aurora. There he is stopped by the guard he sent to protect her. "Forgive me, king." The guard says as he steps into the path.

"Where is she?" Marcus asks rather than demand as he wishes to.

"She's bathing. I think she would rather be private at this time." The guard says bowing.

Marcus sighs, he doubts that she'll be very receptive if he bothers her while she's bathing, but he also needs to talk to her alone and he doubts very highly that she'll ever allow him to do that.

"Thank you, keep all others out unless it's Princess Margaret or Lady Karla." He thinks that Aurora would like her daughter and friend to visit if they aren't busy.

"Yes, majesty." The guard says and bows to him before taking once more his nearly invisible post and silent vigil.

Marcus makes his way to the waterfall. Over the years this has been one of the few places Aurora has come out of her room for. Especially on hot days like today, the cool waters feel nice against the heat of the day. He wasn't all that surprised to find that she left the palace. He is rather shocked that more people haven't gone looking for the coolness of the refreshing water.

He sees her and she's as he suspected, skinny dipping. He doesn't need an invitation and undresses rapidly to join her.

"Lady Aurora," he tells her as he steps into the water. He sighs as he feels the cool water start to cool him down. "Please, stay, I wish to talk to you about what happened last night."

Aurora had stood up when he called her name. When she saw who it was she both relaxed and became angry. She only stops when he does. She has no desire to be closer to him than she already is. As he circles widely around her, keeping his distance she keeps towards him so that he won't come upon her unaware.

"I just want to talk, I won't come near you. I promise." Marcus flinches when he sees the sneer that she quickly hides. He truly doesn't think that this will end well for him.

"What do you wish to speak to me about, your majesty?" Marcus listens very closely but doesn't hear much in the way of scathing tones as she speaks. She has learned well how to hide her feelings and that doesn't help him at all.

"I wish to know what words of mine offended you like they did? I would also like to apologize for those words."

"You and your people are so full of yourselves you know that? You forced my people to come here because you damn near killed yourselves out and then you proceed to do the exact same thing to my people that you did to yours. We've been here for over twenty years and other than the pure humans there have been no new births. Yet, it's not for lack of trying, at least on the part of some of you. Take that bastard brother of yours. He's been sexually assaulting and forcing women for the last twenty years and he still never made a child. I don't think that it's possible for any of you to get one of us with child. Other than that bastard father of yours." Aurora couldn't hold back the venom she feels about all of this, she lets it loose on the newly crowned king.

"You are correct, Lady Aurora. Things needed to change and they haven't. That's why I changed things this morning. I decreed that females will have the right to say no. They have rights over their own bodies and we can't force them."

Aurora claps her hands. "Well, that's lovely king. A step in the right direction that should have been taken long before your people stole mine from Earth." Aurora is angry and bitter. She no longer wants to stay at the only place outside of her room that she has ever found any solace.

She starts carefully walking to get out of the pool, as she keeps her eyes on the newly crowned king. "You don't have to leave, my queen. I just wanted to talk, I'll leave you to enjoy the peace." Marcus feels defeated. 

"I no longer wish to stay. You can stay and enjoy the peace if you wish." Her acid tone burns him. He has tried to do right by her, and finds now that he has well and truly harmed her instead. He had hoped that they might at least be friends.

He watches helplessly as she gets out and hurriedly dresses. Before he can even get out, she's gone. He silently swears to himself. He's messed up once more.