Blood of Decusia

Chapter Eleven

Adolfus: the alpha.
    "Oh-oh my god," I stammered, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going-."
    "It's fine," he laughed, "I was lost in my own thoughts as well, which tends to happen as you get older."
    "Well, again, I'm sorry."
    "Wait a second," he said, gesturing to the house we were standing in front of, "Would you like to come in and talk for a minute? I'm assuming you could use someone to talk to, maybe answer some burning questions?"
    "How did you-?"
    "You'll soon figure out that I know a lot of things, please come in."
    I hesitated for a brief second before following him inside. It was a similar setup to my dad's but there was a desk next to the bed with a stack of papers scattered. He sat down on the bed. I was unsure of where to sit, so I stood awkwardly by the door. Adolfus gestured to the bed, which was neatly made.
    I sat down, the mattress creaking under me.
    "So, I'm guessing that you found the house," he started.
    I nodded, the feeling of betrayal rising again in my chest. He looked down at the picture that was still in my hand.
    "May I?" he asked.
    I didn't want to hand it over, but I felt myself holding it out to him. He took and stared at it with a smile.
    "This was right after I was made Alpha," he mused, "Wow, that seems like a lifetime ago, 30 years. Alexander and Romulus were my number 2 and 3, respectively. We had been by each other's sides since your father was a child."
    I didn't even know where to start with my questions. The picture, the letter, everything was so confusing in my brain. My mind was still wrapped around Marcus's lies, my parents' lies.
    "I think the only proper thing to do is start from the beginning. As you've already pieced together, your father lived here. He not only lived here, but prospered. From a very young age, he became one of the finest Lupidium in our history. He rose through quickly. He was very personable and everyone liked him."
    He laughed to himself like he was remembering something.
    "Your father was significantly younger than Romulus and I, but we saw something in him and took him under our wing. He became the fastest person to graduate out of pup and into Hunter. From there, we rose high in the ranks together.
    Another important thing you should know about Alexander is that he was the ultimate bachelor. I always told him he would be a great father and husband, but that's not what he wanted. He was carefree, wild, and it seemed like he would never be tied down to anyone."
    "Until he met my mother," I said.
    He smiled and nodded.
    "You knew my mother?"
    "Of course I did," he said, "Well actually, not at first. Your father did all he could to hide it, but those closest to him knew something was different. Something that only love could cause."
    "Why?" I asked, "Why would he hide it?"
    "Because your mother wasn't Lupidium."
    "Wait," I asked, "If she wasn't Lupidium, then what-?"
    That's when it clicked and I suddenly remembered the necklace, the legend, the essence of Fauna Queen around my neck.
    "Fauna," I whispered, "She was Fauna."
    Adolfus nodded, somberly.
    "She wasn't just Fauna, she was the Queen's daughter. Only a few years before her coronation, too."
    His words hit me like a brick wall.
    "What?"
    "Yes, she was the Princess of the Fauna and he was the Beta. No one really knows how they met, maybe when he was on patrol. But when he did find her, there was no way he was letting her go. They kept it a secret for a while, but it was only a matter of time."
    I remember how loving my parents were growing up. The looks they gave each other held nothing but warmth and affection. It was a kind of love I  had always dreamed of having.
    "Now, there was no law or any sort of rule against it, but once the news broke it created quite a stir, but again, not anything major."
    "Until she got pregnant," I interrupted, remembering the letter.
    Adolfus nodded again.
    "Now we didn't know that for a while, years actually. One day, he was here and then he was gone. He left a letter saying that he was sorry, but he took a position with the king and didn't want to tell me. But I knew that was a lie and I suspected he had gone into the forest to run away with her."
    "I found a letter," I said, "In my dad's stuff. It was from my mom. She said that her mother found out about the baby and that they had a talk, but she couldn't talk about it. She wanted him to meet her in "their old spot"."    
    "25 years ago; that was when your father left," he agreed, "I assumed that he was living among the Fauna, seeing that she was a Princess and all and the only heir to the throne. I didn't hear from him or the Fauna again."
    "They were murdered," I said, "By Dominius and the Malum."
    "Yeah," he answered somberly, "15 years after your father disappeared. I assumed that he, your mother, and the baby all died with them."
    "10 years ago," I muttered, "Wait, he did die 10 years ago. But not with the Fauna, in a house fire. My mother and brother were killed too."
    Adolfus sighed.
    "I didn't learn about that until about a few years ago. It felt like I lost him all over again. I didn't know he had made it into the Other World, that he had started a life, a family, only for it to be ripped away and his children to be left alone."
    Suddenly, a face appeared in my mind.
    "Wait," I asked, confused, "Mina?"
    Adolfus looked confused for a minute, but then nodded solemnly.
    "Her real name was Una," he answered, "She was actually your father's sister."
    "What?"
    This was becoming too much. But I remembered Una was one of her last words.
    "She disappeared the night the Fauna were slaughtered. She was on patrol duty that night and I assumed she got caught in the crosshair. But I guess your father told only one person where he was going. Una was able to find her way into the Other World and take care of you after your parents died."
    "She was supposed to be there," I remembered my vision, "The night of the fire. My dad had called her."
    I paused for a second.
    "My parents were fighting," I explained, "About this."
    I pulled the necklace out from under my sweatshirt. His eyes widened. Then I remembered what Marcus said about needing a strong concentration of energy to cross.
    "That's what she gave my mom," I said, "My grandmother, the Queen, I mean. That night before she left."
    He shook his head and put his head in my hands.
    "That's why he did it," he muttered, "What was that poor boy thinking?"
    "What?"
    That's when something Adolphus said rang in my ears, "I didn't know he had made it into the Other World, that he had started a life, a family, only for it to be ripped away and his children to be left alone."
    He said children, not child. Children. And if the Fauna were slaughtered before Adolfus found out about my parents' escape, then how would he have known that he started a family in the Other World?
    Adolfus looked me dead in the eyes, as if he could see me putting together the pieces.
    "Clove," he said, slowly, "Sage didn't die that night. He survived the fire."
    "Sage," I muttered, "Sage is alive."
    The room started spinning. I had spent 10 years thinking that he had died the night of the fire. That he had left me, but no. My brother was alive.