The Rise of the Fallen Queen

Chapter 51

CHAPTER 51

Haggai and Dona's Home...

Dark circles of worry and stress rest beneath Dona's eyes. She sat in the kitchen smoking a cigarette and watched as her Soulmate entered the dark house. The grey and blue sky showed briefly through the partially open door heralding a new day.

Dona used her magic to push a chair out from the table and waved the haggard wizard into the seat. Obliging, Haggai kept his tired eyes on the wooden surface. Ever since Trish had died, Haggai slept very little. He kept everything inside and it was slowly killing him.

"Talk to me. Don't shut me out." Dona demanded gently.

"She shouldn't have died like that." Haggai finally said after a long silence. The sun had risen but still the two remained where they were. "She had become a better person, found her mate, and was trying to do right. A scared little girl that was forced to be a monster. She had no one. Not even her mate grieves for her."

Dona reached across the table and wiped the tears from his eyes. "She had you. You were the father figure she never had."

Haggai buried his face into his arms on the table as he sobbed. Dona stroked his head and hummed a soothing tune as her Soulmate poured out his grief.

---------------

Cub Creek Territory...

The destruction of the High Council's court and lost of lives was a devastating blow. Darius had done all he could before returning home with his new charge. He was ill-equipped to deal with the struggle of caring for a pregnant human with a vampire infant. But he managed and even reached out to the young woman's in-laws.

As a former king, Darius Manassah was used to tense situations. Meeting with Lord Beau Jefferson a few days ago was on the upper scale. The man had stridden into his study with the entitled arrogance of false self-importance. Darius had gritted his teeth at the thought of being polite when he really just wanted to be left alone.

The demand that he should turn the "human whore" over to Lord Jefferson so that she could be properly disposed of along with the abomination she carried made Darius give up the pretense of civility. He barely managed not to murder the man but knew that his ward, Elyria, would be safer somewhere else. So, with Alphas' permission, Darius was now staying at one of the guest houses on Cub Creek property.

Elyria Jefferson was an innocent angelic girl that had hardcore decency, a rare find. She, however, lacked confidence probably due to an abusive upbringing. Though her fear was subtle, Darius tried to be careful since she looked to him for approval. She maintained a bubbly personality because she didn't want anyone around her to be sad.

^Elyria Jefferson^

Darius wanted to distance himself because he knew that she was most likely going to die. It made his heart hurt to think of her bright spirit being snuffed out when she barely had a chance to live. The former vampire king was shocked to find out that she was only 16 and had been sold to her Eternal One a year ago by her family. Both parents were struggling addicts and when Lyon Jefferson arrived at their home to collect money, they offered him their daughter instead.

Elyria had been set up like a princess and was grateful to the point that she gave her heart and body to the only person that had ever cared. Darius thought it had been very irresponsible of Lyon but the man was dead. Soon his Eternal One would die as well and if the child lived, it would be an orphan.

"Look!" Elyria whispered excitedly as a pretty orange butterfly landed on her finger tip.

The girl had come looking for him in his study and insisted that he join her for a tea party.

"It's a migrating monarch butterfly." Darius said as he tried not to notice her bright dark brown eyes shine with wonder. The colorful insect was always his personal favorite and he loved to study the migration routes.

"Where are they going?"

"Central Mexico. I actually went to a reserve there. There were thousands of butterflies everywhere."

"Aw. I wish I could go there."

Darius smiled and said, "I could take you there if you like."

Elyria was silent a moment as she watched the butterfly flit away on delicate wings. "Could we go after the baby is born? I would want her to see them too."

The man frowned at the request.

She looked at him with her big brown eyes filled with sadness. "I overheard the doctor. I know that I am supposed to die giving birth but I have hope. I'm making a list of things I want to do and see. I will to wait until she's born so that we can do everything together."

Looking away, Darius nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. "I promise I'll take you both there myself."

She smiled at him brightly without a hint of sorrow. "Thank you."

The Ivory Tower...

Melanie stood in front of the tower with Grim and Matthew Brush by her side. Circling the base for more than twenty minutes, Brush grew impatient his annoyance increased when he looked over at the trembling man who kept chanting, "unworthy" in Swahili. It was wearing on his nerves but the witch had insisted upon bringing him because she couldn't allow him to kill himself.

"We've already walked around the bloody thing. Now how do we get up there?" he asked impatiently.

"Silence!" Melanie commanded as she circled the tower yet again. "It's a cryptex. These are riddles written in the side BUT some of the riddles are traps. If you press the wrong code then the tower will kill you."

Looking at the group, she pointed to one of the Hunters that Brush had brought. "You. Come here."

She directed him through the code but after pressing the third block, a spear shot down, impaling the unfortunate man.

"Ah! There we go!" Melanie smiled deviously as the splash of blood revealed a hidden message. Eight dead men later, a set of stairs appeared.

"Finally!" Brush exclaimed excitedly with no hint of grief for the young Hunters that were killed.

Rushing up the steps like a child at Christmas, Brush entered the tower only to find it empty.

"Where is she?" Brush demanded. "Where is our queen?"

Melanie walked to the table where a chess set was laid out. Reciting an uncovering spell, she read the message.

"Luck is on our side and we will win this time." Melanie said confidently. "She in Cub Creek."

================================

Just a heads up... I'm going to try to post on Thursday every week BUT I'm currently trying to put things in place. I've written some end scenes and I need to line everything up so that it makes sense. Because of this struggle, there might be a week or two where I post nothing at all. Sorry about that but please be patient. I'm also trying to decide if I should do a Halloween story for this year.

Oooo, hubby and I celebrated our 20th anniversary on Tuesday and today is my oldest girl's 17th year so yay!