12: Darken: Resurrection

Chapter Sixteen: Astraea

After getting cleaned up and putting on some comfy breaches and shirt i made my way to Althaeons room and knocked lightly on the door. 

he opened it, his face red, Violet standing behind him, arms crossed, they had clearly just been fighting. 

"i... im sorry, ill come back another time," i said, turning away, tears forming in my eyes. 

"Astraea, its fine." Althaeon spoke softly, "we were just talking about you actually, she was telling be what he..." 

i turned to face my brother, "there was always someone to see, i cant even hide it..." tears started falling from my face once more. "Althie... i really need to talk to you." 

he glanced back at Violet and she gave a nod. he looked back to me, "lets go somewhere more, appealing. im hungry, care to join me in the kitchen?"

i nodded, following my brother through the quiet corridors, the staff long asleep except the few guards patroling the halls. we got to the kitchen and he motioned for me to sit. 

"How do you know where the kitchen is in my palace?" I asked with a chuckle.

"I know where the kitchen is in all the palaces I visit," he replied, filling a kettle with milk and adding mint leaves. He set it above the lit fireplace to heat. Next, he grabbed a chocolate bar and chopped it into small pieces, dropping them into two tea cups.

As the milk started to bubble over, he rushed to grab the kettle, pouring the hot milk over the chocolate and mixing it with a spoon. He placed the cup in front of me, then walked to the pantry and came back with a plate of shortbread cookies.

He sat across from me, eyes warm and inviting. "Take a drink, then you can talk, rant, or anything else."

The first sip was a wave of rich, minty warmth that soothed my soul. It felt like a silent invitation, a quiet space to open up without fear of judgment. 

He smiled at me, "now sister, what is on your mind?" 

"the child," i started, "i dont know if i want to keep it, or even let it grow in me... its a painful reminder what he did to me..."

"for starters," he reached over the table, ripping the collar around my neck off of the arm throwing it across the room, "thats better. sister, its your choice what to do... but think of this... mother kept me. she had you and Alex, then brought me home. you have the twins, who once this is all over, will want their mother."

"i dont think i would be the man i am today if it wernt for mother and father... the father who raised me," he continued, "if the child is too painful to keep, then by all means, get rid of it... but remember, it is innocent in all of this. the child deserves to be loved in a loving home, surrounded by people who love it. dont think of it as his child, think of it as YOUR child."

"and remeber, they will have a wonderful uncle like me around to help guide it," he smiled.

"dont you mean brother?" i asked, wiping my tears. 

"that child is yours," he said sweetly. "i am its uncle and always will be. when the time comes, we can explain the events surrounding its birth, but for now, all it needs is love."

"i still dont know," i looked at my cup.

"in that case," Altheaon said, standing and grabbing a bottle from a shelf, setting it in front of me, "this will end your pregnacy, it will hurt and it will suck. Violet has used it many times, children are not for us, but it is your choice, three drops, no more, no less. more then that can kill you as well."

i looked at the bottle, the liquid a shimmering blue, how did i not know that something like this was in my palace? or that Violet used this?

he sat back down across from me, "if you take it, i will help you through passing the child. it will be as painful as childbirth but it will come out dead. i need you to really take what i told you into concideration before deciding."

i picked up the bottle, holding it for a moment... concidering erasing what was done to me... but that was never really the case, it would never erase what was done to me. i stood to my feet, setting the bottle back on the shelf. then fell to my knees, tears pouring from my eyes as i held my stomach. 

"i cant..." i muttered, "i will love this child, ill be the mother it needs."

Althaeon pulled me into his arms, "i knew you would say that." he kissed the top of my head as he wrapped his wings around me in a protective way. wing so simular to Draus's but felt more comforting then his, "mother would be proud of you."

i nodded, "thank you brother."

"what are big brothers for?" he chuckled. 

"little brothers." i reminded him, "just because you are three years older, does not change the fact that you were born after me. you will always be my little brother."

he looked down at me, "want to say that again shorty?"

"as mother would say....RUDE!!" we both looked at eachother, then laughed.

i wiped my tears on his shirt, "how do you even know how to make hot cocoa? you are a king, i know mother let me into the kitchens as a child."

"except you ate like an elve," he reminded me, "i need to eat more as a dragon, i use up the energy very quickly. but, mother did not let me either, that was a habbit i formed after becoming a king, whenever i needed a bit of comfort, whenever i feel lonely.... more so now that its just the two of us."  

i nodded, "we were all so close," i chuckled lightly, "the eight of us were always seen together... have you talked to Amethyst since she left?"

he shook his head, "i could never find her, i tired."

"she lives with Sebastian and Ava now," i told him, "i tired to visit before, but seeing her so happy there... i couldnt bring myself to."

we sat in silence, Amethyst was one of mothers youngest sisters, with her twin Aurora. they were eight when mother had met them, she took them in as her own when i was only a few years old. they were my older sisters, but after mother lost her emotions and killed so many of our family, including Aurora... she left our family.

"Maybe, once this is all over, we should visit her," Althaeon suggested.

"if we bring Alex back she might be mad at us," i pointed out, "we lost so many siblings, it feels selfish just choosing the one."

"he died protecting us," Althaeon reminded me, "he has earned it."

i nodded, "maybe."