Once Upon a Child of the Stars

Twenty Eight- Temporary Hiding

Once Raegar and I left the waters, we changed back into our normal clothes and headed back to the village. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Kaedian rushing up to us.

"Kaed what's going on?" I ask.

"He's here. On Dyspheria," he says, his voice panting and a bit shaky.

"Relax. We are safe here and we have a secondary hiding location," I say, grabbing his arms and keeping him from hyperventilating.

"Hopefully your father can convince him you never came home," Raegar states.

"I hope so but I wouldn't bet on it," I say, shaking my head.

"Where is the second location?" Kaedian asks.

"With the phoenix. My father's cousin is mated to a royal phoenix. Their land is hidden well enough most people don't even know where it is," I state.

"Sounds perfect," Raegar says.

"I will talk to my father tonight," I say as we begin to walk back to the house.

"Alright. Let's get something to eat and then we can go to bed. I would not be fulfilling my duty if you starved and were sleep deprived," Raegar says with a chuckle.

"Aw. That's so sweet of you to look out for me like that," Kaedian says. I burst out with laughter as Raegar rolls his dark purple eyes.

We make our way to a diner and have a nice dinner together. We do not spend a ton of time there as I am anxious to go to sleep and speak with my father.

"Guys. I realized a problem," Kaedian states.

"And what might that be?" Raegar asks flatly.

"There are only two bedrooms and three of us," he says.

"What a pity. Guess it's you and me, big guy," Raegar says as he throws an arm around Kaedian.

"W-what? No n-no no. I-I think I w-will just take the couch," Kaedian stutters as he pushes Raegar off of him. Raegar shrugs his shoulders at me as Kaedian scrambles away from the royal Hellian and out of the room.

"Guess that settles it," Raegar says with a chuckle and I can not help the laughter that erupts from me.

We say our good nights and go our separate ways. I quickly lay in bed and settle in, trying to sleep as fast as I can. To my excitement, I fall asleep quickly and my father is standing there waiting.

"Hey, Princess," my father says with a smile as he walks to me with open arms. We embrace for a moment making me feel at home.

"Hey, Dad. I heard Xavian is on Dyspheria," I say, or rather question.

"He is. I tried telling him you had not come here, but he knew you had because of the tracker on the ship Raegar brought," he says.

"Shit. Should we go to the phoenix now or wait until we need to move?" I ask.

"Stay put for now. We will figure this out tomorrow. I must go. I love you," my father says before breaking the connection.  He seemed to be in a rush so I did not argue him leaving me. 

I wake the next morning to voices from the other room. I grumble to myself as I pry myself out of the bed. I ignore the fact that I am in small shorts and a tank top and walk out into the room where the voices resonate from. The two men are chit chatting in the living room, Raegar sitting on the chair and Kaedian on the couch. 

"Good morning, Sunshine!" Kaedian greets me with a cheerful smile. 

"Good morning," I say in a half mumble. 

"Did you talk to your father?" Raegar asks. I give him a swift nod and sit on the couch next to Kaedian. 

"Yeah. He said Xavian is here. He tried to say we didn't come here but the ship you brought had a tracker and lead him right to Dyspheria. Now we can only hide here or with the phoenix if he gets too close to the lycan territory," I say with a sigh. 

"We really should just come up with a plan and plan on him finding us here. This whole game of chase is going to get old really fast. Like you said, we can't hide forever," Raegar says. Inside I know he is right, but the thought of seeing Xavian again makes my stomach turn and my heart flutter. 

I do not know if it fear, or if it is the strange mating connection, but the feelings are less than welcomed towards Xavian. I sigh and bite my lip, but nod to Raegar. 

"What's the plan then?" Kaedian asks. 

"Wait until he finds us and then try to talk to him?" I ask. 

"That might work if he's in a good mood. If not, we need a back up plan," Kaedain says. 

"I think if it doesn't work we should escape and hide again. On another planet this time," Raegar states and he purses his lips. 

"I wish we had some inside knowledge on why the hell he hates me. Or why he mentally abused me. I just want answers to everything and I'm afraid I won't get them, you know?" I say, looking down and shaking my head. 

"It is going to be okay, Lumi. We will figure it all out," Kaedian says as he places a hand on my shoulder. 

"What is the plan for today then?" I ask, trying to distract myself from the bubbling problems we are coming. 

"Just enjoy the surrounding nature and furry shape shifters," Kaedian says with a smile. 

"You really like them don't you?" I say with a smile. 

"Yeah they're all really friendly and they know how to eat, which is something I quite enjoy," Kaedian says and I chuckle back to him. 

Throughout the day, we wander around and spend our time with the lycans. It is a nice distraction, but with Xavian being on the same planet as me now it is almost as if I can feel him in the atmosphere. 

As we sit at a diner, our food in front of us as Kaedian is digging in, I stop and think about something. 

"Raegar," I start and he looks up from his food. "Is it possible for mates to feel where their other half is just through the connection?" I ask, thinking about how I can feel Xavian's presence on the planet. 

"Yes of course. It is a normal thing for Hellians. We have extra senses towards our mates because we only get one. Similarly to how lycans can sense their mates emotions or if they are in danger," Raegar says before his face changes to realize what my thoughts were. 

"He's going to find you a lot quicker than we anticipated," Raegar says. 

"Is there anything that can temporarily block a connection?" I ask, my heart beginning to beat heavier at the realization that my time free from Xavian was severely shortened. 

"We might be able to hide in the underground bunker that the lycans have. Or maybe the mountains where the phoenix live will weaken the connection. I have honestly no idea," Raegar says, shaking his head as he tries to figure out the best way to hide for a temporary time.