The Fae Prince

Chapter 26: Azrael

NOT EDITED

FINAN

I relay all of the information that I gathered with Sebastian to my father a few days after we returned from the Werewolf kingdom, needing time to recover from the trip and the fight with Adira. Exerting that much power took its toll on me and sent me into a deep sleep for a day or so. We concluded that all the information given to us by Haley was accurate enough for us to move further with our battle plans.

"Sebastian will allow us to use the mountain pass in Nullius?" My father asked as he looked at the maps and plans laid out in front of him.

"He will," I said, "He knows the higher ground will give us an advantage to fight against the rogues."

"Are we certain that the armies will pass through there and not somewhere else?"

I pull the maps toward me and point to the mountains that partially surround our kingdom to the North, mountains that not even I would dare pass through in fear of invoking the wrath of ancient gods and monsters laid to rest.

"According to the information Haley gave us, Azrael knows the Prisca mountains house ancient deities and monsters that will rip apart his army before he even has a chance to attack us, the only plausible route of travel would be through Nullius," I push the map back over to my father and sit back into my chair, "They know only the wolves travel through there thanks to their ability to hide in plain sight as wolves so they would think they only have to watch out for the wolves going through there."

"And the wolves are on our side? You didn't need to call what they owe us into favor?" My father sits in his own chair and brings his goblet of faerie wine to his lips, taking a long sip.

"No, quite the opposite actually," I chuckle slightly, "Sebastian and Daria's daughter is showcasing some rather rare abilities, abilities that I've only read about in the ancient journals of the first fae. Sebastian said he'd rather have her experiment on a battlefield rather than with others and possibly hurting them. He also thinks I can help her learn control, but I told him that would be a conversation for the future."

My father nods, setting his goblet down, "I'd like to share something with you, son."

"Go ahead," I nod to him and my father stands to his feet.

"Your mother and I knew that Haley was Azrael's daughter, or we at least had an inkling she was," he says, the air around him becoming cold with shame, "Her mother visited us when she was pregnant with her, begging us to help keep her and her daughter safe. We could not risk turning her mother while pregnant and we also just didn't believe her. How could a witch be Azrael's mate thousands of years after he came to be?"

"You knew," I whispered, wide eyed and unmoving as I stared at my father's back.

"We had an idea," my father corrected, glancing at me from over his shoulder, "We didn't believe Haley's mother, and in a rage, your mother sent her away and cursed her so that she would no longer be able to enter the lands of Elphame or the supernatural kingdoms in general."

"That's why Haley knew so much about faeries and why Azrael never found her or her mother," I said as I relaxed my hands so they were no longer balled into fists, "They were in the human realm the entire time Azrael was looking for them in the supernatural realm."

I didn't realize I had moved to stans a few feet behind my father until he turned around. My father takes a few step towards me until he's standing in front of me.

My father nods, "I didn't want to believe that we turned away Haley's mother and made the biggest mistake of our lives until we actually did make the biggest mistake of our lives and made an enemy of Haley. We were cowards for turning away Haley's mother."