Chapter 10

While the unease continued to swirl through the room, Aiden seemed to take a moment to process what he’d heard. Adrian had been the only one to identify the Mage who’d assisted with erasing their memories, but he’d revealed more than that. He’d also brought up an uncomfortable subject for those of the Celestial Realm who knew anything about Luna Magicis.

“I’ll try not to ask the same obvious questions here, but I can only assume your failure to report this matter to the Celestial Council was because you wanted to protect your own children, yes, James?” Aiden began.

“Yes. And we believed that because it was done with magic, the magic could be undone, so we sought to remedy the situation without causing an uproar,” James replied.

“And yet, here we are, though partially not through your own fault.” Aiden sighed, “If I remember correctly, Carl Pierce died nearly twelve years ago?”

“Yes,” Alexandra answered now.

“King Orion,” Aiden looked at him, “I’m going to assume you went ahead and exhumed Carl’s body?”

Orion nodded, but there was a sullen expression on his face. He seemed to struggle to find the words, “It was the first thing we did once we returned home.” He looked over to James and Alexandra for a moment before looking back at Aiden, “Carl was missing, but… but the Bliss Family Butler, Carmichael, was there instead. It looked as though he’d been dead for quite some time. Our clerics said he could’ve been dead for nearly two years.”

“Two years?” James exclaimed. “No, no. That can’t be right. Carmichael’s been with us this whole time.”

“It seems that may not be entirely true anymore, Bliss,” Adrian noted.

A twinge of grief struck through members of the Bliss Family who’d grown up in Bliss Palace. It was even evident on Aiden’s and Alicia’s faces. Alexandra remembered Carmichael doting on the two of them just the other night upon their arrival.

“Was Carmichael not accounted for after the events of the other night?” Alicia asked, the desperation evident in her voice.

James shook his head, “No. No, we thought he’d just gone to handle mending anything damaged. I haven’t seen him since before the attack. I… I don’t know.”

“Then that begs the question: if Carmichael is in Carl’s tomb, then who has been parading around your home for the last few months?” Adrian wondered.

The thought of a stranger replacing Carmichael all this time had unsettled them. He’d known each of them as intimately as the real Carmichael had, and nothing alluded to him not being who he was supposed to be. Alexandra thought back to the few nights over the previous weeks when she’d sat with Carmichael in the staff’s kitchen, and he listened to her gripe while he made her a late-night snack.

Erik had studied in the library with him like he’d done a million times before, and Drake had sought advice from him. James shared drinks with him, and Cassandra worked alongside him to mend the garden and update things around the palace. Allison had even fallen asleep to him reading to her. It felt wrong.

“It seems things aren’t as surface level as we had originally presumed,” Alicia murmured as she glanced over at Aiden.

“Operating under the assumpting that something greater is happening here and Alexandra is merely a pawn, I suggest we clear them from the equation,” Osiris suggested.

“It’d seem like a waste, wouldn’t it?” Adrian said. “Shouldn’t we investigate further into the magic used to create Artificial Hybrids? Instead, shouldn’t we treat Alexandra more so as victim rather than a criminal? After all, she’d been born as Pure Bloods and has now been altered against her will.”

“Absolutely not,” another councilwoman bellowed. “The Claret Codes are clear on how we should treat Hybrids. Whether they’re born Hybrids are altered into Hybrids, the fact remains that they are Hybrids. We need to execute them.”

Alexandra struggled to find how these things connected as the Celestial Council delved into bickering. They’d only come to discuss whether the two of them would be allowed to live and if James and Orion were still fit to be kings, but now things were increasingly more complicated.

“Enough!” Aiden’s voice reverberated through the auditorium, and everything stilled. He stood to his feet and smoothed out his tie, “We’ll take a recess to deliberate the matter. You are free to roam the temple until we’ve reconvened.”

“What of the Hybrids?” Osiris wondered.

“They’re free to roam as well,” Aiden said as he began to leave his seat. “They’ll probably want to pray to the gods. Maybe They’ll have answers for them, seeing as we failed to find them ourselves.”

With a simple flick of his wrist, the bindings Alexandra and Drake were forced to wear disintegrated. No one dared to question it, and in the silence that filled the room, the Celestial Council left. Slowly, they started to move and filter out of the auditorium, and their chatter was filled with mixed emotions.

“Orion,” James spoke up, “if you’d be so kind as to send Carmichael home to us, please. I’d greatly appreciate it.”

Orion nodded, “Of course. I’ll make the appropriate arrangements with my staff. And my condolences for your loss.”

“Thank you,” James breathed. He looked at Alexandra and wore a sympathetic smile, “I don’t know where to begin with an apology to you, Alexandra. I never meant for this to happen.”

“I’m the last person you need to apologize to,” Alexandra grumbled. “You need to apologize to Shaun.”

“I don’t need it, nor do I want it,” Shaun sneered. “It’s not going to do me any good right now.”

Alexandra attempted to reason with Shaun, but Shaun turned on her heel and left.

While they waited for the Celestial Council to deliberate, Alexandra found herself in the central courtyard of Astral Stone. It was virtually empty save for a few spectators who also seemed to need some air. They regarded her with occasional glances but didn’t attempt to approach her and make idle chitchat.

She’d been sitting in front of one of the many statues of Aleister in Astral Stone. This one held just as many candles as the others in the front room of the temple, but the offerings here were significantly more extravagant. Jewels and delicate fabrics littered the base of his statue, and there was the occasional wax-sealed letter, among other things.

While Alexandra stared at Aleister’s statue, she saw Drake quietly sit beside her. It was awkward for a moment, but he moved closer to her and pulled Alexandra into him. She rested her head on his shoulder and heaved a sigh as he kissed her head.

“They’re probably going to kill me,” she finally said aloud.

“You don’t know that they will.”

“And you don’t know that they won’t.”

Drake squeezed Alexandra’s arm, “I’ll figure something out.”

“Don’t jeopardize a future on the Celestial Guard because of me,” Alexandra grumbled. “I’ll never forgive myself, and I’d definitely haunt you from the afterlife.”

Drake wore a sad smile, “I wish you weren’t so willing to face Death.”

“It’s the only real option for Hybrids,” Alexandra reminded him. “Shaun told me she accepted her fate years ago. I figured it’d be easier to go quietly instead of crying and screaming. It’d be shameful.”

Drake suddenly looked uncomfortable. It was a rare sight, and Alexandra was unsettled by it. Then Drake asked, “How would you feel about going to the Human Realm?”

“Are you serious?” Alexandra shrugged away from Drake and looked at him. “Our entire lives are here.”

“I know it’s not ideal,” he confessed. “But it’s the only option that leaves you and Shaun alive. We heard that there are Hybrids that retreat to the Human Realm every one hundred years to avoid the Centennial Celestial Celebrations and avoid being killed. It’s different there now. Humans don’t hunt us like they used to.”

“Wait, how did you hear about that?”

“Adrian.”

“When did you speak to Adrian?”

“He came back to Bliss Palace the other night and spoke with your parents,” he explained. “He didn’t say those words exactly, but he said that many things were happening under the Celestial Council’s nose, and it wouldn’t hurt if this was another thing that slipped under the radar. Erik went to find Shaun and told her because we know there’s a chance she’ll be executed tonight, but it’s still unclear with you.

“It’s just a contingency plan, but it may be the only plan,” Drake explained. “You and I will go with Shaun and stay there.”

“Drake, I can’t ask you to do that.” Alexandra shook her head, “Absolutely not. You can’t.”

“I swore to protect you with my life if necessary, and I’m going to uphold that promise,” Drake swore.

Alexandra couldn’t help but be filled with mixed emotions. She hadn’t considered running away to the Human Realm for protection because the Human Realm had never been an option for her. Her family hadn’t been to the Human Realm for generations because they were hunted near extinction before the Celestial Realm was formed.

The Hybrids that did retreat to the Human Realm to avoid going Beserk would only go for a night and be able to return. That wouldn’t be an option for her, and she’d never get a chance to return home. She’d never see her family again, and she would never have her normal life again.

She recalled the stories her grandfather told her, and it was nothing but him and their family running. They constantly moved to avoid detection and disappeared in the middle of the night whenever someone suspected anything. They weren’t allowed to freely be themselves and had to hide in plain sight every day. It sounded suffocating. She could only imagine how it truly felt.

But, like Drake said, it was a contingency plan, if not the only plan.

“Just… please, consider it,” he pleaded as he kissed Alexandra’s forehead. “You shouldn’t have to pay for something that wasn’t your fault.”

Alexandra could hear the desperation in Drake’s voice. There would be no convincing him to stay behind in the Celestial Realm while she retreated to the Human Realm. For a moment, she tried to see herself having a life with Drake in the Human Realm:

They’d get married like they wanted and settle into a home somewhere in the suburbs. He’d more than likely find a job in security or law enforcement, and she’d invest her time in learning a trade. She’d only been raised to be a princess and eventually a queen, but she knew political ventures in the Human Realm were spectacles, and she wouldn’t be able to leave her face anywhere permanent. It’d make it harder to live there, so she’d probably become a teacher.

Shaun would live in the same town as them initially, but once she adjusted to the Human Realm and learned more about it, she’d move somewhere else and start her own life. Alexandra saw her opening up a jewelry shop like the one her mother had, and she’d just go from city to city every few decades and continue to make jewelry. She’d meet all kinds of colorful people and find ways to replicate the life she once had in Requiem before she’d been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Drake and Alexandra would have children, and they’d struggle with deciding whether they’d tell them of the Celestial Realm. Though Alexandra wasn’t sure, it’d be possible for them to be born Hybrids, and they’d genuinely not be allowed into the Celestial Realm. They’d “age,” and eventually, Drake and Alexandra would move someplace new, revert back to being the newlywed couple in their twenties, and start anew. Their children would develop their own lives, and the cycle would also continue for them. They’d “age” and move after several decades.

Thinking about it, Alexandra felt it could work, but it’d become tiring. It was sustainable, and they’d be safe, but they wouldn’t be living. Alexandra couldn’t retreat to concealing herself to avoid the persecution of Humans anymore than she could avoid the persecution of other creatures. She didn’t want that for her future children. She didn’t want that for anyone.

“I’ll plead my case,” she said as she squeezed Drake’s hand. “I’ll find a solution.”

“Do you think you can?” Drake wondered.

She shrugged, “Maybe. But the only thing that beats a failure is a try, and I’ll be damned if I don’t at least try something.”

He wore a small smile and let out a half-hearted chuckle, “Okay.”

Alexandra leaned over and pressed her lips against Drake’s. He reciprocated the kiss, and she could feel his anxiety. She couldn’t blame him. She tried her best to ease his nerves, and the longer they stayed entangled in their kiss, the more strength she found to try and fight.

He broke the kiss first, not wanting to get carried away, and held Alexandra’s hand in his. Together, the two sat silently at Aleister’s statue and waited for the Celestial Council to finish deliberating. Though Alexandra wasn’t sure if Drake had offered a prayer, she said one for herself and Shaun.

Please let there be a chance for us.

She couldn’t recall how many times she repeated that phrase over and over again in her head, but she hoped at least one of them got through to him. She even prayed to Riher, and though it felt awkward, she managed to get the thought across.

When minutes turned into hours, Alexandra became increasingly more anxious. She had expected the Celestial Council to be at each other’s throats regarding their deliberation, but she hadn’t expected it to take this long. Finally, shortly after they’d passed the three-hour mark, the temple’s intercom came to life, and Alexandra was sure her heart stopped momentarily.

“The Celestial Council’s deliberations have concluded. Please return to the Main Hall immediately. We shall resume in fifteen minutes. I repeat the Celestial Council’s deliberations have concluded. Please return to the Main Hall immediately. We shall resume in fifteen minutes.”

Alexandra took a deep breath and looked at Drake, “It’s time.”

“Yeah,” Drake squeezed her hand, “it’s time.”