Chapter 105: Six Babies
Elián;
"So, what do you think? Beautiful, isn’t it?" Queen Cassia questions as she walks beside me, and I look up at her.
"Hmm... You have a very beautiful kingdom, your highness." I reply, and she chuckles.
"Please. Call me Cassia... or Mom. You’re my son’s omega. You at least have that right." She replies, and I blink in shock.
She wants me to call her by Mom, or by her name!?
That’s...
"Gravemaw is unlike a lot of other places." She begins as she faces forward, and I listen curiously to her.
"Here, we... prefer to keep things simple. We believe in staying connected to our roots and finding the beauty in the simplicities of life." She continues before looking at me to be sure I’m listening, and I nod.
"It keeps us from offending Mother Nature, and helps avoid the complexities of an overly advanced lifestyle." She adds, and just then, I spot a beautiful stone castle in the distance behind her.
It’s quite different from all the mud houses I’ve been seeing. It looks magnificent and has almost all its walls covered in vines and brightly colored flowers.
So much for simplicity, huh? I guess no matter how humble a Queen is, she’ll always need her castle.
Queen Cassia sees that I’m looking at something, and she follows my gaze.
She stops walking and stares at the castle in silence for a few seconds.
"Wilhelm gifted that to me. It was the gift he got me for birthing Koda. He said his Queen needed a castle." She informs, and I blink at her in silence.
King Wilhelm gifted her that!? For giving birth to his child!? Wow...
"I told him time and again that people from Gravemaw only want what nature gives. The extravagances of life have no place with us. But he never listened. Now, it’s a guest house for over pampered guests who aren’t used to our ways." She concludes, and my eyes almost pop.
"Guest house!? You turned a castle into a gusset house!?" I repeat, and she smiles at my reaction.
"Well... not all the time. It mostly serves as one of our main storage houses for feeding before hibernation, our little ones are kept there while they hibernate, it’s a tourist site, and we also use it to educate our children on what castles look like." She replies, and my jaw drops.
"So... you never lived there? Not once?" I question in awe, and she moves over to me.
She turns me around gently and makes me face the array of minimalist but pretty mud houses spread over for miles.
"I have all I need here. I’m an Omega, Elián. I’m one with my people. Not above them. I can’t preach unity and simplicity from within the four walls of a stone castle." She whispers, and I can’t help but look up at her.
She notices my gaze and tilts her head.
"What?" She questions, and I just blink at the pretty woman.
"You’re... different from what I’m used to," I say honestly, and her smile returns as she takes my hand.
"I get that a lot." She replies before turning around and pulling me with her.
"Come on. If we want that big meal to digest, we need this walk." She adds, and I smile.
We’ve walked only a few seconds when I can’t stop the question from escaping me.
"I take it your marriage with King Wilhelm was a love marriage?"
She looks down at me... with no expression at first... and then she smiles. A bright smile that looks like she’s reliving some memories.
"Hmm..." She replies with a nod, and my heart skips a beat.
It was!? They loved each other!?
That cold, scary, crummy king had or... has the ability to love someone romantically!?
Boy, that’s a story I want to hear!!
"I... I was much younger back then, of course. Thinner and prettier." She adds with a light chuckle, and I pout at her.
"You’re still very pretty, Queen Cassia. I haven’t quite seen someone so elegant before. I only used to see them on the internet, and I was often sure those videos and images were doctored. You, however, are walking proof that such beauty can be real." I reply, and I watch her face shift into a confused expression.
"Huh?" She questions, and I pause. Realising I just used a bunch of modern terms.
"Oh, I... ugh... What I mean to say is... you’re still beautiful. Very much breathtaking." I explain, and she blinks at me.
"And I’m not just saying it to kiss ass. I truly mean it!" I quickly add, and she giggles.
"You are a strange one, Elián. But it’s okay. If we were all the same, the world would be a rather boring place now, wouldn’t it?" She replies, and I smile back at her.
"Anyway..." She breathes as she faces forward, and I prepare myself to hear the story of the century.
"I was just 19 at the time, and was going hunting that fateful morning when I came across Wilhelm. He was in horrible shape. Beaten beyond half an inch to death. He had been travelling the night before and got mugged." She begins, and I listen to every word like this is a survival class I’m in desperate need of.
"He was no King then. Just a simpleton who was lucky I found him on time. He was in a coma for days. I hid him at one of my hideouts and tended to his health till he finally woke up." She continues, and I watch her full lips move as she narrates with a small smile.
"He was panicking when he woke up. He couldn’t remember anything. Not where he was from, where he was headed... Nothing. The only thing he remembered was his name." She adds, and my brows knot.
"He remembered nothing at all?" I question, and she nods as she looks at me.
"Hmmm. He also said a lot of strange things and used strange words then. He was quite odd those days... to be honest..." She replies as she looks back at me this time, and I blink back.
"You are very similar to how Wilhelm was in those days. He spoke too." She adds, and I just blink back at her.
What does she mean, we’re alike? I’m nothing ike that scary man.
She parts her lips to say something, but she’s cut off when two little kids run over to us. A dark skinned, handsome little boy who looks nothing above six, and a little girl with a curly, messy afro who looks just a little older. They are both stubby little angels who barely reach my waist.
Whose little muffins are these? They’re so adorable!!
"Looks like you have a few admirers." Queen Cassia teases, and I smile down at the children who are gawking at me like I’m made of diamonds.
I stoop down to be at their level, and the little boy steps closer to me.
"Wow... Jasmine was right. He does look like a star." The little boy whispers in awe, and my heart skips a beat.
"Mmhmm. And his eyes are indeed so pretty!! I want my husband to have eyes like him when I’m older..." The little girl says, and Queen Cassia giggles softly.
These... children think I’m good-looking?
They like my eyes?
"I made something for you." The little boy suddenly says, and my eyes shift back to him.
"My mom said you’re a blessing to us for bringing Alpha Koda back. She also said all of Alpha Koda’s good deeds got him a wife as pretty as you." He adds, and my smile drops on hearing that title again.
I’m nobody’s wife!! Why do these children keep calling me that!? If one more person calls me a wife, I swear...
"Since you’re so special, I decided to give you my special gift." The boy continues, and I stare at him curiously as he pulls out a crown made entirely of flowers and twigs.
My jaw drops at the pretty little thing, and he moves closer to me.
"Mya I?" He questions, and I smile.
I lean forward, and he stands on his tiny toes as he places the crown on my head. I smile at him as I pull back, and he grins proudly at me.
"Thank you. It’s very beautiful." I reply, and he giggles as his little, brown bear ears twitch happily.
He suddenly leans in and plants a kiss on my cheek.
Before I can react, he grabs the little girl, and I watch them run off on their little legs.
I can’t help my laughter as I stand back up, and Queen Cassia gently places a hand on my back.
"The children are usually very weary when a new face arrives at the sleuth... but it looks like they’ve all taken a shine to you. That’s rare." She says, and I stare at her in silence.
"You good with children. That’s good." An old, raggedy voice says, and my head snaps around.
It’s an elderly woman with long white hair and bright blue eyes.
"Given that you’re going to have six yourself, it’s good to see that you get along with children. You don’t have to worry, though. You’ll have all the help you need raising them." She speaks again before looking away from me and continuing her walk down the path in the opposite direction.
Her words reply in my mind, and my heart forgets how to beat.
Six... children?!
"Who... Who is that?" I question Queen Cassia in worry as I stare at the older woman getting farther and farther away from us.
What kind of crackhead just spots a stranger on the road and wishes him six children??
Six!? Why not just round it up to seven so we can name them after each day of the week!?
"Does she usually say crazy stuff like that!? Does she need medical help?" I question as I look up at Queen Cassia, and she looks down at me with an expression that says she’s battling back a smile.
"That’s Isilya. Our tribe’s seer." She replies, and my heart drops into my stomach.
Seer!?