Ralphen decided to continue with the story before the lady assassins took their conversation too far off track. “It was no simple task, even for the Queen, to punish the nobles and their children. Those that weren’t lucky enough to receive the death penalty got something much worse. Not only did the queen remove the Nobles of their titles and positions as well as any estates and monetary gain, she also forced them to work in some of the worst dirty jobs you can get. The Pedophiles, for example, that paid the staff off to bug the Princess’s room, were sent to entertain the endangered winged bass drakes. The males of the species get very loud and raunchy during mating season, and if there were more females than males such as that year criminals are sent chained to stone beds to allow the species the relief to mate. Those criminals that were sent to appease the Winged Bass Drakes evidently suffered internal bleeding as well as severe damage to internal organs even breaking, tissue and muscle tears as well as other nasty medical diagnoses before they passed from this world.”
“The Queen also changed the rules so that the Nobles past, present and future can no longer get easy access to ruling status if a member of the royal house mysteriously disappeared or died off of natural causes. Instead there is a vote to get them into office and they actually have to help the masses instead of hoarding all the money. It’s a very complicated process and basically if you are not of royal blood you can’t rule the royal house and it’s court unless you come with an Army and slay the current royal family and all its heirs. Now you can marry into the family but you won’t be head of household. And because of the laws a princess can’t be pawned off to some low life like Yarei only for him to screw up. Rather a Princess or Prince even Queen or King can pick who they wish to marry even if that person isn’t noble. However in my case, my Grandmother wants me to end up Strictly with a snow elf and no other race. So even though I can pick who I fall in love with, if it’s not a Snow Elf there were be severe issues.” Aelein spoke.
“In Zeyelden there is a law that every First Born Third Generation Female and every First Born Fourth Generation Male go through the Process of Purification. For the First Borns this rule is strictly enforced, but if you have a Second Born Third Generation Female or Second Born Fourth Generation Male, they aren’t forced to undergo Purification. The Generations are determined from Zeyelden’s original stock, which comes from the Generation beginning with The Queen. Her Generation consisted mostly of middle teenagers with their young siblings and a few older teenagers. Some came with old and ancient snow elven technology including recordings of all our ancient lore as well as some ancient books. As a result of that original number they are considered the First Generation. If their Generation had Granddaughters and Great Grandsons, those Granddaughters and Great Grandsons would be Third Generation Females and Fourth Generation Males. Now if a Fourth Generation Man had a Daughter of his own, she would be another Third Generation. If a Third Generation Woman had a Son then he would be considered Fourth Generation Male. It goes on and on like that and the records are kept by the Aetherium Arcanorium, the same group of mages that keep the Purification Chamber.” Ralphen spoke, trying to explain the premises for the next part of the story.
“Purification is a double edged sword. On one hand it keeps generations of Mer, Men and Beast from interbreeding with each other which causes the loss of the base race and the mix and formation of the new one. This means the bloodlines and genes are kept pure. Bretons for example are known as Men-mer created from Nedes interbreeding with the elves namely Aldmer and Ayleids. Purification essentially keeps this from happening by making sure there is pure blood of the races remaining. In times where there is few Pure Blood, like a low level of Snow Elves yet high level of Dragon Elves, the Queen initiates ‘Multi Purification’ and this can mean Third Generation Males and Second Generation Females be purified as well as the sisters of First Born Generation Three Females and brothers of First Born Generation Four Males.” Macy spoke, the Sky Forge Steel Sword really did a number on her Scythe and the leather wraps were barely keeping it together.
“But on the other hand…” Began Aelein, “It causes massive amounts of stress and pain to the one being purified and can very well lead to Death and/or insanity. The effects though, up to this current point in time, are permanent and there is still no fix for it.” Aelein looked at her hands, Zaziel knew she still missed her claws and beautiful green flowing locks. “It also causes an identity crisis, especially those forced to undergo Purification…Like Me.”
“The Drama caused by the Nobles gave the Princess Months to try to avoid the Purification. She wasn’t living at the Castle anymore and made it extremely hard for the Queen and her people to track Aelein down. There were times where we all thought she would be the one to escape the Purification chamber, especially when she would either kill or seriously injure her pursuers. Really it depended if she trusted them like you would trust a stranger or if they acted and reminded her of those that gave her hell in her early lives. Either way Princess Aelein didn’t intend to go through purification on top of having a bad childhood.” Ralphen described.
“It took a mixture of the jealous ‘Purified’ constantly giving away my position when I was in Civilian form, and massive amounts of guards my Grandmother sent. Lord Endeziel even helped me gitting rid of many of them. I was strong in my Druid school, but I wasn’t strong enough. Ever Since she found out about I being a Blood Orchid of Sithis member and also a Druid, my Grandmother had to step up with her own personal guards who are also specialized to take down assassins, thieves and even Druids if plausible. They had waited for when I was alone on a mission…” Aelein started.
“It was a mission to which the Queen and her guards had inside up to date information on, too much to be considered educated guesses.” Macy stated, explaining. “We went through our members to the newer ones that hadn’t proven themselves yet, one of them turned out to be a member and spy for the Chestnut Tang, the Queen’s bootlickers and source of constant headaches for us. Though we did kill her, we didn’t catch her in time to prevent her from reveling where and when the Princess was and her target, Yurei’s older sister who had hired the Chestnut Tang to infiltrate the Blood Orchids to located the Blood Orchid fields where the flowers grow. We make sure those missions are doomed from the get go.” Macy stated as if to stress how important the Blood Orchids are and why the location must be kept secret.
“I was swarmed, defeated in battle and my first mission to fail due to the mobbing. They dragged me to the Purification chamber and locked me inside one of the containment tubes for it.” Aelein began to hug herself, as if to symbolize how painful it was. “It was the most painful ten minutes of my life. I pounded on that horrible glass-like substance, watching as my Grandmother looked on from the other side eager to see this through. The pain hurt so much I finally shifted.” Aelein demonstrated by shifting into a large Brown bear, a controlled lesser form for her.
“The power of the Bear form alone, even not a dire form, was enough for the Princess to break out of her Purification chamber. Since she had wings from a young age, she sprouted them and was able to escape her Grandmother’s clutches again, only this time it would be centuries before the Queen laid eyes on the Princess once more.” Ralphen spoke, and as he was telling this, Aelein returned back to her elven form. “They did give significant chase though, but they were a bit rusty in their Aerial state having relied on magical transportation devices for many years.”
“Aelein, however, had been practicing her flying since she was ten when she earned them largely in part to those who were bullying her.” Macy stated. “The moment she was in open air, both her and Aloxia were gone. Back then our guild’s headquarters was located in the big city of Zeyelden, so Aelein didn’t want to go far but at the same time she wanted to be far from her Grandmother. Lord Endeziel gave her a plot of land and helped Aelein built her Beach house in the Shadow of Zeyelden.”
“They have moved their Headquarters since then, especially after the Queen raided it looking for me” Aelein stated, “Fortunatly I was either on a mission, or helping my mother reak havoc on my Grandmother in one way or another which she still deserves, or I was out exploring Tamriel since royalty is forbidden to portal travel in fear we might get lost within,” Aelein sighed during the last part after telling that story. “But that wasn’t the last bad thing my Grandmother, she proved to be able to go far lower and do much worse.”
“Yes, and so begins the third part of the story. The timeline is three hundred and thirty two years after Princess Aelein was forced to undergo Purification. More precisely, two hundred years ago and about two months prior to the Oblivion Crisis that swept every corner of Mundus and Tamriel, even Zeyelden.” Ralphen spoke. “In the years leading up to this point, many things had happened.”
“The Princess had made a name for herself, for both her and Aloxia had defeated many feral dragons, hunted a few Fernlocks, as well as risen in both the Druidic Circle and within The Blood Orchids. One of her many accomplishments including proving to the Druidic Circle that a Druid’s animal companion doesn’t have to be some big tough guardian, but a little cuddly furry friend who can kick massive ogre butt despite her diminutive size. Aloxia was no ordinary cat.” Zaziel puffed herself out proudly while Macy talked about her, Zaziel was at the time a cat and not a Frostbite Spiderling and Zaziel was known as Aloxia during that time.
“Yes Macy, she did make a name for herself.” Ralphen spoke, “Especially when she would aid her mother in leading successful raids against the Queen’s armory and treasury, as well as her own Estates. Some have argued in the past that Violence Breeds Violence yet at the same time it says a lot about a person if their daughter, grandson and granddaughter hate them. Princess Aelein’s brother, who Aelein was able to meet when she was seventeen as he was back from a mission, would personally cause many of the Queen’s personal guard to turncoat and join up with him or perish. It wasn’t a good time if you were a Rich Noble in support of the Queen. Apparently the Queen’s new rules took time to settle in, and when they finally did the raids lessened severely”
“Up until Third Era Four Thirty Three, I had been allowed to travel with small groups to Tamriel and outside of Zeyelden. I learned much in this time and accomplished much more. However problems back home in Zeyelden caused by a mixture of my mother and my grandmother forced me to leave my group shortly before a short term rule was created that forbid all royal blood from leaving Zeyelden. My brother and I thought this rule to be utterly ridiculous.” Aelein spoke.
“But of course it was made easier for her because she was getting courted by Prince Daiku of the Were-Kin.” Macy began.
“I thought she was with ‘Lord Endeziel’” Andrea stated, a bit confused.
“In the three centuries leading up to this point, many things happened. Endeziel and Aelein slowly became bored with each other, and though they remain steadfast friends to this day,” Macy stated and wasn’t even hiding her jealousy, “He married a Crystaline Dancer and had three children with her. However he strangely didn’t last long with her like he did with Princess Aelein. In fact, if the Queen hadn’t constantly interfered with Aelein and Endeziel’s relationship constantly and hadn’t refused every effort the two of them made in offering a Dowry and Bride Price, then the two of them would have been married and that relationship most likely would of lasted probably even to this day.”
“My Grandmother’s constant interference with any non-Snow Elf I choose to be with has led to more than just breakups and heartaches; it had also had led to the events which caused my exile and almost death.” Aelein stated with such hate that Andrea didn’t know how the young Dovahmer could contain it even after all these years. “Prince Daiku…” She took a pause before continuing as he still remained a sensitive topic for her, “He and I fought for many years, and he got even more annoying when he found out I was single. The difference between him and I, I was actively trying to kill him while he relished every moment and took the times we fought as opportunities to openly flirt with me and would rub himself against me if he could which usually happened after I got my sword or dagger stuck in a tree trying to kill him.” Aelein had both her hands to her forehead as remembering that gave her a gigantic headache.
“You know you liked it.” Macy said, and she was immediately given the death glare by Aelein. Macy, unfazed, continued “You ended up with him.”
“And I still don’t know how that happened.” Aelein answered honestly.
“Yet it did happen and he did make you very happy.” Ralphen said, yet he could see the sadness in Aelein’s eyes when she responded.
“Yes he did make me very happy, probably a bit more so than Endeziel.” Aelein looked down at Zaziel, who went silent too. “Two months before the Oblivion Crisis affected Tamriel, Prince Daiku asked me to the ball. He constantly pestered me until I finally rolled my eyes and caved in.”
“She wore the most beautiful gown at that ball and even started a fashion trend with the children of the rich and upper middle class. Hers was the only one that wasn’t a Ball Gown. Instead she wore a long sleeve Bust Princess Seam Fishtail Dress that reached her feet. It was made out of a mixture of Luna and Leiyorta Moth Silk, dyed a beautiful blueish grey from dye made from The Hyacinthoides plant more commonly known as Bluebell. The Dress was topped with White Jack Rabbit fur, which had been labeled as a severe pest that year and as such became open season for hunting them, and Birch-Wood beading. The Dress was entirely Druid Make, and allowed it’s wearer much more free movement than the heavy Ball Gowns worn by the other ladies. It also showed off Princess Aelein’s figure very flatteringly. She wore her long white hair in a top ponytail that day with an elegant jeweled clasp Rose.” Macy spoke as she was daydreaming. It was obvious to everyone else that Macy wanted to wear a dress like that.
“It was also the first time in Centuries that the Queen was able to see the Princess for the first time since she forced the Princess to undergo Purification. And although the Queen was happy to see her Granddaughter, she wasn’t happy that Aelein had chosen yet another non-snow elf man, this time a human.” Ralphen spoke.
“Prince Daiku is an Akavirian born in the late Merethic Era. He’s one of the few mortals that Akatosh and Kynareth permitted to ride the time currents and not age. The Akavirians of Zeyelden don’t hate dragons and try to kill every last one, they instead worship good and neutral dragons and raise dragons of their own not seen anywhere else as they have gone extinct in the wilds of Akavir. But my Grandmother wasn’t the only person against Prince Daiku and I, but his own mother. Lady Jun was as well.” Aelein stated
“Because of his status as being the leader of one of the three tiers, the Queen couldn’t openly involve herself to separate her Granddaughter from the Prince of Beasts. So instead, she went to Lady Jun to do the dirty work for her. Lady Jun was one of the many nobles to lose her status and station three hundred and thirty two years prior when Aelein was eighteen but one of the very few to get it back. Prince Daiku was unaffected by this since his Tier operates independently of the Queen’s Tier. Fortunately for both Aelein and Daiku, the Oblivion Crisis and the years of restoration to follow offered quite a big distraction from Lady Jun’s constant sabotaging of Aelein’s reputation any way she could.” Ralphen Spoke.
“But Aelein said that the destruction in Zeyelden was very minor, only a farm suffered from a Great Gate.” Andrea asked, a bit confused as to why they required years of restoration.
“To the city, yes, there was very little destruction.” Macy Stated, “But our huge land was dotted with the gates of Mehrunes Dagon’s failed invasion. The land of Zeyelden itself is quite large, larger than Cyrodil and Skyrim combined. Between repairing smaller villages, destroying the gates and repairing the land, there was still the issue of fixing up the Nordic Barrows in Skyrim at least so the Dovahkin could still access the Word Walls. Both the exterior and interior Word Walls needed to be protected so the Dovahkin could access the Th’uum from them.” Macy explained, “It was years of effort especially for the Nordic Barrow partial restorations as we had to go in disguise, at least we were able to fix each location of the Common Word Walls in one way or another before the Thalmor’s antics.”
“During this time,” Aelein stated, “And for fifty years after, Lady Jun would prove to be a constant thorn in Daiku and I’s side. She had personal ninja that worked for her that would almost always cause very bad situations with the intent to paint myself in a very bad image and to state that I was bringing Prince Daiku down with me. On very few occasions, this proved successful and eventually she did shatter my reputation with half of the members of the Blood Orchids of Sithis forcing me out of the guild and out of their protection. However on the other hand, Prince Daiku found out that the source of our problems was his own mother and from her he learned that her source was from my Grandmother.” Her extended sigh Andrea could guess that they were close to finishing Aelein’s story, but it also felt that the worst was yet to come in her story.
“Prince Daiku had threatened his own mother with death, personally from him should she interfere with the relationship he shared with Aelein again. He was able to bandage Aelein’s image, especially with the Blood Orchids with Lord Endeziel’s much needed help, which did Benefit Aelein and help her greatly during the year she was exiled.” Macy Stated. “Because of Lady Jun’s antics, the Blood Orchids began to cease dealing with the Queen, which became detrimental since the Queen and many of Vampires namely the nobles rely on the Blood Orchid flowers for survival.” Macy explained.
“About one hundred and fifty one years ago, one year before Aelein was to be exiled, Aloxia got pregnant and gave birth at the Dawn of the New Year. What makes this unique is that Aloxia had been widely accepted by all Scholars of Zeyelden as a one-of-a-kind species gifted to Aelein by the goddess Kynareth when Aelein was ten. No one of this mortal plane, not even Aelein know who the father is or was.” Ralphen began to explain. “But what is known is that Aloxia began to get sick shortly after giving birth to her one and only litter of Kittens.”
“None of us knew it then, but Lady Jun had been sending professionally disguised ninjas at first to poison Aloxia’s favorite food and then later her Medicine.” Aelein began, Zaziel hissed at this and made a kind of clicking noise as if to signal hatred and desire to hunt these Ninjas.
“Princess Aelein took Aloxia to many Druid Healers, the best of the best especially for animals as the Druids specialized in that. But the poison the ninjas were using was so well made it couldn’t be traced, despite the magic and natural remedies the Druid Healers were using.” Macy explained, “Even the Blood Orchids of Sithis didn’t know what poison was, and that’s saying something about an Assassin’s guild.”
“Then one day Aloxia took a nosedive for the worst…” Aelein had tears in her eyes and was finding it very hard to talk. Zaziel comforted her by pushing herself to Aelein’s chest and making coo’ing noises, as if to signal it will be all right. Aelein smiled as she stroked her spiderling’s head. She then looked up at the group but wasn’t really looking at them; more so, she was looking past them into the past. “It took a team of no less than five powerful healers including myself and very powerful restoration spells in order to cleanse whatever was making Aloxia sick and to stabilize her. Though she was fine from the toxic inside her, she still wasn’t out of the woods yet. We replaced all of her food and medicine and began putting traps around where we kept it. But still the poison had done it’s damage and Aloxia was left really weak. She was so weak that the healers recommended that Aloxia stay home to get better and recover.”
Seeing as how it was highly painful for Aelein to talk about it, Ralphen decided to give her a break and continue the conversation, “That day that Aloxia was healed, the healers recommended that Aelein leave Aloxia home while she took the kittens to a special clinic on the Druid’s Tier. Aelein, naturally, didn’t want to leave Aloxia’s side. Prince Daiku wrapped his arms around Aelein and he told her it would be alright that they would come back and he had special people guarding Aelein’s house trained to look for any threat such as thieves and the like. Her hesitation to leave was so great that the healers had to take Aelein aside and tell her that it would be good for her as well as prepare if things go downhill again.” Ralphen shook his head, for he knew the story didn’t have a happy ending.
“That’s not all they talked to me about.” Aelein said, about to admit something she kept secret from all but one person, “The Druidic healers have dealt with much life and death. They helped bring many newborn animals to the world and sometimes even used their restoration powers on humanoids if the situation was dire enough or in situations where they were closer than the monks of the Temples. The Druid Healers could tell before I did…”
Macy’s and Ralphen’s eyes got big, “Wait…you’re not saying…” even Macy was shocked to hear this part.
Aelein nodded, “I was pregnant. The Druid Healers could read the life essence growing inside me…The whole ordeal with Aloxia and the stress that resulted of it had lead me not to realize I had missed my Time of the Month. The healers rightfully believed that if I stayed by Aloxia’s side that I would only be hurting myself and my unborn baby by causing too much stress upon myself and it would of lead to a very early miscarriage among other medical problems. They told me to go with Prince Daiku and pretty much escorted us to the Druid’s Tier to make sure that I left the house. Prince Daiku didn’t know about the pregnancy, the healers wanted me to tell him but I never got the chance.”
Macy’s hands were over her mouth, even a hardened assassin like herself was in a state of shock. Ralphen had his hands to his side clenched so tight they started to draw blood, Andrea noticed this and brought her hands together to pray. Zaziel looked up to Aelein and what looked like tears were coming from her eyes as the group just continued to listen to Aelein’s story while she continued to cry.
“He wanted me to be happy…Daiku that is, and while were waiting for the healers to go through their inspection of the Kitten’s health, he proposed to me with a really big multi-diamond ring. I was so happy…I temporarily forgot about Aloxia and I said yes and he embraced me…And then…IT Happened.” Aeleins hands were shaking as she brought them to her chest. Andrea got up and went over to Aelein and wrapped her up in a big hug. But the story wasn’t finished yet.
“A bond between a Druid and her companion is so strong…” Ralphen began to explain, “That if they are separated in any way but the Un-Bonding Ceremony, one or both of them could die. For example a Druid can lose her life if her animal companion is murdered unless her will is stronger than her heart. It is an extremely painful event and the Druid can feel her companion die, and should the Druid survive they go into a very violent frenzy. And that’s what happened with Aelein”
Andrea looked down at Aelein, who was a shivering mess. “The pain was so great that there were points I couldn’t breathe. All the Druid Healers knew exactly what I was going through. They told Daiku he had to get back to Aloxia and fast. They put the Kittens on immediate guard. I remember being faster than Daiku, he got stuck dealing with his mother’s men who posed as Daiku’s guards. I remember him dragging one down the hallway and throwing him at my feet, the one who had been poisoning Aloxia and the poison was on him at the time. But nothing could prepare me for what I found in the kitchen of my own home…”
The three remained silent as they listened to Aelein.
“Lady Jun had broken in and was standing there, she had just removed…from the oven…her head was there her tail was gone…” Aelein was choking up as she was describing this.
“Daiku’s mother, Jun, had killed Aloxia and had cooked her. And just to be extra evil, had offered her to Aelein as a ‘Traditional Welcome to the Family Dinner’” Ralphen said, disgusted. “Apparently some of the more traditional and old fashioned Akavirians kill and eat cats and dogs. Though most usually torture the animal first before cooking it as they believe it ‘Tenderizes the meat’. You can’t possibly imagine the Uproar it caused in both the Druidic and Were Tiers, apparently some of the Were-kin’s own children were confused for household cats and dogs and were Kidnapped and eaten, only to discover later that they were children.”
“There was a massive investigation, and both the Were Tier and Druids tier hired the Blood Orchids of Sithis to do so. Even Sithis himself was disgusted with the shear amount of people we killed in relation to the kidnapping and cannibalism charges. Apparently it wasn’t just the Akaviri, it included many members of the other races from man, mer and beast. The Queen didn’t want to do anything about it because some of the accused were her friends and she didn’t want to put a dent in her social status again. Aloxia was just the eye opener to the scale, killing a Druid’s animal Companion caused their whole operation to exit the Shadows, something they did not anticipate.” Macy explained, having to get personally involved herself.
“The moment June said “It’s delicious, you should try some!” I had her pinned by the throat to the wall. I Slashed her clothes off and was just about to tear her to pieces, latterly, when Daiku and a surviving Ninja pulled me off and escorted Jun out of my house. Daiku choose to protect his own mother than the woman he claimed to love. I lost more than just my best friend since age ten that day. I lost the man who had my heart and father of my then unborn baby…I lost my trust in the Druids especially the Druid Healers…I lost the security I felt in my own home. But most of all I lost the ability to forgive those who have wronged me, starting with my Grandmother.” Aelein stated.
“In the following months to follow, Princess Aelein began to separate herself from everyone and isolated herself with just the Kittens in her newly-trapped house. You risked a high chance of Death even going within a mile of that house.” Macy explained, having firsthand experience.
“She cut off contact with the Druids and Rangers, even though they tried to assign her a Ranger because she had become a Master Druid at this point and was close to becoming a Druid Shifter.” Ralphen began, “But she also cut off contact with her own mother, her mother’s clan and even the Blood Orchids of Sithis.”
“In fact there was only one person she would talk to at this point in time.” Macy said with a strong hint of jealousy, “Lord Endeziel became the only person who could get past all of Aelein’s traps and get close enough to talk to her. I tried following him once, but he threatened to kill even me before the traps could.”
“I was…trying to find a way to protect Aloxia’s children. I didn’t want what had happened to her to happen to them. I began to experiment with many different magics, I don’t truly remember all that I did. I practiced with magic so ancient that not even our surviving Merethic Era documents knew what kind of magic it was. Then, at some point, I came across a really ancient dusty tome. I still don’t know how this tome came to be in my possession at that point in time. The runic writing is so ancient that I found deciphering it was quite hard, but it bears the same runic markings found in Direnni Tower, so it’s Aedric in orgin somehow. I dove into that tome, studied it for many days and nights. I forgot to eat and sleep, and grew sicker and frail. But my sacrifice gave me great knowledge. Then one day I casted a spell and the Kittens were never the same…” Aelein said.
“Aelein created a new race that day. The kittens no longer walked and ran on four legs, but two. This was the birth of the Aloxie race. It is also very illegal, the punishment is Death.” Macy explained.
“But magic like that is amazing! Why would they want to kill her?” Andrea asked, confused.
“Because magic like that coming from a mortal and not an Aedra is seen as one trying to mimic a God and that causes many problems. In Zeyelden only gods such as the Nine Divines are allowed to be worshipped, and not a man beast or Mer pretending to be one such as the Tribunal of Morrowind.” Ralphen spoke.
“A night after I casted the spell on them…I miscarried. The days and nights of constant studying and refusing to eat and sleep had taken its toll. I was about four months along…it was a boy.” Aelein looked forlorn into partial windstorm that was beginning to form.
“I followed Lord Endeziel that night, but from a distance. He is not a man that scares easily, in fact it’s pretty much unheard of. Also being part of an assassin guild, one would think there is nothing in existence that can disgust you, but the scene to greet him was beyond horrific.” Macy explained, “Aelein was covered in blood and she had been convulsing. She was very sick and close to death but still held that small fetus in her arms. Endeziel rushed to her aid, only to stumble in the now bi-pedal kittens who sought only to defend their surviving mother. When they saw he was there to help Aelein and not to harm her or them, they began to help him with her. He told them that they needed to go back to their rooms, he may be an assassin but he didn’t want these young children to see all this blood.” Macy explained.
“He stayed with me all night, nursing me back to health and cleaning me off. He also forced me to eat stuff and he practically shoved food down my throat. As for the baby…Enzelrein…he helped me bury him.” Aelein began to sob, until today no one but Endeziel and the Druidic Healers knew Aelein had been with child.
Even Macy shedded a tear and clenched her fists. She continued where Aelein could not. “When he was satisfied that she was stronger and would live, he left her there with the Kittens, First Litter. I followed him, and two weeks later I found out he had traveled to Auraneil’s little city. While there he had run into Aelein’s brother who was visiting with Auraneil, his mother. Words could not describe the pain and anger they felt with what happened to Aelein and what had become of that Trauma. Somehow Auraneil knew she wouldn’t be returning and left the care of her city in the hands of Aelein’s brother. She left hastily with Lord Endeziel and a few of her strongest guards.”
“Aelein was able to train the young Aloxies to hunt and fend for themselves as well as to hide and not make a sound. She tried to teach them to read too, but there was little time for that. She taught them to avoid all were-kin and especially Akavirians. She taught them to also avoid the Queen and her guards. Her brief time with them gave them the essential skills and tools to survive.” Ralphen spoke.
“I’m not sure who had been spying on us…” Began Aelein, “But I knew that the Queen had been informed of what happened. I’m not sure if it was Aloxia or the divines, but something inside gave me early warning. I was able to run back home and tell the children to hide and not make a sound and that I loved them…” This hurt Aelein very much, “They had to watch as I got dragged away by a big group of my grandmother’s guards, who were also looking for the kittens to kill them. I’m glad they didn’t succeed, for I’m proud that I trained them really good.”
“What followed was a horrible one-sided trial, Jun was there and she was out to make Aelein a vile demon. The Queen was upset as she felt betrayed that her own blood would do such a thing, but she had no words for Aelein when Aelein was brought before the court.” Ralphen said, “She had been beaten and tortured but not raped. She was a bloody and bruised mess just like when she was a child, but this time dressed in rags.”
“I remember looking up, and the only one I looked to was Daiku, who turned his gaze from me.” Aelein stated
“Jun was marked for Death by us, especially when she began to refer to the mess she created as an animal. But we never got the chance to kill her.” Macy explained, “Even Endeziel was irate when that was taken from him.”
“The princess would have been tried and hanged that day for her creating a new race except for one thing…” Ralphen explained.
“Her mother.” Andrea answered.
Ralphen, Macy and Aelein nodded. “The Queen’s own daughter who had been cast out of the Royal family offered herself to save the life of the daughter that was taken from her at birth by her mother. It was the last and kindess thing Auraneil could do for Aelein. It also condemned the Queen, but she didn’t realize that yet.”
“I didn’t even get the chance to bury my own mother let alone Mourn her. I was tasked with finding the Dovahkin, and I wasn’t allowed to come back. But I would have to wait One hundred and fifty years before I got to meet the Dovahkin.” Aelein said, that story itself is long and complex.
“And you found her, and a new animal companion.” Andrea stated.
“Zaziel isn’t a new companion.” Aelein stated, and Ralphen got a huge state of shock.
“You don’t mean to say...” Ralphen began to ask.
“I do, Zaziel is Aloxia reincarnated. This time I don’t have to worry about her being killed or poisoned by some lowlife claiming to be a Noble. This time she will be the one doing the poisoning, and the killing.” Aelein stated with seriousness. Aelein stood up as did Zaziel, “For now though you have to tell us what happened in Riverwood and you have to get stronger as you have a large black dragon to kill. Myself, I need about two months before I will feel comfortable and safe that Zaziel can fight with me and not be killed. Zaziel and I have to get stronger too and we will help you, Dovahkin.”
Macy looked at Aelein and a smile formed on her lips. “You intend to slay the Queen.”
“I Intend to do a lot more than that, Macy. I Intend to do what she had inflicted upon me and I intend to take over her court and put almost everyone currently in it to death. I also intend to visit Aazdunah, for I doubt she has heard about the recent events.” Aelein stated.
Ralphen shook his head, “You will need a lot to prove that though after a long length of time.”
Aelein nodded, “And I have it, despite the Queen trying to be rid of it.”
“You should know, Princess, that Aloxia’s children survived and they still live.” Macy began to say.
Aelein and Zaziel looked at Macy when she said this.
“Indeed, they have become an incredibly strong race. The Crustilucks raised them when all others could not due to the Queen’s interference. The Crustilucks protected and raised the Aloxies, and now both races are very big in numbers as they are in anger with the Queen and most of her supporters.” Ralphen stated.
“Yes, they are mostly considered the outcast races. But I know with your return Princess, and the Dovahkin’s arrival, they will be the most beneficial as they will be the first to help you succeed where others want you to fail.” Macy stated.
“Then we plan for that, for now let’s head inside, Andrea still has to tell us about more recent events.” Aelein stated, heading inside with Zaziel.
End of Chapter 6
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