147. Aurora

CHAPTER 147

Aurora

I've decided to take over the throne room this afternoon. All five of my children play in front of me with their various toys and imaginary games. I've managed to drag my guitar into the throne room and set it up. This is one of the few rooms that the guys have managed to set up with electricity. On the roof of the castle itself, we now have solar panels to power everything since it'll be virtually impossible to run power lines up here. Carefully, I sit back and tune my guitar, figuring out exactly which song I want to play today.

I'm not playing because I'm upset, nor am I angry. It's not really based on an emotion this time. It's one of those times I just feel like I need to play. Tiamat comes and sits next to me, picking up the smaller child-sized bass guitar that I had gotten her. I smile softly at her and then reach down to set her up with her own amp. I finish tuning my guitar, then reach over and assist Tia in tuning hers. Now it's time to try to figure out exactly what I want to play this afternoon.

I have to figure out a song with ample lead guitar and a good bass line to it. "Mommy?" Tia says, looking up at me as she sits with her bass guitar and her lap. "What song are we doing?" She tilts her head slightly to the side as she looks up at me with my own grey eyes.

"Good question, baby girl; Mommy is still trying to sort that out at the moment." I start tapping my finger against my chin, pondering as to which song I really want to do. Regardless of whichever song I decide to choose, I still have to teach Tia how to play it. I start tapping my foot on the ground, trying to figure out what to play.

Several moments pass as I ponder the playlist for this afternoon. I finally decide to settle on Audioslave's " I am the Highway ." Gently, I rest my fingertips on Tia's temples, and we lock eyes immediately. I teach her the song the best way I know how, infusing her mind with the knowledge of how to play the instrument in her hand. Through the mental bond that we have currently forged, she shows me exactly what she must do. I smile at her and give her a nod.

We start off playing the song, and the intro reverberates through the hall setting the mood. I cheat a little bit, use my Alpha power, and project what Tia and I are doing. I reach out to all those bonded to me either by the pack or by mating. Whether they are dragon or wolf, everyone will hear what we're playing.

Just before I start the opening lyrics, all of my mates arrive in the throne room. I'm sitting on one throne, and Tia is on the other. The guys and my father do a double take, looking between the two of us. Purposely today, I dressed Tia similar to how I'm currently dressed. We're both wearing our black leggings and a red sweatshirt, both of us barefoot, sitting the exact same way on the thrones.

The lyrics are haunting as well as meaningful. It's about a journey, one that I now know all too well. I've experienced love and loss. I've experienced great joy and the opposite, great pain. I'm hoping that we finally know peace and my children can grow without fear in the upcoming years. The throne room slowly starts to fill with our friends and allies. Work is officially stopped now, and everybody's listening to the impromptu concert. We finish the first song, and pretty much everyone is clapping and cheering for us. I smile in motion to Tia, letting her take her first official bow.

"Mommy? Can we play another song everybody really likes, like that one?" Tia smiles as she looks at me, and I could see that making the others happy through music has made Tia happy.

"Of course, baby girl, what would you like to play?" I ask as I smile, looking at Tia. She sets down her bass guitar and starts pacing in front of the throne. She has that serious look that I end up having when I'm deep in thought, and it doesn't escape the guys. I smile wickedly at my daughter and motion for her to approach me. Again I place my fingers on her temple, and my eyes take on their ethereal glow, and I pass the knowledge of the next song on to her. Tia starts to laugh because it's one of her favorites. She runs back up over to her throne and waits for me to count it off.

I start counting it off by tapping my foot on the floor, and then I start singing. The second song chosen is Evanescence's "The Chain." Tia joins me this time with the lyrics, following up right behind me, helping me sustain the notes and making them even more haunting. She fills in on the chorus with me, and to my surprise, Ladon joins in.

Slowly, I start to freeze the throne room to the point that snowflakes start to fall from the ceiling. My youngest children run around trying to catch the snowflakes on their tongues while Tia and I play the song. It's a wonderful feeling having my entire family here playing the song, bringing everyone together. Until a little while ago, I did not know my father and his mate had arrived, but apparently, they had snuck off and somehow beat us here. I watch my father hold his mate tightly as we sing our hearts out.

Tia and I, both at the end of the song, decide to breathe fire in the middle of the throne room, going out with a bang. We high-five and start to laugh to ourselves. Jayce is ever thoughtful and comes over with glasses of water for the two of us.

I rest my guitar on my throne, and Tia does the same. We go down amongst our people and accept thanks. We hug it out with several friends and family members before everybody disperses and goes back to work. It was absolutely lovely to be able to liven the day up and bring a little bit of joy to everyone's day. The guys all depart, going back to their chores and jobs that they have given themselves. My father and his mate decide to take the children out into the courtyard to play for the afternoon.

I have the urge to explore the castle further, so I begin to walk towards the east wing. Arnulf decides to come with me. I reach down and grab his hand and hold it as we walk through the halls. Room by room, we take the time to explore everything. Several rooms have hidden corridors that I was unaware of. Some of the corridors only go a few feet and hide treasures we didn't know existed. Others brought us out into other rooms that you were unaware had a secret passageway.

Finally, up on the second floor, we are going past yet another one of the studies. Apparently, my mother's family loved collecting books on all different subjects. I find a room on the second floor that appears to be an art studio. Carefully, I start taking the sheets off of the various pieces of art. Under one of the sheets, I find a painting of my father and mother. It brings a tear to my eye to see exactly how happy they were together. Tears threaten to break and roll down my cheek when Arnulf comes to my side and hugs me just in time.

"She was beautiful. You look almost exactly like her except you have your father's eyes and his lips. Well, and obviously his hair color as well," Arnulf says as he gently touches the different features that he's pointing out. It's nice seeing a picture from when she was alive versus just a spectral form. They were so happy. If I didn't end Vladimir's life myself, I would still be seeking vengeance for her. I move through several other paintings, deciding that my father and mother would be moved to the main hallway. Some of the other older paintings would be removed.

I'm not on edge for once in my life, and I'm not constantly scanning or searching for impending danger, figuring now everything is safe. This room is much larger than I initially thought because apparently, part of it runs behind the room next to it. Just as I'm reaching up to take a sheet off a statue, I feel the press of cold steel against my throat and an arm band around my rib cage.

I reach out through the bond to my mates, alerting them as to what's going on. The male lowers his mouth close to my ear and whispers. His foul breath washes over me, turning my stomach almost instantly. "If you scream, I will kill you where you stand." His voice is familiar, and I search my memory to try to figure out who it is. And then it dawns on me, he's one of the young males that I spared.

I hear my mates come running towards the room I'm in. Once they break into the room, the man presses the blade to my throat, drawing a blood rivulet from my flesh. "If you move one more step, I will end her where she stands."

Klaus is the first to be able to formulate words. "Why are you doing this?" He says forcefully, "You're free now. You don't have to fight anymore." He's practically yelling. Anger tinges his voice bringing forth the growl of his beast. Alaric rests a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him before he does something irrational.

"Oh, so it's okay for you to kill off my people and my family in the name of this hybrid bitch. But, it's not okay for me to seek revenge for the deaths of my family members?" He presses the blade a little further, and I feel my blood seeping out more.

I wink at the guys and slowly concentrate on having my scales rise up through my skin to protect my fragile throat. Thankfully, Gallus's present strengthened my scales, making them almost bulletproof. Once I'm sure my throat is protected, and he is unaware of the scales, I smile at my mates. "Please do what he says," I say, acting like I'm frightened.

I feel the male standing behind me relax slightly when he believes that I will not fight him. And that's his biggest mistake. I don't think this male is aware of the spines that my beast had acquired. I get that Hannibal Lecter and Harley Quinn had a baby kind of smile going, and instantly my father and Alaric know what I'm about to do. Without warning, I shift, the spines that run down my back shoot out—they're four to five inches in length—and impale the male. He has multiple holes from my spines running from his groin up to his eye socket. His body twitches, hanging off of my spines, bleeding his viscous fluid down my back in warm rivulets.

Dimitri and Alaric come to my side and remove the man's corpse from my beast's back. He lands with a wet thud on the ground in the puddle of his own blood. My poor white fur is stained vermilion, and I didn't even get to fight. How disappointing. I shift back to my human form and look from my mates to my father. "Send the War Dragons and Marco to detain all those that I spared, throw them into the dungeon until I'm able to check them. Make sure that none of them are going to betray us again." My voice is but a growl, echoing my beast as I speak to everyone. The stupid male underestimated me, betrayed my trust, and attempted to kill me in my own home. I will not take that chance with my children running around.

We race through the halls back to where Helle is with the five children. We find two burned corpses and three others with blackened veins from Helle's toxic bite. Tia and Ladon are in their dragon forms, standing protectively over the other three babies who have shifted to their animal forms.

All I am feeling is a burning rage; it's another five males that I spared. They've pretty much just issued a death warrant for the rest of them. There may be no saving any of them. Klaus, Jayce, Alaric, and Dimitri go tearing out of the room to serve out the sentences for the last nine that are alive. I go over and start checking my babies over quickly, making sure that none of them are injured. The only one that has any kind of a mark on them is Tia. Apparently, she deflected a blade with her scales. It's a slight cut, nothing too deep that won't heal over time. But she may end up with a wicked scar to remind her of her heroism today. Ladon refuses to shift back as he stays curled up around little Luna.

I look over at my mother-in-law, or stepmom—however, you want to call her—and smile. She shifts back to her human form and tries to find something to wear. My father is quick to offer her his button-down. "You know, daughter, you ought to get dressed as well. It's unbecoming for the queen to run around naked." I roll my eyes as Dominik takes off his hoodie and hands it to me. Slowly, I shake my head at the two of them and then slide it on.

"Am I being too brash ordering the deaths of the last nine I spared?" I pose the question in the open air for anybody to answer me. Dominik is the first to come and stand before me and look me square in the eyes.

"My love, they went after you as well as your children. I would be more than happy if you burned them all to ash. Anyone who goes after children does not deserve to live. To take the life of an innocent is uncalled for." Dominik smiles and gently kisses my cheek. Quickly, I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him tightly. His strong arms band around me and crush me to his chest as his wolf starts to rumble to me. I close my eyes, just reveling in the feeling of having my mate's arms around me. Eventually, I feel the heat from Arnulf as he presses against my back, hugging up against me.

"Whatever you decide is best for our family and the kingdom, my people and I will support any and all of your decisions," Arnulf says softly as he nuzzles my cheek. The whistles and keening call that his bird makes always brings a smile to my lips. I know that they're happy noises for his shift, so it makes me happy as well. Eventually, we break apart and I just sigh softly looking at the carnage my children and stepmom caused.

I break away from the guys and run over to Helle and give her the biggest hug that I could possibly give her. I thank her over and over again for her defense of my children. She's in tears over the fact that Tia got hit with a blade and that she wasn't fast enough. She tells me about how brave and strong both my dragon children were. On the other hand, my father is sitting there with his chest all puffed up doing the "that's my grand babies" thing that he always does. Helle and I stay wrapped up in each other's arms for several moments, both of us blubbering like giant babies. My mates return covered in blood but no worse for wear.

"Is it done?" I question. Helle and I both turn to face them simultaneously, waiting for an answer from someone.

Alaric comes from behind Dimitri, drops to one knee, and holds up a head. "He's a direct descendant of Grigore's line. I'm unsure of his relation to Vladimir, but I could almost assure you he is more than likely one of his children. He was cursing your bloodline for tainting Lycan kind." Alaric's eyes shift to that of his dragon the minute that sentence falls from his lips. "I couldn't have him speak about my beloved mate that way. My dragon and I would not allow those venomous words to fill the air any longer."

I move forward and gently cup both of Alaric's cheeks and lean down and kiss him lightly on his lips. "Thank you, my love, for protecting my honor." My eyes drift to my other mates and I smile.

"Thank you for keeping our family and our people safe. I am so blessed to have all of you in my family." I move to each mate, kissing them and letting them know how thankful I am for what they've done. My eyes find my father staring at us.

I start to walk over towards him and smile. "I need your guidance, Father, as to what I should do. I believe we have eliminated the threat for this moment. But you have seen more wars and battles than any of us here." Gently, I grab my father's hand, looking up into his eyes. He tilts his head several times, then he nods slowly.

"My advice to you, daughter and my sons, seek out all those who have not been with us from the beginning and isolate them. Trust is earned and not freely given." He looks around the room and then back up to me again. "We should summon more of our dragon guards to be here. If we can get a Spectral Dragon here, that would be most helpful as they can sense lies."

"That won't be necessary, old friend." The melodic tune of Oberon's voice fills the hall. My head whips around to stare at him. He materialized literally out of nowhere. "It's a pleasure to see you, young queen, and congratulations on regaining your mother's castle," he says as he spreads his arms wide, looking around the room and then back over to us. He has that dramatic flair with everything he does, and it's definitely a whole new level of showmanship.

"It's a pleasure as always to see you, King Oberon." I bow my head slightly to him, never taking my eyes off of him. "Are you able to assist us in our current predicament, trying to sort out those who may be betrayers?" I tilt my head slightly as I look at him.

"It would be my honor to assist you," he says with a flourished bow. "Let's make haste, Nicodeamus. I will need your assistance in navigating the castle," he says as he sweeps into one last bow before following my father out of the room.

I raise a single eyebrow and look between my mates and narrow my eyes slightly. We're all on the same page right now. Something's going on behind the scenes that we are unaware of, and that's why he's here. For now, we will remain vigilant and see what happens.