12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

A fter Binah dropped her line about nothing being as it seems and thoroughly freaking Haven out since she would say no more, Haven went back to bed where she eventually fell into a fitful sleep.

"Haven" Roman whispered, shaking her gently.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Haven grumbled.

"Alright I'll leave you alone." Roman laughed a little, "By the way, Binah made breakfast"

That woke Haven right up. Not the offering of breakfast but the reminder of where they were and the idea that she might be able to get more information out of Binah while they ate.

Haven got herself up and made her way into the bathroom where she washed up as much as she could. She was deeply startled to find that most of her scratches and wounds from yesterday had already healed. Normally she healed fairly quickly but nowhere near as fast as the rapidly disappearing scratches up and down her body.

Chasing those thoughts from her mind, Haven rinsed out her mouth as best she could. She hadn't been able to brush her teeth last night since Binah didn't have any spare toothbrushes. At the time, she had just been grateful that Binah knew what those were. Her next thought had been if there was such a thing as a fae dentist and if the sharp canines Binah had needed special maintenance. Haven asked Binah when the older woman was showing them the bathroom and with a slight laugh, Binah told her that there are fae that specialize in healing and if you needed something done with your teeth or fangs that was where you went.

As she exited the bathroom, Haven cringed slightly at the film on her teeth from her previous meals and sleeping. Occasionally, when the depression was at its worst and she was mostly staying in bed, her teeth went a day or two without being brushed. It normally didn't bother her quite as much. Being clear headed and not being able to brush her teeth was something else entirely. It was also strange to Haven that her anxiety had yet to bother her. One would think that something like this would cause everything to become ten times worse yet ever since falling into this land, her anxiety had been mostly silent. This place washed a sense of calm over her. Haven had the brief thought that maybe Roman was right and they actually did belong here.

Sighing, Haven pushed those thoughts from her mind and headed down the hall, finding Binah and Roman immersed in conversation. The kitchen table was covered with plates of what appeared to be eggs, bacon and a fancy looking type of fruit. Haven made a plate for herself, grabbed a cup of water and sat down with them.

The topic of conversation was what royal family Binah thought Roman was from. She was telling him all about the five currently in power and the two currently being ruled over by what Binah referred to as an imposter. By the time the conversation ended, Haven gathered that Binah thought Roman descended from Norwood, a small island kingdom across the sea from Drailia, the kingdom they were currently in.

"What about the two missing bloodlines?" Roman asked.

Binah cut an odd glance at Haven, who had a mouth full of bacon. Apparently the woman hadn't completely recovered from whatever Haven had said last night. Haven sighed, at least she wasn't looking at her like she was from outer space anymore.

"Well," Binah paused, "The Montali queen and the Rionach king were the two most powerful fae rulers and evidently, the same ones that no one has been able to find. Shortly after the war ended and our realm was created, our rulers went their separate ways and the two of them dropped off the face of the earth. No one could track their magics and no signs of them showed up for a long while. The crown regent, whose kingdom you are currently in and that took over for Queen Montali, has been sending spies into the human realm ever since they went missing to try to find out what happened. It is common practice for each kingdom to have scouts in the human world that keep up with the times and let us know what is going on over there"

Binah paused, taking a sip of water before continuing,

"It is how we have such similar things as the humans have, such as what you called indoor plumbing" Binah sent a small smile Havens way, "Supposedly, the spies for the crown regent have found no sign of our missing rulers."

"You said, ‘supposedly'. What do you mean by that?" Haven asked

"Many believe that the Montali and Rionach bloodlines simply died off when their powers were given over to create the fae world. Others believe that their disappearance is due to who is in control now and has been since they left our realm after it was created. You see, King Rionach left his kingdom in the care of his sister, she was powerful but not nearly as powerful as he. He had a common fire magic that many are also blessed with but none with quite as much strength as he did. When his sister became the top contender to take over in his place, she welcomed the role with open arms.

She turned out to be the wrong choice because about fifty or so years ago, the crown regent that took over in Queen Montalis stead pushed her out of power and took over rule of Shaston, King Rionachs kingdom. She died not long after that. The main issue is who took over in place of Queen Montali."

Binah took another moment to get a sip of water and catch her breath before continuing,

"You see, Queen Montali had no living relatives which meant that the position went to someone of her choosing. She chose her second in power, now known as the crown regent. Before our realm was created, he was known as a passionate man with a thirst for power. That had never been a problem until we came here and he got that power he had been craving. It didn't take long for him to become bitter and cruel. From the outside looking in, you may not notice anything, but if you look close enough you will begin to see things that paint him in a very dark light. Servants that won't look him in the eye, young girls that go missing after an event at the castle, the fact that our relationships with the other kingdoms have been strained ever since he took the power from King Rionachs sister."

Binah shuddered, Haven could tell the words were hard for the older woman to get out but she pushed ahead nonetheless,

"Many believe that he is the true source of evil. There are whispers that he is responsible for his wife's death. He was married for almost twenty years before his wife died giving birth to their second child. The child unfortunately did not make it. Some say the pain of the experience is what killed his wife. Although, the red marks around her throat found on her body might say otherwise.

His first son now lives on in the shadow of his father and is set to take over once the crown regents immortal life ends or he relinquishes control. Some have speculated that he is also responsible for the fact that we haven't heard anything about our two missing royals. Whether it was an assassination that ended them before they were able to have children or he is lying about the fact that there has never been any trace of them, no one knows. The only thing that we can be certain about is that the crown regent is a tricky and bitter man who will not hesitate to end anyone that stands in between him and what he wants."

***

After Binah's eerie words at breakfast that erased all questions from Havens mind and left her thoroughly unsettled, the older woman took them out to help feed her chickens and offered them a choice.

"You may go back to the human realm by way of a portal," She had told them, Otherwise, she would secure travel to the castle here in Drailia where they may be tested to find out what bloodline they came from and what powers they held. Binah had also reaffirmed that more than likely, neither would rank powerful enough to rule unless they had been born from one of the missing bloodlines, therefore having no competition for the throne. Yesterday she had made it seem like that wasn't even an option, like there was no possible way a child had finally come about from the missing bloodlines but today, her words painted a different picture.

Haven sat in the middle of Binah's garden admiring some roses she had planted on a trellis while attempting to decide what she was going to do about Binah's offer. Eventually Roman walked up and sat next to her.

Ten minutes of silence passed before Haven spoke,

"You're going to stay aren't you?"

He nodded, "Yes I am and I think you should too"

"Why? I have nothing here for me"

"And what do you have back in the human realm?" He asked, a slight bite in his tone.

"My mother!" She snapped

Roman took a moment to reign in his temper, Haven did the same. She wondered why he cared if she stayed seeing as it more than likely would not affect him .

"Your mother may be there but think of all you could have here. You'd have a chance to find out who you really are, you'd be able to learn so many things and grow in a way not even possible back home."

Haven started to say something before she was cut off by Roman,

"Think about it, do you really believe that you can go back to the human realm, choose some boring college to go to, celebrate your birthday and simply continue to live as if this never happened?"

Out of everything he said, Haven wondered how he knew today was her birthday. She hadn't told him, seeing as they barely knew each other before they were thrown into this mess together. She decided to let it go seeing as she had much bigger things to worry about. Binah had made it clear that if they decided to go back to the human realm they would be unable to return. Apparently it was some sort of failsafe to prevent someone who was not dedicated to this life one hundred percent from getting ahold of a crown.

"Alright, " Haven sighed. After all, she supposed she'd be able to go back to the human realm if she eventually wanted to. When she really thought about it, Haven couldn't see the harm in staying just a little while longer.