"If I didn't know better, I'd think he was really trying to hurt him," remarked King Aureus Jua. If he only knew, Kian thought to himself. Kian thought the whole celebration surrounding turning thirteen was ridiculous, but angels loved their traditions. Around this age, an angel should have control over their powers. Kian thought it was just an excuse for adult angels to show off their offspring and get drunk.
Angels normally leaned towards either offense or defense. They often fought in pairs to balance each other out. Solar was adept at both, but Kian focused on building up the boy's defenses. Kian also enjoyed bruising Elan's ego.
Elan had thrown his most powerful blasts at Solar's shield to no avail. Well, the most powerful he could get away with. If he used all his power, then he could destroy the shield and the brat. But there was no way he could pretend it was an accident. Aelius would invoke his right to revenge, and end Elan's life. Solar was within his reach, and there was nothing he could do.
The shield was magnificent, it could have been created by an adult angel hundreds of years older than the boy. If Solar had really been his son, he would have been proud. But all he felt was rage. It was bad enough Solara rejected him after the trial marriage period was over. Then to have a child with some unknown angel right under his nose, was beyond humiliating.
Just be nice to her, Aureus had advised. Elan didn't see why he had to be nice to anyone. He was King of the Silver Sun Kingdom, a true royal angel. He could trace his ancestry back before the Aphotic period. Any angel should be honored to be in his presence and humans only needed to bow before him. Solara Jua was also of royal blood and incredibly underwhelmed with Elan. Elan had perhaps gotten too aggressive with her, but she overreacted. Solara broke both his arms before dropkicking him out of their bedroom.
He realized he could not overpower her, so he found another way to defeat her. Solara like most angels inspired jealousy in humans. One of the daft human maids had helped him trap his wife in a tower. He rewarded the insipid woman by snapping her neck. The silly girl deserved to die; she was a traitor after all. She also had the audacity to believe he had feelings for her. He'd never lower himself to mate with humans, as the disgusting Azuras did.
Maybe if Solar had been adopted into a decent angel family, he wouldn't hate him as much as he did. Elan knew from his spies, that Solar had become a human-lover as well. Killing the boy was a kindness. He just wished he could find and kill the Solar's father as well.
He had no idea who the real father was since Solar's aura signature didn't match any on record other than Solara's. Elan wondered if the high council was lying to him. Angels could always find each other due to the nature of aura energy. Perhaps Solar's father was a human, Solara would do something so petty. Elan refused to believe a human sired Solar. He hated to admit it but, Solar was pretty, even by angel standards. His aura was dazzling, the rainbow colors danced and blended beautifully together. His hair was dark pink with rose gold highlights and stood out against his dark brown skin. All the half-breeds he'd seen were unremarkable in looks and powers. Solar had to be a true angel.
Solar's eyes changed colors like most angels but had stayed a dark violet during the attack. He occasionally blinked his eyes, fluttering his long pink lashes. He almost looked bored.
This is so boring, Solar thought. He then regained his composure and put on his polite face. His acting wasn't as good as Kian's, but better than Aelius's.
Kian was boring too, he never let him leave the palace. Perhaps after today, Kian would trust him more. He'd survived every attempt on his life after all. Okay, that was a terrible argument. He just wanted to leave the palace and murder the dragon who killed his mother. That was also a terrible argument. Solar sighed to himself; he was going to die in the palace. And with his luck be reborn there as well.
Solar snapped out of his musings when he heard applause and cheers. So, it was over. Kian refused the dueling part of the ritual, so it was done.
"A trick! Or he was holding back!" King Kukovi Rubidus declared.
Solar kept his polite face on and ignored him. Solar looked to his father to intervene, but the man had flown off. Great, Kukovi was stomping towards him. Weren't angels supposed to be graceful? Solar thought. The leader of the Red Sun Kingdom was known for his volatility, so Solar didn't want to deal with him. He didn't need to cause an inter-kingdom incident, either. Kian would lecture him for days.
"You don't compare to my son," Kukovi went on. He towered over Solar. Angelic alcohol stung Solar's nose. It was stronger than the alcohol humans consumed, just a few drops would easily knock a human out. Kukovi was taller and more muscular than most angels at just under seven feet. The red gold and red armor made him appear more massive. Why was he wearing armor? Solar wondered. All the other angels were in formal wear.
I hope not, Solar thought, but managed not to roll his eyes.
"Your father wasn't much impressed either, I see," Kukovi slurred. He must have drunk a whole barrel of ale or more to be this far gone. Angels could get drunk, but rarely did since their bodies burned through the alcoholic effects quickly. Solar was impressed, just not in a positive way.
This child irked Kukovi. He'd been fond of Solara and was horrified that she married Elan. Solara was such a fierce warrior; he had hoped she'd take an interest in one of his sons. Or even one of his daughters. Though the thought the joining of their clans would produce an amazing angel.
By all eleven hells, even one of the Azuras would have been better than Elan. Solara was as intelligent as she was strong, how could she fall for a cretin like Elan? And then Elan let the Azuras adopt the child. The RSK and SSK were supposed to be allies. Solar should have joined the Rubidus Clan. The boy had potential that would be wasted with the Azuras.
"Why are you interrogating a child, such a thing seems beneath you, "Kian cut in smoothly. The other angels were staring now.
Kukovi hated Kian, always the diplomat and charmer. He wanted to rip the faux angel's fluffy blue and white hair out by the roots. At least Aelius was a warrior. Aelius defeated Kukovi 's father in a duel over disputed lands. If the old man had just left the humans residing there alone it would have never happened. Kukovi was hardly a human lover, but his worthless father had set fire to several human towns for no reason. And humans had their uses, like growing the crops for the ale he loved.
But Kian was right, Solar was still a child, and he should leave him alone. For now.
Aureus was ready to leap from the chariot to escape Elan's complaining. He didn't even need the chariot, he was old, but he could fly well enough. Kian guilted him into taking one as a precaution. Aureus was always amused by the alicorns at least. The BSK domesticated the winged wild unicorns while the other Sun Kingdoms eliminated the poor creatures. He was not amused by Elan. Some angels lost their mental faculties before their powers, making them incredibly dangerous. Maybe he could blast Elan out of the chariot and claim it was an accident.
"Can't you see what the Azuras are doing?" Elan hissed into King Aureus's ear. "They have no viable offspring, so they stole my child!"
"Aelius has 30 children," Aureus scoffed. Aelius should really slow down though, he was only 200 years old.
"Only six are true angels and none of them are spectacular," Elan said.
"True angels?" Aureus asked him. Aureus's father was human, and he didn't like what Elan was implying.
"Mixing our blood with humans creates weaker offspring, that is a fact," Elan stated. Well, there it was. Yet another reason to despise Elan.
"That's why you married Solara off to me, so our son would be strong." Elan was talking to himself at this point
Did Elan really believe that? Aureus had hoped she pick Aelius, but Solara didn't care for the Azura's living arrangements. All of Aelius's children lived in the Azura palace city with him. Most didn't move out once they were adults either. Spouses, consorts basically and anyone Aelius took a fancy to, could live there. All were welcome. Solara enjoyed her peace and quiet. The Azura clan was anything but quiet.
Aureus didn't judge the BSK ways, but the GSK royal family leaned towards monogamy. Honestly, it was just simpler. Aureus's parents were soulmates, though most angels didn't believe in such a thing. He'd never been lucky enough to find his other half, but there was always next lifetime.
"She agreed to the trial period, and she found your aura intriguing." Aureus told him. Elan did have a magnificent aura and angels could easily be blinded by bright auras. Elan's aura was bright, but also cold. Solara wasn't looking for love though. Marriages for the sole purpose of reproduction were fairly common among royal angels. Solara's and Elan's auras blended beautifully together. Aureus didn't care for Elan, but as long as Solara was happy, that was all that mattered.
The Jua clan was small compared to other angel royal families. Angels were most likely to be reborn to angel descendants or near relatives. They could be reborn through human descendants, but the chances were much lower. Due to their small numbers, the Jua clan was in danger of dying out, it had happened to other clans before. These angels were known as the lost clans. Some of them were reborn, but they could never connect to other angel clans. They were truly lost.
Aureus doubted the marriage would last, given Elan's disposition. He'd figured they would at least have a child or two. Children who would live for thousands of years and save the clan. Aureus was in his final phase, so he could no longer have children. After Solara's mother died giving birth, he decided to only focus on his daughter. He figured he would have plenty of time to have more children.
Then, at 220 years he felt the change in his body. This was rare but not unheard of. His grandparents had lived for 1000 years. He'd assumed he would live at least that long. The aging process fascinated him; it was what humans all went through. Except he knew he would be reborn... unless his clan died out.
Solara only decided to have a child because he was dying. His strong proud daughter was reduced to tears. She hadn't cried since she was a small child. Her fierceness initially frightened him; he'd seen power ruin angels. She, unlike Elan, understood the reason angels had power was to protect others. To defend the light in all living things. Though it was mostly humans who needed protection, and often from themselves.
He had his regrets. If she hadn't just given birth then, she could have easily fought off a dragon or demon. He knew she'd sacrificed herself to save her son. Solar was a wonderful child, and he thanked the light the Azuras had taken the boy in. Aureus was in no condition to care for a child. And Elan had no love for the child.
"You could have gone to court," Aureus pointed out. "If you really wanted Solar back."
"I couldn't. They turned him against me," Solar said.
You did that all on your own, Aureus thought.
"Just what do you want me to do?" Aureus asked before sighing.
"You can get him away from the Azuras," Elan said.
"Even if I wanted to, the barrier would prevent Solar from leaving," Aureus said. Elan knew all of these things. What was the point of this conversation?
That damn barrier. Elan had no idea how Kian created that thing. The RSK insisted they'd stolen their design but couldn't prove it. The barrier was nearly impenetrable. He had tried everything he could think of to get through. He'd ad to resort to demon magic again, but it was worth it. He'd even found a way to lure Solar to the edge, but the assassination attempt had failed.
"You have a sun transport mirror," Elan said. This was the point of the whole conversation. He'd never waste his time on the doddering old fool otherwise. Aureus was the only one who could lure Solar out of the palace. The old king's hair plum pink hair was almost gray now. His once handsome face had lines now, he looked like a human. Elan was terrified of entering his final phase after witnessing Aureus's decline.
"Those are too dangerous!" Aureus said. Elan was truly mad.
The technique for using the transport mirrors was lost to time. The mirrors had been banned after too many angels disappeared into them.
Aureus refused to destroy anything from the time of ancient angels. He placed it along with other artifacts in a relics tower. Someday an ancient would be reborn and know how to use the technology. It was also Solar's legacy. Arrangements were already made, if he died before Solar was old enough to take the throne, the Azuras would act as a magistrate.
There were rumors that the Azuras were only using Solar to take over the GSK. The rumors were all stemming from the Angel Council. The council was currently running the government in the GSK, on Aureus's behalf. Even with his diminished senses, he could feel discontent in the land. He was in no position to challenge the council and wouldn't risk a war he couldn't win. The council would not go up against the Azuras though. Solar would always have powerful allies on his side. Aureus could leave this world in peace when the time came.
"No. Now leave me alone." Aureus said turning away from Elan
"Fine," Elan muttered opening the chariot door and flying away. Aureus closed it quickly. He looked around at the mess caused by the air currents. Elan really was an ass.
Elan had crossed the Nexus and was already in the Red Sun Kingdom before Aureus made it back to his palace. The plans were all set. Solar would be dead before dawn.
*
Solar held the card from his grandfather. The paper was a soft ivory color, with wildflowers pressed into it. The ink was gold and shimmered with rainbow colors depending on how the light hit it. He wasn't sure when the card was delivered. He'd just found it sitting on the desk in his room.
I think of you often my dear grandson, as I stare into this useless mirror. I wished it worked and then I could see you every day. There was an illustration of a sun transport mirror inside the card.
He'd
seen that mirror before. Solar hesitated. It was forbidden to use the transport
mirrors. But when it came to angel laws there was forbidden, and then there was forbidden. There was no punishment for using
mirrors, being lost inside the mirror world itself was enough punishment. He
could imagine the horrid lecture Kian would give him. He somehow managed to
yell without raising his voice. Kian was even more overprotective since the
incident last year. That was the last time he'd seen Aelius. Solar understood
the reason though, Aelius had to protect his own children. His real children.
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