A couple hours later, Xianchi and Yurich return to the cave and see Eris and Furia talking as they go inside the sanctuary going into the dining hall. Senuo and Oma come downstairs, and Landon comes from the portal from Oreads. As the three reach the dining hall, they see the grim looks on Yurich and Xianchi’s face.

“What happened?” Senuo asks.

“We need to get back there, pronto!” Xianchi exclaims.

“We’re dealing with a very incompetent and arrogant individual who doesn’t know what the position the sun is supposed to be in the morning.” Yurich adds.

Oma rolls her eyes in annoyance while Landon puts his hand over his face and sighs. Senuo stares in amazement at Yurich’s comment, but stops thinking about it to ask more questions.

“What did you see?” He asks.

“Kabu was in the temple.” Xianchi replies. “There were a few dozen bandits that were outside. We’re sure that there were more inside.”

“Also, they were talking about sending someone to help him.” Yurich adds.

“Who?”

“A man by the name of Kyoki.” Xianchi replies. “The proclaimed prince. He’s allegedly Yenish’s son.”

Landon and Oma look confused when they hear the answer.

“How does she have a son?” Oma asks. “Adding to that, who would have a child with her?!”

“She uses the power of Omakotaku.”

The five hear Kai’s voice answering Oma as he walks down the hallway and into the dining hall.

“She made a spawn?” He asks.

“It sounds like she did, according to one of the bandits.” Yurich replies.

“I wouldn’t be surprised that she would do something like that.” Senuo comments.

Senuo starts to think of what he needed to do and moments later, he had an idea.

“Landon.” He speaks. “I will need a couple hundred men to follow me to Satori if you and Kaori can make that happen.”

“Will do.” Landon replies. “Will 300 suffice?”

“That’s more than enough for me.”

Senuo then looks at the women and Yurich. “Xianchi, Oma, I’ll take the two of you with me. You’ve done enough, Yurich. After your fight to help with Landon with Oreads, you should rest.”

“That’s okay with me.” Yurich comments.

“When are you planning on attacking?” Oma asks.

“At dawn.” Senuo answers. “We’ll ambush Kabu. There are a couple of blind spots around the temple that we can surprise them from.”

“There was one spot from the hilltop that Yurich and I were on. Is that one of the spots?” Xianchi asks.

“It is. Now Oma, I want you and 100 soldiers to wait on the hilltop. Xianchi, you and your 100 will be behind the temple where the gardens are. I will be in the temple’s courtyard with my 100 soldiers. I’ll start off first. Xianchi, I’ll give you the signal when to attack. Oma, if we start having problems, we’ll signal you to come in with your 100.”

Oma and Xianchi agree with his plan, but Kai needed to speak about the subject.

“I need you three to be wary that whatever Yenish’s son has is from Omakotaku.” He advises. “He might be too much to handle.”

“And you would know what type of power he would have. Would you?” Oma asks smugly.

Kai gives Oma a stern look. “No. But if you know the power of Omakotaku, anything goes. Just like Alpha, both are full of surprises. I suggest that you too be well aware of what situation you face, Warrens.”

Oma becomes irritated at his remark which makes Xianchi hit her arm in retaliation. Oma winces and rubs her arm while Kai walks away to go upstairs. Senuo looks at Oma with disappointment.

“He doesn’t seem knowledgeable about the new addition, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He speaks. “Will there be a time that you’ll understand that he’s asking for forgiveness for what he’s done and who he was unable to save—what we all were unable to save? It’s unnecessary to hold a grudge against him. And you of all people should know about forgiveness.”

Oma knew Senuo was right because she had the same issues with her daughter’s father. Even though she was able to forgive him, she never forgot what he did. Oma decides to keep silent and crosses her arms.

“Listen, I understand your skepticism, but give him a chance.” Senuo pleads. “He’s been informing us about Yenish ever since he came here, Oma. Never has he betrayed us.”

“And mind control doesn’t count, Oma.” Yurich adds.

Oma growls in annoyance. “I get it!” She yells. “Enough with the damn lectures!”

She walks away from the group and goes to walk upstairs to her bedroom.

.   .   .

Back outside near the healing spring, Furia was confused by Eris’ question. When Eris sees the genuine confusion on Furia’s face, she feels disbelief.

“Seriously?” She asks. “You never thought of making your own way? You never thought that maybe those rules were… made by men and not by Alpha?”

“Well…” Furia speaks. “Never did I think to question those rules, nor question the monk’s knowledge. They said those three rules are absolute. If any of these rules are broken, there will be severe consequences.”

“Well, do you know any of our past queens that went against any of these rules?”

Furia begins to think of one queen that came to her mind. “The one before Askari, Queen Arias, had an affair with her advisor, who was married, a soldier, and one of her guards.”

“And what happened to her?”

“Her mark turned red, meaning she was now tainted and no longer pure.”

“Was this during the time Askari gained the mark?”

“According to what was written, yes.”

“But you really don’t know, do you? You only know what they told you.”

“Yes.”

Eris was convinced that Furia relied on every word the monks told her. Eris’ mindset was not that way, for she wanted to know the truth. She felt that Furia was giving her fragments of the story, not the whole thing, but Eris decided to not blame her because Furia was younger than her.

“Well, I guess since you had the mark at the age of 11, I can’t fault you for what you were told by them, because, you didn’t know better.” Eris comments. “But let me tell you this, you should always look deeper in what people tell you to get the actual truth. Did they tell you what happened to Arias afterwards?”

Furia shakes her head which leads Eris to have doubts about the monks.

“Do you know where they’re located at?” She asks.

“At their citadel in Kyona.” Furia replies.

“They’ve been hiding there, I presume?”

“Yes. Their citadel is underground. It’s in another area that Yenish and Hanchia do not know, luckily.”

“Hmm… I have a few questions to ask them when I see them.”

Eris was adamant with those words, because she felt that they were controlling the aspects of what the queen is supposed to do, and cannot do anything of her own free will, that is if she has free will.

“How it sounds with them, I can’t be told what to do, especially if it’s about my body, to be honest” Eris explains.” Now, I know you’re 15, so you’re still learning. I’m close to being 18 and I want to live my own life as queen. I’d like to finish my education so I can graduate with Noah and Marianna on time.”

Furia understood what Eris was talking about. Even though Eris felt uncertainty about the rules, there was one thing Furia could teach her.

“Well…” She speaks. “There is something I would like you to learn, and this is personally from one queen to another. It helps calm the soul.”

Eris looks at Furia quizzically as she begins to sing a tune that Eris remembered when she was at Cailo Lake days ago and when she arrived at the sanctuary. The song had a calming effect on Eris like it did before, But Eris had to stop Furia singing for a moment.

“Where did you learn that song?” She asks.

“All queens remember to sing this song.” Furia replies. “With the power of Alpha, it calms and soothes the people that are nearby.”

“What happens if the current queen and upcoming queen sing it together?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure.”

“You want to try it out? You start singing first.”

.   .

In the sanctuary, everyone inside hears the singing of Furia with Eris joining in. Hearing the queen’s song in harmony sooths the minds and easing their souls. The aura of the safekeeps’ powers begins to resonate with the song. Its tone made to heal, its melody made to reassure, its words made to calm. Hearing Furia and Eris sing together was overwhelming to Noah and Marianna. Marianna felt sincere bliss as it hit her ears while Noah was on the verge of peacefully going to sleep. In Kai’s room, he looks out to an opening seeing Furia and Eris sing. He then walks away from his window and looks to his mirror, staring at his reflection. His green eye begins to glow, hearing Amarok howl within in response.

.   .   .

Half an hour later, Furia and Eris were back inside with Eris walking upstairs to go to her room. As she turns the corner to her hallway, she sees Kai leaning on the wall next to her door.

“Oh! Hey, Kai.” She greets. “Did you need something?”

“Your opinion about the monks is fairly accurate.” Kai responds.

“You… think so?”

“I know so. The main monk there is the “holier than thou” type, which is something I know the man upstairs doesn’t really accept, in my opinion. Also, there are some of the other queens that have done actions that weren’t… queen worthy. Queen Deloris had an affair with two men: one of her soldiers and her Safekeep of Fire, Zane Sulter. Queen Arias, yes, had an affair with three men that served under her; you heard that story. Besides that, she and those three served their roles very well until their successors came in years later. This is perhaps a rumor, but the monks didn’t know that Queen Askari had an affair with one of their monks and had a child with him in secret when she was 27. She gave the child up for adoption when it was born.”

Eris was surprised when she heard the story about Askari but did not think it was true along with the story about Deloris.

“Where did you hear the story about Queen Askari from?” She asks.

“There was an elderly woman who worked at the orphanage where the child was sent to in Kyona.” Kai explains. “I heard her say this story when I was walking by there a few years ago.”

“Do you really believe that story?”

“I was planning on going out there to find the woman tomorrow to see if it is true, if she’s still alive and if the orphanage is still there.”

“So… training is off tomorrow?”

“Not really.”

“Well… if you are going out there, then I would like to go to my house so I could check on it and maybe get some things from there.”

Hearing this, Kai thought it would be a good idea for her to come so she could have her training along with Noah and Marianna.

“Well, if you are coming,” He comments. “Then I recommend Noah and Marianna go with us and you all bring your weapons with you. Because if we do come across some bandits, you three might as well get training that way.”

“Okay. Sure.”

As Eris reaches the knob of her bedroom door, Kai holds her hand before she could reach the knob.

“Besides your birthday,” He speaks curiously. “Is there… another reason why you said those words to my sister? Is there something you would like to tell me?”

Eris starts to blush and could not answer, but Kai saw the answer in her face, prompting him to let Eris’ hand go, and look away from her as he gets off the wall. “I won’t bother you any further about that. Go on with the rest of your day.”

Kai walks away from her heading upstairs while Eris watches him leave.

.   .   .   .   .

In the castle in Nora in the evening, Kyoki was in his bedroom looking at the picture of Eris and her friends that Yenish gave him. He stares intently at Eris.

“Oh, Eris…” He whispers. “I hear your voice. It’s so beautiful. You sound so beautiful when you sing. I want to hear you… personally. I want to hear your voice when you come to me…”

He continues to stare at the picture as he begins to chuckle evilly.