“I don't know. What the fuck do you want me to say? Bad, mother, bad.”

She made a thoughtful sound. “What do you plan to do?”

He gave her a cold stare. “I already said it. I will not open the rift. They'll have to go to war with us if they want me to open it.”

She nodded slowly. “Good work, son. Besides after all this time, he can't just come back and try to claim the throne.”

He waved her off. “He said he didn't want it.”

Her thin eyebrow shot up. “And you believed him? My dearest Alrik, why else would he want to open the rift?”

This gave him pause. She was right. In a way, at seeing his brother he'd reverted to trusting his words, at least, to a degree. He couldn't be trusted. Not after his betrayal.

“Please, sit down and let's discuss this. Your pacing makes me anxious.”

Alrik stalked to the chair opposite her and sat. The restless feeling in him grew to a boil in a second. He controlled himself, forced all the uneasy feelings deep inside, and locked it up. But he couldn’t keep from drumming his finger on his thigh in an incessant beat.

“You are so tense. Are you sure you wouldn't like my elixir? I must admit even I had to take some after that little incident with Telal.” She smiled like she'd made a small joke.

Alrik shook his head. “No, mother. I've been thinking since Telal left. I know him and he won't let this rest. He's always one to see things through. I'm going to give the order for to prepare for war.”

She folded her hands neatly in her lap. “What if I have a better idea?” Her lips pursed to try to hide a smile.

Alrik drank from the bottle, some of the alcohol spilled down his chin. “What is it?”

Her eyes snapped for a second at his bored tone and then they softened as a little smile coming across her face. “Send the dargens.”

He froze. “What?”

“That's right!” she clapped her hands together like she'd just discovered some great idea. “Send the dargens after him. They will end this before it even begins.”

His mind ran away with the idea. The dargens were the shahoulin's best trained demon assassins. Alrik had them created, trained, and bred them years ago as a precaution. The best fighters in the land were dargens. They were mostly used to kill idummi when they breached across their homeland. Their training made them dangerous killers of both magic and weapons.

“They'd have to make it past the Atal Warriors,” he said, lost in thought, a dark part of him growing giddy with glee.

“Pssht, the warriors will stand no chance against the dargen. Besides they'd love a challenge such as this. Just the thing to boost their spirits and the spirits of the people after that...awful interruption.”

“Kill Telal...”

She nodded. “And the woman. She was powerful. I'd have them both taken out. Should be fairly simple as it looked as though they were together.” She grimaced as she said the last as if she had a bad taste in her mouth.

“I'll think on it.” He leveled his gaze on hers to show him he wouldn't budge on the matter yet. He knew his mother and knew she'd expect one-hundred percent agreement right away.

Her eyes caught his, then narrowed, a look close to horror on her face. She stood in a fury. “Your eyes!”

Alrik shrugged. “What of them?”

Mother ran a hand through her hair with a shaking hand. She sat back down. “It’s nothing. Nothing. You're that upset about it? What does it matter?” He stood and returned the vial back to the bar.

When he turned back, she had the smile in place but her eyes were hard and unyielding. She held out that slender vial for him. “Take this and do not argue with me Alrik. I am your mother, and I know what's best for you. Besides, you've always said that it helps you to think.”

He barely refrained from cracking his jaw as he stalked to her and snatched the vial. She stared at him expectantly but he marched to his desk and took a seat, gently setting the vial on the desk.

“You won't take it?”

“Later, mother.”

She smiled wide and gave him a peck on his forehead. “All right, Alrik. You sleep well this night.” She reached the door and turned back. “You'll let me know what you decide.”

“Of course.”

Long after she left, Alrik sat in his chair contemplating everything. He ordered a servant to bring him a hand mirror and spent a long time staring at a pair of violet-colored eyes. They didn’t look bright or shiny; the color was still diluted, polluted. He'd never once, in all this time, questioned how his eyes changed. Or even why. He'd always accounted it to the blatant evil that had grown in his heart after the Great War. Everything about him had changed after that. He saw his father butchered by soldiers from the Atal Warriors. Saw his people murdered in a war meant to imprison them in the earth.

After becoming king, he stopped thinking such thoughts. His brother betrayed him and his people. Without a king, he'd had to step up and rule the kingdom.

Time squished events and feelings together until he couldn't really remember exactly how he'd felt and when. He remembered feeling anger worse than anything he’d ever felt at his brother.

He closed off his train of thinking with an iron fist. It didn't matter. What good was rediscovering the past when nothing could be changed? Another thought poked up its head. Arianna.

The woman had him enthralled. From her sharp wit to her incredible body, if he wasn't careful she could have him eating out of her palm. His chest tightened. He'd like that. He'd give power over to her for her loyalty and...love.

Alrik left the study and made his way to the outer barracks where the dargen resided. He'd first have a talk with them to see where they stood on the matter, and then he'd go see Arianna. He walked faster, anticipation guiding his movements. Already he couldn't wait.

Lily used the phone in her apartment to call her sisters up. She arranged to meet them at Rosa's shop so they could all insert their much-needed advice on the situation.

She had a driver take her to Rosa's shop and made a mental note to buy another bike. She hated being chaperoned around like some teenager. She needed to get her own pair of wheels. She grinned. Maybe she'd have to buy Telal another gift. The driver pulled up to Rosa’s shop. Inside, her sisters were waiting.

She melted as she spotted the bundle in Willow's arms and she couldn't keep herself from racing over there and taking her.

“Hello, little Mary,” she cooed to the sleeping bundle. “It's your favorite Aunty, Lily.” She stopped cold. Mary. Things connected in a way they hadn't before. She'd know Willow named the baby after their long-lost mother, and Lily thought it was sweet. Until she found her mother locked up and treated worse than a mutt.

Chloe snorted and came forward to give her a one-armed hug. “How you doing, sis?”

Lily's smile faltered. “Fine.”

Willow sighed and took a seat, slouching back lazily in it. “I'm telling you this motherhood thing is hard. That baby cries more than she sleeps. But, of course, guess who can always calm her?”

Chloe grinned. “Lyonis?”

Willow made an angry face and nodded but Lily could see her eyes dancing. “How is he?” asked Lily.

“Oh, fine. He's already wanting to try for a boy and then he said he wants even more after that.”

“You don’t want to have any more?” Chloe asked, taking a cup of tea from Rosa. They all took a seat in the circle of chairs in the main room, surrounded by the smells of yummy candles, coffee, and fresh herbs.

Willow sent her an arched brow. “Why don't you try having one before you ask something like that?”

Chloe flushed deep crimson, her hand fluttered to her stomach. “Well actually...”