Desmond was having a hard time trying not to laugh as he nodded, his shoulders shaking from the effort and he couldn’t stop the small smile on his face. Seeing Joffrey have a difficult time trying to understand what was happening was thoroughly enjoyable to him and he took delight in the fact that the prince might have a meltdown. Shrugging, he spoke while still trying to keep his laughter at bay “A lot can happen when one is asleep. Do you remember what happened before you fell asleep or who you saw? Who’s to say Selene wasn’t pregnant before, anyways? We all know she has an insatiable appetite…” Clearing his throat, he was able to compose himself as he stared the demon prince down “I would have thought you would have been pleased to have a son…he truly does have remarkable abilities.” With that cryptic statement, he then turned and walked to the castle, slowly fading into nothing as he teleported back to Selene’s room.[/b]
Selene and Joffrey’s Room
Selene was still weak from giving birth so she was in bed with her precious son, her arms extended in the air above her as she played with him. Looking up at him affectionately, she cooed softly and didn’t even notice when Desmond appeared in the doorway. He watched the princess with a tender smile on his face, appreciating the fact that she already loved her son. His son. He looked on with love and fascination as the baby was already able to laugh and clap his hands in pleasure as his mother played with him. Tilting his head, Desmond noticed that the baby was already the size of a sixth month old. Interesting. Stepping closer, he lifted a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. “Ahem…your grace, I am not so sure your husband is ready to come see you.”
The princess lowered her son to her chest possessively and looked over at Desmond in surprise. Her eyes were pitch black and she was prepared to claw anyone who tried to take the baby away to death. Seeing that is was just her friend, her eyes went back to normal and she smiled distractedly “Why is that?” Not waiting for a response, she went back to cooing to the baby.
The warlock only chuckled at her ferocity and continued “It seems your daughter has returned and has…aged. She looks to be a teenager.”
For an odd reason, Selene didn’t seem to care or notice how peculiar this was. “Good lord, now the struggle for my husband’s attention will be even greater…” Rolling her eyes, Selene then smiled at her son and cooed louder.
Desmond began to notice the change in her demeanor. It seemed that whenever she had a child with a being that wasn’t angelic like she was, the darkness within her only grew stronger. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and muttered “We may be in trouble…” If she was in this dark mood, who knew what she would be like when Joffrey did choose to arrive.
Something…was…off…
Instead of calling him on it, she turned to her father, who was a sobbing heap on the ground at her feet. She knelt next to him, placing a hand upon his.
“Father…it is truly me.” she stated softly. She leaned in to whisper into his ear so that the watching Desmond could not hear. “Ranger only allows two people to ride him. You know this. Please, papa. Don’t cry anymore.” Tempest smiled, moving to pull his hands away from his face.
She heard the sound of a snort behind her and turned her head to stare at Desmond. He was struggling not to laugh at her father’s misfortunes. She glared.
“A lot can happen when one is asleep. Do you remember what happened before you fell asleep or who you saw? Who’s to say Selene wasn’t pregnant before, anyways? We all know she has an insatiable appetite…” Desmond stated. “I would have thought you would have been pleased to have a son…he truly does have remarkable abilities.”
And with that, he was gone. Tempest eyed the spot where he stood for a moment, thoughts whirling. He sounded a bit too…smug.
Putting it out of her mind, she turned back to her father. “Dry your eyes, father. All will be well now. I’m sure of it.” she smiled lightly, offering to help him to his feet.
As Joffrey got to his feet, wiping away his tears of frustration and taking the bits of grass out of his teeth, he stared after Desmond, who vanished into the mist obviously on his way back to see Selene. This had Joffrey wonder. He was dragged out here by Minerva, told that Tempest was out here riding and fell. She also told Selene that she had seen Tempest riding her horse, but he knew that he and Nanny couldn’t find her. If Tempest had been away a week and aged eight years, somewhere magical, how is it possible Minerva even saw her. Clearly, the witch had something to do with this. He was about to make love to his wife when he was called away. Now, after waking two days later, she had a son, and….his daughter was fifteen.
“THAT BITCH!” Joffrey shouted. He grabbed his daughter’s hand, and stared into her eyes. “The witch..the bitch. She lured me out here, away from your mother. She…she was talking to Desmond before…before I was going to make love to your Mother. Then….she led me out here. Then…he shows up, saying your mother had a son…when I know…I didn’t sleep with her. How could I? I was out here, asleep.” Suddenly, he looked at Ranger oddly. “And I think I know how to prove it.” Helping his daughter up onto the back of Ranger, both Joffrey and Tempest would ride back to the castle, and right into the main entrance, the horse’s hooves clip clopping along the tiled floor.
Reaching Selene’s room, he ordered one of the guards to open her door.
“But your highness….you’re on a horse.”
“And your head will be up it’s arse, if you don’t open that door!”
The guard did open the door, and Ranger, with Tempest and Joffrey on the back, rode in. Getting off its back, he helped Tempest down, then he led the horse right over to the baby and Selene. The look on his face. Fury. He spotted Desmond, standing near his wife…and the baby.
“THAT is not my son. And I can prove it.” He then let the horse, sniff the baby to see if it was a baby foal of the Prince….or not.
<3>
Selene was enjoying the time she was spending with her precious son when Joffrey came storming into their room…on a horse. Raising an eyebrow, she snarled “Is it necessary to bring such a large beast into the presence of our son?” The fury on his face ruffled her normally loving demeanor greatly as he barged in so boldly. She went to climb out of bed, but winced in pain. Desmond sighed and stepped forward, helping her to stand slowly and carefully while the princess clung to their child. Finally able to stand, she looked her husband in the eye and shook her head “I’m sorry, what?”
Trying to understand why her husband would say such a hurtful thing, confusion crossed her face before she began to smile nervously and shook her head “Surely you don’t mean what you say, my love…is this some sort of cruel jest? How could this child be anyone else’s but yours when I lay with no one but you. There are many who can attest to that.”Holding the child who already looked to be the size of a one year old close to her chest, she snarled as the foal stepped closer. Her eyes flashed red as she looked up at her husband “Joffrey Brax, what is the meaning of this?!”
Desmond, ever so sly and cunning, stepped in and pulled Selene’s hand up between his two larger ones. “Selene, darling?”
The princess whirled around to stare at the warlock while holding her baby in one hand, not removing the other from his grip.
Encouraged by this, Desmond continued to speak “My dearest, it seems that the prince has fallen ill for some time after sleeping for so long…I did find him outside the castle walls looking rather unsettled with his daughter. Perhaps he has some sort of head injury from collapsing and needs some time to recover.” Looking towards the prince, he allowed himself a victorious smirk in his direction.
Selene nodded at his words, thinking they made perfect sense in regards to her husband’s unusual behavior. Stepping towards him, she held their son out and pleaded “Please, just look at our son…”
When Joffrey saw how Desmond took Selene’s hand and called her “My Dearest” keeping both her and the baby close to him, it twigged. The bastard had somehow weaseled his way into their chambers and mated with his wife. The victorious smirk of triumph only sealed what he thought.
Joffrey simply released the reigns of Ranger and let the horse sniff the baby, just as he had planned. The horse then shook its head and backed away from the baby. Joffrey’s eyes suddenly turned red like fire, as he realized that it was true. The baby that his wife held out to him…..was not his. The baby didn’t even look anything like him.
Snarling angrily, he turned to Desmond and roared. “YOU SON OF A BITCH!” If not for the fact he was standing so close to his wife, he would have torn him to shreds right on the spot. Pointing a clawed hand accusingly, he continued to roar in a voice that was full of venom and hate. “YOU SLEPT WITH MY WIFE AND GOT HER PREGNANT. THAT IS NOT MY SON!”
He started to morph, right there, right then. “The whole kingdom was asleep for two days, you lying wretch. You…and that bitch Minerva. She led me away from my wife to search for Tempest, so you could bed her!” he turned back and snarled at his wife. “Last thing I said to you was that I would be back…..and here I am. If you think you saw me after…THAT WAS NOT ME!”
Then, he did something sinister. Reaching for the baby, he snatched it from Selene’s arms and held it, as it started to scream. His claws started to sink into the baby’s flesh and its blood seeped onto the Prince’s claws. Looking up with a disgusted smile, he said to his wife. “A child born from me, would know me. This child…does not acknowledge it’s own father.” At that he tossed the baby back at Desmond, and then screamed at them all.
“LEAVE THE NIGHT LANDS….WHILE YOU STILL BREATHE!”
And with that, he stormed out of the chambers, his cloak billowing behind him.
<3>
Selene watched in horror as Joffrey shouted at Desmond, too paralyzed with fear as her husband’s rage was unleashed. Her knees began to shake as he accused Desmond of sleeping with her in her husband’s place and she felt sick to her stomach. Looking down at the baby, she couldn’t dare believe this child was not a product of her love for her husband. She lifted her head to argue but her husband’s rage was too quick. Selene was helpless as her husband snatched her precious baby from her, the sounds of the child screaming ripping her delicate heart to pieces. She went to attack Joffrey and get her child back but Desmond grabbed her from around the waist and held her to him. There was still a smirk on his face as he watched the demon prince seal his fate by harming Selene’s child. Joffrey’s or not, that was still Selene’s baby and she would be damned before she let someone cause harm to him. As the baby began to bleed, it took all of the warlock’s own strength not to stop Joffrey but he knew he could heal any damage done. Lifting his chin defiantly, he smiled coldly and bowed his head “As you wish…”Reaching out, he caught the baby and turned to Selene as Joffrey stormed out.
Watching Joffrey walk out of the room after telling them to leave, she screamed with all the rage and betrayed feelings she had“I will never forgive you, Joffrey Brax!” Taking off her wedding, she pelted it towards the door way and collapsed on the ground. She sobbed pitifully while Desmond held the child close, sealing any woulds Joffrey created.
After letting her cry for a few moments, he crouched on the ground and pushed their son towards her “You must leave here with him, your husband is not well. He does not know of what he speaks.”
Still crying, Selene clung to her child and spoke between sobs “Thank…you…for…healing him…I cannot…cannot believe he did that!” Breaking down, an angelic aura surrounded her as she desperately clung to her child. Seeing Joffrey do that to her baby had broken her completely.
Seeing Selene like that made Desmond’s own heart break, if he even had one. Helping her up, he kissed her forehead and murmured “We must get out of here now.”
The princess nodded but looked him in the eyes “Is it true? Did you lay with me and cause some magical spell to make my child grow?”
Desmond looked at her for a long time before speaking “You have a son now. Be to him the greatest mother you can be. There is no place for you here now.”
Selene knew he was right and was too consumed by hurt, anger, and pain to think about anything but getting her children to safety. She wasn’t even sure if Tempest was safe around Joffrey right now. Turning to her daughter, she spoke so softly as her heart lay shattered beneath her chest “Pack…your things…we are leaving…” Turning away from both Desmond and Tempest, she held the baby to her chest and continued to sob while the servants quickly packed her things. Desmond just watched in silence and knew he could conjure whatever he needed at her mother’s castle. He looked at Tempest and tried not to look too gleeful.
Tempest watched as her father lay into both Desmond and Selene for their ruse, trying to determine how she felt about the whole situation.
On the one hand, it was nice having a brother, but at the same time, she was furious with her mother for not recognizing that the person who sired him was not her husband.
She saw Desmond staring at her, a look of absolute pride and a certain sense of smugness on his disgusting face.
Desmond was the one mostly at fault, but she turned the full force of her fury upon the woman who birthed her.
“When I was a little girl,” she started in a calm and soft voice, as if she were talking to a skittish colt, “I always thought you were the most beautiful woman in the lands. I wanted to walk like you, talk like you, be like you, emulate you in all the ways that matter. And the smile upon Father’s face when you walked into a room? It was like you had taken the sun and placed it in the room for him to bask in your glory.” Her voice never rose, she would not resort to yelling for it was not called for in this situation. “I would listen to the stories he told of how you met, how he was conflicted when he met you. For it was against his very nature to be gentle with you. And yet…he was. He laid the world at your feet…and you’ve taken his in a moment of passion.” She shook her head, looking from her mother holding her half-sibling, tears in her eyes, to Desmond, whom she was itching to wipe that smug look from his face. “I hold no ill-will toward the babe for he is naught but an innocent in this macbre play but I really hope the two of you…” She moved her eye between her mother and Desmond, “…have a happy life together. From this day forward, you are dead to me…Selene.” So saying, she turned on her heel and left the room.
Tempest’s Chambers
She closed the door and moved to the small desk in the corner of the room. Taking up parchment and quill, she penned a note to be sent to her grandmother.
After stamping the Royal Seal in the corner so her grandmother would know it was genuine (for no Royal Seal could ever be duplicated on punishment of death), she called forth her Raven friend and familiar, Francois to have it delivered as quick as possible. She could have had a messenger dove to send it, but Francois was known to go unseen and undetected through the lands. He had a knack for getting in and out of places he was not wanted.
She tied the letter to his leg and whispered to him. “Fly upon swift wings, my darling friend. To the Queen of Casterly.” After nipping her fingers, Francois flew from the window of her room and in the blink of an eye he was gone.
“And so it begins…” Tempest murmured, moving to seek out her father.
Joffrey…was destroyed. His most treasured and beloved wife, had slept with another, and not just any other, but that dastardly Desmond. He always knew that the Warlock had something for his wife, and now….he did. A son. Joffrey had tasted the blood on his talons that came from the child, and it was foul. Not at all that of his kin. He sat in the throne, and stared off to space. His face creased and dark circles under his eyes. He was no longer confused, for he knew that this all was a set up. When the witch dared to show her face in the Castle grounds, he was going to see it personally that she be burnt at the stake, till her ashes fly away with the wind.
Such wonderful memories, and the great passion they shared. The pair had overcome adversity, and even a war was declared over their love. An Angel and a Demon. Who would have believed it could have lasted as long as it did? A legend, now torn at the seams.
The Prince couldn’t even shed a tear, as all the years of his courting and his marriage simply evaporated, like a puff of smoke. Who could he blame? He had just sent his wife and her warlock packing. Joffrey never wished to lay eyes on that boy again, the spawn of the Warlock banished from the Night lands. If he had been truly cruel, he would have thrown the baby out the window, but instead he simply tossed it back to its legitimate father.
“Enjoy…what I have lost.” The Prince said to no one, his words echoing through the darkened hall.
<3>
“Enjoy…what I have lost.”
The words echoed but Tempest could hear the pain and heartache in them.
She found him, slouching dejectedly upon his throne, She walked silently, carefully toward him, her dress making almost no sound. She knelt at his feet, a hand upon his knee.
“Father.” One word, spoken in shared pain. He had lost a wife and a companion. She had lost a mother. Silent tears flowed from her eyes as she pressed her cheek to his knee, giving comfort as well as taking.
Three days ago, life in the Black fog castle was…well, as normal as could be expected for the Brax family. Sure, Tempest wanted a white pony, and the Prince went out of his way to make her happy. Even conjuring up a blue elephant from Nanny’s bag of holdings. But life was never meant to be easy, and this was the case when Tempest went missing after an argument with her mother. That was the start of the slippery slope into a nightmare that Joffrey had just woken from to find his daughter was now 15, his wife had given birth to a very fast growing baby boy, and now he had banished his wife, and her son from the Brax lands. At first he thought it was madness. Surely all this is too fanciful to be believed. Tempest however had aged, through what means he had no clue. Magic was the answer, and magic was the cause of his loss of his wife. He could not bring himself to accept that the baby she held in her arms was his. He knew when a child she bore was. He would have remembered sleeping with her. The smarmy look from Desmond, and his reaction to Selene’s lament was proof.
Hearing his daughter approach, and then rest her head on his knee, Joffrey gazed down at her, and started to stroke her hair. His heart was truly broken in two. Selene was his mate, his life….and he felt the bitter sting of his tears, though he tried hard to hold them back.
“I was not man enough to keep my own wife.” He said sadly. “How could I have let this happen?” Joffrey questioned, his bottom lip trembling. He raised his head and then cried out. “Why?…why can’t we be happy?”
<3>
