Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

One of the first things that came to Richard\'s mind was thinking how he could turn this situation around. Their world threatened to come crashing down around them, but at the moment, the only thing they could offer each other was stunned silence.

After several moments of shared silence, they all glanced at King Verdayl and Kalivas, who both had solemn expressions. Kalivas seemed to be holding his breath, waiting for the inevitable backlash both of them were about to receive.

*****

Lyrah watched quietly as Rena\'s tears resumed, and she collapsed to the ground, unable to support her own weight. Her noble beauty and attitude were completely ruined by the puffiness of her face from the intense crying. The girl was far from the only one acting this way.

Though normally composed and hard to read, Natali\'s jaw was agape, and she clutched her hand over her chest. Hope filled her eyes, as did frustration, anger, and sadness. A host of emotions played rapidly across her beautiful face.

Perhaps though, the most profoundly affected person was Adellia. Lyrah had known about her brother\'s identity for years. Mylene knew as well since Lyrah confided in the maid in her younger years. Mylene assisted them in keeping these visions a secret because Adellia wanted to ensure she knew nothing of the fate of her firstborn child for his own safety.

However, that same child now stood in the center of the stage at the end of an exhibition that showed me was most likely the most powerful warrior of the next generation. His eyes glowed with power and pride. Though there was no way for him to tell, the way he looked into the recording crystal made it seem like he had locked eyes with each of them inside the viewing box.

"Lyrah… how long have you known?" Rena sobbed.

"Since the beginning."

"Why did you not tell me?" Rena screamed. "You could have saved me so much pain! So much heartache… he was alive this whole time, and I thought…"

Lyrah simply let her friend hurl a series of expletives at her, allowing the anger to flow. It was a reasonable reaction, and Lyrah did not fault her for it. To those who did not understand the truth of the way things work, it would have been impossible to explain her thinking and her actions.

"Lucius," Adellia whispered. She had walked up to the projection and brushed her finger against the young man\'s cheek. Of course, it was not a solid object, so the projection shimmered a little at her touch. "His name is Lucius… he\'s beautiful… and strong… my baby boy… is alive…"

Next, it was her turn to collapse to the ground. Her dress threatened to swallow her in its folds. Mylene rushed to her side, "My lady!"

Almost timidly, Lyrah turned to face Natali, who had given up on maintaining a stoic expression. Now, her face was contorted in anger. "I think you might have gone too far, Lyrah…" she whispered. .net

Adellia, who was still sobbing on the ground, lightly tugged at the hem of Natali\'s maid outfit. As the other person with the same power, she seemed to have understood why things happened the way they did. "You must understand… the both of you. Lyrah did what she had to do to make this future happen. I do not know the details of everything, and it is unlikely that Lyrah will ever choose to share them.

Sometimes we must make tough decisions to achieve the best outcome."

"Is… is that true?" Rena asked.

The young oracle looked at her two best friends with guilt written all over her face. "Yes. Lucius can be the one to tell you what he went through if he chooses to. But it was dangerous for anyone to know the truth about him. Just know that the fewer people that knew the truth, the safer he was. Lucius was strong… but he needed to grow stronger."

"Where has he…"

"I will say no more. Though I may be reading the pages, Lucius\' story is his own to tell." Lyrah answered.

That comment seemed to strike a chord with the girls in the room. Mylene and Adellia were aware of Lyrah\'s reasoning from the start. Eventually Natali came to realize it as well, since she had been privy to similar actions as it related to keeping Adellia out of the loop.

"I do have to ask though…" Rena said. "Your mother said \'my baby.\' He is your brother?"

"Yes."

"And you knew the whole time."

"Yes."

Lyrah was about to say something in else, but her words caught in her throat. To everyone else, she looked like she had not come to that realization of what that meant. Rena announcing it also made Adellia come to the same realization. She was so absorbed in the fact that she learned that her other child was alive and well.

"Will he be in trouble for that?" Mylene asked, gesturing to the broken barrier.

"Maybe? Though I guess he\'s a citizen of another nation now, and there\'s that whole diplomatic immunity thing right?" Rena asked.

Everyone turned to Lyrah for an answer. Their eyes seemed to dig into her soul, trying to discern the outcome of this event. "Um… I don\'t know?" She shrugged.

Her answer clearly left everyone extremely dissatisfied, but there was not much she could do about it. She truly did not know what the legal ramifications were. The only thing she knew was that Lucius had a lot more hurdles to overcome before his journey was over.

For a moment, she paused and thought about something. This drew the attention of Natali and Rena. "I guess I can tell you one thing."

"What?" The two girls said simultaneously.

"Lucius will be attending the Arcadios Royal Academy!"