Arkhelios Adventures
"Sorry I had to pull you away from your afternoon off. I've never received a royal summons before. You're the only one I could think of calling."
Roman eyed the imposing castle and tried to imagine any reason Claudia would have for summoning him. She'd texted him and shown up unannounced over the years without serving him a royal summons before. What could possibly be so important?
"No problem at all," Adrian assured his ex-husband. "It's what I spent my whole life studying. Who needs an afternoon to themself anyway?"
"Well, we can reschedule. I feel bad for always taking so much of your time. You were the only person I could think of aside from...never mind."
Ulyssa's name died on his lips before he could finish his thought. He was well practiced at catching himself before he spoke about her. Most days it wasn't hard. On a day like today, when he needed her political insight, Roman found himself missing their friendship.
"This is weird, right? I'm not just worrying for nothing? She's never done this before. Did Theo do something at school? I haven't been to Pleasantview outside of the kids' schools in ages."
"Given your past, it does seem a bit weird," Adrian agreed. "Maybe she wants to talk about franchising our business. That's all I can think of. Aside from...Princess Georgiana."
Adrian lowered his eyes, unwilling to see the stab of pain on Roman's face whenever his daughter was mentioned. Ever since Roman had met his daughter, the pain had lessened, but it would always be there. Along with the shame he felt for having an affair and nearly destroying his marriage.
"I don't think that Maura would let Claudia know about Georgiana," Roman said quietly. "That would mean admitting that it happened."
"There's very little the queen of Pleasantview doesn't know, Roman. My parents always said to treat that monarch like they knew your darkest secrets, because odds were that they already did. There are levels of secrecy and orders of deviant devotees under the Pleasantview throne. Don't underestimate Claudia because of your past. She is the most powerful person in the world, no contest."
"She's a nice person with the world's most sickeningly in love parents," Roman said, waving his hand dismissively. "It's not in her character. Maybe her ancestors were dangerous, but I know Claudia. She's not like that."
"That remains to be seen," Adrian murmured to himself. Roman was already halfway up the stairs when he spoke. There would be no way to convince him to be on his guard.
"Good morning, Your Majesty."
Both Roman and Adrian bowed deeply in front of the queen. Her throne room was impressive, filled with imposing statues and gold trim. This room alone must have cost a small fortune. None of it reflected the woman Roman thought he knew.
"Duke Siew, Mr. Bellamy. We've been expecting you." Claudia's voice was cold and distant, something that Roman hadn't been expecting. Those intense gold eyes of hers drilled into his mind layer by layer until he felt nothing but exposed. Whoever this woman was on the throne, Roman had never met her before.
"Though I only recall summoning Mr. Bellamy," the queen continued. "I suppose he is entitled to counsel. History has proven that he does not make good choices while on his own."
Roman balked at Claudia's words while Adrian kept a straight face. Roman clearly thought that he knew Claudia Goldman, but they weren't speaking to Claudia Goldman. This was the queen of Pleasantview before them, and like every noble raised in Twikkii Island, Adrian was on the defensive, desperate not to imperil his country and family by getting in the monarch of Pleasantview's way.
"Thank you for allowing me here," Adrian said quickly, before Roman could open his mouth. "It is an honour to meet with you."
Roman looked like he was about to object, but caught the glare Adrian was giving him and thought better of it.
"It is. I'm glad to extend that honour to you, Duke Siew. You may need to remind your companion of that fact. He seems to not know his place here."
"My place?"
The words slipped out before Roman could stop himself, earning a withering glare from the queen.
"I'm sorry, was there any confusion about who is in charge here? You are a guest here, Mr. Bellamy because I will it so. There is a matter that I need to discuss with you."
Adrian nodded solemnly and beside him, Roman did the same.
"Yes, Your Majesty. We'd be honoured to discuss whatever you wish," Adrian replied. Roman nodded.
"Now, the matter at hand is somewhat...personal," Claudia continued. Her confident stare wavered for a brief moment as she chose her next words. "It involves Mr. Bellamy and my's prior relationship...or rather our brief experiment."
For the first time, Claudia faltered. Her eyes fell, unable to look at Roman while she tried to downplay their previous connection. Adrian made sure to note this stumble so he had an advantage if he needed to make a quick retreat from the castle. The queen did look like she had an attachment to Roman when her guard was down, which would come in handy if he and Adrian had to make a quick retreat back home.
"I always thought that we would be having this conversation years from now," the queen continued. "When more time had passed at least. When the crown princess was older and possessed a more mature overlook. But no matter, we're here now."
Another pause lingered in the room. Beside the queen, her fiancée cleared her throat to get their attention.
"Your Majesty, perhaps it's better just to rip the bandaid off," Miruna suggested. "It would save us all time. We do have that appointment in an hour that cannot be missed."
Miruna's words were a lie meant to leave their visitors feeling small and unimportant. It was just one strategy that had been proposed to crush any ideas Roman might have about approaching Victoriana in the future. The queen's secretive demonic councilors had several suggestions to break Roman's spirit enough to drive him away from Pleasantview, though most of them were also intrigued by the thought of pushing him too far. A low level demon hybrid launching an attack on the queen out of rage was not only entertaining, it would also gauge Claudia's ability to defend her throne. The ruler of Pleasantview could never lower their guard after all.
Claudia looked at Roman's anxious face and was immediately pulled back into their short lived romance, if they could even call it that. They'd held each other on the Twikkii Island beach and dreamed together about the future what seemed like an eternity ago. He'd sobbed against her shoulder about being cheated on and left with an infant to raise; she poured out her many concerns and fears about ascending to the throne.
It really wasn't the romance Claudia had implied to her daughter. Nothing she'd felt for Roman matched any of the feelings she felt for Miruna. They had simply been there for each other during a stressful period of their lives, giving each other physical comfort. The lie was important to maintain for her daughter. No child wanted to hear that her parents had conceived her while her mother listened endlessly to her father's sobs over Abe Helios while trying to cram thousands of years of Pleasantview history into her brain. Had she dialed Roman's number once the pregnancy test was positive? Of course. She'd never completed the call though. She never would. He didn't love her and she didn't love him. None of the joy and passion and warmth her parents had for each other seemed possible with Roman. His heart would always belong to Abe and hers she had sworn to Pleasantview.
"My father always said that you had the right to know all these years, and maybe it was a good thing that he never ruled Pleasantview," Claudia said quietly, her strong facade fading for the briefest of moments. "My mother adored her grandmother, the former queen of Strangetown, and inherited her keen political instincts. There was too much uncertainty, too much death in Arkhelios. The reapers there told horror stories about...."
The queen trailed off before catching herself. Beside her, Miruna nodded her head slightly in a show of solidarity. This was going off course quickly. Too much of Claudia was seeping out and not enough of Pleasantview's monarch. Just say the words and this uncomfortable situation can end.
"Roman Bellamy, the crown princess is your genetic offspring. Your genetic donation will shape the future of Pleasantview, and our nation thanks you for it. The princess has been informed of this and politely requests that your contact be limited in the future. Your demonic heritage will help her rule our people fairly."
"Thank you for arriving on time and have a pleasant trip back to Arkhelios," Miruna said cheerfully, looking proudly at her fiancée. "Our office is always available for inquiries, just speak with reception. You are dismissed."
A silence fell over the room as the two men processed the revealed information. Roman looked like he was about to throw up, while Adrian's brain struggled to sort this news into anything recognizable.
"The crown princess is Roman's daughter?" he said finally, looking for any sign that this was just a cruel prank.
"He's her genetic donor," Claudia replied. "She is my daughter and the future of this nation. Mr. Bellamy does not have a role in her life. He is merely a citizen of a foreign land with no legal rights in my nation."
Roman remained eerily silent beside his ex-husband. Adrian had never seen him this quiet before in all their time together. For his own part, Adrian had been blindsided by this revelation; he could only imagine what Roman must be feeling.
"Roman? Are you okay?" Adrian whispered, stroking Roman's back worriedly. "Say something. Say anything."
Roman's eyes raised slightly, daring to look at the mother of his child for mere seconds before turning away. He still remained silent.
"Mr. Bellamy, Duke Siew, thank you for coming today," Claudia announced, gesturing for her guards to be at the ready to remove her guests. "I look forward to our next meeting. Have a safe journey home."
The two men rose to their feet and Adrian was fairly certain that he'd bowed and followed the protocol that had been drilled into him from birth. It certainly wasn't anything he could perform consciously at this moment.
He grabbed Roman's hand and escorted him out of the throne room; he remembered that much at least. Roman had shuffled beside him wordlessly. Adrian's head was swimming with questions and reeling from shock, but he couldn't voice any of that while Roman was in this state. Needless to say, his conversation with Evren was going to be interesting tonight.
Roman made it down the last steps into the hallway before collapsing on the floor, still wordlessly staring at empty space. His shoulders shook as he wept, but still no sound emerged.
"Roman? Roman do you need help? Are you feeling okay? Talk to me, let me help."
Adrian's words did nothing to comfort Roman or inspire him to move. He still sat there on the floor, silently weeping outside the entrance to the throne room.
"Hey, hey. It'll be okay, we'll get through this," Adrian said, holding his ex-husband in his arms as he sobbed.
Adrian had suspected that something big was going to be revealed with this summons, but never anything like this. It was unprecedented in Pleasantview history as far as Adrian remembered. Maybe during the civil war where Princess Georgiana's paternity changed the succession of the Pleasantview throne, but even then, both of her parents knew the truth. One of them never tried to hide her paternity from the other. King Mordred hid the paternity of his youngest daughter after his husband's affair, but she had been so far down the line of succession, her paternity had only been revealed a century later by a routine maintenance of the genetic library of Crystal Cove. For a monarch to hide her heir's paternity from both her subjects and the heir's father, well, Adrian couldn't think of a historical example.
"At least she told us. We could have spent our whole lives not knowing," Adrian continued, which only made Roman sob harder. "We can try to work with this. Maybe she wants to meet with you and you could have a relationship with her. It's certainly possible."
"If that were true, Claudia wouldn't have told us like this. She wasn't even there. If she wanted to see me, she would have been there. Adrian, it's happening again. The Crown is taking away my daughter, just like with Georgiana. I'll never have a relationship with either of them."
"This isn't the same as Georgiana," Adrian said soothingly, despite doubting his own words. "This wasn't an affair, you both were single at the time. Hell, it was before you even met me. You were both young and on different paths. It sounds like her parents told her to do this, seconded by whatever sinister shadows whisper to the throne. She didn't do this to hurt you; she's not Maura."
"H-how many more kids do I have that I have no knowledge of? How many more lies have I been told?"
"Well, how many other people have you slept with? Especially rich or royal people?" Adrian asked. His words only made the tears flow harder.
"You're really going to slut shame me now?" Roman sobbed. "I was young, I don't know. Abe cheated on me and dumped me, and I was angry. No other royals- aside from you anyway. I had a kid to take care of, my college experience was rather unconventional."
"Hey, I was in college too, I get it. You weren't my first either, and there were a few others that I 'dated'. I only wanted to be sure that this was the last surprise to pop up in your life. We've made progress with Georgiana, we can make progress with Victoriana. This isn't the end. Plus, you have a beautiful, intelligent daughter that you would otherwise know nothing about. This is a hard thing to hear now, but it won't always be. Who knows how the future will go?"
"Why didn't she just tell me?" Roman groaned, leaning further into Adrian's arms for comfort. "We were friends. She could have told me. Her parents couldn't stop her from telling me, she's the queen of the largest country in the damn world!"
"She slipped up, remember?"
"No, nothing I've heard today makes sense. Everything has been a lie."
"She mentioned the reaper team in Arkhelios scaring her parents about something in Arkhelios," Adrian said softly. "What was happening in your life when you were with Claudia? I'd bet anything that they were talking about Theo almost dying after he was born and-"
"And my mother. Of course, is there any part of my life that she hasn't ruined?" Roman groaned, pulling away from Adrian to massage his now throbbing temples. "If Theo was pregnant with the child of a half demon who was using their shared bloodline to gain power, I'd hide him too."
"I would do the same," Adrian replied gently. "Any parent would. It sounds like the Goldmans were scared of losing their daughter and granddaughter, just like you almost lost me and the girls to your mother. We can work with this, this is good news. They didn't hide Victoriana because they hated you, they wanted to protect her. Now that your mother's gone, we can appeal to them. From what I hear, her parents are incredibly family oriented, just like Claudia is. We can use that. We won't win any custody battles, but maybe we can get some visitation rights. Maybe we could set up a call schedule or email correspondence to start out. This isn't Maura we're fighting. We'll figure this out."
"Do you think my mother could sense her in the end?" Roman asked, an all too familiar horror enveloping his thoughts. "She wanted Theo, but she still damaged Luci and Saturnia somehow. Neither of them have any supernatural abilities because of her. If I had been able to kill her, they might be as powerful as Theo or Rien. She took from them something precious. Did she hurt Victoriana too? Am I to blame for putting her in danger without even knowing it?"
"Hey, hey, don't even think about it," Adrian said. "Your mom's not coming back, and Victoriana looks healthy. We don't have to worry about her. Maybe she just didn't inherit as much from your family as Theo or Rien did. If we just let things settle down for a while, I know we can negotiate with Claudia. Things will work out."
"Adrian?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you call Abe? I...I want him here, but I don't... I don't want to tell him what happened. I...I can't. W-what if he's triggered by this into reliving the affair? I don't think he sees his therapist anymore like I do, but...what if...."
Roman trailed off, unable to even complete his thought. In an instant, Adrian's arms were wrapped around him, holding him tightly.
"Of course I can get him and of course he'll understand. You don't need to feel guilty about this, Roman. It happened when you were single, a long time ago. Abe loves you, he'll understand."
In an instant, Adrian disappeared, leaving Roman alone outside the palace doors. There was no way that Roman wanted to go home to the place he and Abe had fought over his infidelity. Not with news like this. No matter what Adrian said, Roman couldn't shake the deep feeling of self-loathing he felt for himself. He had been too wild as a teen. He'd been too careless about birth control. His family had scared away any chance of a connection to his daughter. He would have gotten Claudia killed just as easily as he had Adrian. There was something wrong, something unlovable about him that his parents had seen. They hadn't loved him because he didn't deserve it. Victoriana was probably better off without him in her life.
"Roman! I'm here! Adrian told me everything. I'm right here for you."
"Abe? You're not mad?"
Abe shook his head incredulously and took Roman into his arms.
"Of course I'm not mad," he said. "Why would I be mad? You were just as blindsided by this as I was. I love you, Roman. We'll get through this together. Are you okay? How are you feeling?"
"Who's watching the kids?"
Answering Abe's question was the last thing Roman wanted to do. How did he feel? He didn't. There was a gaping hole in his chest that was burning him from the inside out and he could hardly breathe. Crafting that feeling into words didn't seem possible.
"Adrian's with them. He teleported me here and then went back. When you're ready to teleport us back, he'll be waiting, probably with Evren. We'll all sort this out at whatever pace you want."
"Abe, I was never serious about Claudia, I promise. I was just trying to get back at you and you don't have to worry about me running back to her or anything, I never want to be with anyone else and-"
Abe silenced his husband with a gentle kiss.
"Ro, I know you're not about to run off with the queen of Pleasantview. We've rebuilt a lot of trust these past few years and I know you. You're having a meltdown and hating yourself, not trying to hide a love affair with a woman you see maybe once every few years in passing. I love you."
"I love you too."
"Then let's go home and make you some tea. I'm sure Evren has one of his concoctions that will help calm you down. Having a warlock in the family certainly helps sometimes. Theo may have him beat for pure power, but damn does that man know how to brew a potion."
Roman smiled slightly, until he thought about Abe's words.
"What are we going to tell Theo?" he groaned, his despair catching up to him once more. "He's going to hate me. How do I tell any of the kids? Theo might run into Victoriana at a school event. What if they hate each other? What if-"
"Magic tea now, worrying about the kids after," Abe insisted. "I'm sure Evren or Adrian will have an idea. Hell, even Lucy might have an idea or two. In the very unlikely event that Theo or the girls are angry, Aunt Lucy can set them straight. She knows a thing or two about hiding parentage from her kids and she doesn't worry about it."
"Your sister is a sociopath," Roman replied, the hint of a smile starting. Abe smiled back at him.
"A sociopath who cares about you. Give her an afternoon, she'll have Claudia's monarchy in ruins."
"Thanks, Abe. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"And you'll never have to know. I'm not going anywhere. Let's go home."
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Arkhelios Adventures
"Okay, be ready for anything. Demons, warlocks fighting, the undead rising from their graves. Anything."
"Adam, it's a cake tasting and wedding planning work dinner, not the end of the world," Miruna sighed, rolling her eyes at her half-brother. "You're going to worry yourself into an early grave if you keep up like this. I mean your friends get to come along with you, so if a horde of zombies show up, you can fight them off together."
Adam frowned but said nothing in reply. Miruna thought this was just a normal wedding planning visit, but both Adam and Theo knew differently. It was a trap they'd planned extensively for and who knew what trouble they'd find? Ewan was going to be there and Adam would finally have an answer about how they were related. He and Theo had spent hours trying to master the blood pact they'd made, but very little had happened. Since the pact had been to find out information about this Ewan, the boys figured that things would only start working if he was nearby. Theo couldn't just walk up to Ewan's door without a reason, and if he did, he assumed that Ewan would think he was there to flirt with him. The last thing Theo needed was for Adam to feel even more anxious about the situation.
Their solution was to utilize the whole family in their plan. Miruna would be around to help if things got out of hand, since she was a talented witch in her own right, and Remy would be the decoy. After promising to do her chores for a week and her homework for two, Adam had secured his twin's cooperation in the scheme, without telling her anything too incriminating. All she had to do was meet Ewan when he returned from school and mention loudly who her father was. He was usually at the mall from the brief surveillance Theo had done for the mission and no other reason. All she had to do was intrigue the guy enough for him to leave with her. Once the bait was taken, Theo and Adam would strike when Ewan was looking for information about the man he thought was his father or spending time asking Remy questions about her family. Surely the pact would trigger then and fireworks or something obvious would jump up at Theo and resolve this whole affair.
Sure enough, Remy stood at the front door of the palace, waving wildly. As their eyes met, a jolt of electricity passed between Theo and their guest, but he tried to ignore it as best he could. The guy was attractive, he couldn't lie, and worst of all, he seemed just as attracted to Theo as Theo was to him.
"Theodore, what a surprise to see you here," Ewan called and Theo felt his cheeks burn in response. "I didn't know this was going to be a family affair."
Theo ignored his words and tried his best to focus on the magic he needed to resolve the pact. He needed to see the magic that ran through Ewan's veins, needed to delve deep to see how he was made, right down to the very molecules. Nothing obvious was calling to him, even when Ewan stood next to Remy. Did this mean that he wasn't Adam's brother after all?
"My name's still Theo," the demon hybrid called back, trying to focus on his task without sending any signals that might convince the boy that he was interested in flirting with him. "What are you doing here anyway?"
Ewan shrugged calmly. Unlike Adam, Ewan wasn't anxious in the slightest. A girl inviting him to a palace to help her escape wedding planning duties was something that didn't even phase him. Being surrounded by the Maricourt siblings he claimed to be related to didn’t bother him at all.
Theo looked in Adam's direction, hoping that some magic was flowing through him. Adam was just staring at the boy, half furious, half terrified of what else he'd say. Still, there were no obvious signs that the two were brothers. They looked different enough and Theo struggled to even see an aura on Ewan. The guy was a magical dead end, something Theo had never even heard of before. Any ordinary person could at least study magic and cast a basic spell with training, it wasn't hard. The big, important spells were out of reach, especially if you were partly demonic like Roman and Theo, but no one was empty of magic like Ewan appeared to be. Theo couldn't tell if it was just the blood magic flowing between him and Adam that was making it impossible to read Ewan or if the irritating guy really was just completely devoid of magic. He'd have to ask a teacher about it later.
"Theo, your dad wants to see you in the kitchen. He wants your opinion on the cupcakes."
"My dad? Why would he be here? Is he following me or something?"
Theo bristled at the thought of his father following him from place to place, showing just how little his parents trusted him. He and Adam had important work to accomplish, they didn't need his parents hanging around accusing them of whatever lurid details their own minds conjured. From the worry that always accompanied a request to spend time with Adam, Theo had to wonder just what his parents had been up to at his age that they were so convinced he was also doing. Life in Arkhelios must have been boring growing up since Theo's own imagination was pretty limited when it came to sex and romance. His parents acted like they expected him to be naked at any moment during the day, but Theo had more important things to spend his time on. He had a blood pact and a family mystery to uncover, there wasn't time to imagine a million dirty scenarios he and Adam could get up to.
"Your dad is catering dinner tonight," Miruna informed him, her voice betraying some small irritation. "He's been booked for tonight for some time now, you should have known that. I can't remember everything around here."
Theo met Adam's gaze and shrugged. He didn't follow his parents' schedule closely and Miruna should know that. He and Adam barely followed their own schedules when school was in session.
"So I get to meet your parents. That's pretty forward of you, Theodore," Ewan chuckled.
Theo fumed, glaring at the boy who just wouldn't take a hint. Beside him, Adam reached for his hand, squeezing it protectively. Theo had mentioned that this Ewan was obnoxious, but Adam certainly hadn't expected this level of purposeful irritation. How could this guy be related to him in any way? He looked like he didn't care about what others thought of him, especially when it came to Theo. Adam tried to be a good, patient boyfriend and he knew how hurt Theo had been when he discovered his fathers' affairs. There was no way that Theo would ever place that level of stress on the guy he loved. Still, looking at his supposed brother trying to so obviously play them against each other nearly made Adam forget rationality and reach for his wand.
"I don't know why Remy invited you," Theo lied. "You're the worst."
Ewan shrugged, making Theo fume even more. This guy was impossible.
"Let's just go inside already," Remy groaned, already regretting signing up for this plan. "I could use a drink at this point."
"That's not happening, Remy," Miruna scolded. "You've got the right idea though. Everyone inside. We have a wedding to plan."
"Miruna! So nice to see you."
Roman Bellamy greeted the future queen consort with a warm smile and a bowl of flour in his hands.
"You too, Roman. It's been too long. How's everything coming for tonight?"
"Perfectly," Roman assured his client. "Everything is on schedule."
"Amazing," Miruna replied, looking relieved. "Claudia's going to be late tonight because of a meeting, so it's just going to be me and the family."
Theo grinned hearing that he was included in Adam's family by the future queen consort. All of Adam's sisters and his step-niece were Theo's family too in Miruna's eyes. Hearing that almost made dealing with Ewan for the day tolerable.
"I can work with that," Roman said. "Abe's at home with the kids and he knows that we often run late with your busy schedules. It'll be nice to see your fiancée again. It's what, a month since she was able to attend these planning sessions?"
Miruna nodded
"Sadly. It takes a lot to run a country like Pleasantview. She'll be here tonight though."
"Miruna? Is that you?"
Miruna spun around at the sound of the familiar voice, her eyes wide with surprise.
"Arterius? What on earth are you doing here? It's been too long!"
Theo watched Adam's sister radiate an excitement that he'd never seen from her before. It was like she was waking up from a dream and seeing her favourite person there beside her. Theo had never seen Miruna this excited before, especially over some ordinary looking guy. He'd never felt anything like this before from Adam's sisters, or really from anyone. Was this part of the pact finally kicking in? Were these weird feelings because he was tied to her through Adam's bloodline? What did it even mean?
Arterius beamed back at Miruna, though Theo could feel the waves of worry ripping through the man from across the room.
"I'm here to see Claudia. It's a matter of some urgency from what I'm told. About her daughter."
Beside Theo, Victoriana focused on this new visitor with intense interest. Here was a man that seemed connected to her mother in some way. Was he her father?
"Oh, the reapers sent you?" Miruna asked. "I didn't think they'd send someone living to talk about reaper business."
"The perks of being Death’s son," he laughed, shrugging his shoulders playfully. "I'm usually who gets assigned to work with the living people. Destiny and Davis are just teens trying to get through high school, so Dad chose me to take on the family business so to speak. I think he's just tired of dealing with Gee himself to be honest. You know how Gee is."
Miruna giggled despite herself.
"I can imagine! Gee can be a lot. Remember when he tried to have a family games night and got mad when your dad locked him out of the house with that weird sigil? Oh my god, that fight was epic."
"Yeah, Gee can be intense," Arterius chuckled. "Try having him for an older brother! You know I heard that Strangetown has an entire holiday to celebrate when he got married to Leah because she curbed his…more enthusiastic traits. A whole holiday because he pissed off an entire country that badly!"
Miruna giggled again, earning a worried stare from her siblings. What had come over Miruna? They'd never seen her act like a blushing teen even when she was a teen. She certainly didn't laugh that way when Claudia was around.
"Well, we'll just be around until you need us," Adam announced awkwardly, still watching his half-sibling stare intensely at Death’s chosen messenger. "We're just going to work on schoolwork until you need our input on anything."
Miruna rolled her eyes, making Arterius chuckle.
"We all know that you're doing no such thing," she sighed irritably. "But fine. No wandering the halls or going into the private residences. We're guests here and if I get a single report of bad behaviour from the palace staff, there's going to be hell to pay."
"Can your dad get a hug before you take off?" Roman asked before his son could bolt. "You could always stay and help me make dessert. I wouldn't mind the company of my oldest son, you know."
Theo recoiled, stealing a glance over his shoulder at the other teens. Adam didn't look bothered by the idea and Remy was currently conjuring a spell that was slowly turning Ewan's hair a vibrant shade of green. It was probably socially okay to hug his dad in public.
Theo reluctantly wrapped his arms around his father, pulling away again in an instant.
"I'm not Saturnia, Dad. Me and my friends are working on magic homework, not cake decorating."
Roman tried to smile while biting his tongue.
He's just a teenager, teenagers are rude. Teenagers don't hug or hang out with their parents. The twins already refuse to stand in the same aisle as me when we go to the mall. This is normal.
It was hard for Roman to judge what made a childhood normal with what he'd experienced for himself. His grandparents and mother were all murderers and he'd had a kid at sixteen and had been forced to grow up faster than other teens. From all the parenting books that he'd devoured looking for answers, it was normal for his children to start to pull away from him and Abe. It may have been normal, but it still hurt just as bad as when he'd been shot.
"Kay, bye Dad! Bye Miruna!"
Theo grabbed Adam's hand and bolted for the door with Ewan and Remy following close behind them. Miruna sighed when she saw Ewan's unsolicited hair change and waved her hand quickly to reverse her half-sister's spell.
"I don't know how you handle having so many kids, Roman," she groaned. "I can't seem to even keep my siblings in line without some minor disaster. You must be a wreck at the end of the day."
Roman tried to stifle a laugh at her frustration as best he could.
"Oh, you have no idea."
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