Kendrick waved all around them. "In our world, every wall has eyes and ears, even with soundproofing spells, thoughts can float on the wind. But here in Éire Danu, because the queen removed the city from our world, what is said here almost always stays here."
"Makes sense," Meryn said, going back to her plate.
Thane grunted again.
Kendrick swirled back. "Sorry about that old boy, must be my spinelessness distracting me. Now." He walked over and placed a hand on Thane's shoulder. "I don't know how to tell you this, but, you are the baby daddy," he said in a deadpan voice.
"Kendrick if you don't..." Anne threatened.
"Fine." Kendrick removed his hand. "My name is Julian Stormhart, my father was Kiran Stormhart, and I am your king."
Thane's body trembled, and his breathing became erratic. His eyes cut to Law, who was nodding.
"It's true brother, I found out in Noctem Falls."
Kendrick whispered, and the spell freezing Thane and Justice was released. They immediately fell to the floor.
Anne scowled. "Look what you did," she pointed down at them.
Kendrick winced. "It was either freeze them or suffer a broken jaw."
Thane's head snapped up. "That may still happen," he threatened.
Justice stood on shaky legs and helped Thane to his feet. They both straightened then bowed. "Your Majesty."
Kendrick smiled. "Care to join everyone at the table so I can tell you what happened?" Thane nodded stiffly and the four of them sat at the table.
Izzy listened to Kendrick's story and felt her eyes fill with tears. His father loved his mother so much that he followed her into death. When Kendrick started explaining how babies were being murdered and how his parents were trapped as beads, she felt a sliver of ice slide down her back.
Instantly Oron was rubbing her arms. "What is it?"
"It's real. At first, everything seemed like a fairy tale, but this darkness is far worse than drive-bys and crackheads."
Kendrick's smile was sad. "It's true that this world holds many depraved beings, but it also holds miraculous wonders as well."
"We have ferals, but we also get Magic Pudding," Meryn pointed out.
Izzy sat back. "I haven't tried that yet."
"So good," Meryn said, rubbing her belly.
"Why was no one shocked about my secret?" Darian asked, looking petulant.
"Probably because it's not really a secret, I mean, doesn't everyone know she's your mom?" Meryn asked, pointing at the queen.
"What he means dear is the fact that I made him my heir, he is the next King of the Fae," the queen explained.
You could hear a pin drop. The queen looked around. "That was the secret he was talking about, right?"
Meryn looked around then finally up at her mate who was looking anywhere but at her. "You knew?" Just like Serenity, she balled up her fist and punched Aiden in the leg.
"He's my commander Meryn, I had to tell him so he could plan my replacement."
Meryn turned to Amelia. "I'm losing you?" she whispered, eyes filling. Aiden scooped her up into his lap as she began to shake.
Amelia popped up out of her seat, cuffed her mate on the back of the head before hurrying over to Meryn. "Of course not! We're not going anywhere, what idiot over there meant was that as the queen's heir he won't be performing the more dangerous aspects of unit work."
Darian stared at his commander. "What?"