"Our bloodline is special, Merry doll."

"Oh, I've seen the glory of the old Gods. You will have daughters. Powerful girls who will inherit their full potential with no bloodshed."

"I should have pondered more on what would happen if only one descendent was left. I should have realized what could have awakened! How blessed one would be to become the last!"

"With you, the legacy of our Goddess lives on. Caelestis awaits!"

"He should have realized she left him too."

These words, like a haunting specter, tormented Merin in her dreams. Vivid scenes created a chaotic collision of memories, and reality flashed in her mind.

Her mother's journals were all that was left of the woman, and she read every word until they were burned into her mind.

Merin's eyes snapped open, her heart pounding like thunder. The truth of Mordecai's identity struck her like a lightning bolt.

Caelestis was the oldest of three siblings, and Mordecai was one of them. He was the bird made of flames mentioned in the journals. There was a dragon in her mother's journals as well. Merin still didn't know how Caelestis died, but she knew who Mordecai was and why he hated her.

Merin looked at the spacious room she woke up in. This was different from the palace quarters she was used to. Tones of peach red replaced the tall white walls and arches. The simple furnishings she had tastefully put together to look good were now ancient decorations that stood the test of time.

Merin looked at her body, which someone had wiped clean.

Someone had taken her baby. She'd barely had time to hold her child before she passed out. The room was empty of anyone who could be blamed, and Merin's eyes scanned the room for a target.

The ceiling shook as her emotions bubbled hot in her chest. Merin didn't acknowledge that as she threw off the covers.

She was stopped from moving further by the appearance of Red. He was carrying their child, and he looked as haunted as she felt.

"I'm sorry I was late," Red said. His red eye glowed, but there was a hint of something else in its depths. There are circles under his eyes, indicating a lack of sleep. He was still wearing a traveling cloak stained in dirt and damage from the trip. He clearly needed to take the time to change his clothes and get proper rest. He hadn't and instead rushed to return. But he was on time, she thought.

Red had come back, and that was all that mattered. He'd brought their daughter back to her, and Acuzio was still with him.

Merin was overwhelmed with everything, and she could only shake her head and reach for the three of them.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Their daughter was the most perfect thing in the world, Merin thought. Even Acuzio stared at her with affection in his eyes. She sent Red off to get washed up, and he returned with his hair dripping and red eye glowing. The lit-up orb hadn't darkened once, and Merin hid her worries as Red sat on the bed.

She pushed at his chest until he collapsed on the bed. Acuzio stopped gazing at the baby and shuffled over to him. The dragon, which had grown five inches, climbed on top of Red and laid out. Between the two, Red didn't have a chance.

"The Emperor--" Red said.

Merin shushed him and said, "Get some sleep. We can't do anything right now without rest."

Red opened his mouth to protest, and she covered his lips with her own. "I'll watch over us while you sleep." She said after she pulled away, "Let me."

Merin watched as the worries that stiffened his shoulders and created the darkness in his face slowly left. His burning orb that lit up the darkened room went out and returned to its normal ruddy, muted color. Merin cupped the side of his face and smiled gently down at him.

"Thank you for trusting me." She said. It meant a lot for someone as controlling as Red to trust.

"Thank you, Merin," Red said. His voice had deepened as exhaustion was finally allowed to catch up to him. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Merin laid their daughter beside him, propping her with cushions and blankets.

The birth of their child had changed her, and through their bond, Merin knew it had changed Red. Something big was going to happen soon. Her powers would expand. He would change with her if Red received the rest his body needed.

Merin had ignored her mother's last words, but they'd return when she needed to hear them. The vision her mother saw that she was now living in was courtesy of Mordecai. He had gotten what he wanted.

Merin was no longer just a lazy immortal but something much more dangerous. Caelestis was reborn in her.

While Red and the baby slept, Merin organized their new quarters. She never left the bed but commanded the servants.

She never spoke above a whisper, but everyone scrambled to do what she said.

Merin noted the servants that belonged to Red's siblings or those that didn't need to be around were stopping by to peek at the baby.

Word had gotten around that a daughter had been born to the royal Habrin family.

When Red woke up after fifteen hours of sleep, Merin was in the middle of nursing.

She handed him a plate of food she'd been using to snack.

Red inhaled the food, and before he could look around for more, servants placed the food in front of him.

"Leave us," Merin said without looking from the perfect little eyes of her daughter. The baby's eyes had first appeared silvery blue but were settling on a color that had long grown on her. The girl now had ruddy orbs from her father's side, and tiny wisps of hair that looked silver.

The servants ducked out of the room and closed the door.

Merin and Red spent the next hour breaking down what happened in the absence of the other. Due to where they were, they used Merin's native tongue to communicate.

Red's confrontation with his father brought fear and shame to Merin. If she'd been stronger, then that man would never have gotten the chance to grab their baby. The red string that was attached to her daughter's heart was connected to the Emperor's. If Merin looked, she could see when the string moved and where the Emperor's side went.

"Can you undo the string?" Red said.

Merin shook her head. "I'm not strong enough. In a year or two, I could." She said. "It would be better to wait until the babe grows bigger; she's too fragile now." Merin feared making the wrong move and killing her daughter. If Red hadn't feared the same, he would have attacked his father when the man turned his back.

"He knew the baby name you picked out," Red said. It was something they briefly had time to go over before he left.

"He must have been watching us for quite some time," Merin said. "What will you do next? How can you kill your brothers when you're stuck in the capital and you made sure they would run back to their provinces?"

"I'll get rid of them as planned," Red said. "There are people posted; if they fail, I'll bring them to me. They won't be able to resist coming to the capital soon."

"We'll help," Merin said, reaching over to grasp his hand.