“...Princessa Mizarmonie Alasmonsette Hyodolshi Lea. No, Brother, don’t interrupt yet.” Valon paused when Tyler’s eyes bulged, and he went to speak.
“Yes, she is royalty. We are here due to a challenge of succession. Something happened that changed the original succession plan. The elder lost the rights to the throne to our Miza and he decided to take it back by force when she wasn’t even ready to sit on it. She had just turned thirteen. Very literally. She and Justin were in bed after her and her twin brother’s birthday celebration. So our nest has divided itself to protect her. A nest that you are very much a part of.” Valon declared as he sat back straight and leg bent over his knee. No wonder why people always got the vibe that see was so much more. Sara Harison is a princess, an heir to a throne.
Valon paused to drink, tapping his fingers on the back of the couch he had casually draped his arm over as if he were organizing his thoughts. Donte stood behind Valon as was his norm, with Justin sitting on the couch across from them. Tyler was quiet, sitting in between them, trying to process the information that was being thrown at him.
“We answered some of your questions a few weeks ago. We still have concerns regarding why and how someone from outside our walls was chosen to be a part of us. We still feel it is too risky for you to have too many details. You didn’t grow up with our ways or our laws. It's new for us, as well, to have kinship but not be able to extend trust immediately. For a nest, that is not our way. With bonds such as ours, it's a deep, soul-binding experience. But you still need to learn how to interact with this, so we will do our best. I am sure that once we teach you what to look for, you will recognize the awareness you have had since we crossed the veil, and it has only been getting stronger till we are here now. We are all individuals, but for all intents and purposes, we are one.” Valon continued.
“Miza is adamant that because of who you are and your lack of training, you are not safe, and as the head of her “security,” I have to agree. Not that you would harm her, but if someone finds out we are here, you are the weak spot in our defenses because you have, well, none. You have no training to defend against the warriors that would be sent for her, so your protection is to know as little as possible until you can protect yourself.” Valon stressed. Tyler looked over to his friend, who nodded in confirmation.
“Which we will be discussing at a later date, as well, but you will be working out and learning self defense for now.” Donte interrupted.
“Yes,” Valon said, “Your ability to defend yourself will be helpful. It’s incredibly inconvenient that you can’t be fully briefed, but we will work on it. For now, you must know that she is supposed to be a queen. I say queen because he brother killed their father and likely would have killed her if we hadn’t got her out in time. The throne is currently in the hands of a usurper. So, please know we aren’t exaggerating the danger. Taking her throne back is not going to be easy when the time comes, but everything we do will eventually align with that. Right now, Donte, I, and others who didn’t get away in time are in communication for surveillance. The hope with our current intel is that there will be no direct action until she has at least graduated.” Valon explained
“If you tried to look up our country, you wouldn’t find it. We are hidden, separated by the Goddess’s law, until we are prepared to join the human realm. The unveiling has been being discussed and has happened in small ways for centuries. But no one has been ready. We are powerful, but we are not a warring nation. While we have been in an era that counters many of our Goddess’s teachings, Miza's existence is proof that we have been in a godless era and that it is time for a change.” Tyler's brow furrowed as he tried to understand.
“While our country is not listed anywhere in your world, our kings, for the last few centuries, have held the ears of the wealthy and political leaders without them realizing it the depth of the control Lestania holds. For centuries, The House of Lea has worked in the shadows of the human realm, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad. The goal has never been for our country to open the veil and be a powerful rival to the current world powers. The purpose was that IF we opened the veil, it would be to help humans reconnect with the earth as they have lost their connection with the universe itself. When the Primi Consortiu left us almost two melinia ago that is what Leana entrusted her people to do. Some of that message had been lost.” Valon disclosed.
Tyler's interest was piqued, though he was still unsure. He listened while trying to discern if they were pulling a prank on him. After all, he didn’t really know Sara; he just liked her. She could be a terrible person. But no matter how much he tried to persuade himself that this was too fantastical to be real, he simply could not believe it was a lie. He felt that it was true. Tyler had never been that sure of anything.
“If you choose to take on your calling, you would be learning to connect to the earth in ways you did not know were possible unless like some, you follow the practices of the indigenous in various areas across the planet. They have been passing down oral traditions of their regions and their connections to the Celestial Sphere. Our realms provide a delicate balance that has been long lost. You will become a guardian. You will become a steward. And one day, you will be a king of sorts with the rest of us.” Valon emphasized to him in hopes of clarifying their place in the hierarchy of things and the choice the boy needed to make.
That was the one thing that Miza was adamant about. Tyler had to choose. They could offer extra reassurances. Give him the information that was deemed safe and stress that he wouldn’t be safe as he is now and let him choose.
“For now, the mission is for Miza tolive out her teen years here, attending this school. The three of you will make connections and excel in your fields. We need to make political, economic, and social allies over the next few years. Miza will be using her interest in entertainment to broach that. We can work with you if you need assistance. I hear that you are going into communications, which could be helpful. Taking her throne back with the least bloodshed possible will be hard.” He warned.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
“What you need to understand is that loving her could be the greatest thing that’s happened to you, or it could cost you your life. Are you ready for that?” Donte chimed in, cutting to the root of the conversation.
“Um, do I really have a choice? A lot of this, if it is all true, sounds like a lot of this is not our choice. This sounds like some fated mate fantasy novel. So could I even choose to let go and let you all live your lives, and I live mine.” Tyler asked.
“You can always refuse to accept her, but it will be a loss you forever feel. If you can live with that, then it is a viable choice. It is uncommon for one to choose to ignore the bond, but it has happened in the past. For a human, it could be easier.” Donte mused, tilting his head to the side as he considered the thought.
“I’m not going to run,” Tyler reassured them. “I just. All of this seems so final. Like our entire lives have been planned for us.” Valon, Donte, and Justin looked at each other before Justin started to speak.
“In a way, yes. Once Miza was picked to be the vessel of our Goddess, our paths were changed. Miza is our Goddess reborn. The last time this happened was 400 years ago. That Mother only lived seven years and created great reform that was quickly undone and as generations passed, worse has occurred. If there was no free will, then no one would question a Goddess Incarnate because she is chosen by the Goddess herself, but each one that is born is questioned to a degree. Lestanian bloodlines are a mixture of the Gods and the humans brought to the island over time. We still have the same free will. We each make our choices to stay with our lady.”
“She is a Goddess. Like a real Goddess.” He scoffed in disbelief.
“You saw an example of her power. She just doesn’t have much experience with it. We were afraid that tapping into the power would make her traceable, but so far, it hasn’t been an issue. She is Leana reincarnated.”
“And if I believe all of this and say I am ready? That at this moment, I am ready to deal with it all.” Tyler hesitated. He would never lie and say he was brave. He felt a certainty in his heart, but he was still just seventeen.
“You take your time and learn. Right now we only have access to the oral traditions she is trained in, and you will learn that. You will learn to be one of us. You will become one of hers.” Valon said.
“Ok, but what my dear brother is leaving out is that you get to be the public-facing boyfriend. Because someone needs to claim her, so those other guys stop hitting on her.” Justin threw in.
“I can’t believe we are still on this.” Valon said, rolling his eyes. He glanced at his watch. “It's almost time to start the ritual. We have a few more things to set up, so we will leave you to think.”
Tyler nodded.
“What the fuck was that.” He thought to himself as he rubbed his hand over his face as the older men walked away.
“Hey, dude.” Justin whispered before walking off to the bedroom. “Don’t worry. Half of us were not nobles, nor did we grow up in the palace. I was 15 when she first became Goddess Incarnate, and that triggered the tether. My kind of adoptive dad and mentor was a low-class warrior, so imagine his surprise when I was in training with him and suddenly the Valon came to collect me because things in out little group changed. I had been around because she moved me to the Warriors program from the adolescence home, but I was only in the palace for like five months officially before we had to run. So, don’t worry too much, man. We all still have a learning curve when we get back to our island, so you aren’t alone. Val and Donnie wouldn’t steer us wrong.”
He nodded reassuringly to Justin. Tyler felt that this night was just giving him more questions, but based on how he felt, he was sure that fighting the bond was pointless.
Here’s to hoping for the best.
~
Miza stepped into the large circle she had drawn earlier of fallen leaves.
Tyler had never seen her dressed quite like this. She was barefoot, wearing a short linen sleeveless dress with a chunky necklace with cords of wood beads dangling from a large silver piece that looked like a crescent moon.
Miza let the beat of the drum reverberate through her focus on the ritual dance. Step with arms wide, turn 180, hop back on the left foot, raise hands, step left, glide, jump, full turn, bow, lift, kneel, up. She completed the dance, approaching the center of the circle that was now faintly glowing. They had set an altar in the center where six bowls of herbs were burning, and several other bowls and bottles of various materials were present with a mortar and pestle in the middle of the altar for mixing.
She got to work. First, pouring the oil, then adding each of the burned bowls into the vessel, mixing them into a fine paste. She then added several other items before pouring a deep red liquid and mixing it again. She walked to the southernmost point of the circle to kneel, and Valon signaled for them to position themselves around the circle. Donte stood at the point that she entered the circle. Justin walked to his left while Valon took Tyler’s arm to direct him to stand at the western point before he walked to stand in front of Miza. Noticing that all of the men were standing with their backs straight, arms crossed, and hands clasped behind their backs, Tyler attempted to mimic them, but he seemed to not be at their level of elegance.
Suddenly Valon knelt in front of Miza, cueing the other to do the same with their arms still in place.
“Blessed Mother, we call to you in the Celestial Sphere. We ask that you guide us as we carry out your mission. We ask that we receive with open hearts and minds the wisdom to help restore the balance across the planes of us mortal beings. We are the gods’ vessels. We are your stewards. As your people, we beseech you to let us continue to walk with you.”
Miza stood. She adjusted the mortar so that she could put her right hand in it to coat it with the mixture. She turned, and as she walked towards Donte, she placed her hand over her heart, leaving a handprint in its place. Stepping before Donte, she dipped her finger in the mixture and drew a line between his brows and on each check before pressing her open palm to his bare chest. She repeated the process for Justin and Valon before approaching Tyler.
Standing before him, she looked him in the eyes, silently requesting permission. He nodded and watched her intently as she followed the same motions before smiling up at him as her palm was placed on his chest. Tyler wondered if she could feel how fast his heart was pounding from her touch before she walked back to the center of the circle, placing the bowl back on the altar.
She then turned back to face Valon and knelt. Tyler's eyes widened as the circle glowed brighter. No longer a dull illumination of leaves, the circle was a bright white line. Miza bent at her waist, bowing so that her hands were stretched before her, fingertips touching as her upper body pressed into the grass.
“As it is, So it is, My Sister, my Mother, my Goddess.” She vowed.
~