Page 101 of Whispered Warnings: Part Two

“I’m sure many supernaturals would volunteer for the opportunity if it were endorsed by the King,” the blue guy says, his grin is smarmy and honestly, I want to punch him just for that.

“I will not endorse this. You aren’t listening to me, creating hybrids will create a huge imbalance throughout all the realms, the consequences would be dire, world ending,” the King repeats trying to get the other guy to understand the severity of the situation.

The blue guy nods like he is agreeing but I feel like he’s not actually hearing what the king is saying.

“We have prisons that are full of supes that no one would miss,” the blue guy says.

Disgust fills me at how easily he’s willing to experiment on people. The only reason why he suggested the prison is because the king wouldn’t allow him to recruit people.

“Absolutely fucking not!” the King bellows, clearly losing his patience as his magic fills the room.

The blue guy drops to the floor, and I don’t think that it’s willingly considering the angle that he has landed and the pure rage that lights his eyes.

“Sorry sire,” he forces the words out.

“This is the end of it. If you bring it up again, or I find out that you have gone behind my back to pursue this, you will be sent to Detraing. I don’t care who you are related to,” the King threatens.

Before we can see what happens next, the magic builds again, but instead of being transported back to the cave like I hoped we would be, we are now all standing in the corner of the vast room, a raised platform with two thrones placed upon it next to us.

Thrones!

I’m going to assume that we must still be in Trieneliea, and one of these belongs to the King that we saw before, which means the other one must belong to the Queen.

As I look around at the rest of the room, I realize that we are still in some kind of stone building, a big fucking stone building, and if I had to guess, then I would say that we’re in a castle. Not only that, but we’re currently standing in a giant ballroom. The ceilings soar high above us, intricately painted and decorated with gold. There are several fireplaces down one side of the room, all lit and keeping the vast space warm. On the other side is a row of glass doors that look out into the darkness beyond. The whole room is lit with floating orbs that seem to move languidly around the room of their own accord and with no real direction.

The biggest thing to note though, is the people. This room is full of people, supernaturals to be exact, some dancing, some by the buffet, but most are talking. They’re all dressed smartly but all of them clearly have their own traditions and views of what formal wear is. There are clearly important supernaturals from several different kingdoms here, it’s easy to spot them with their different attire. This place looks incredible, and I suddenly wish that we were able to join in. I have always wanted to attend a ball like this. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to be looking at here, but it’s pretty evident that we are having this vision for a reason. Especially since there was the mention of the hybrids, with this in mind, I make sure that I pay extra attention to everyone in the room as I try to find a reason for us being witnesses to this right now.

As my eyes move around the room, I end up taking a double glance at someone I swear is Pete, my regular from Bobby’s, who is very much human, but when I look back, it turns out to just be someone who looks strikingly similar but definitely isn’t Pete and the more I study him, the more I notice the differences. It would have been really weird if it was Pete. I would have no idea how to explain that, especially since he is definitely human, so what the hell would he be doing in Trieneliea?

“Is that Sully?” River asks.

My gaze follows where River is pointing and sure enough, there is a younger looking Sully standing with his arm around a beautiful woman that must be his wife. You can see the love between them and a wave of sadness washes over me when I realize that it has been forty years since they have seen each other.

“That must be his wife,” I mutter.

“They look happy,” Reed adds.

Doc nods, “I couldn’t imagine leaving my wife for forty years. I know he didn’t have any choice. I don’t think I would cope as well as he seems to.”

“Me neither,” Raiden says. “I think I would probably threaten the world before I accepted that there was a chance that I wouldn’t see her again.”

My eyes collide with his as they begin to swirl with power like just the thought of potentially losing a wife that he hasn’t even met yet is causing him pain.

“I’d be right there with you,” River agrees.

“We all would,” Ransom adds, and they all nod in agreement.

I frown, why would they all threaten the world for Raiden’s wife? Unless I’ve misunderstood the conversation? I open my mouth to ask because I am now infinitely curious that they might have a pact or something and also because I have to admit that a pang of jealousy goes through me that not only does this woman get Raiden’s violent loyalty, which is hot as fuck, but also for some reason she gets the guys as well.

Before I can get anything out though, which is probably a good thing because it would definitely have exposed my jealousy, there’s a loud blaring sound, and our attention is drawn back to the room. Everyone freezes momentarily before I hear the familiar voice of the King, although I can’t see him.

“We’re under attack!” he announces loudly to the room, although he still manages to sound calm, and his words don’t induce panic. He glances to his left and then adds in the silence of the room, “Send the soldiers to protect the portals. The rest of you know what to do!”

The doors to the ballroom open, and I see his huge wings as he flies out of them ready to go to battle. I have to admit that I am really impressed with the kind of King he is. He’s not sitting up here in the castle waiting for his soldiers to take care of the issues. He’s out there with them. I like that. We watch as severalpeople rush out of the doors after him, and I’m surprised when Sully follows, a huge smile on his face, like this fun.

Once again, the magic swirls around, but just before we get pulled somewhere else, hopefully, the cave, my eyes catch on Sully’s wife. She’s looking in our direction, and when she sees me looking at her, she winks and smiles. She can’t see us, surely; we’re in a vision. We’re not actually here. No one can see us. I frown, but I don’t have any time to try to do anything about it, like talk to her or check that there is no one else in this corner that she is smiling at because the magic whisks us away again.

This time we’re not in a room of any kind but we’re high in the air and floating above a war. The devastation is absolutely immense, and instinctively, I know that this is the war that ended with the gates closing. We’re seeing the timeline of events. My eyes fill with tears as I stare at the horror beneath us as we move over miles and miles of war, destruction, and death.

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