Page 103 of Keran's Dawn

Chapter 31

Keran

Istared at Prince Zerien’s handsome face as he sat across from me in my father’s private council room. Anger twisted his features. Saying the Sarenian prince was livid would be the understatement of the century. We spent the past few hours recounting everything that had happened on Haven. Even though we had shared some of the information and reports with him for him to prepare for our meeting during his long journey here from Veredia, he had wanted to hear the details directly from us, and especially from me.

“On my honor, I swear to thoroughly investigate this abominable plan and root out every single traitor,” Zerien said in a passionate tone laced with seething anger. “Please, never doubt my commitment to our alliance. I rejected the Guldans from the beginning. There was never any question in my mind that Sarenia and Braxia would fight side by side in the Great War. We are friends, soon to be family,” he added, casting a meaningful glance at Krygor.

“Do not fret, Zerien,” I said in a soothing voice. “I do not doubt your commitment to our alliance. We both have fanatic extremists among our people. And the Guldans know all too well how to exploit their weaknesses to achieve their own goals. We must be extremely vigilant. And you may have a similar problem brewing in the lead up to your crowning. If Deimos spoke the truth, and I have no reason to doubt it, there is a large cell of traders planning your demise on your homeworld.”

He nodded slowly, a muscle ticking on his temple. “I knew that we had some troublemakers. They have been loud for a while. But never in a thousand years would I have expected them to go to such extremes. I must return home to immediately reorganize our secret service and start hunting the traitors. We must also find out who their Guldan contacts are, and how they are recruiting our people.”

“We are also investigating on our side,” Krygor said in a somber tone. “But the fact that they had the siren technology installed on modular Sarenian ships says that they have been planning this for a long time. The Guldans do not easily share their technology. This means they have even more powerful weapons that they have not revealed yet, and that they are arming our own people against us. Be careful. You may face something bigger and deadlier than you anticipate back home.”

“I will be cautious,” Zerien said with a troubled expression. He glanced back at me with an apologetic look. “Unfortunately, there is a chance that I may not make it back in time for your coronation.”

I waved a dismissive hand. “Do not worry about that,” I said in a friendly tone. “Securing peace and order on your homeworld comes first. Keep in mind there is a chance I may not be the Magnar you will be dealing with.”

Zerien huffed and looked at me as if I’d been struck on the head once too many. “Of course, you will be. The Oracle said as much.”

I gave him a ‘You should know better’ look in response. “Oracles cannot guarantee a path. They see possibilities, not certainties. If a Seer had seen me ruling, this conversation would be moot. But not one has.”

Some Korlethean females with foresight powers could voluntarily poke into the future to see what could happen in a specific situation. They would usually see three or more possible outcomes. The choices the target would make along the way would either shift those outcomes, cancel some, or create new ones. Those females were named Oracles. Their male counterparts, called Seers, had no control on when their visions came. But when they did, whatever they saw was guaranteed to happen. Faolan, the Sarenian hunter Zerien intended to appoint as his new head of the secret service had married a Korlethean Oracle.

Zerien nodded in concession. “You are right, no Seer saw it. However, she saw eight possible paths. And out of them, there is only one where you do not become Magnar. So no, Keran, I will not be dealing with a different Magnar. The odds are ever in your favor, my friend.”

I smiled. Although I’d never admit it, his words greatly encouraged me. Despite my best effort, I’d been steadily losing hope in the probability I’d carry on the work my father had begun and for which I’d been preparing my entire life.

We wrapped up the meeting shortly thereafter. The Prince was eager to go home and get his house in order. But not before making a detour by Krygor’s compound to see his soulmate, Siona. If he was to come back here in five months to secure his engagement to her, he couldn’t delay shutting down whatever treacherous plots were brewing back on Sarenia.

As soon as he departed, I headed back to my quarters where Maheva and Dawn joined me. I’d had the pleasure of getting to know her well over the years, as she was Mercy’s mother, and by extension, my step-grandmother. But to me, she was simply Nana Maheva, as she loved to be called.

For the following three hours, she merely laid her hands on my bare chest to perform her magic. Veredians of her generation could only use their psionic powers through touch. Due to the experiments the Korletheans had performed on them, the younger generations had developed additional powers that could simply be activated either by a thought or by a look. Most of them were the young Titans, who the galaxy both revered and feared.

But healing didn’t come without its load of pain. In my case, Maheva insisted on me taking a mild sedative once she saw the extent of my lingering internal injuries. To my dismay, she ended up spreading the treatment over two days, making me gorge myself on our richest food, before sleeping like the dead. By the end of the second day, her reasons became painfully obvious.

I had known healing this way would use up my energy reserves and any fat I possessed. As Braxians were naturally lean, losing some muscle mass in the process had been expected. But I never would have imagined it would be to this extent. I’d become so emaciated, you’d think I’d been starved for weeks, if not months.

To my dismay, Maheva said I’d need a month of eating rich food, with lots of proteins and rest before I would be back to my old self. I didn’t have a month, only two weeks before Marghor. By the looks my clan members and servants cast my way when they thought I wasn’t looking, they had also realized what outcome awaited me.

If not for Dawn’s steadfast support and presence by my side, I’d likely have fallen into a depression. I hated feeling this helpless. It seemed like ever since I’d embarked on that fateful trip to Haven, any control I’d ever had on my life, on my destiny, had been ripped right out of my hands.

Despite that, if only for finding my beautiful Dawn, I’d go through this ordeal all over again. On top of nursing me back to health, she acted like the most vicious watchdog when the Council or my clanmates demanded too much of me. Once she deemed it was time for me to rest, you had better not challenge her.

Father approved of her, and picky Mercy absolutely adored her, as did the rest of my clan, which warmed my heart. Ganek half-jokingly teased me that had I not met her first, he would have wooed her himself. Considering how much he had despised Dana, it said a lot. But above all, my sons were crazy about Dawn. Neyti couldn’t stop praising my woman’s virtues. The fact that Dawn had all but adopted my sons as her own had earned her the eternal loyalty of their nanny and of the staff.

It bothered me that she had not started mingling with the other clans. Initially, it had been for security reasons until the Veredians had confirmed all the hybrids had been deprogrammed from the indoctrination they’d received. Since then, she had not shown any particular eagerness to play tourist on Braxia. Aside from my clan and her father’s, she had only been introduced to the clan leaders part of my father’s Council. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to get all the clans to meet her, I couldn’t do so just yet.

Until I knew for sure that I’d be Magnar, I couldn’t introduce Dawn as the future Dagna. And the probability of that happening was dwindling with each passing day. Thankfully, Dawn didn’t seem to care about any title or position. Everything in her words and actions demonstrated her devotion to me and to helping bring a better future to the hybrids and Braxian females.

Mentally exhausted after yet another meeting with the Council, I made my way to the nursery. The high-pitched sounds of my toddler’s laughter had me smiling long before I reached the door.

My heart melted with love as I watched my mate playing with my sons under Neyti’s approving gaze.

“I’m going to eat you!” Dawn said in a playfully menacing tone to my infant son, Argos.

Lying on the changing table wearing nothing but a fresh diaper, he stared at my woman with eyes the same gray color as mine, and his mouth opened in a wide, toothless grin. Dawn lowered her head and blew audibly on his round tummy. Argos burst out laughing, his little limbs wiggling in all directions, as she then proceeded to take fake bites out of his tummy and chewing.

“No! No eat A’gos!” Kratos shouted in his baby voice.

---