Chapter 167: Bonus chapter 1

Chapter 167: Bonus chapter 1
~Third POV~(BONUS CHAPTER)

THREE MONTHS AFTER THE DIVINE JUDGMENT

Tivel found Lyra in her private chambers, rocking Arianna to sleep. She was smiling at her daughter and just enjoying the joy to hold her.

Every now and then, she still had nightmares about the abyss realm, about her lost family but she was better.

In these three months, a new werewolf king took over, he was kind and very apologetic for the past mistakes of his predecessors.

Ragel didn't trust them fully and so did I but every now and then, when they send a message through the son of Matthias, Julian to have a meeting, Ragel goes to them in their world instead of bringing them to Salvatore.

It was on one of these afternoons while she was enjoying her time with little one that Tivel entered.

"My queen," Tivel called softly. "I... I brought someone who needs you. I didn't know what else to do.”

Lyra’s look behind her, and standing there was a small boy, red hair, green eyes with tears and snot streaming down his face.

Lyra’s heart quickly broke for the boy. After Stephen's confession, she finally understood that the boy that reminded of her brother Josh was actually Stephen's son that he had with Alvira.

And he wasn't fifty years old like she had thought, he was just a five year old boy that Zehran and Hades had experimented on ,making him grow drastically more than his age requires trying to force the blessings on him to manifest… Lyra also realized that all her mother's children have.

But the good aspect of Zila and why she was so valuable to Zehran, Stephen and Hades was that his blessings manifested and he didn't take anything else from his mother or father so that's why it didn't burn him alive.

He was literally like a half-god. Theron explained all these things to them even after Siofra said the gods won't be intervening again, he still came back to speak up for the boy and had insisted Lyra give the boy a chance that he was an innocent soul.

"Come," Lyra gestures to him. She had been too busy and hadn't seen the boy, guilt filled her heart.

She set Arianna down on a cushioned bed surrounded by pillows. "Come here, Zila."

The boy walked toward her slowly, like he was afraid. His shoulders were hunched and his whole body was shaking.

Poor child, Lyra's thought cursing herself out for not checking in on him.

"What's wrong?" Lyra asked, pulling him into her lap.

"I'm a monster," Zila hiccup, his voice breaking. "Master is gone. He's never coming back. And no one will love me because I'm a monster. I have blood magic. I hurt people. I'm dangerous."

Lyra held him tighter, her heart breaking all over again. "Listen to me," she said. "You are not a monster."

"But my powers…" Zila started.

"Your powers are yours to control," Lyra said. "Just like my wolf is mine. Just like everyone's beast and gifts are theirs. The power doesn't make you a monster. What you do with it does."

She tilted his chin up so he was looking at her.

"Your father wasn’t always a bad man," Lyra said. "Stephen was once kind and strong and brave. And you are his son. You have his blood. That means you have goodness in you too and you will always do.”

"But Tivel said he became bad," Zila whispered. "And I'm scared I might become like him. I feel alone and I am scared.”

"You're not a bad person, you will not be one," Lyra said. She looked at Tivel, who hid face thinking she was going to blame her. "You have Tivel. You have me. You have this entire kingdom. You are family, Zila. And families don't abandon each other."

She wiped his tears. "I love you," Lyra said. "Not despite your powers. Because you're Stephen's son. Because you're my nephew and because you're and are going to be his own person."

Zila started crying harder, but it was different this time. It wasn’t filled with anguish like earlier.

Tivel sat down beside them and wrapped her arms around both of them.

"You're not a monster," Tivel said softly. "You're my son, the one I watch over. The boy I care about. The boy who is going to grow up to be good because people love him."

Zila buried his face in Lyra's chest and let himself be held.

An hour later, Lyra sat in the garden with Grand Lord's wives, as they laughed and played games.

Lyra sat on a cushioned bench with Arianna sleeping against her chest. Zila was beside her, his hand holding hers, finally calm.

Twenty minutes later, Ragel escorted Mirela in. It was the swan clan, she had once rescued.

The girl looked nervous, like she wasn't sure if she belonged. But the moment Lyra saw her, she stood up and pulled her into an embrace.

"I'm so glad you're here," Lyra said, squeezing her into a tight hug. "I wanted to see you, everyday and I know how you were faring, I am so glad you are okay."

Mirela's eyes filled with tears.

"I was so worried," Mirela cried. "When you suddenly disappeared and the King returned claiming Hadrian wasn't who he claimed to be and we thought... I thought I'd never see you again. I should never have advised you to give him a chance.

Lyra wanted to laugh at the last part as she remembered those funny moments in the Swine clan. "I know," Lyra consoled. "But I am here now. You are safe and I am safe."

She gestured for Mirela to sit beside her. Seraffim was pacing back and forth, holding a leather-bound notebook.

"I just don't understand why I need Darius's help," Seraffim complained, frustrated. "This is my work. My story. My words. Why can't I find a publisher on my own? And why the hell are they asking for my husband."

"Because you're a noble woman, my lady," Sarai chimed in. She was sitting on the edge of a fountain, her feet dangling in the water. "Plus, I feel you're afraid your work won't be good enough without him."

"That's not true," Seraffim defended. “ It's because of the first reason! Why would I be afraid that my work won't be good without him?” But she didn't sound convinced.

"It's completely true," a divine parrot said from beside Zila. It was a gift from Theron to him. Her voice was amused and playful.

"Fox girl is scared. Fox girl has written all this stuff about her adventures and now she's too chicken to show it to anyone."

Mirela laughed at that. "Shut up! Sarae, that's not true." Seraffim said, shooing at the bird.

"I am not lying, you're scared," Sarae repeated.

Seraffim threw her hands up.

"Fine. I'm scared. But that doesn't mean I need Darius to fix everything for me. I was once a princess for heaven sake. I should be able to handle this myself."

Everyone laughed, Sarai laughed the loudest, truly happy that her lady had found happiness and she could joke and play around like she used to in Otterman.

Mirela was watching Zila, who was gently holding onto Lyra's hand.

"This is Zila," Lyra said to the group, the others except Mirela knew but he wanted to know he is loved. "He's my nephew and has the best blood magic to ever exist."

The words hung in the air but they understood what her words meant, so they followed her lead.

"He's beautiful," Sarai said, softly.

"And he's got your eyes," Mirela added.

Zila looked up at them shyly. "I have blood magic," he said quietly, like he was confessing something terrible and expected them to be scared since they didn't react when Lyra told them.

"So do I, kind of," Sarai said. She held up her hand and small flames danced across her palm. "I have fire magic. We all have something. Something that makes us different."

"Does that make you a monster?" Lyra asked Sarai.

Sarai understood her and she smiled. "No, it makes me feel special.”

"Does that make me a monster?" Zila asked.

"No," everyone said at once.

Zila squeezed Lyra's hand.

Sarai unintentionally called Seraffim, "My Lady…" she immediately grabbed a pastry from the table and shoved it into her own mouth to keep herself from speaking.

Seraffim was watching with an amused expression.

"Sarai," Seraffim's eyes crinkled with mischief, "you almost said it again."

Sarai's face turned red. She swallowed her pastry quickly.

"I know what I did," she said, embarrassed.

"Even with my husband," Sarai continued softly, "it still feels like a dream to call him by his name in public. Like everything is not real."

Seraffim reached over and took Sarai's hand.

"You're getting better at this," she encouraged with a smile. "I've been asking you for ages to call me by my name instead of titles. But you always refuse and yet, you are doing it now."

To prove to Seraffim that she could say name, Sarai called her. "Seraffim.”

Seraffim's entire face lit up like the sun. "You said it!" she exclaimed, pulling Sarai into a hug. "You finally said my name! I've been begging you for so long!"

"Don't make a big deal out of it," Sarai said, but she was smiling.

"It is a big deal," Seraffim said, pulling back to look at her friend. "It means you're seeing me as your friend and not your master."

Mirela was watching all of this with wonder. She had never seen royalty act like this. Like they were just people.

"Thank you all," Lyra said when the laughter had settled. "For everything. For fighting beside me and for me. Thank you for the sacrifices.” She looked towards Tivel. “ And for losing people you loved for me, although it's painful, I want you all to know I do not take your sacrifice for granted."

She looked at each of them.

"Mirela, you brought me to safety when I needed it. You risked yourself for me."

Mirela started crying.

"Seraffim, you lost your kingdom but you are still here. Sarai, you were tortured and you still fought. Tivel, you lost your brother and you're still here."

Tivel squeezed Lyra's hand.

"I will never be able to repay that kind of love," Lyra said. "But I want you to know that I see it. I see all of you. And I am grateful every single day."

Zila looked up at Lyra.

"You love me?" he asked. He was so unsure of himself that Lyra made a vow to show this boy everyday of his life how much she loved him.

"I love you," Lyra said firmly. "You're my nephew. You're family. And family loves each other."

Zila leaned against her, finally at peace.

"Tomorrow I bond with Ragel," Lyra said, looking around at all the women gathered here. "Tomorrow I commit my life to building a future. A safe future. For all of us."

She looked at Arianna sleeping in her arms. "To everyone I love," Lyra said. "Thank you, for making this possible."

The garden was quiet except for the sound of the fountain and the soft music playing in the ground.

The ladies broke into cheers and their routine resumed.