Chapter Fifty-Five
"Prince and Princess, I know you have a lot of questions regarding who you are." Marilo continued facing Alless and Scarlet, who had been spellbound throughout the "story-telling" by the shaman.
They nodded their heads in unison, still clinging to each other.
"Yes, we would like to know. Who are we? Why do we feel like this? Where do we come from?" Alless asked the questions in succession while every other person looked on.
Marilo gave an eerie laugh that echoed around the whole room. "I don't blame you. But you do remember you two were engaged to different people, don't you?" the shaman said.
"Yes, I remember. I was engaged to be married to my cousin but met and fell in love with Prince Alexander." Scarlet said and ended her sentence with a murmur, looking up at Alless, who was also looking at her.
"That's right. But that's where my memory seems to start and end. Why can't I remember the rest?" Alless asked, puzzled.
"Yes, that's because you ended your lives yourselves and did not come to a natural end." Leonardo said, getting up from his chair and walking up to Scarlet.
"We are neither humans nor vampires. We are something in between. For as long as we can remember, we have always been around, and the two clans have always co-existed. Always ruled by the first child of the existing king."
"Our average lifespan is three hundred years if we live it out naturally and we never grow old. We stop growing in adulthood." Antonio said this and stood up, walking to his son, Alless.
"The stories passed down from generations show that we come from both vampire, werewolf, and human lineages.
So we have the abilities of humans, vampires, and werewolves all combined, but the trait of humanity makes us weaker, so we are not immortal but can live for a long time and can be killed." Marilo continued the story, walking around the conclave.
"The royal family or descendants are always stronger than the rest, especially Alexander, now called Allessandro."
Alless looked shocked. Why me? "Because you have been chosen for generations to rule the two clans, and we are seeing the fulfillment of that prophecy right now. When you ended your lives so tragically long ago, the two clans came to an agreement that in your next births, which were also prophesied, you would be allowed to unite and live in peace, thus uniting the two clans, which had been enemies since you both died.
"The agreement!" Alless and Scarlet exclaimed, looking at each other, understanding dawning on their faces.
"Yes, the agreement." Antonio nodded in agreement.
"But, Father, if you had agreed that Helena and I would be together in this lifetime, why did you keep us apart? Why were we not told earlier?" Alless asked, still very puzzled.
"Everything needed to happen at a particular time and naturally." Marilo concluded. What we did not foresee was revenge by the wronged parties. It has been so long," Marilo said, looking far away as if she were in another place and time.
"So what is my role right now? What am I supposed to do as king?" Alless asked Marilo, bringing her to the present.
"You and the princess are the new guardians of our ancient secrets. You will be taught how to handle your powers. Our original home was Spain; we just relocated here about a hundred years ago, after you both died. In order to try to live more normal lives and wait for your rebirths, Leonardo continued from where Marilo stopped.
While waiting, we fully merged into human society, growing our businesses, and eventually you both came. We, Leonardo and I, have been holding on, preparing the way for you two and your descendants." Antonio concluded.
"What about Mario? Is he not your son? Or does he not have our blood? Scarlet asked worriedly.
Leonardo looked at his beloved daughter and smiled.
"Any other person born in the royal family who is not the chosen one becomes the guardian of the chosen. Since you are a woman, Mario is your guardian for life. He will lay down his life for you. Your lives are intertwined. Death of one means death of another. Just as Edwardo was born for Allessandro and Diego for me." Leonardo explained patiently to Scarlet.
A lot of things began to make sense, even to Alless. He turned and looked at Edwardo, who was at his father's side. Edwardo looked at him and nodded, affirming Leonardo's words and bowing towards him.
"So, now that we have explained everything, Prince Alexander, Lorenzo, your cousin, who is supposed to be your right-hand man, tried to kill you. What do we do with him? Your decision-making for both clans starts now." Marilo told Alless, and everyone turned and looked at him expectantly.
Lorenzo, as if he knew that all eyes were on him, slowly opened his eyes, conscious now and looking around with bloodshot eyes. He felt sorry for himself and wished he had not taken this road. He wished he could just disappear or die.
Laughing derisively at himself. Of course he can't die just yet; he was also a member of the Blue Moon clan, and their blood ran in his veins. The worst was that he was also royalty; even though he was not chosen, he had many more centuries to live.
Allessandro stood up from his seat and walked to the center of the space, where Lorenzo was. He squatted to his height and looked him right in the eye.
"Lorenzo, though you were my brother, you stabbed me in the back and tried to kill me. I won't ask you why you did what you did since I already know why. From now on, you cease to be a member of the Blue Moon Clan and a member of our royal family. You have proven that you can't be trusted, and the future of our clan is not safe from you."
As he spoke, his voice began to rumble like that of a beast, resonating everywhere in the room.
Everyone present began to change to their original form. Their eyes changed from blue to flames, from green to amber, and from normal gray to deep red, as the case may be, according to their rank.
Alless continued speaking. “As the future king of the Red and Blue Moon Clans, I , Allessandro Rossi, expel you, Lorenzo Rossi, permanently from our lives and world, never to set foot here again.
“Guardians!” Alless called, and all guardians, young and old, fell to their knees at the command, bowing their heads to their future king.“Hear my words today. Any day you see Loreznzo on our lands and property, annihilate him at once. I hereby exile him to a foreign land where he can never dream of harming any of our kind again.
And as a mark to show that he is an outlaw, I hereby gift him with this!” From nowhere, Alless got a sword and cleanly chopped off Lorenzo's left ear. Lorenzo screamed from the impact of the sword and fainted. The cut-off ear lay on the clean marble floor, mangled, lonely, and shedding rivers of blood.
"Yes, Your Majesty, we will obey and carry out your commands." All the guardians clasped their right hands to their chests and chorused their response to their fearful new king.
Allessandro Rossi, heir to the Rossi's vast empire and royal heir to the thrones of the Red and Blue Moon Clans, turned and looked at everyone present in the conclave.
His hair was swinging behind him, his eyes were blood red now, and looking at his mouth, the shape had been elongated. Surely his fangs were out and ready to wreak havoc on anyone who dared to undermine his authority.
Marilo hit her staff on the tiled floor and knelt before Alless, bowing deeply and saying, "Welcome back, my king; it is time.".
Everyone, including Antonio and Leonardo, knelt in front of Alless, all in awe of this new and fearful presence.
Antonio and Leonardo looked sideways at each other and exchanged a secret smile. Their job was done.
Scarlet, who had been looking at her husband all this while in fear and awe, moved as if in a trance to Allessandro's side and hooked her hand in his. Her eyes had also turned completely amber now, with her hair growing wild all of a sudden, all over her face.
They stood this way, looking at their people, while everyone remained kneeling and bowed.
Even the great Marilo was nearly overpowered by the strength and fire of these youngsters. She was so proud—so very proud—to have lived to see this day.