Chapter 14 ELIAS REVEALED
“And this is not a dent to your character, Isabella,” Harlan looked briefly at her as he continued.
“But I think we should call the child. There are rumours that the child is not the King's.”
He said and returned to his seat, all eyes following him.
She watched as some members of the council commended him for speaking up. It was a good thing, they said.
Putting the needs of the country above his own personal needs. He nodded, his countenance fallen as though he had been given a choice, he would have prevented it.
Sloane cleared his throat to restore order to the hall, but it was futile.
He walked to the front of the hall where he'd retreated when Harlan stood up to speak.
“Quiet, everyone.” He screamed and the noise tuned down.
He faced them, her in particular.
“We've heard that you have the dhampir heir with you in the palace. We would love to see him.”
Isabella scoffed. “That won't be necessary.” She said coldly as she looked ahead.
There was absolutely no way in hell that she was going to bring Elias in here and face the hostility of these people.
“Ms Thorne?” Sloane’s voice had an edge to it. “That is not a discourse up for a debate. We demand to see the dhampir heir.”
Isabella glanced at Lucien. He could say no and there was nothing they would do. They would have to look for a different alternative. But would he say no?
Was he going to oblige them?
The moment his eyes met hers, she knew what the answer was.
“No, Lucien. Please.” She said softly. She tried to cover the distance between them but the coldness in his eyes stopped her in her tracks.
“He's going to be devoured by these people.” She whispered. “He doesn't need to be dragged into all these.”
Her heart shattered into fragments as he looked away. Not even the members of the council had made her feel this way.
“Very well then, the boy will be brought in.” He said as he made his way to the door in anticipation of Elias.
Isabella’s smile was stiff as she walked after him.
“You can't do that?” She spat the moment they were behind closed doors.
“And why is that?” He asked sneeringly.
She shook her head in disbelief. Was he really asking her why she wouldn't agree to the scheme of them bringing Elias to the tower?
“They're going to expose him to the vitriol here.” She said, exasperatedly.
“What vitriol?” Lucien asked, his brows raised as if confused. “They only need to confirm if he's my son.”
He peered into her face. “What exactly are you afraid of, Isabella? Is there something you need to tell me right now?”
“What?” Her face fell, as the tears pooled in her eyes.
“What the hell are you talking about?” She looked into his eyes, willing the tears in hers to go back. Now was not the time to cry.
“Is Elias mine?” He stared right back into her eyes.
“Mummy?” Elias’s little voice called out to her just before she could respond.
Isabella hurriedly wiped the tears off her face before turning back to meet her precious son.
“Baby,” she knelt down and scooped him into her arms. They'd both not heard him arrive.
“Why are we here?” He asked innocently. “Did I do something wrong?”
Isabella could feel her heart tightening at the innocence of his heart. He was too innocent to be dragged into all of these.
She glanced at Lucien one more time, her eyes pleading, asking him to reconsider his decision, but he merely crouched before taking Elias from her arms.
“No champ. You've done nothing wrong. Mummy and Daddy just need to introduce you to some people.” His voice was clear.
“Are they bad people? Mummy's crying. Did they make Mummy cry?”
Lucien shook his head. “No. Mummy's got something in her eyes and she's really happy to see you.”
Elias studied his face, searching for a while before nodding slowly.
“Alright then. Let's do this, so we can finally eat the pancakes.” His tiny voice was filled with anticipation.
Isabella couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face despite the tears. Elias was just too cute.
She sniffed, wiping the tears off her face. She couldn't afford to allow them see her weak.
She was going to protect her baby with everything she had. Every single thing.
The doors opened and they stepped inside. All three of them.
“The boy is here,” Lucien said, the moment they were back on stage.
Everyone fell silent, as they looked at the little boy in wonder. They needed no seer to tell them that Elias was indeed Lucien's son. The resemblance was uncanny.
“I present to you, Elias Blackthorne, the dhampir heir.” Lucien's voice was loud, with his hands proudly on Elias’s shoulder.
There were nods of approval from members of the council.
Lord Sloane stood up after the hall had regained some level of normalcy.
He gave a slight nod to Isabella, commending her as he turned to Lucien. “Very well then, this is not a topic that needs to be debated on. However, the issue of his blood still stands…”
He looked around, allowing the weight of his words to sink into everybody.
The dhampir heir cannot have tainted blood.
Isabella knew that was what he meant.
She signalled to Lucien for Elias and took him away from his father.
She crouched to his height. “I need you to do something for me baby?” Her voice was soothing.
“What?” His silver coloured eyes sparkled. “What do you need mummy?”
Isabella nodded. “When we turn around, I need you to close your eyes and I'll close your ears. Can you do that for mummy?”
He hesitates before nodding.
Isabella sniffed. She needed to be sure. “Do you trust mummy, Elias?”
He nodded almost immediately. “With all of my heart.”
“Good.” She said approvingly. “Then I need you to trust me one more time.”
This time around, the little boy did not hesitate and the moment they turned around, he shut his eyes tightly while she used her hands to cover his ears.
“There is an option. A very effective option.” Lord Sloane began when he saw what Isabella had done.
He looked around to ensure that he had the ears of everyone seated in the hall.
“The moonlit blood can be removed.”
Voices rose the moment Sloane dropped the bomb.
Isabella squinted. “How do you mean?”
“A ritual,” Sloane said quietly.
Isabella looked on, urging him to continue.
“It’s been in the books…”
Something felt off and Isabella could feel it.
“This…” she interrupted unapologetically. “This ritual that you speak of, has it ever been tested?”
Sloane hesitated. “There has never been a case for that in times past.”
She nodded, her face changing as he continued to speak.
She was angry. Very angry and she knew it was only a matter of time before she exploded.
“That is not going to work.” Her voice was cold. So cold that members of the council were stunned when it came out.
It carried some sort of deadly venom in it.
“This is the only way…”
Her deadly eyes stopped Sloane in his speech.
He was powerful, but right now he was being controlled by some power. The moonlit blood had taken over Isabella.
He looked towards Lucien for help, but the other man barely shrugged.
“I will not stand here and watch you speak dirty about my child. That is not going to happen.
She looked straight at the elders. “I've stood here and heard you ascribe all sorts of names to me all for something that is well above my power.”
She sighed. She needed to control it. “And now, you want to carry out some sort of ritual on my son?”
She scoffed, the disbelief clearly evident on her face. “Not even a ritual that has been tried before and proven successful.”
She turned to Sloane. “If I may ask, if it's not successful, then what's the repercussion?”
Sloane hesitated. He'd not thought of that. Nah, he had. He just hadn't expected that she would take it the wrong way.
“I asked a question, Lord Sloane. What is the repercussion if your so-called ritual is not successful?”
“Death.” He'd said it gently but everyone had heard. The venom in Isablla's voice was too fiery for them to make a sound as she spoke.
She scoffed and stared in their faces. “I can't believe I wasted my time and honoured your requests by coming here.”
She took her hands off Elias's ears and spoke softly into his ears. “You can open your eyes baby.”
Her eyes had returned to normal, and she looked every inch the Isabella that had walked in that morning and nothing like the fiery queen that had just spoken to them some moments ago.
“Thank you for having us.” She said sweetly as she took Elias’s hands and walked off the podium without so much as a glance at Lucien.