Ileus: The Dark Prince

Olivia was stunned when she heard Kaia\'a words. She hadn\'t expected her mother to ask her to go and visit Ara. That was the last thing she had in mind. She had allowed herself to think that Kaia would ask her to take care of Ara and then maybe then adopt Luke\'s baby, but this— Olivia could see the pleading in her eyes mixed with anxiety and anticipation. There was no way she could stop her mother from seeing Ara. "But mother, she is not— she is not the right woman to talk to. I am afraid that she might end up insulting you." Olivia stepped down the last two stairs to close the distance between them.

Kaia bit her lip and then held her daughter\'s hand. The two began to walk slowly towards the dining hall while the two men followed them. "Olivia, I don\'t expect anything other from a rebel like her. But I want to see her… I want to see the girl who is pregnant with my son\'s child."

But Olivia understood her mother. She wanted to feel, smell the scent of her grandchild, of Luke in her. It was the basic mother\'s instinct. And how could Olivia deny her that little happiness? Just to smell Luke all over again, Kaia was willing to be insulted by Ara. As if she would allow it. Olivia halted. She clasped her mother\'s hands and said, "Let us go as soon as we finish the breakfast. Is that okay?" A wide smile came on Kaia\'s lips as her eyes turned misty. From the corner of her eyes, Olivia noticed how her father faintly smiled. His taut shoulders visibly relaxed.

"That would be great!" Kaia replied. Sounds of booted footsteps stopped their conversation. Kaia snapped her head to the right and found Paige staring at them as she entered from the main hall. Her face was flushed. Kaia lowered her eyes as the rest stiffened. Awkwardness rippled in the air.

At first Paige turned towards the door of the dining hall, but then she turned again to them and said, "Please don\'t feel uncomfortable about this conversation. That woman doesn\'t matter to me and I have stopped thinking about her." It was a lie. Paige was still thinking how she was betrayed. It was going to take a long time before she would recover but then she really wanted to move on and such situations in which they hesitated to talk about Ara in front of her like she would be terribly affected, only made her cringe. "I have moved on." Lies. Without waiting for an answer from all those who were staring at her, she walked to the dining hall and didn\'t stop there. She went straight to the kitchen where she sat down at the island table to have her breakfast. It was becoming her favorite place to hide from everyone. And right now, she really didn\'t want to confront Olivia\'s parents.

Kaizan could see how upset his sister was. Even though she never would allow herself self-pity or pity from others, the wounds of her heart were still fresh. He followed her all the way to the kitchen and found her sitting at the island table. He pulled a stool and joined her. She didn\'t look up at him as she dipped her spoon in the stew. "What are you doing here?" she muttered. "You in-laws are out there."

Kaizan chuckled. "I am doing what I want to do." He dragged her bowl to him and started having her stew despite her protests.

"Can\'t you serve for yourself?" she retorted.

"Why should I when I have a nice cool one with butter inside?" he replied, having a mouthful and ignoring her anger.

"Because it is rude to snatch from others!" She got up with her hands on her hips. She went to serve herself more stew and added an extra helping of butter in it out of vengeance. When she brought it to the table, Kaizan sniffed her stew.

"Ah! This one smells even better."

Paige curled her hands around the bowl protectively as she growled at him.

"What? I am not taking that. Haven\'t you heard that saying? Once on the lips, forever on the hips." He wiggled his eyebrows. "So, you can become all fat you want to. I will stay just as handsome as I am." He had another spoonful. "And virile."

"Ew! Fuck you!" Paige said with disgust. "You are so repulsive! And I need that extra butter. I am working a lot in orchards as compared to you." She started having her stew with vengeance.

"Calm down tiger!" Kaizan said as he watched her having like that.

Paige stopped, her jaws clenching. She left the spoon in the bowl and exhaled heavily.

"What is it, Paige?" Kaizan asked, as he too stopped eating.

She flattened her hands on her thigh and rubbed them. "I feel like a hollow in my heart. Like someone has plunged a dagger and twisted it. And I want this feeling to go away."

"And Kaia and Vaarin\'s presence is making you uncomfortable?" Kaizan leaned over the table and touched her hand. She nodded. "I have a solution for that."

Paige gazed at him, tilting her head. "And what is it?"

"You can go and stay with Ileus and Anastasia for the time Olivia\'s parents are here. I am sure they are going to keep you busy as hell! Or you can go and stay with Darla and Aidan. These days Guarhaal is also in Silver Vales. Maybe you can go and hang out with him."

A smile tugged her lips up at his cute suggestions. "And run away?" she said. "I need to face my demons, Kaizan. I have to."

"Then tell me how I can help you," he said, squeezing her hand.

She sighed. "Just stay with me, around me, and don\'t talk about Ara."

"I will. You have my word."

After breakfast, over which no one talked about Ara, Olivia took her parents to the temple. It was still morning and Olivia informed them that the Shaman must have offered his prayers.

The high priestess welcomed them and invited them inside the main courtyard where the men and women were cleaning the floor or making garlands from flowers. Basically, every person who lived in the premises of the temple was given tasks. No one even looked at them and continued to do their tasks.

The high priestess pointed to where Ara was sitting along with a cluster of four women in a corner of the courtyard. They were all making wreaths and garlands while talking to each other in hushed voices. "There she is," she said in a low voice. She was aware of her pregnancy. "We tend to give her light tasks."

Olivia found it intriguing that Ara was so tamed. "I hope she is behaving well," she asked.

"Oh yes!" the High priestess smiled. "Princess Anastasia has ensured that. Now all Ara cares about is how to please her goddess." Her voice carried a serious dedication and reverence for Anastasia.

Olivia was impressed. A woman who was so normal, yet not normal, was her friend. She counted herself lucky to know her. She turned to her mother and father and pointed at Ara. "There she is. Do you want to meet her?"

Kaia and Vaarin froze. Moments later, when Vaarin touched Kaia\'s upper arm, she released a shaky breath.