“Minn’da always told me that you are a kind and loving man.”
“Do you believe it?”
The red haired girl stared at Melaeth for a moment. With a faint smile, she nodded. “Yes.” Her small hand reached out and touched his hand. He was more than happy to swoop her hand into his, lifting her hand to his lips as he gently placed a kiss upon her skin. He smiled at the six year old girl and she gasped. “You have sharp teeth. Are they dangerous?”
Melaeth’s lips closed to cover his teeth, but the smile lingered. “Not to you.” The little girl canted her head to the side and gazed at her father curiously.
The man inched away against the wall as the tall elf approached him from the shadows. He had trapped himself and, desperate to find a way out, he tried to run to the side, but he saw grotesque humanoid things scowling at him from the sides. He knew what they were. Ratz. He turned to see a sharpened smile coming toward him. “It’s so good to see you again, Gerald,” the elf said. “You owe me something.” The Ratz grabbed the man’s arms and legs and before he could beg for mercy, the elf leaned in and the sharpened teeth dug into the man’s neck, like little daggers tearing into his skin before a chunk of flesh was ripped off
The little girl’s eyes shifted up his face, examining his features she had only heard in stories. “We don’t have the same eyes,” she said softly. Melaeth gazed into her green to light blue eyes.
“No, but your eyes are very similar to mine a long, long time ago.”
“Really?” She smiled and reached up to touch his eye lids.
The man gasped for breath as the deranged elf’s brilliant green eyes stared at his brown eyes. “Did you think you could hide from me? I have eyes everywhere, Gerald.” He smiled again with now blood-stained teeth. “Everywhere.” The man couldn’t help but stare at the mad eyes that terrorized him at that moment.
“Will they ever go back to this color? Minn’da’s eyes are not so green.”
“I don’t think they will, my princess,” Melaeth said softly. He gazed up at a tree off in the distance. He could see her silhouette, watching them closely, listening closely. That was as close as Lily would dare to be. He understood. They had promised to stay away for Amaranth’s sake. Meeting once more would be disastrous. That she had granted him permission to speak to Amaranth and spend time with her was a blessing. As long as he did not disclose who he was to the rest of the world, he could spend time with his daughter. It was a simple request that Melaeth could attain to.
Amaranth’s eyes shifted down his neck and torso, looking at the tattoos and trying to decipher what lay beneath his fur vest. She looked at his hands again. They were rough, but slender and soft to handle. She saw the nails that extended into sharp points and she said, “And your hands look like claws.” She giggled a little, “Like minn’da.”
The Rat King stared at the dying man and he laughed softly. “I’m not going to lie. I enjoy this part very much. Just watching you take your last breaths. It’s quite satisfying.” The man continued to gasp, choking on blood. “But you’re not dying fast enough.” The King punched the man a few times, then he dug his nails into the man’s chest, as if his nails alone could rip through his chest to grasp his failing heart. The beat slowed and the man gasped a few more times before he stopped moving altogether. The Rat King retreated his hand and licked the blood off his fingers and nails. “Get rid of him,” he ordered. The four Ratz with him drew weapons and began to tear the man apart before anyone walked into the alley.
Melaeth smiled and nodded. “They are there to protect you. I promise you, my princess, no one will ever harm you.” He smiled at her and then gazed up at the tree. “No one,” he said again, a little louder. Turning back to Amaranth, Melaeth reached down to kiss his daughter’s head.
“Happy birthday, my beautiful princess,” he said.
“Thank you, ann’da,” she said. Without hesitation, she leaned into his fur vest, wrapping her little arms around him. There was something about his scent, a musky sweet, coppery scent that made her feel safe and comfortable. “I love you.”
“I love you too, my princess,” Melaeth said softly, closing his eyes to take in the moment that only took place twice a year.
He sat in the middle of the courtyard in Panderia, the same courtyard where she declared her love for him and where he realized she was all he wanted in his life. He had sat there in the middle, alone, for the past five years. Every year, it felt as if she were creeping closer to him, but Melaeth wasn’t sure if she was or if it was just his urging desire to see her again.
Melaeth, the Rat King, sat cross-legged on the stone and stared at gray-blue stone in his hand. “The Flea encased it in…something to make it last longer. I got it from Northrend, where we used to spend all our time at.” He chuckled. “I wonder why we stayed there when we could have gone anywhere else.” He swept a strand of blonde hair out of his face and he placed the stone in front of him. “You’ve been gone for so long. I’m starting to forget the sound of your voice and the feel of your touch. I even wonder if…you’ve moved on. I will not blame you if you have, but…if he does anything to hurt you or my daughter, he will die.”
There was no passion behind his words, however. He simply didn’t have the energy to be angry. It was as if this place weakened him and he was powerless to everyone and everything. He sat a still another hour, hoping, as usual, that she would appear, take him in her arms, and tell him that everything was going to be alright, but she didn’t. She never did. All he felt was her presence and occasionally, her scent lingered in the air.
“I have to go. The Kingdom is expanding. You would be so proud of me. Tell my little Amaranthe that I love her and that I cannot wait to see her one day. I will find her, Lily. I will find her and I will tell her everything, even if you are against it. She has to know.” Melaeth sighed and pushed off the ground. “I will meet you at our home for her birthday. Until then, I love you, my beautiful Lily.”
He closed his eyes and as usual, he felt the soft gust of breeze swirl around him and even the soft touch of a caress on his cheek. Melaeth smiled briefly, but after so many years, he was ready to let her be. After all, this was his choice, right? He looked back at the stone he left in the courtyard, and as always, it was gone.
With a soft chuckle, the Rat King walked away toward the forest as he awaited for the mage to appear to take him home.
The day began before the sun peeked over the horizon that day. In the darkness, the Rat King walked out of the cottage, hearing the nearby snores of Ratz and guests who had passed out drunk in the streets. His boots crunched the dirt at his feet and he placed his hands into his fur jacket’s pockets. His mind, as broken and sporadic as it was, was thinking on one thing only: Amaranth Rose.
It was his daughter’s birthday. Three years old and he had never seen her. He longed to hold her in his arms and simply embrace the union of a love that had to be dissolved. He missed Lily. He missed their family. He missed what could have been.
Happy birthday to you...
As much as he hated him, the only one the King trusted on this special day was the Flea. After summoning him, the undead mage arrived, bowed, and waited patiently. He knew exactly where the King was going and how urgent it was to get him there and back before anyone knew. The Rat King took a deep breath, pulled a small box from his jacket and looked at it. “Do you think she’ll like this necklace?”
“I don’t see why she wouldn’t, my King,” the Flea simply replied. Following another sigh, the Rat King gestured for the Flea to carry on and the portal to Pandaria opened.
Happy birthday, dear...
Amaranth. How he longed to see his daughter, but that meant seeing Lily, and he had accepted that when he said she had to go, he had to stick to that promise. For Lily’s sake. For Amaranth’s sake.
They arrived outside the Liao shrine, where he had left many gifts before. The sun was starting to rise and he knew he had a short amount of time before the villagers would begin to wander. The Rat King, or rather, Melaeth, approached the shrine while the Flea stood off at a distance. He stood staring at the stone monument and he recalled the times Lily had brought him here. Once to introduce him to her adoptive father, another when they were having trouble, but this location was important to Lily, and so it was the place where he delivered his gifts to his daughter and on occasion, Lily.
Melaeth placed the small box at the foot of the shrine and he paused when he saw a lily with a note attached. “Thank you, beloved. Thank you, Ann’da.” Melaeth’s eyes watered as he picked up the note. With a soft smile, he pressed his fingers to his lips and blew the shrine a kiss. They were expecting him and he loved them all the more for that. Melaeth walked back toward the Flea and the bright portal took him back to his dark, cruel world.
Gasping for breath, the elf kept running. He was unsure if he was out of danger, but he didn’t want to get recaptured. That meant death for sure and he wasn’t going to die. At least, not yet. He had been in those woods many times and many years over, but they simply did not look like the same woods he was familiar with.
His eyes stung with sweat and tears, blinding him momentarily, forcing him to stop. He rubbed his eyes, stopping for a brief moment. He could hear their voices near him, their gritty language that made him cringe, twisting his stomach. Melaeth bent forward and threw up. More tears clouded his vision and he gasped for breath as he cleared his eyes. The stinging in his stomach was getting worse and he almost cried out in pain, but he knew the trolls would find him.
His legs were starting to give out on him as the pain began to spread from his stomach to his arms and legs and it was unbearable. It was burning throughout his entire being and Melaeth collapsed, rolling into a fetal position, and whimpering.
Then he heard it. Their voices were getting closer and while he didn’t understand what they were saying, he knew very well that they were looking for him. Despite the pain and the feeling of death creeping over him, he pushed himself off the ground and stumbled forward.
For Jenris.
For himself.
He noticed figures in red marching ahead of him and he needed to get to them. With a sudden burst of energy, Melaeth rushed to the patrol and collapsed at their feet.
“What is this?”
“It’s a boy!”
“It’s Sarnathan’s boy! He’s hurt!”
“T-trolls...” Melaeth managed to whisper before passing out.
“Trolls?” They turned and looked, pointing their spears out at the woods, but only the wild animals made their presence known. They immediately grabbed Melaeth and carried him into the city and into the infirmary, where the doctors were puzzled with Melaeth’s physical torture and his ramblings about trolls, injections, and Jenris.
Maybe it was his innocent features or the exotic blonde look that made it impossible for the night elf to run away when her captor slept. She reached out to caress his blonde head and she noticed the bruises on her arm as her fingers carefully moved a strand of hair away from his face. Sarinna had been kidnapped by this light-skinned elf and she had lost track of how many days it has been. At first, she was keeping track of the time by the bruises on her arms and legs, but when they started to disappear, so did time, and she no longer knew anything except when the sun was rising and setting.
She had saved this elf’s life after he saved her from a troll attack. She had healed him and made sure that he was safe, but she didn’t understand why he took her with him when he tried to get away from her family and the Alliance. He could have simply gone without her, but he forced her to leave with him, threatening to kill her every few moments if she dared to run, so she didn’t. What did she know? After all, she was barely allowed to wander Darkshore on her own when she got attacked and kidnapped.
Tears were practically depleted, she felt. Sarinna could no longer cry. She cried when she couldn’t go back home. She cried when she felt the first caress of his hand slamming hard against her face, or his boot kissing against her ribs. She cried when he pressed his body against hers over and over. And now that he slept, she could no longer cry.
Sarinna stared at her captor and she was beginning to love the way he looked when he slept. He was so innocent and sweet. His voice when he told her his name and who he was, was mesmerizing. Melaeth. A hitman. An assassin. He had worked for several crime lords and he had escaped some sort of attack on his city by...undead? She wasn’t sure about that part of his tale, but she remembered his details, just as she was starting to notice when he would fall victim to the pain that coursed through his veins.
One of the times he held her in his arms, he wasn’t rough as he usually was and she felt safe in his arms. He kissed her breasts and quietly thanked her for taking care of him. Sarinna said nothing, but she smiled, wrapping her arms and legs around him. She heard him purr for the first time. She heard saw him smile. And while he never apologized for torturing her both physically and mentally, she noticed that she didn’t mind. The next day, he would beat her and punch her and force her to do things she did not want to do, but then, later, he would cry alone and she would simply kiss him, holding him like a lover.
Sarinna had lost so much during this entrapment: her family, her home, her innocence, but most importantly, Sarinna lost her voice. In those quiet moments when Sarinna and Melaeth held each other for comfort, she felt at peace, and no matter what Melaeth put her through, she loved him a little more each day.
Mora moved about the cottage. She had brought in a small pack and set it down, "Come in and don't break anything,” she called back. Though it would have taken a few days and careful planning on what to bring back, Mora had gone with Rabbit to the shops in Dalaran. This was just what she decided to bring back. "Set it all in the middle of the room right there,” she spoke loud enough for him to hear. While in Dalaran, she had ordered a few things to be delivered to the nearest city as well. "In a few days, you will come with me to the city down the way to carry more. Understand?”
The tauren carefully walked into the cottage and effortlessly carried some of her packages. “Is…is this allowed, ma’am?” he asked right before he placed them in the middle of the room. He exhaled and looked at Mora.
"It's fine, and don't ask me again,” she said off-handedly, not knowing or showing care if she did. It was easier for her this way, at least that is what she believed. "Just make sure you get your obligations done, and you will be fine. Right?"
“Well, I mean, I made food in advance, but I’m pretty sure Mr. Flea said I was to stay in the kitchen, and I have been gone for quite a while. I don’t want to upset Mr. Rat King and all.” He really didn’t want to go back to Orgrimmar. “Can’t you just take Mr. Flea, ma’am?”
Mora ignored the last part and looked him over "It's none of your business who I take, only if you are asked upon. I have asked. I have my reasons. Are you questioning them?”
Rabbit shook his head. “No-no, ma’am.” He was concerned and maybe someone had answers for him. He stood in the room, silently, wondering if there was anything else she wanted, but he didn’t say a word.
"Make yourself useful. Lay out those rugs and take the white boxes into the room over there. I want you to collect some firewood for me. Do you do this for where you cook, or does someone do it for you? There is rack outside in the front to the side of the door. I want it stacked over there so I do not have to fetch someone. Make a fire in the fireplace and we will then have dinner. " She picked up some things she bought in smaller bags and walked them over to the table. From one bag, she pulled two white knitted blankets, too small for even her, and very soft looking. She cradled the knits some and brought them up to her nose to smell them deeply.
He was confused for a moment. Did she want him to set out the rugs or get firewood? He looked at her, trying to figure out this small woman and wondering why she was so frazzled, aside from carrying a child. “They deliver the firewood, ma’am.” He turned and walked toward the rugs, picking them up and laid them out the way his mother would lay out the rugs in camp, carefully and with loving intent. He tried to smile and he walked toward the boxes to take them to the other rooms.
“Ma’am, I need to go back to the kitchen.” He spoke softly and gently, hoping she wouldn’t get too upset.
"You can go…” She dismissed him looking over the things he did and then back at him. “What are you making?" she wanted to know before he left. She seemed to be lost in thought really, but for a moment, she sat on her couch with the blankets in hand.
Rabbit paused and said, “Bear stew, bear steak cuts, and meatloaf. With mushrooms. That’s all they brought me.” He offered her a warm smile.
She stopped what she was going while he was talking, and the food he mentioned actually didn't sound so bad. Mora leaned forward some and smiled. “OK, bring me that. Bring some for the King too, but bring it here.”
The tauren nodded and exited the cottage. Several hours later, after cooking and braising, Rabbit walked toward the cottage with two bowls of food. He was stopped suddenly the King.
“Where are you going?” the King called out. Rabbit noticed that the King was standing dark-haired elf who was called the King’s Champion. He approached the King and the Champion.
“Your mate requested food. And she asked that I bring you food, but to the cottage.”
The King turned to look at the cottage. “I’m going to fucking regret this,” he muttered, to which Teriaan laughed faintly and patted the King’s shoulder. “Go. Carry on.” Rabbit nodded and continued on to the cottage. He gently tapped at the door with his hoof and when the door opened, he walked in, ducking to enter. He placed the bowls on a table.
The interior of the cottage was changed from the time he last saw it. It was lit from the inside with strange lights that seemed attached to nothing, they also seemed to give off just enough of a glow to illuminate rooms. Traces of Mora's colors and tastes were present. Some things still remained since Mora was not able to move it on her own, but many of the bags had disappeared and only a few larger things remained.
“If that is all, I need to go,” he said.
Mora watched the door open as she held in front of her a delicate looking crystal mobile, odd dark purple and fel touched, precious looking gems. "That is all,” she spoke curtly after him and looked to the food he had just set down.
The tauren sighed and exited the cottage. As he walked out, he noticed the King walking up the path. He stepped out of the way and the King stopped to look at him for a second. “Are you finding everything you need?” the King asked.
“Yes…”
“Yes?”
Rabbit paused and cleared his throat. “Um…yes….King.” He kept his head bowed and the King shooed him away.
The King walked into the cottage and noticed the new items in the home. “I thought Flea and Sarinna helped you. Where are they?”
Mora looked up and smile upon hearing her King's voice. "My only, I was going to look for you." She smiled and pointed to the food. "That new one brought it in, Bunny." She made a small wave of her shoulder as he asked for Flea and Sarinna. “I didn't need them. I should hope they went back to doing whatever it is they needed to do.” The mobile was still in her hands.
“No, they never did, and they’re not here yet.” He continued to look around, turning to her only when she mentioned that their cook had brought her the food. “Bunny? Oh, that bull…thing. Yes, he showed me.” He paced around, looking at what she had bought. As much as he wanted to say something, he simply bit his tongue. This was her place and he didn’t want to upset her.
Mora's brows narrowed some, "What do you mean? Where is Jhonathan?” She only seemed concerned for him for a moment. "And Sarinna?” Her eyes looked over at nothing as if she were trying to think of where they could have gone. "Maybe they went to get more things for me…" She offered that for him to do what he would with it.
“Hmm…maybe.” The King could have easily summoned the mage back at any moment, but he let her response go for the time being.
“I...didn't know where you wanted to eat, but you don't have to stay here. I just wanted to bring it to you." She looked at him, the way he paced. "I was going to hang this first. Since you are here, there’s your plate." She looked to where the food had been set and stood for a moment more before she walked back to the smaller of the rooms.
The King looked at the food and his stomach grumbled. It had been a while since he had eaten. He grabbed the bowl and began to eat standing.
Mora kicked a crate across the floor until it lined up beside the crib that was not fully built. Handling the mobile, she reached for a hook and sighed. She did need Jhon. "Mm..." She tried one more time before she would feel the crate wobble beneath her very unbalanced body. She gasped some and caught herself on part of the crib. "Fuck" she cursed and the mobile fell, thankfully, on the bed.
He watched her struggle and when she almost fell, he almost dropped the bowl. He sighed and put the bowl down. Walking toward her, he grabbed the mobile off the bed and reached up effortlessly to hook it up.
She looked up as the mobile was moved from the bed and he hung it for her. Instantly, it had made her feel better, her large eyes sparkling with the dark gems and she handled them with adoration. “Look," she adored them. Gazing back at him she turned and kissed his lips, their babies keeping a gap between them. "Thank you.”
“This is ridiculous.” The King looked at everything again. “Why bother with all this? Why are you setting them up for a life they cannot have, Mora? Look at this? This looks normal! We are not normal!”
She tried to ignore him on the things she didn't want to hear right now. She had started to notice the more she yelled, giving into all of the stress, made her sick. It made her belly tight. "You gave me this place. It is mine. Isnt ?" she asked. “You have given me a life I never thought I could have." She smirked some and her hands rested on his shoulders. "It is the life that you offered and I have taken it as mine. They are mine and I will give them everything."
He didn’t raise his voice or yell at her. He actually sounded pained. He looked at the crib and he touched the smoothness of the wood. “This was a mistake. You should have gone to Silvermoon and given them a normal life.” He rubbed his eyes. “There, you would have had a proper home. And…” he paused a moment, almost hesitating to say the next words, “…and their grandmother.”
She knew he would not want to hear this and used his body to help her get down. Moving the crate away, she smiled at the gems starting to reflect the light. Mora's eyes looked down as he called it a mistake. She knew, but there were reasons. Even if she really couldn't tell him. "They are my mistakes. I do not want to be in Silvemoon…” She started but stopped when he mentioned a grandmother. A grandmother? "What?" Her brows narrowed and she stared at her King "What? A grandmother?”
He ignored her words and didn’t budge when she used him to get down. He looked at her and spoke softly. “A grandmother and an aunt. They would care for them and you.” He seemed hesitant “I still have to kill my brother and maybe my father, but my mother and sister would take care of you all.” He lowered his gaze and sighed. “I know they would.”
Mora listened for a moment and shook her head like she was hearing ridiculous news. "And a sister? A mother and a… a father. All in Silvermoon… Melaeth! Why have you never told me about this? I was in Silvermoon… " She kept quite and would let it sound like she was thinking she could have met them then. Honestly, she was terrified they could have been someone she hurt and not thought twice about. It must not have been so simple. He looked back at him, "Kill half of them. Then, do they want to kill you? I do not think I would be well received with your …my … this.” She pointed at her belly shaking her head softly. “You have family?" she started to pace now, trying to stay calm, managing to stay calm.
He cringed a bit when she called him by his name. He shook his head a bit but the conversation carried on. “Why would I tell you? They’re supposed to be dead so that my actions don’t hurt them. No, they don’t want to kill me. They think I’m dead. Well, my sister suspects I’m alive. She stands on her balcony every night calling out for me to come home. I hate my father for….” he sighed and continued, “and I’ve trailed my brother before. He’s still a fucking prick. He needs to die.”
"Why would you tell me?" She took a breath and rolled her eyes "Why? Really?" She shook her head with frustration and let her eyes close some while she collected her thoughts. "Because even if you want me gone, and have sent me away, I know where I belong. I belong by your side. I've earned your secrets, Melaeth, You know mine and maybe they are not as important to you. Everything you are, who you are, I love. And you fucking love me…" She started to get teary eyed and turned her back to him some, just to wipe them quickly.
"I-...are they… norm- are they… good people? At least your…" Mora couldn't even see calling anyone his mother "mom? And sister?”
He turned to look at her. “My sister is still the same sister I had, perhaps even kinder. She would take you in if I admitted to being alive.” The King smirked at her hidden assumptions, “Yes, they are ‘normal’. They are not me. At least not my mother and sister. I can’t say much about the other fuckers.”
Her hands wrung over themselves some. "You know your sister waits for you, so this means you have seen her recently? Has she seen you? Thought she has seen you since she believes?" Mora looked up at him when he cut off his sentence of why hated his father. That look of her trying to process all this still very relevant. With him so sure sounding about killing half of this family she just learned of, it made Mora nervous.
"I am like you.” She held her stomach possessively, and walked back near the unfinished crib. "I do not want you to ask things of them. It would make it all much worse if your...father and brother were to find out, wouldn't it?. Besides. I have a home. You are not normal? Then I am not." She laughed at that thought. "Shut up, of course, I am not. What makes you think -they- will be,” she said, referring to the babies. "If they will die like you say they will, I want to know It wasn't by the hand of someone like your own blood." She reached up and tapped on the soul gems hanging as images of those whom she took, for her pretty motif piece, would wake and play out their trapped cycle. "If I meet your sister, you would have to admit that you were not dead?"
He turned to look at her. “I told you so that you can have a chance.” He was truly fighting back the rage that was quickly building. Melaeth was fighting the Rat King. Or was the Rat King letting Melaeth through. It was confusing even for him. When she turned away, he sighed again. “I’ve been too busy to go to Silvermoon lately because that no-good fucker wants me dead, remember? But I would find a way to get to her. I’m sure he’s not always watching.”
"That fucker? The one and his brother.. Yes, it's why I won't go to Silvermoon, and I won’t go anywhere without you. You cannot stay in Silvermoon; I won’t either,” Mora said.
“Look, I don’t care what my brother and father think. I know…I just know that my mother and sister would not allow any harm come to you…to them.” He exhaled and reached for Mora’s hand. He tugged at her, leading her to the chair in the room. He sat and pulled her onto his lap, his hand and arm protectively wrapping around her belly. He kissed her head and his eyes were on her body. “We will never be normal, but they don’t know what all this is. Why bring them into our world when they have a chance to do something else?” He spoke softly, tenderly. “And yes, if you meet my sister, I would have to admit that I am not dead.”
Mora felt her hand grabbed, and her reluctant feet followed in tow when he tugged her. When she saw he was only sitting down it was easier to get her to follow. Mora pulled into her King's lap, and she held her breath as he held over her belly. A shaky exhale found its way out as he kissed her head, her eyes closing softly when she felt his lips.
She shook her head softly. "What happens if you come back form the dead?" There were so many questions now, so many things she had to start taking into consideration. "I don't want you to be 'too busy’ here. I am here,” she snuggled into him, holding onto him tightly and resting her face just under his chin. "I do not want harm to come to them..maybe..maybe I should,” but she swallowed and just bit at her lip still thinking.
“W-would...you cry for them, like you do for your daughter?" she asked with her eyes watering up again.
A saddened look befell his face. “Mora…” he looked away and held her closer. He couldn’t say another word. Her own were too painful for him.
"W-will I ..miss them like that? And hurt?" her voice was already breaking and the over emotional elf tried so hard to hold it at bay, to be strong. She didn't have to care if she didn't want to, right? But in this body, the emotions were not so easy to manipulate in herself. She loved her babies. “Will...you think of them and wonder who they are, where they are? Are they special in any way to you?" She didn't understand those were the reasons why he had given her the things he had. She was sure that he just wanted to bury her away. To make the problem that she held onto -go away.
He turned his head, eyes closed to avoid the tears already dwelling within them from spilling. “Of course I would,” he whispered, as if his words were meant to be an unspoken secret. “They’re mine, Mora.”
Mora's grip would tighten over her King and she kept herself curled the best that she could into him. With those words, he had stolen her insecurity and drive, “I don’t know what to do…" she confessed just as quietly." I wanted to get rid of them…to make you happy. And I can’t. What's wrong with me?" she almost spoke to herself, wiping her eyes until they were a mess of tears and redness.
She winced as she felt the babies start to move, most of the time it was painful now. Though it hurt, she did her best to endure it quietly. “Please, don't make me send them away. I know I will have to. I just want to know them for a moment. Just a little moment.”
It pained Melaeth to see Mora in tears, to feel the babies under his arm. With a soft sigh, he said, “Make a plan. Make multiple plans. They will stay here as long as you need them to, but the moment something happens, you turn to your plans. Make sure they’re safe and that their lives are as normal as possible. I... I don’t want them to be... R....” Melaeth was losing the battle. “Like us.”
Mora pulled back from him just enough so she could look him in the eyes, "You mean it, really?" Her eyes would look up some as new tears came without warning, sliding down her flushed cheeks, but she smiled and hugged her King. “Really, really? I love you. Thank you." She rested her forehead to his nodding as he spoke, agreeing.
"I will have many plans. You have already given us the room." Mora counted off some of the ones on just the top of her mind. "I will talk with the Flea and he will help." Mora hugged him tightly. "They will be safe; their daddy is the Rat King…a god…,” she teased some if only to stop herself from crying anymore. "A God to listen to my prayers,” she kissed him, " and answer them like only a God can." Mora rubbed over her belly softly trying to soothe the babies, leaning on her love, "I want you to know them. If they are no longer safe, I will meet with your sister, if you want me to.”
He simply nodded and the soft smile slowly faded. “ Make sure they don’t fuck things up,” he growled. “Gods may be merciful, but they’re also known to be cruel.” He leaned to kiss her roughly, his hand pressing hard against her thigh.
"I will not let them fuck up,” she nodded back to him hugging him tightly. "My God is the cruelest of all Gods,” she pouted to him softly as he leaned in to kiss her, snarling slightly into it but biting his lip gently, sucking in slightly with the way his hand pressed at her thigh. "I would worship no other…ever."
(collaborative rp with @loveherdekay, mention: @allasticus, @lazraelbandtherion )
“Father, there’s no easy way to say this, and I know you’ve heard the rumors already. It’s true. I’m in love with Jenris. Father, please say something.”
“Melaeth, what is there to say? I cannot tell you what to do with your life? I cannot stop you from loving whomever you love. You want to love Jenris? Oh well. It isn’t what I wanted for my son, but I will support you. I will help you. I can speak to his father if he’s having problems. Do not worry. You are still my son and you will always be loved here.”
The Rat King grinned as he stared at the fire burning in front of him in the fireplace. He ran that scenario in his head over and over, ending with Melaeth running out to get Jenris and bringing him home so that he could protect him from his father who would be ready to beat him for loving another man. But it didn’t turn out that way. The truth hurt him as he recalled it.
“Are you insane? Are you trying to humiliate this family? I have worked so hard to be where I am! To make sure you three have a place in society, and you pull this ridiculous shit? Are you stupid? Go to your room. Think about how you’ve hurt this family! And when you’re ready to talk, you will come back to me and tell me that you were lying. That you are ready to marry a young woman and that you are going to be a fucking man!”
“But father, I love him.”
And then the slap across his face, followed by “Shut the fuck up! If you can’t man up, then get the fuck out of my house! I will not have your kind in my house!”
“My kind? I’m your son!”
“You’re not my son.”
“I’m your son, father!”
“I was your son, you asshole.” The King muttered and rubbed his eyes. He hated these memories. He hated thinking about his father.
