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Niniane was not one given to foul language - that was Nyneve's speed, and her older sister was prone to spouting cuss words at the drop of a hat - but today, Niniane felt like spouting some seriously rude words fit to rival Nyneve on her best day. And for good reason.
Two years after the engagement party which had seen their older brother Winter betrothed to Saffron instead of Nimue, Niniane was now aunt to two adorable boys, who'd been born the night before. Named Mordred and Gwydion, Niniane wondered who'd been the brains behind the naming of her nephews. She suspected Ivy and Marigold, the respective grandmothers of the boys, but she had a nasty feeling her own great-great-grandmother had been the real mastermind. Chika had never given up on her dream of gaining perfect children to begin the Pandoran council's desire to not only eradicate the disease they'd used to cull so-called weaker citizens from their ranks, but also to start their campaign to take over the rest of the known universe. After years of backstabbing, bullshit, and outright bullying, Chika finally had her precious three-times-great-grandsons, and the predatory gleam in her eyes that morning suggested she'd been very close to snatching them as soon as they'd emerged, red-faced and squalling, from their mother's unmentionables. Winter had put his foot down on that, and the resulting Explosion had been none too pretty, according to Nimue, who'd almost wet herself laughing when telling the story to her younger sisters.
Laughter, however, could only go so far, and Niniane watched her great-great-grandmother with trepidation as she interrupted the family's breakfast. Scarlett rolled her eyes, while Ishan looked ready to do murder. "The hell are you doing here?" he demanded. "You've got your precious children; you don't need my wife, or my eldest daughter. So piss off before I use a spell I borrowed from my stepson last night to send you out of here with your ass on fire."
Niniane smothered a smirk; her elder sisters stuffed toast in their mouths to keep their own smirks from surfacing, while Scarlett cleared her throat to keep a suspect hoot of laughter from bubbling to the top. Ishan and Winter had bonded very closely, and it wouldn't have surprised Niniane one bit if her father really had borrowed a spell from his stepson.
Chika actually looked taken aback, before recovering her poise. "You're bluffing," she said.
Ishan raised a hand, and Chika turned pale when she saw the crack of black light around the forest elf's fist. "You cannot scare me with parlour tricks," she said, her voice surprisingly steady despite the fear in her eyes. "And if you don't want harm to come to any of your family, you'll sit up straight and listen."
"We're not interested," Scarlett interjected, angry now. "I highly recommend you leave. You've meddled with my family for long enough, and so help me God, if you try anything on with any of my family, I'll double Ishan's spell to make it twice as potent."
Chika was not backing down. "Your daughters still have a role to play, even though your eldest betrayed our cause."
Nimue gave her the finger; now it was the turn of her two younger sisters to stuff toast in their mouths. "Quit the self-righteous whinging," she said. "I had nothing to do with Winter and Saffron falling in love, and if you think you're getting anything from me, think again."
"I don't care about you," Chika said coldly. "It's your younger sisters who have my interested. My three-times-great-grandsons need wives. Niniane and Nyneve will do nicely."
"Over my dead body," Scarlett ground out, rising to her feet, butter knife angled in a way that suggested she was seconds away from running her great-grandmother through.
"That can be arranged," Chika warned. "I have my orders; your younger daughters are to be taken into protective custody, and kept away from you and their older sister until the day their nephews are grown. They will then marry their nephews, and more children will come from those unions. Then shall our conquest be truly begun as we extract all the secrets the night elves have!"
Niniane rose. "I refuse," she said firmly.
"So do I," Nyneve said, standing shoulder to shoulder with her sister. "Find some other victims; we're not playing your filthy games." It wasn't the incest; elves did not hold such things in as high regard as human, and regularly interbred with close members of their families - though never parent to child, as that was going too far. It was the simple fact that their nephews would grow up to be forced into marriages to breed even more talented children, and Niniane wanted no part of it. 101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJA33JMsm8t
But Chika still wasn't backing down. 101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRb40VT16Hd
"I reject your refusal," she said. "Your wills are no longer yours; I have my orders. You are to be detained and stripped of all autonomy from now until the day you consummate the marriages with your nephews. Once your first children are born, you will be free to go..."101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOULOwPcvQv
"Stop," Nimue ordered, interposing herself between her sisters and their great-great-grandmother. "If you want a vessel, I'll do it. I'll marry the both of them and have as many babies as you want. But you leave my sisters alone!"
"Nimue," Scarlett whispered, horrified. Ishan had gone dead white, his spell dissipating, while Niniane felt like she was ready to be sick.
"And why the hell would I still be interested in using you?" Chika demanded. "You are not doing this because of a change of heart; you're doing it to spare your sisters."101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1E6EPpJUfB
"Exactly," Nimue said firmly. "I don't want them to have a part in this, not now, not ever. Let me be the sacrifice in their stead; I'll do whatever the hell you want for as long as you want it, but I do not want my sisters anywhere near the mess you're going to create."101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQunbTM0Ge
No one moved or spoke for a long moment. Finally, however, Chika broke the fraught silence. "Very well," she said. "In that case, I want the rest of your miserable family gone from Pandora. I don't ever want to lay eyes on them again, and if I do, I'll have them all killed before your eyes. Do I make myself clear?"101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYuJ8srrcQp
Nimue gave her stricken family a sad look, and in that gaze they read heartbreak and determination. No one could gainsay her will to stand as the sacrifice to save her sisters, and it was Scarlett who spoke the family's mind. "I'd be sooner quit of you and your rotten manipulations," she said angrily. "Good fucking riddance to you, and I hope your entire council chokes on your wrongfully-manipulated bloodline! I named my son well; Winter has come to Pandora."101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZRbPF651tT
Chika opened her mouth and shut it again, and Niniane took advantge of that to say farewell to her older sister. The goodbyes were cut short, however, when Chika recovered her poise and all but dragged Nimue from the room. The last glimpse Niniane saw of her sister's face was fear, but underlying that was rock-hard determination, and as the family began making plans for an immediate departure, Niniane prayed her oldest sister would be able to hold onto the core of her true self. Stay strong, my sister, she prayed. Don't let them undermine who you truly are inside!
101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEOmAyExbW
101Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bfJCNgqCz
