"Everything you've been told is true," Arjun said by way of opening once they had fresh cups of tea in front of them. "And I went along with it until I was cursed by Queen Tanila to go into fits whenever your mother's name was mentioned, or whenever I had thoughts of vengeance. I eventually broke the geas, and this, ironically, protected me for a few months. But my father soon realised I'd given up on my mission to avenge him after our defeat at the hands of the queen, and I was forced to become a monster once more. I hated every moment of it, by the way, which is why I got you transferred to the hospital where Bethany and Heather worked. Kasey was in on the whole thing, which is why she played her part when the time came."
"Is she alive?" Scarlett demanded, stunned by what she was hearing.
"We're safe for now, so yes, she is," Arjun told her with a faint smile. "I've warded the house, by the way, and though it won't take long for my father to cotton on again, we've got a bit of time. Kasey and her mother Emily are now on their way back to Earth, where they'll be safe from retaliation; Earth's leaders know about Pandora, and they've told the council that if any punitive raids are conducted, they'll see to it the entire planet is wiped off the face of the galaxy. They don't like our way of life, and I can't say I blame them."
Scarlett took a bracing sip of tea. "How do I know you're not lying to me?" she challenged.
"I've put a death curse on myself," Arjun said. "Normally we can't lie in any case, but I've added the extra bit to make sure everything I tell you is the truth, not just the truth as I see it, but the truth as it is. You don't believe me, and I don't blame you. But I am telling you the honest truth here."
"Fair enough," Scarlett admitted. "Go on."
"Your sending your mother and son away was a smart move," Arjun added. "The geas I put on Saanvi is a sham, but I had her convinced it would kill her if she stepped foot outside this house. It's like the placebo effect, of which I'm sure you're familiar? Good. It will break when she leaves Pandora, and when she reaches Felalnor, she'll be able to spill the beans freely. You and I, on the other hand, are slated for execution."
"I thought you said you were safe for now," Scarlett said, horrified. Her own death she could accept, after a fashion, now that she knew her mother and son were safe, but Arjun's impending death was something she could not accept. As angry as she was for his treatment, and for his deception, he was still, at the end of the day, her father. "How can you be sure you're going to be facing the firing squad?"
"They're coming after me," Arjun said baldly. "I can feel it; the barriers are already wearing thin. I'm a dead man walking in any case; my father felt it the moment the geas on my mind was broken, and he's never fully trusted me since, fearing my loyalties are no longer in line with his. The implied death threat has always been there, and soon, it will no longer be implicit."
Scarlett shivered. She did not like how this conversation was progressing. "Can the disease be stopped by breeding Winter and others like him?" she asked bluntly.
"The disease is fictional," Arjun said, just as bluntly. He sighed. "The simple truth is a savage and ruthless need for total control over the entire known universe. The 'disease' was created in a lab and unleashed on those who didn't want to fall in line with the council's directive. The trouble is, it got out of hand, and it killed off far more many people than they were expecting, hence the recruitment of Earthen women, and the sordid history that followed. It is now a mindless beast that will kill without discrimination, so in a way, yes, it is a disease now. The council need children with the special antigens you and Winter carry, but you are now a liability, and my orders were to take you into custody and have you bred until your parts ran dry. But my father insisted I kill you instead, to prevent you escaping and telling the truth about just what is going on here. Winter and his progency are needed, not just to halt the disease, but to finally bring the council to its knees. It will be a very long and painful road, but Winter and others like him will see to it that the cycle of abuse and mistreatment is finally broken." He smiled mirthlessly. "The council will get their precious bloodline, but as you said, may they choke on it."
He rose, extending a hand to his shellshocked daughter. "I know you're going to hate me until your execution," he said, "and I don't blame you. But I want you to know how proud I am of you, and how glad I am to have you as my daughter. It's not much, given the hell I put you and your mother through, but I hope you can forgive me on the other side one day."
"That's a long time in coming," Scarlett admitted, as she took the profferred hand and stood. "I can understand you a little better now, but that doesn't erase the years of abuse and mistreatment. I'm going to be giving you hell about this for a very long time on the other side."
Arjun chuckled. "I expect no less," he said. His face firmed as he nodded at the door. "They're here. Shall we go out and face them?"71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqrr7p3aAj
Scarlett wasn't entirely surprised when the door crashed open to reveal some very angry men and women, as well as supremely pissed off elves, all of whom looked to do murder. "You've gone against everything we stand for," the sun elf said, looking as if he was about to call down his element on the father and daughter standing before him. "Destiny's insubordination I could endure, but you... you come from better stock than that! I laid the seeds for your line many years ago, and this is how you repay our kindness?"
"Her name is Scarlett," Arjun growled, "and you can stow the self righteous bullshit you've been peddling for years. One day, my grandson and others like him will come and give you all the hell you've earned for your crazy schemes!"
"Silence!" the sun elf - Navi - shouted, glaring murderously at Arjun. "I had planned on making you my heir," he went on in a slightly calmer voice, "but you have proven yourself unworthy of the title." He pointed at Scarlett. "I am rescinding the execution order on Destiny, and she will be bred to one of our own. Any children she bears will be given over to another to raise, and she will be bred again and again until we have the numbers we need to take out those who have opposed us! And the night elves will be the very first to go."
"Good luck," Arjun and Scarlett said in unison, before sharing a tight smile of understanding. "The night elves are very difficult to kill," Arjun added. "I doubt any vaunted master race is going to do that which your kind have failed to do many times over. Winter is going to be very unhappy when he grows up and finds out your plans; that's why you never piss off a night elf in the first place!"
"We already killed his father," Navi said shortly. "And his cousin Raksha as well. Winter is the only one who remains elusive, thanks to your daughter's ruse, but he is only half night elf. He does not have the same powers as his father."
"You've made a big mistake," Scarlett said, defiant despite the grief that assailed her at the loss of her husband. It wasn't entirely unexpected, but it still hurt nevertheless, and Scarlett took a deep breath, using something Ihenri had told her about night elves to push the grief away. "Night elves will always produce full blooded offspring, regardless of their parentage. It was a geas they placed on themselves when they were very nearly exterminated, and it will never be lifted until the night elves are out of danger. Winter is therefore a full night elf, and any children he sires will be full-blooded night elves as well. So good luck trying to get rid of them; the geas will hold strong until it can tell the night elves are no longer critically endangered."71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLtEOofW5xV
"Queen Tanila is going to have fun with that," Arjun muttered, and Scarlett laughed in spite of herself.
Navi's glare soon cut the moment short. "Then we will breed your daughter, and for every one of that cursed progeny, we will have one of our own to take them down. The geas cannot sustain itself forever, and it will eventually burn itself out."
"Like your vaunted disease?" Scarlett taunted. "Yes, I know all about it, and how desperate you lot are to eradicate it. Focus on that instead of creating your master race, and with any luck, you'll have it eradicated in no time, since any children of mine will carry the antigen you need to finally bring this thing to a grinding halt."
"Nice try," Navi said coldly. He snapped his fingers, and before long, Scarlett found herself in the grip of two burly police officers. Arjun, in the meantime, was thrown to the ground, and Scarlett winced as his hands were bound tightly behind his back, at an angle that surely had to be uncomfortable. "Take him away," Navi ordered, before turning his dire frown on Scarlett, who managed to give him glare for glare despite the ice sliding along the length of her spine. "You promised your father to do your duty without complaint," Navi said shortly. "I will hold you to that promise. If you break it, you will see your children die before your eyes."
His words sent a tingle of gooseflesh down Scarlett's spine, and for a moment, sight and sound were eclipsed by a great roaring in her ears, her vision obscured by featureless grey. By the time the fit passed, she felt limp and wrung out, and a horrible feeling of tightness under her skin told the truth; Navi had placed a geas on her, and she could feel its insidious coils sliding along her bones, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Any protests she might've felt were immediately cancelled out, but she was still rebellious and stubborn enough to make her feelings on the matter very clear. "I will do all you ask of me," she said, her voice as curt as Navi's. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."
"It is not asked of you to like it," Navi said. "It is asked of you to perform it, without complaint. Or do I need to rob you of your free will as well?"
"That would make you feel so much better, wouldn't it?" Scarlett snapped. "No thank you; if I'm to be used as a baby factory, I'd rather be conscious for the whole performance."
Arjun barked a laugh from his prone position on the floor. "That's my girl," he said. Navi gestured impatiently; in short order Arjun was gagged, and his brief moment of levity was eclipsed by anger. But Navi snapped his fingers, and Arjun was carried outside, where he was tossed into the pool. Scarlett cried out in shock as the water went red, bubbles rising to the surface as Arjun desperately struggled to break free of his bonds. But every time his head broke the water's surface, he was soon pulled under again, and Scarlett could only watch in transfixed horror as the bubbles grew less and less, until finally, the water went still and returned to its normal blue shade. Soon after, Arjun's lifeless body floated to the surface, and Scarlett turned away, resisting the urge to be violently ill. Ihenri had told her water was anathema to sun elves and their kin, but he hadn't told her how poisonous it was, and Scarlett, despite still being mightily displeased with her father, wished that he'd come to a less messy end.
"Stop it," Navi ordered. "You will cease these feelings at once. From now on, your emotions are to be nothing but contentment with your lot. If I suspect even a hint of dissent, I will rob you of your free will."
Once more, the words sent gooseflesh down Scarlett's spine, but this time, she resisted, until the sensation went away. "You can control me to an extent, but I will not have my emotions policed," she said angrily. "Try it and see what you get!"
Navi raised a threatening hand, but he soon let it fall to his side. "Very well," he said curtly. "But the original geas stands; do your duty, and dislike it as much as you please. Complain, and your children will start dying until I'm satisfied you've learnt your lesson. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," Scarlett ground out angrily. And as she was forcibly marched out of the house, she banked her anger, letting it smolder like hot coals burning just under her skin. One day, she vowed. Just you wait. If Winter doesn't come after your ass, both my mothers will! And they'll be very pissed off at you for what you've put me through!
71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5A83rgWOLs
71Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrG4lz4Spro
END
ns 18.68.41.148da2
