"You dare order me around after causing such a ruckus? " The wolf king threw what seemed a slap through the winds that made Roe roll over in the other direction.
As the soldiers scurried to get themselves in order, Lin made a last desperate attempt to look for
Mia. The temper of the wolf king didn't seem at all like he had imagined from what Roe was . He was as hot headed as his son. Lin finally caught a glimpse of Mia, dusting the dirt her, standing right in the middle of the commotion. Lin immediately whispered her name. But didn't seem to hear. He called again , a little louder. There was still no response. She walked straight towards the angry king shouting orders at his soldier. She walked as if was hypnotized. Lin had no other option but to yell this time and transfer himself to her side.
But by that time she was right in front of the Wolf King. As soon as Lin yelled her name, the king the others too turned in Mia's direction. Just at the moment Lin was about to grab Mia's and go, the Wolf king looked at her and called out astonished, "Crystal? "
Mia paused in her track. Lin was dismissed with a swish of the King's hand, like he was flying.
The soldiers positioned themselves on guard. But the king dismissed them. He took a few steps Mia and called out again, as if questioning "Crystal? "
Both Roe and Lin stood up and looked at the strange interaction.
By that time, Xie too had arrived at the spot and so had his other brothers. The entire palace at the duo in dead silence as the king asked one more time, "Crystal? "
"She was my mother, " Mia finally answered, tearing, choking her. She had grown up always compared with her mother. But she had never thought she looked as perfect as she had.
She admired her mother the most. Not only for her beauty but also for her teachings that she to Mia in this life. Mia was still to know about her mothers complete family background.
She was yet to know about her sacrifice and life choices. She was yet to know what traits of she had actually inherited, but being compared to her. Rather being mistaken for her, that by her father, made Mia very very emotional. She didn't even know how she ought to have in front of a king, leave alone the etiquettes of reuniting with a father.
"Was? " The wolf king seemed to have caught only one word from the entire sentence. It was that his joyous eyes immediately turned worried with the mention.
"Mother passed away a few months ago, " Mia let the words out with much difficulty.
The king almost trembled at the words himself. His sons rushed to support him, but he moved aside.
There followed a long, awkward silence in the midst of which Xie came forward to take Mia and
Lin under arrest once again.
The king looked up at his sudden advent .
"What do you think you are doing, you moron? " He yelled at him as soon as he laid his hands Mia.
"Father , these are fugitives. They are from the fox clan and have trespassed... '' but he couldn't his words before the king threw the cuff in his hands away and yelled again, " You . Can't you see this is a Wolf in front of you. That too of Royal blood. What level of have your powers dropped to? You can't even make out your own family anymore? "
Lin had his hands over his head. The cat was out of the bag now. Their entire secret was about be tossed , scrutinized and autopsied in front of the world now. It won't take long for Lin's to join the fiasco now that the news was out. It was a good thing they had already tackled onset of the curse, but there was no telling what the aftermath was going to be like. As it is,
Lin knew Mia was hiding what she had to trade in exchange for the curse being nullified. It was to get worse with both the families getting involved.
The entire palace was filled with whispers and murmurs.
Roe stared at Mia, calculating and analyzing a hundred conclusions at once but finally just , "No way. Mia? "
Xie however took a few steps back at the revelation and immediately went to his knees dropping weapons. The wolf king looked around at the weird atmosphere building up and said, "Let's inside and finish the rest of this "
He looked at the soldiers in waiting and instructed, "Get these two clean up, fed and well . When they are ready, get them to my inner chamber along with these two. " He pointed Xie and Roe. " We also might need to send a messenger to the foxes. "
"That won't be necessary, " Lin tried interrupting, but the look the Wolf king gave him made him immediately. " You better save your energy. We have a lot of work to do. " The king and then marched towards his palace.
The four stranded there, exchanged a look that each had a different meaning for the other. The then accompanied Lin and Mia towards the refreshment area as Roe helped Xie up his knees.
"Could you believe it? They were the ones responsible for the curse all along. They had been us so well all this time, " Roe was babbling.
"Roe,that's not what is important right now. The curse has been tackled. The important thing is, is our sister. How do I even face her after all that I have put her through, " Xie exclaimed.
Roe looked at Xie with wonder and said, " You sure do surprise me everytime. That minute you about to torture her to death inspite of me telling you repeatedly not to, and now you are over how you are even going to apologise to her? Duh! Brother, you are a work of . " The siblings marched their way inside, planning how they were going to present their to their father as well.
*********
Awkward reunion
Mia and Lin, sat in perfect silence. The food was spread on the table in front of them . It was a table. The wolf king sat right across it, looking at both simultaneously.
"So, who is going to do the honors, " The wolf king asked, confusing both Mia and Lin.
The two looked at each other, when the wolf king roared again, "Eat up, both of you. What do think these are for? Just for you to watch and admire. " He smiled with a wink and then , " Eat up. We have a lot of talking to do. You need lots of energy to keep going. "
Mia and Lin obediently dug in and went on eating without raising their heads. There was a lot on behind their minds. Each had their own set of worries. But they were equally starved the food was too delicious. The wolf king smiled once more, watching the two and then eating himself.
After the awkward silence followed with crunchies and munchies, the wolf king ushered them his private chambers. He made them take a seat beside himself and began, "So, tell me
Mia what is your relationship with this young man that made you enter the wolf kingdom. "
Mia cleared her throat and began her story. How she met Lin in the human world . She told him she had lived like a human all her life and didn't know about her wolf ancestry. She looked to read her fathers facial reaction but he looked at her with a straight face. There was nothing on his face about what he was thinking. She carefully omitted the portion where Link working at the wolf embassy disguised as a wolf. She further continued how she and Lin in love and got married, to which the king frowned a little. Mia stopped for the wolf king to with his approval or disapproval, but nothing came from his end, so she continued.
She confessed about being with child and that they were the reason the curse was evoked.
Mia was expecting an outburst of rage or atleast shock at this revelation, but the king said . Mia then explained how they both tried looking for a cure or way to stop the curse from havoc. She effortlessly avoided the portion about how she met Anjana Or the mer-boy.
She told him about Lin and Boshu's chance encounter with Roe and Xie on their quest to the
Tree of Knowledge. She explained how she too was able to reach Lin by harnessing her power at the Sacred Lands.
She stopped for a while but the king still didn't break his silence. So she completed by how she was the only one able to reach the Tree of Knowledge and successfully with it to stop the curse 's further advancement.
The king finally looked up and frowned again. It was a deep frown. Not one that's revoking, but that's full of worry.
"You did what? " He finally spoke.
"I, umm, I made a deal, " Mia stammered. Mia was so effectively avoiding the topic, but here it again. This time there was no running away. Lin was on full attention too. He had been her for the truth, but she had been effectively dodging it. But what was she going to do ? She could tell her father could see right through her even if they were meeting for the first . As Mia, fidgeting, looking for an answer, her father said, " Look Mia, I know you must have something stupid in your desperation. It's alright. But we need to know , so we can fix it.
But don't get pressured right away. I will tell you. " Then he stopped and looked at Lin,
" and you too. This thing that you are messed with right now, had to do with your ancestors.
Both of your ancestors. So listen up very carefully. Also Mia, we need to talk about your mother myself. All your life you have been thinking that you were a human, now you think you are a but that even might not be the case here. Listen carefully when I do the talking. Then I like to know what you think about the situation.
Mia and Lin looked at each other again with questioning eyes, full of worries. The king then his narrative.
He started off with the unfortunate love story between Nanako and Jin. To which Link was a bit as he had absolutely no idea.
"My Nana? But why haven't I heard of it ever? She practically raised me like her own. She often fall sick. And that's because she would at times be possessed by the oracle. But her being in love with a wolf, why would I never even hear about that? " Lin was basically .
"It's true , my boy. The reason you might not have heard about it may be because the was ushered by your clan. They might be feeling guilty or they might be still holding the grudge. I have no idea. But it's in fact the truth. " the wolf king reassured him.
"But my Nana never hides anything from me. Why would she not tell me about it. " Lin persisted
.
"It was the permanent scar that burnt not only your Nana's but both the clans' lives. How do you a mother to relive the ordeal of her child's merciless killing, yet again? It must have been blow worse than the thunder's bolt. " The king concluded.
Lin was dumbstruck, "child? My Nana's child? With a wolf? Killed? Hold on please. The child killed? I don't understand at all. What are you getting at. " Lin held his head in disbelief.
"Calm down boy and listen to the whole story, " The wolf king made him sit beside him and his hands before continuing.