#he is right i've been very busy in the past year and haven't trimmed the trees behind my house like i usually do

[hedgehog-moss]

The farmer who came to deliver my hay tonight helped me roll the bales into the barn, then took a few steps back and contemplated my house & the woods behind it in silence for a few seconds, then said quietly without looking at me: "Don't let the forest win." Which, said by a wistful old man on a chilly, stormy evening with the wind whispering through the trees all around us, was the single most ominous piece of advice I've ever received.

[luverofralts]

Arkhelios Adventures

"Sorry I had to pull you away from your afternoon off. I've never received a royal summons before. You're the only one I could think of calling."

Roman eyed the imposing castle and tried to imagine any reason Claudia would have for summoning him. She'd texted him and shown up unannounced over the years without serving him a royal summons before. What could possibly be so important?

"No problem at all," Adrian assured his ex-husband. "It's what I spent my whole life studying. Who needs an afternoon to themself anyway?"

"Well, we can reschedule. I feel bad for always taking so much of your time. You were the only person I could think of aside from...never mind."

Ulyssa's name died on his lips before he could finish his thought. He was well practiced at catching himself before he spoke about her. Most days it wasn't hard. On a day like today, when he needed her political insight, Roman found himself missing their friendship.

"This is weird, right? I'm not just worrying for nothing? She's never done this before. Did Theo do something at school? I haven't been to Pleasantview outside of the kids' schools in ages."

"Given your past, it does seem a bit weird," Adrian agreed. "Maybe she wants to talk about franchising our business. That's all I can think of. Aside from...Princess Georgiana."

Adrian lowered his eyes, unwilling to see the stab of pain on Roman's face whenever his daughter was mentioned. Ever since Roman had met his daughter, the pain had lessened, but it would always be there. Along with the shame he felt for having an affair and nearly destroying his marriage.

"I don't think that Maura would let Claudia know about Georgiana," Roman said quietly. "That would mean admitting that it happened."

"There's very little the queen of Pleasantview doesn't know, Roman. My parents always said to treat that monarch like they knew your darkest secrets, because odds were that they already did. There are levels of secrecy and orders of deviant devotees under the Pleasantview throne. Don't underestimate Claudia because of your past. She is the most powerful person in the world, no contest."

"She's a nice person with the world's most sickeningly in love parents," Roman said, waving his hand dismissively. "It's not in her character. Maybe her ancestors were dangerous, but I know Claudia. She's not like that."

"That remains to be seen," Adrian murmured to himself. Roman was already halfway up the stairs when he spoke. There would be no way to convince him to be on his guard.

"Good morning, Your Majesty."

Both Roman and Adrian bowed deeply in front of the queen. Her throne room was impressive, filled with imposing statues and gold trim. This room alone must have cost a small fortune. None of it reflected the woman Roman thought he knew.

"Duke Siew, Mr. Bellamy. We've been expecting you." Claudia's voice was cold and distant, something that Roman hadn't been expecting. Those intense gold eyes of hers drilled into his mind layer by layer until he felt nothing but exposed. Whoever this woman was on the throne, Roman had never met her before.

"Though I only recall summoning Mr. Bellamy," the queen continued. "I suppose he is entitled to counsel. History has proven that he does not make good choices while on his own."

Roman balked at Claudia's words while Adrian kept a straight face. Roman clearly thought that he knew Claudia Goldman, but they weren't speaking to Claudia Goldman. This was the queen of Pleasantview before them, and like every noble raised in Twikkii Island, Adrian was on the defensive, desperate not to imperil his country and family by getting in the monarch of Pleasantview's way.

"Thank you for allowing me here," Adrian said quickly, before Roman could open his mouth. "It is an honour to meet with you."

Roman looked like he was about to object, but caught the glare Adrian was giving him and thought better of it.

"It is. I'm glad to extend that honour to you, Duke Siew. You may need to remind your companion of that fact. He seems to not know his place here."

"My place?"

The words slipped out before Roman could stop himself, earning a withering glare from the queen.

"I'm sorry, was there any confusion about who is in charge here? You are a guest here, Mr. Bellamy because I will it so. There is a matter that I need to discuss with you."

Adrian nodded solemnly and beside him, Roman did the same.

"Yes, Your Majesty. We'd be honoured to discuss whatever you wish," Adrian replied. Roman nodded.

"Now, the matter at hand is somewhat...personal," Claudia continued. Her confident stare wavered for a brief moment as she chose her next words. "It involves Mr. Bellamy and my's prior relationship...or rather our brief experiment."

For the first time, Claudia faltered. Her eyes fell, unable to look at Roman while she tried to downplay their previous connection. Adrian made sure to note this stumble so he had an advantage if he needed to make a quick retreat from the castle. The queen did look like she had an attachment to Roman when her guard was down, which would come in handy if he and Adrian had to make a quick retreat back home.

"I always thought that we would be having this conversation years from now," the queen continued. "When more time had passed at least. When the crown princess was older and possessed a more mature overlook. But no matter, we're here now."

Another pause lingered in the room. Beside the queen, her fiancée cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Your Majesty, perhaps it's better just to rip the bandaid off," Miruna suggested. "It would save us all time. We do have that appointment in an hour that cannot be missed."

Miruna's words were a lie meant to leave their visitors feeling small and unimportant. It was just one strategy that had been proposed to crush any ideas Roman might have about approaching Victoriana in the future. The queen's secretive demonic councilors had several suggestions to break Roman's spirit enough to drive him away from Pleasantview, though most of them were also intrigued by the thought of pushing him too far. A low level demon hybrid launching an attack on the queen out of rage was not only entertaining, it would also gauge Claudia's ability to defend her throne. The ruler of Pleasantview could never lower their guard after all.

Claudia looked at Roman's anxious face and was immediately pulled back into their short lived romance, if they could even call it that. They'd held each other on the Twikkii Island beach and dreamed together about the future what seemed like an eternity ago. He'd sobbed against her shoulder about being cheated on and left with an infant to raise; she poured out her many concerns and fears about ascending to the throne.

It really wasn't the romance Claudia had implied to her daughter. Nothing she'd felt for Roman matched any of the feelings she felt for Miruna. They had simply been there for each other during a stressful period of their lives, giving each other physical comfort. The lie was important to maintain for her daughter. No child wanted to hear that her parents had conceived her while her mother listened endlessly to her father's sobs over Abe Helios while trying to cram thousands of years of Pleasantview history into her brain. Had she dialed Roman's number once the pregnancy test was positive? Of course. She'd never completed the call though. She never would. He didn't love her and she didn't love him. None of the joy and passion and warmth her parents had for each other seemed possible with Roman. His heart would always belong to Abe and hers she had sworn to Pleasantview.

"My father always said that you had the right to know all these years, and maybe it was a good thing that he never ruled Pleasantview," Claudia said quietly, her strong facade fading for the briefest of moments. "My mother adored her grandmother, the former queen of Strangetown, and inherited her keen political instincts. There was too much uncertainty, too much death in Arkhelios. The reapers there told horror stories about...."

The queen trailed off before catching herself. Beside her, Miruna nodded her head slightly in a show of solidarity. This was going off course quickly. Too much of Claudia was seeping out and not enough of Pleasantview's monarch. Just say the words and this uncomfortable situation can end.

"Roman Bellamy, the crown princess is your genetic offspring. Your genetic donation will shape the future of Pleasantview, and our nation thanks you for it. The princess has been informed of this and politely requests that your contact be limited in the future. Your demonic heritage will help her rule our people fairly."

"Thank you for arriving on time and have a pleasant trip back to Arkhelios," Miruna said cheerfully, looking proudly at her fiancée. "Our office is always available for inquiries, just speak with reception. You are dismissed."

A silence fell over the room as the two men processed the revealed information. Roman looked like he was about to throw up, while Adrian's brain struggled to sort this news into anything recognizable.

"The crown princess is Roman's daughter?" he said finally, looking for any sign that this was just a cruel prank.

"He's her genetic donor," Claudia replied. "She is my daughter and the future of this nation. Mr. Bellamy does not have a role in her life. He is merely a citizen of a foreign land with no legal rights in my nation."

Roman remained eerily silent beside his ex-husband. Adrian had never seen him this quiet before in all their time together. For his own part, Adrian had been blindsided by this revelation; he could only imagine what Roman must be feeling.

"Roman? Are you okay?" Adrian whispered, stroking Roman's back worriedly. "Say something. Say anything."

Roman's eyes raised slightly, daring to look at the mother of his child for mere seconds before turning away. He still remained silent.

"Mr. Bellamy, Duke Siew, thank you for coming today," Claudia announced, gesturing for her guards to be at the ready to remove her guests. "I look forward to our next meeting. Have a safe journey home."

The two men rose to their feet and Adrian was fairly certain that he'd bowed and followed the protocol that had been drilled into him from birth. It certainly wasn't anything he could perform consciously at this moment.

He grabbed Roman's hand and escorted him out of the throne room; he remembered that much at least. Roman had shuffled beside him wordlessly. Adrian's head was swimming with questions and reeling from shock, but he couldn't voice any of that while Roman was in this state. Needless to say, his conversation with Evren was going to be interesting tonight.

Roman made it down the last steps into the hallway before collapsing on the floor, still wordlessly staring at empty space. His shoulders shook as he wept, but still no sound emerged.

"Roman? Roman do you need help? Are you feeling okay? Talk to me, let me help."

Adrian's words did nothing to comfort Roman or inspire him to move. He still sat there on the floor, silently weeping outside the entrance to the throne room.

"Hey, hey. It'll be okay, we'll get through this," Adrian said, holding his ex-husband in his arms as he sobbed.

Adrian had suspected that something big was going to be revealed with this summons, but never anything like this. It was unprecedented in Pleasantview history as far as Adrian remembered. Maybe during the civil war where Princess Georgiana's paternity changed the succession of the Pleasantview throne, but even then, both of her parents knew the truth. One of them never tried to hide her paternity from the other. King Mordred hid the paternity of his youngest daughter after his husband's affair, but she had been so far down the line of succession, her paternity had only been revealed a century later by a routine maintenance of the genetic library of Crystal Cove. For a monarch to hide her heir's paternity from both her subjects and the heir's father, well, Adrian couldn't think of a historical example.

"At least she told us. We could have spent our whole lives not knowing," Adrian continued, which only made Roman sob harder. "We can try to work with this. Maybe she wants to meet with you and you could have a relationship with her. It's certainly possible."

"If that were true, Claudia wouldn't have told us like this. She wasn't even there. If she wanted to see me, she would have been there. Adrian, it's happening again. The Crown is taking away my daughter, just like with Georgiana. I'll never have a relationship with either of them."

"This isn't the same as Georgiana," Adrian said soothingly, despite doubting his own words. "This wasn't an affair, you both were single at the time. Hell, it was before you even met me. You were both young and on different paths. It sounds like her parents told her to do this, seconded by whatever sinister shadows whisper to the throne. She didn't do this to hurt you; she's not Maura."

"H-how many more kids do I have that I have no knowledge of? How many more lies have I been told?"

"Well, how many other people have you slept with? Especially rich or royal people?" Adrian asked. His words only made the tears flow harder.

"You're really going to slut shame me now?" Roman sobbed. "I was young, I don't know. Abe cheated on me and dumped me, and I was angry. No other royals- aside from you anyway. I had a kid to take care of, my college experience was rather unconventional."

"Hey, I was in college too, I get it. You weren't my first either, and there were a few others that I 'dated'. I only wanted to be sure that this was the last surprise to pop up in your life. We've made progress with Georgiana, we can make progress with Victoriana. This isn't the end. Plus, you have a beautiful, intelligent daughter that you would otherwise know nothing about. This is a hard thing to hear now, but it won't always be. Who knows how the future will go?"

"Why didn't she just tell me?" Roman groaned, leaning further into Adrian's arms for comfort. "We were friends. She could have told me. Her parents couldn't stop her from telling me, she's the queen of the largest country in the damn world!"

"She slipped up, remember?"

"No, nothing I've heard today makes sense. Everything has been a lie."

"She mentioned the reaper team in Arkhelios scaring her parents about something in Arkhelios," Adrian said softly. "What was happening in your life when you were with Claudia? I'd bet anything that they were talking about Theo almost dying after he was born and-"

"And my mother. Of course, is there any part of my life that she hasn't ruined?" Roman groaned, pulling away from Adrian to massage his now throbbing temples. "If Theo was pregnant with the child of a half demon who was using their shared bloodline to gain power, I'd hide him too."

"I would do the same," Adrian replied gently. "Any parent would. It sounds like the Goldmans were scared of losing their daughter and granddaughter, just like you almost lost me and the girls to your mother. We can work with this, this is good news. They didn't hide Victoriana because they hated you, they wanted to protect her. Now that your mother's gone, we can appeal to them. From what I hear, her parents are incredibly family oriented, just like Claudia is. We can use that. We won't win any custody battles, but maybe we can get some visitation rights. Maybe we could set up a call schedule or email correspondence to start out. This isn't Maura we're fighting. We'll figure this out."

"Do you think my mother could sense her in the end?" Roman asked, an all too familiar horror enveloping his thoughts. "She wanted Theo, but she still damaged Luci and Saturnia somehow. Neither of them have any supernatural abilities because of her. If I had been able to kill her, they might be as powerful as Theo or Rien. She took from them something precious. Did she hurt Victoriana too? Am I to blame for putting her in danger without even knowing it?"

"Hey, hey, don't even think about it," Adrian said. "Your mom's not coming back, and Victoriana looks healthy. We don't have to worry about her. Maybe she just didn't inherit as much from your family as Theo or Rien did. If we just let things settle down for a while, I know we can negotiate with Claudia. Things will work out."

"Adrian?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you call Abe? I...I want him here, but I don't... I don't want to tell him what happened. I...I can't. W-what if he's triggered by this into reliving the affair? I don't think he sees his therapist anymore like I do, but...what if...."

Roman trailed off, unable to even complete his thought. In an instant, Adrian's arms were wrapped around him, holding him tightly.

"Of course I can get him and of course he'll understand. You don't need to feel guilty about this, Roman. It happened when you were single, a long time ago. Abe loves you, he'll understand."

In an instant, Adrian disappeared, leaving Roman alone outside the palace doors. There was no way that Roman wanted to go home to the place he and Abe had fought over his infidelity. Not with news like this. No matter what Adrian said, Roman couldn't shake the deep feeling of self-loathing he felt for himself. He had been too wild as a teen. He'd been too careless about birth control. His family had scared away any chance of a connection to his daughter. He would have gotten Claudia killed just as easily as he had Adrian. There was something wrong, something unlovable about him that his parents had seen. They hadn't loved him because he didn't deserve it. Victoriana was probably better off without him in her life.

"Roman! I'm here! Adrian told me everything. I'm right here for you."

"Abe? You're not mad?"

Abe shook his head incredulously and took Roman into his arms.

"Of course I'm not mad," he said. "Why would I be mad? You were just as blindsided by this as I was. I love you, Roman. We'll get through this together. Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"Who's watching the kids?"

Answering Abe's question was the last thing Roman wanted to do. How did he feel? He didn't. There was a gaping hole in his chest that was burning him from the inside out and he could hardly breathe. Crafting that feeling into words didn't seem possible.

"Adrian's with them. He teleported me here and then went back. When you're ready to teleport us back, he'll be waiting, probably with Evren. We'll all sort this out at whatever pace you want."

"Abe, I was never serious about Claudia, I promise. I was just trying to get back at you and you don't have to worry about me running back to her or anything, I never want to be with anyone else and-"

Abe silenced his husband with a gentle kiss.

"Ro, I know you're not about to run off with the queen of Pleasantview. We've rebuilt a lot of trust these past few years and I know you. You're having a meltdown and hating yourself, not trying to hide a love affair with a woman you see maybe once every few years in passing. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Then let's go home and make you some tea. I'm sure Evren has one of his concoctions that will help calm you down. Having a warlock in the family certainly helps sometimes. Theo may have him beat for pure power, but damn does that man know how to brew a potion."

Roman smiled slightly, until he thought about Abe's words.

"What are we going to tell Theo?" he groaned, his despair catching up to him once more. "He's going to hate me. How do I tell any of the kids? Theo might run into Victoriana at a school event. What if they hate each other? What if-"

"Magic tea now, worrying about the kids after," Abe insisted. "I'm sure Evren or Adrian will have an idea. Hell, even Lucy might have an idea or two. In the very unlikely event that Theo or the girls are angry, Aunt Lucy can set them straight. She knows a thing or two about hiding parentage from her kids and she doesn't worry about it."

"Your sister is a sociopath," Roman replied, the hint of a smile starting. Abe smiled back at him.

"A sociopath who cares about you. Give her an afternoon, she'll have Claudia's monarchy in ruins."

"Thanks, Abe. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"And you'll never have to know. I'm not going anywhere. Let's go home."