45 #2
“Well, then… Let’s start with the fact that my father helped establish the Tribunal. He was one of the beings who signed the constitution that created the Tribunal and appointed Presiyan as its executor.”
Amelia’s eyebrows jumped at the last bit. “Oh! That’s…huge! I mean, your father really was extraordinary…” She frowned. “I saw his sarcophagus in the Temple of the Dead Immortals.”
“Now you know one of the reasons I disapprove of entering the temple. One of my personal reasons. I felt it would desecrate the temple before my father’s spirit. As if he would see me and reproach me for all the foolish things I’ve done in my life.”
While his brothers’ features sometimes blurred in Mikhail’s memories, his father’s would always be clearer than even his own.
“To be an advocate for peace is not safe, because there are many who don’t want peace.
My father had too many enemies, and so did our whole family.
We were careful, as much as we could be…
” Guilt gripped his heart, but he forced himself to continue.
“But when I met Valeria, it never crossed my mind that she could be anything other than a woman entranced by my charm. To this day, I don’t know if I was in love with her, but I was certainly tempted beyond measure.
She mastered the art of manipulation. As much as I’m ashamed to admit it, she ensnared me by never fully giving herself to me.
And for a young being like myself, going through the years of transformation and accustomed to getting everything immediately , such a provocation was too tempting.
I suppose, in some way, I also had a need for a relationship.
I wanted to share with somebody the same special bond my parents were sharing. ”
Amelia’s features twisted with emotion. Mikhail squeezed her hands, to remind her she was the only one who mattered to him now.
“Maybe Valeria came at just the right moment. Maybe it was something else. Who knows…” Mikhail shrugged.
He wanted to tell Amelia that what he had with her was incomparable to his relationship with Valeria.
While Valeria had been a conquest, Amelia was someone he would protect with his life.
“The truth is, I never trusted her. Even though I shared my days with her, I never told her more about my family than the basics. I even moved away with Valeria. She loved to cook, so I set up a small restaurant for her in Naples. We blended in with the mortals, enjoying the ‘mortal’ life. For me, it was a breath of fresh air to escape the dramas of the immortal world. Needless to say, my father was deeply disappointed by my separation from the family. In his view, Valeria and I should have travelled with them, and though Valeria supported the idea, I wanted to keep our distance. Everything was going well until one day, she announced the news of my family’s death. ”
This time, Amelia gripped his hand with hers. “I know the story. I’ve lived it through my dreams.”
“It seems Valeria had found a letter from my father, stating they would be staying for a while at the house in Moscow.” Mikhail cursed himself yet again for having been so reckless that day – not hiding his correspondence, as he often did for safety reasons.
“You once asked me why Valeria betrayed my family. It was because my father initiated a decree in the Tribunal to prohibit the creation of offspring between nymphs and mortal men. You know the nymph species consists entirely of female beings. They can bear offspring with males of any species, but they give birth to more nymphs. For them, it is impossible to give birth to a hybrid or a creature carrying the traits of a male. But they do have the advantage of being able to easily conceive with mortal men – something practically impossible for other species. At the time, there was a troubling trend of more and more nymphs giving birth to children by mortal men. My father received information that the High Nymph had issued an unofficial order for all nymphs to give birth as frequently as possible to increase their population.”
Amelia furrowed her brows. “And they obeyed?”
“Yes. If such an order were issued today, not many creatures would comply, but those times were different. Such a rapid increase in the species would threaten the balance of immortals. Especially when we discovered the High Nymph’s goal was to build an army and spark a war.
The problem was that the High Nymph, like my father, was among the beings who had helped create the laws of the Tribunal.
She was certainly not pleased when most of these beings voted against the unrestricted breeding of her kind.
She called the new law ‘discrimination’ and claimed the frequent relationships between nymphs and humans were coincidence.
To her disappointment, the law remained, and the Tribunal, led by Presiyan, forced all pregnant nymphs at that time to have abortions.
Those who did not comply with the law in the future were sent to Prokaliya. ”
Amelia frowned at the last part. “What if a nymph genuinely falls in love with a mortal man? Could she still not have children with him?”
“No, she couldn’t. It would violate another law of the Tribunal – the law of confidentiality of the immortal world.
But back to Valeria…” Mikhail realised that talking about the nymph wasn’t as difficult as in the past. Not with Amelia’s blue eyes, so intent on him.
The story felt like something that had happened to someone else.
The pain of losing his loved ones would always stay with him, but the anger over the betrayal seemed to have faded.
And Mikhail wasn’t deluding himself for a moment – Amelia’s presence in his life had started this healing.
He pulled her to sit beside him on the bed. “After the control over the nymphs’ reproduction was imposed, a balance was restored in the immortal world. I was living my life with Valeria in Italy, and everything seemed fine. Until one day, an unusual guest visited my father…”
“What kind of guest?” Amelia straightened up.
Mikhail smiled. “The previous Oracle. She told him an assassination was being plotted against him. Then she left. So, he arranged for my family to travel with him to Moscow, to a property no one knew he owned. He intended to leave my mother and brothers there and then go off on his own to find out more about this supposed assassination attempt. In his letter to me, he insisted that Valeria and I – yes, Valeria, because he considered her part of the family – travel to join the others in Moscow. He wouldn’t leave until he saw us both safe, my father wrote.
I don’t know why, but at the time, I didn’t want to take Valeria to my brothers and mother.
I kept telling myself that my instincts didn’t hint at any danger for us, but the truth is, my instincts were screaming that Valeria herself was a danger to us.
Unfortunately, she had also seen my father’s letter… ” Mikhail sighed, trailing off.
“And… then?” Amelia prompted in a whisper.
He shook his head. “It turned out Valeria was quite an ambitious nymph, and had been striving for years to attain the position of High Nymph. But she didn’t have the right lineage, so she wasn’t even allowed to be ‘nominated’ for the upcoming conclave.
With her cunning mind, Valeria figured out that if she removed the main obstacle to unrestricted breeding of their kind – my father – she would earn enough favour with the Chief Nymphs, who are something like a council electing the leader, to be allowed into the conclave.
She planned to convince the rest of her kind that if she became the High Nymph, she would easily handle the other lawmakers of the Tribunal, once my father was out of the picture. ”
Mikhail’s posture always slumped whenever he reached this part – even if it was just in his thoughts.
Now, he clenched his jaw. “But getting to my father wasn’t easy.
He always travelled with a convoy. Her plan was clearly to get close to me and carry out her assassination attempt that way.
How unpleasantly surprised she must have been by my desire to stay far away from my family.
In the years I was with her, I met my father no more than five times, always at large events that limited Valeria’s chances of assassinating him.
The approaching conclave must have driven her to desperation, and she decided to act.
And I was the fool who left my father’s letter with the exact location of his secret whereabouts in Moscow.
” He let out a breath. “You know the rest. My family died because of the insane ambitions of a nymph and my own stupidity. If I’d just once considered that not everything revolved around me… ”
Amelia’s hand tightened around his again. “Do you really think that gaining entry to the conclave was Valeria’s motivation?” Her soft voice was a soothing balm to his tense muscles.
“That’s what she told me before…” Before I killed her. Mikhail didn’t say the last part. “It doesn’t matter. I just wanted to answer the questions you asked me before I was arrested. You wanted to know about my family and why Valeria betrayed them. Well, now you do.”
Amelia released his hand. “I’m sure your father would be proud of you if he could see what you’re doing for the immortal species today.”
Mikhail shrugged. “My father was a pacifist. I am a killer.” He placed a finger on Amelia’s lips to stop her from protesting.
“And I’m also a coward. Because when I met you last year and sensed that you had the power to pull me out of the iceberg I’ve been living in for centuries, I immediately tried to push you away.
Do you know that when you’ve been unhappy for a long time, at some point, you cling to your misery and reject anything that might pull you even slightly towards happiness?
My outburst at you wasn’t because of the demons from my past – they were just an excuse.
It was because of the demons born within me. ”
“Mikhail…”
“Let me finish. You’ve already saved my life twice.
So, whether you accept me as the man at your side or not, I want you to know about this ring.
” Mikhail opened his hand, revealing the band once more.
“There’s magic in it. My father didn’t tell me that when he gave it to me, but I just know there is.
I think it’s what kept me safe from Valeria’s men on the night my world collapsed…
” He slipped the ring onto his middle finger, still surprised, as always, at how well it fit.
“Dark times are ahead, Amelia. I feel it with my whole being. I promised you I would always protect you, but if something ever happens to me, I want you to take the ring. Whatever it holds, it will protect you as it did me. I keep it hidden in the niche above the arch at the beginning of the corridor. Promise me you won’t forget it in a moment of danger. ”
Amelia’s face lost its colour. “Mikhail… I must steal that ring from you.”