Chapter 14

I wouldn’t necessarily describe being at the palace of the Northern ruler or sitting with his family as intimidating. This might have stemmed from the fact that I had been with Rayne for nearly two months now.

My place beside him naturally led me to these places and to his family. So it was only natural for me to accept being here.

However, the context of this family meeting wasn’t meant to be pleasant. We were all well aware of that.

The events that had been happening to me weren’t going to be taken lightly. Especially considering similar events had occurred before with Rin.

After Rayne and I had our talk and settled things between us, we headed to the north parlor as Jekia had requested. He was already waiting there with the rest of our family as we entered.

Everyone was sitting at a medium-sized round table. Jekia and Selenia were speaking quietly as she sat on the opposite side of him from Lana.

“Is that so? I believe I’d be inclined to agree, although I would like to hear more before we make a decision about that,” Jekia was saying.

~A decision?~ I thought. ~Is he referring to looking into what Selenia thought was behind all of this?~

“I apologize for us taking so long to join you,” Rayne spoke as we approached the table. He pulled out a chair for me beside Aurora, then sat opposite me next to Selenia.

His gaze moved to his brother. “Before we get started, I wanted to say that I’m also sorry for how I acted when I got here. I was very concerned about Aurora and didn’t consider anything else.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too, even though I still feel like I did the right thing,” Rin responded.

“We’ll call it even then and let it go. It’s not like I can keep blaming you for it when I now understand why,” Rayne conceded.

“I’m glad to see that neither of you is too proud to compromise on differences. It’s been a bit concerning in the last few years,” Jekia informed them.

His attention moved to me. “However, I believe that both of you realize that there are more important issues than your pride here. Not only is this the first time that Luna has been able to meet the rest of our small family, but it is under the duress of quiet judgment that never should’ve begun happening.”

“No, most certainly not,” Lana agreed, sounding a little disturbed. She must’ve been hearing details from Selenia and Rin.

“I completely agree, and I admit my guilt in not knowing of this because I was not around enough. What I’m trying to comprehend is why this is happening. There is no reason for anyone to fear Luna or believe that she would wish to use me,” Rayne responded.

“No, she never would, and it’s ludicrous for anyone to believe otherwise. I had believed that these things were understood by now, although I suppose one cannot fault deep-seated fears of the Fallen. I am also certain that a small portion of this stems from the older ones who have survived the sporadic attacks by them over the centuries,” Jekia allowed.

His expression was solemn as he paused and folded his hands on the table in front of him. “But let us not confuse the majority of this with old fears. From what we’ve already gathered, that isn’t the driving force behind those rumors, nor is it mostly in the context.”

I agreed with him, “No, sir. I don’t believe it is either. I am well aware of how I have been looked at since I was born, and even a bit used to it, but what they are saying feels more like they wish to drive me away from Rayne, not point out how I came into the world.”

“I agree with you. Everything I’ve been able to gather so far points to trying to drive you down enough to leave Rayne,” Rin concurred.

“You’ve already gone out and scouted information?” Rayne guessed.

“I decided to do that while I was meeting up with Father. There are perks to being a Fox after all, and one of them is that foxes like to listen and talk, and they never forget what they hear or whom they heard it from,” Rin explained.

“Very true, and that was a valuable asset for us to begin narrowing things down,” Jekia acknowledged.

“Um, if you don’t mind, can we start from the beginning so that I may follow? I only know the basics about all of this,” Aurora requested.

“As do Selenia and I, so it would be better to do so,” Lana added.

“Very well,” Jekia obliged them. He addressed me, “Would you like to speak about how things began, or leave that to Rin?”

“I feel much stronger now, so I can explain things to you,” I responded.

“Very well. Then please start from the beginning of these troubles,” Jekia instructed me.

The beginning. I took a few seconds to think about that.

It had been a while now, and had I even noticed when it first started? I may have simply been ignoring it, believing that it was more of the same I’d heard throughout my life.

But I did my best to start from when I’d begun noticing odd things.

“I believe this began around three weeks ago. I would go out to the towns and villages while Rayne was away because I wanted to explore, and I admit that it was feeling a bit lonely in the glen.”

Nothing bad happened at first either. I did notice that some would stare at me and sometimes whisper to each other, but it felt more like they were figuring out who I was.

I even felt a bit proud that they would be so interested in me. But it wasn’t long before I realized that their interest was turning to disdain.

I began noticing the younger females acting strangely around me and saying terrible things. It only got worse as it went on, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

I didn’t believe I’d done anything wrong, yet they didn’t like me at all,” I explained.

“So it is mostly the younger females doing this? I must agree with Jekia that it does sound like this stemmed from jealousy,” Lana noted.

“I would think so too, although I can’t say that I’ve experienced it quite to this extent, and it’s pretty malicious to drag how Luna was born into it. She can’t help who her father was,” Aurora added.

“That’s all true, and for them to go to such lengths to make sure she knew they were saying it is disturbing as well, especially when their motive is to have her believe she doesn’t belong with me,” Rayne admitted.

“If it’s what I’m putting together, then I believe it,” Rin told him before looking at their father. “If I may, can I give my input to this now?”

“You may,” Jekia allowed.

Rin seemed to gather himself before beginning. “All right, where to start? I suppose we’ll pick up where Luna left off. From what I’ve gathered, the rumors have primarily circulated among the younger female creatures.”

Interestingly, a friend of mine did some digging for me before I arrived here. This friend is a young female Fox, so she tends to mingle more with the other young females and hears plenty of gossip.

According to her, there’s been a forced spread of rumors about Rayne’s beta in the last few weeks, and the origin seems to be the matchmaking houses.”

“Matchmaking houses?” I echoed. I hadn’t thought about them since I was a child. Of course, those kinds of places were far beyond my reach.

Matchmaking houses were establishments that trained young female creatures to become proper young ladies in hopes of pairing them with strong males, sometimes even alphas.

The dynamics of the Veil could be quite complex at times, particularly when it came to social classes and reproduction. Yes, there were plenty of love stories that unfolded every day among different creatures, but there were also less appealing practices, especially among the higher classes, sects, or even certain kinds.

For some, lineage was extremely important, and they were very selective about the females they chose.

For this, they had two options. If they didn’t want a committed relationship and only sought heirs, they would pay a breeder’s house for the female of their choice to bear offspring for them.

Then, they would take the babies back to their sect to be cared for. These females were specially vetted for their services and superior breeding abilities and often ended up exclusive to certain males for that purpose.

However, if the males desired a permanent relationship with what they deemed a “suitable” female, they would turn to the matchmakers. These creatures specialized in training and grooming young females from birth to become proper brides for the males.

They would eventually be presented for that purpose, usually in their late teen years. As one would imagine, these girls were heavily vetted too, and I’d heard that only the most beautiful and purest of bloodlines would be accepted into these houses.

“I knew it!” Selenia declared. “Those matchmakers are far too full of themselves, and so are many of their girls!”

“Please calm yourself, Selenia. It is better to discern all of the facts before we jump to conclusions,” Jekia reminded her.

Rayne looked at Rin. “Let me guess; this is about you and I not using their services, just as Father didn’t, and now they’re trying to drive Luna out because they see an opportunity to do so.”

“Yes and no,” Rin responded. “It’s actually sounding a bit more complicated than that, and I was telling Father and Mother about it before we all sat down here.”

From what Jacqulyn was telling me, it sounds like a lot of this is being forced through the different matchmaking houses. In other words, someone with a lot of power among them is forcing them to spread the rumors and instilling immense fear in them if they don’t.”

This confused Selenia. “One is forcing the others to do this? But that doesn’t make sense. I didn’t believe that any house had more power than another, especially not like that.”

“There are some that can,” Lana contended. “I learned a bit about them shortly after I met your father. At the time, there was one matchmaking house that had been attempting to show Jekia potential betas. It was run by a Faerie couple, and from what I learned, they ran a very high-ranking house. That was the reason that they were even allowed to show girls to Jekia.”

“Do you believe it could be the same house?” Rayne asked her.

“No, we do not,” Jekia answered. “That house is still extremely exclusive, but they have come to accept that this family does not wish for such services. In fact, we have a gift here for Luna from the Lady of the House, Madame Lucille. She often sends gifts to Lana, Aurora, and Selenia, and she was extremely excited to hear of Luna and has been wishing to meet her.”

“Sounds nice enough, and you don’t believe she could be behind this even though the rumors were spread through the houses?” Rayne verified.

“Not at all. Madame Lucille is quite a proud Faerie and doing such things is completely out of her character, though I do wonder now if she is unaware of her girls becoming involved with this. It could open the door for us to trace the source if we go through her,” Jekia suggested.

“Now that you mention it,” Selenia spoke up, “I know a few of those girls rather well, and while I was visiting with one the other day, she was acting a bit oddly.”

“Which one were you visiting?” Rayne asked her.

“I was visiting with Pallia. She’s been my friend for years now, and we often spend time together. But it was odd when I last saw her. Pallia isn’t the type to be concerned about much. She’s normally very easygoing, yet she seemed very on edge about something while we were out. It was as if she was looking over her shoulder every few minutes. I questioned her about it, but she wouldn’t tell me why she was doing so. She looked afraid to,” Selenia explained to us.

Pallia? Did I know that name? No, I couldn’t place it.

But what Selenia was saying definitely was worth noting.

“Does Miss Pallia live in Jumal?” I asked her.

“No. Her matchmaking house is in Belgan, although it isn’t incredibly far from Jumal. Have you met her by chance?” Selenia inquired.

“No, I don’t recall hearing her name, but I was curious. While I have heard of these houses before, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen one. Are there many in the Northern Lands?” I asked them.

Jekia nodded. “There are quite a few scattered throughout the villages and towns, and normally only one or two in any given place. If the area is bigger, then there may be two.”

He thought over everything he’d been hearing. “If there is more to this as we suspect, then I believe that the trouble originates from one of the more powerful houses, which would narrow down the list considerably. There are only three in these lands that would have enough power behind them to influence the females of the others, or in this case, possibly threaten them.”

I didn’t like hearing that. Even if those females had said cruel things, the idea that they were being threatened to do so was too much for me.

“If that’s the case, then I’d like to do what I can to catch who’s doing it. I don’t want them to be threatened because of me, and I also won’t allow someone to drive me out,” I spoke up.

“But why would someone do this? Is it really all because our family didn’t choose any of their girls, or is this more to do with Luna?” Aurora pondered.

“We can’t deny the possibility of the latter. After all, Luna is a beautiful woman, even more so than the madams of those houses. There very well may be intense jealousy in that and her position with me,” Rayne acknowledged.

Jekia agreed with him. “I believe that’s a good assumption to start with, but we won’t be careless as we attempt to resolve this. The last thing I wish to do is put Luna through any more than she has been, and I believe all of you feel the same.”

“Very much so.” Rayne squeezed my hand under the table. “What would you wish for us to do for now, Father? You do realize that I want to take Luna home instead of remaining here until it’s resolved.”

“I know you do, and I won’t deny you both your freedom in that. That said, Rayne, I do want you to be sure to return here often and remain in contact with us. I’ve already been unhappy with your avoidance, as have the rest of our family. There is no reason for it,” Jekia chided him.

“And I promised I would make it a point to do better, both to you and her, but I feel that our priority should be to figure out who is dragging her down and put a stop to it,” Rayne countered.

“Very well. I will accept your word.” Jekia decided to move on. “As for what has occurred, we will continue looking into it quietly. Experience has told me that to not do so will send the culprit into hiding.

“First, I would like to invite Madame Lucille here to both meet with Luna and discuss this with her. Pallia is one of hers, so there’s a possibility that she could derive answers from her girls for us. Once we have done that, then we will make our choice of which way we would like to go next.”

“That is fine. Just let me know when she will be here, and Luna and I will return,” Rayne agreed. He looked more than ready for us to leave now.

Aurora quickly spoke up. “If it’s okay, Rayne, I’d like to come by the glen tomorrow and visit with Luna for a while. We didn’t get much time today, and it would be nice if we could get to know each other.”

“I would like that too,” I admitted.

I could tell that Rayne wasn’t feeling this, but Rin spoke before he could say anything against it. “You do realize that Luna needs companions other than you, and it would be good for her and Aurora to get to know each other.”

“I’d ask if I could come too, but I do have a few things that I’ve committed to tomorrow, so maybe another time,” Selenia added.

There was no getting around this, and Rayne knew it. None of them were going to let him say no.

I didn’t miss that Jekia and Lana looked pretty expectant too, like they were daring him to refuse.

“Very well. I suppose tomorrow afternoon couldn’t hurt, if you’ll agree to that,” Rayne reluctantly agreed.

“We can do that. I did want to take Aurora out for something in the morning, so it works well for us too,” Rin answered.

I couldn’t sit there and say that I disliked any of this. In fact, I was returning Aurora’s smile with some happiness.

Even though it was wonderful to have Rayne, this would give me the chance to have real friends from his family and possibly even outside of it eventually.

Even with the bad still lingering, that made me feel so much better and gave me hope that I could keep my resolve to become a stronger person.