After many hours of explaining and how each brother or sister were to go to different compounds and that's where their legions would stay as well and what they'd be doing.... we had some difficulties with satisfying some of them.
The two sisters, Tellis and Nira, felt these lack luster accommodations were beneath their status. They were whining about them and Thietian's patience had grown thin.
"Then snap your luxury items from your residences to your quarters that you can't seem to part with. You seem to forget that we are having to accommodate a large number of soldiers at each one of these facilities, along with their families. So, yes, for the time being you will be giving up your spacious mansions to live in a four bedroom house. While your generals and their families get a two to three bedroom apartment. The rest of your soldiers get to sleep bunk style in a one bedroom if they have a family. Everyone else gets to stay in bunk style sleeping halls or if necessary, tents outside." Thietian was getting a little heated at his sisters lack of understanding on how grateful they should be.
"Calm down brother, you're expecting us to be thrown into a small space and not have some complaints. Why are we being treated as if it's insane to try and ask for a little help in that aspect?" Nira scoffed.
Thietian clenched the table making indents in the wood with his nails. He took a deep breath and held it in for a minute before releasing it like air out of pressure cooker. Thietian then stood up and looked his sister in the eyes.
"Like when I was forced into a 7 year olds body? Forced into exile in a human child's body, to die? Where I had to be careful to not drive the child insane? Teaching the child how to make a mental block so we would both stay sane? When I was able to ask you for help on how to fix this predicament I was placed in by father, what did you say? Nira?" He looked at her as if was ready to rip her head from her body and the only thing restraining him was his grip on the table still.
"...should be...alive." Nira mumbled something barely audible looking ashamed and embarrassed at the moment.
"I'm sorry sister, I couldn't hear that?" Thietian leaned his ear towards her theatrically.
"You should be grateful you're alive." Nira said louder causing some at the table to give her a disgusted look.
"I think I will use your choice of words dear sister. You should be grateful you're alive and that you are even receiving those as your spacious quarters." Thietian finally released his grip on the table and left the room in silence. The table now had quarter inch deep nail marks where he had been clutching the table.
John and I gave each other a look and headed out into the hall where Thietian was standing to get some air. He was taking deep breaths and releasing them slowly, his eyes closed tightly.
We could hear the conversation from inside the meeting room coming through the cracked door.
"Nira! How could you have said something like that to our brother?" One of the brothers reprimanded her.
"If you all don't remember what was going on, I'll remind you. Father wasn't happy with any of us. We were forced to go find mother and she had evaded me. Father almost took all of my men and killed them for failing. I was hurt and under enough stress as it was when he came to me. Father could have killed him like my men, but didn't." Nira gave her explanation.
Thietian was still taking his time to calm down and I went and placed my hand on his shoulder. His eyes snapped open and I could tell that he still felt the wounds of betrayal from his sister for deserting him so cruelly. He was fighting back tears that threatened to spill over and I pulled him into a hug.
He seemed shocked I would do this and hesitated before hugging me right back tightly. I patted his back and he let me go. His voice didn't seem to work but his mouth still formed the words 'Thank you.' He cleared his throat and opened the door to the room and went back inside. John and I followed him in and shut the door.
Taking a seat like nothing happened he asked every one, "Any other issues?"
His brother Mirne leaned forward, "What happens after we are able to take our fathers army down? What happens to father and the throne?"
"We shall see about father, because I doubt he'd let himself be taken alive. However, with father out of the picture mother will return and then take her place on the throne." Thietian informed him.
"What makes you so sure she will return to the throne?" Fuyerk asks doubt written all over his face.
"We can't do bloodline succession, because then Bavarthos would make an appearance." Avari voiced, concern written all over her face and her husbands Hyatin.
"There's a chance he might not." Balkin threw out. "When was the last time anyone even heard a whisper or rumor about him?" He asked skeptical.
Thietian and I exchanged looks and he nodded.
"I saw him not long ago in Turkey." I informed them. I received some skeptical looks in return, while others were curious.
"How did you see him?" Balkin raised a brow.
I looked to Thietian who grimaced but nodded.
"I was in Turkey looking for some one and he was there practicing dark magic. Me and two others barely made it out of there with our lives. A few didn't make it at all." I remember the look in my team members eyes before Turk was able to snap us out of the basement. The memory makes me shiver with dread.
K'dara hummed, "Our eldest brother is a definite threat in a blood succession. A vote of the remaining court members can be done, not with out it's own problems though. I propose we worry about it when the time comes. No point in us creating a fuss now, when the future is unclear."
She received nods and other forms of agreement to her statement.
"Well since that's settled for now, shall I take you to your compounds and that way your men can start moving with their families over?" Thietian suggested so we could move on with our day.
John and I had not been to any of the other compounds except the one where the p.o.w's were being kept with the girls we saved at the medical compound. So when we all arrived at the next compound we gave each other a wide eyed glance. If we thought the last compound for Lierthe and his legions was large, we were swept away at this next one.
It was hot and sandy underneath a giant, sand colored sunshade that stretched from the tops of some rocky formations out and surrounded this city. A ghost city, for no one was walking around, but the sounds of camels and goats could be heard not far from us.
"Brother. I am impressed!" Fuyerk exclaimed. "We're still on Earth?"
My ears picked up on that and my eyes snapped to Thietian who nodded. "Very much so. Come. You or Mirne can stay here. It's one of the largest places but it does have its drawbacks, unfortunately."
Tellis muttered, "The heat right?" As we followed Thietian around and introduced the caretakers to the princes. Mirne ended up taking the place and we snapped to a dense jungle with thick humidity.
This place was not nearly as large as the last one, so the sisters got to decide and Tellis ended up taking the jungle.
Our next stop was was high up in the mountains. Trees were stunted in height but still dense and the air was thin at this altitude. Nira took this place smiling smugly at her other sisters before we snapped to the next place.
Fuyerk got an entire tropical island that was extremely close to an active volcano, half a mile away across the waves that was dripping out red hot lava from it's side down into the ocean.
"Um is this a safe location?" John asked Thietian sounding concerned.
Thietian laughed, "Yes it is. It's an active volcano but because it's flow is constant, pressure is not building up so an eruption is highly unlikely."
We snapped to another conifer filled mountain forest overlooking a large lake for K'dara and than Avari received one in a high altitude conifer forest that overlooked a jungle. Each one was now assigned a place for their soldiers and the sun was setting.
It was finally the end of the day and we could get back to our own home. When we snapped there we just fell into the sofas and sighed glad to be off of our feet.
Elena walks out of her bedroom and walked right by us like she didn't see us. Thietian morphed back into Cass and got up to give Elena a hug. The second he touched her she screamed in fright.
"You scared the daylights out of me!" She smacked his arm and clutched her heart while me and John snickered in the living room.
Her belly was becoming much more noticeable and her clothes tighter. I threw a suggestion out to her knowing what the answer was going to be.
"So Elena, you want to go shopping tomorrow or stop by your sisters for a visit?"