Promptly at seven in the evening, a carriage approached the palace gates. Within minutes, the shapely legs of a tall woman could be seen emerging from the carriage.
An attendant held out her hand and the occupant of the carriage emerged from the carriage.
The fluttering deep blue robes of the High Seer could be seen as a woman with long black hair stood tall and proud, bearing the regal poise and demeanor of a royal member of the court.
She walked through the gates without bothering to show any sort of proof of entry.
The gate keepers bowed their heads and opened the gates. There was no doubt in their mind that this woman had every right to be here.
Once she was within the garden, another attendant took her through the lighted path and into the palace.
Suddenly, from within the palace, the sound of running footsteps could be heard.
"Mother!" Tarot's voice could be heard.
"Naanaaaaa!" A smaller voice accompanied him.
Sibyl's eyes widened as she saw her son emerging from the shadows carrying a small child in his arms.
"Tarot." She called out. "And this is…"
"Mother, this is Devin. He is Princess Viviene's son."
Sibyl nodded, staring at the child.
"He called me Nana."
"That's because he calls Talia Mama. Since I told him that we were going to see Talia's mother, you naturally got the title of grandma."
Sibyl slowly smiled.
"Ahh." She turned to the little boy. "Look at my precious little Devin." She reached out and touched the little boy.
He quickly reached out for her, demanding to be held.
Sibyl smiled and picked up the little boy.
Although she had never considered the idea of being a grandmother, she was not opposed to it. And he was such a cute child that her heart instantly warmed.
Devin did not hesitate. He wound his arms around Sibyl and hugged her as he did his own Mama.
Nana looked and smelled just like Mama.
From the same hallway, Talia emerged.
The moment the young woman came into view, Sibyl lost control of her tear ducts.
"Oh…my little Talia." She whispered.
She sniffed and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes without looking as if she was crying.
"Mother. This is—"
"I know who she is." Sibyl interrupted her son. "My precious little Talia."
Talia looked up at the regal woman with the blue eyes that mirrored her own, and the long wavy black hair that was so much like hers. The woman even had the sylph-like body with pale translucent skin.
It was all so familiar and yet so foreign to her that for a moment, Talia felt an overwhelming sense of displacement. She didn't know what to think.
It was a small blessing that Cedric chose to appear behind her, giving her comfort and grounding her to his stable presence.
There was no doubt as to the sincerity of his devotion to his mate as he wound his arms around her waist, supporting her from behind with warm gentle hands.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesty." Sibyl bowed.
"High Seer Sibyl Belladonna. Welcome to the palace."
Cedric's eyes crinkled as he saw Devin being carried in the High Seer's arms. The boy was playing with the large pendant around her neck and ignoring his uncle.
He turned to murmur into Talia's ear. "So you finally met your mother."
Talia nodded, unable to respond verbally. She was still trying to process it all.
Sensing her need to internalize the shocking news of her mother's presence, Cedric took the situation into his hands.
"Since everyone is here, let us all head towards the dining hall and see what they cooked up for dinner." He gave a cheerful grin. "They didn't know we invited company for dinner so I hope you can eat what they scrounge up."
Tarot turned to him with startled blue eyes.
"You invited us to dinner and you didn't even tell the cooks?"
Cedric shrugged. "They always have plenty of food. I figured they could just add two more people without any problems."
"Yeah but what if they can't?" Tarot threw up his hands. "What if they only made enough for the two of you?"
Cedric shrugged. "Then we all just eat a little bit less and share what we do have."
Talia laughed. The interactions between Cedric and Tarot were so ordinary and unassuming, it was as if they had turned into brothers without exerting any effort.
Sibyl chuckled. Tarot was a Grand Duke but because she had taken him away from the duchy palace at a young age, he was surprisingly unspoiled by his high status.
This was the royal palace. It was not a small poor household. There was always going to be plenty of food available for the king and any number of guests he happened to invite.
"Come." Cedric waved his hand and they all followed him to the royal dining hall.
Just as Sibyl predicted, the staff did not even blink an eye at the addition of two more people to the dining table.
As it was, the attendants brought food out in numerous dishes that were piled so high, they would never be able to finish it all, even with Tarot's and Cedric's big appetites.
As they ate, they exchanged pleasantries and did not touch on the most crucial details until finally, when the dessert and hot tea was being served to everyone.
It was then that Cedric came to the crux of the situation that he had been wanting to talk about the entire night.
"So tell me, High Seer Sibyl. What do you know about my sister's whereabouts?"
Sibyl took a sip of her hot tea from the ornate tea cup as she deliberated on what to say to him.
"She is…" Sibyl fixed her brilliant blue eyes on King Cedric. "Not in this realm."
"What do you mean?" Cedric asked.
That could mean anything, including the fact that Viviene had passed on from life itself.
"I can see you are concerned but let me assure you that she is not dead. She is simply in a different world, in the same manner that you, Talia, and the little boy were previously on Earth."
"So the myths and legends are true. There are more than two worlds."
Sibyl smiled. "There are billions and billions of worlds. The only ones that we have access to and can traverse between, at least for the moment, are the few that are closest to us."
"I was in Talia's world for almost two years. I looked everywhere for my sister and I couldn't find her."
"Simply put, you were in the wrong world." Sibyl informed him drily.
Cedric sighed. Two years of his life had been wasted looking in the wrong place.
He should have gone to the witches to ask them from the start. Unfortunately, he didn't know who to trust and could not even reveal the reason why he had left Faria..
"How do I get to the other world?" Cedric asked. Even if it took another two years, he had to try and find his sister.
"Your Majesty, you are the King of Faria." Sibyl pointed out. "If you leave at this time, what will happen to the kingdom?"