When she got to the bus station, she was glad the queue was not long. Things were getting harder in their line as rumors that their prince was of ill health circulated. Everyone had their doubts about if the rumors were true but the dwindling good livelihood of their line made it hard to wave the rumors away.
After all, there was a little truth behind every rumor.
It was said that their prince was being punished for a grave crime he committed by the divine punisher who punishes the princes annually.
Every prince represented the nature elements and was the divine god of all the divine persons in each line they rule over.
Along with the princes, all the divine persons in the lines possess the nature element of the bloodline they belonged to. But none of the divine people could equal the princes in power. None at all.
But then again, that was what they were made to believe, and unlike Atticus who believed firmly in the princes, she had her doubts.
Also, she believes there would definitely be other creatures stronger than the princes unlike what they were made to believe.
The princes all have the red qi, a trait gotten from their mother, the mistress of seduction.
All these histories weren't her thing, it was Atticus who loved to talk about them a lot so her brain had imprinted every word without her consent. You know, when you listen to something way too much, they become fixed in your brain that you could even chant them anywhere the way priestesses chant to the heavens.
The only thing that aggravated her upset at their princes' supposed punishment was the effect it had on the people.
It made the fire element almost scarce in their line and all of the other lines.
This time, it wasn't rumored but the news itself carried the information that the waterline was furious at the scarcity of flame and thereby stopped the prosperous flow of water in the flameline.
The fights between the two lines were making things harder for everyone in the flameline. An example was the hold-up they had in waiting for a bus tonight when the queue was shamefully long.
She had been waiting for almost twenty minutes now, with other people like her who were just getting back from work. Except the others took permission to leave but she didn't. She ran off in the middle of duty when she found a baby blue and she would do it again.
The O'Connors had children, she needed one too!
When baby blue cooed and a divine person who was sitting beside her on the waiting bench muttered "Why to bring a baby out when it is so late? Some mothers!" the divine person scoffed.
Thankfully, the woman was saying more to herself than to Xylia if not, she would have given her a piece of her mind.
Well, it wasn't her fault, Xylia thought.
It was prince Adramelech's fault. But then again, it was not prince Adramelech's fault also.
It was his parent's fault for being careless and going against heaven's will. The princes were abominations, they were forbidden and so, they were cursed right from birth.
From what Xylia heard, the challenges they were facing now were because prince Adramelech's curse was getting the best of him.
That was the thing about curses, they don't stop with the cursed, they hurt everyone else close to the cursed one indirectly. The whole line was hurting, the prince's sickness was their sickness as they were all descendants of the prince.
The news did not carry the gist about the princes being cursed though, it never did.
It was always the whispers that birthed rumors which circulate around. If the princes were indeed cursed, no one knew except the rumors.
One thing was certain though, behind every rumor, there was a truth.
.
The bus's horn from afar sent the thoughts jolting out of her and sending other thoughts in. These were not worried thoughts but happy ones. She was bringing a bundle of joy home and maybe Atticus's condition would improve.
She was tapping her legs impatiently on the floor now. Xylia knew she looked a mess and probably smelled awful too but she could care less about that. The stares from the other divine persons at the bus stop affirmed her suspicion that she indeed reeked.
Moments later, the long bus got to the bus stop and hissed grumpily before stopping. Every divine person at the bus station stood up and queued according to the way they previously sat.
The queue moved so fast with each divine person tapping their ticket cards on the sensor as they go in.
Soon, it was her turn to tap in and after she did, a few other divine persons that came after her also tapped in and the queue ended.
She placed the baby that was jerking under the satin that was used in wrapping it on her lap. "You must be cold," Xylia said to it while poking its nose playfully.
The smile baby blue gave her washed away her years of cries over the sad absence of a baby in her marital life.
On a whim, she was the happiest woman on Earth.
Even though Earth was a planet birthed out of the misdoings of two souls, the mistress of seduction and the fallen angel.
Earth was still her home and in her home, she finally found joy sent to her by the heavens.
Shortly, it was time to get down as the bus got to her destination. She brought out her ticket from inside her pocket, thanking heavens she had forgotten to remove it and keep it in her purse in the morning. If she had kept the ticket in her purse, she would have had no choice but to go back in and retrieve her purse at the O'Connors.
She alighted the bus and walked down home. Her house was just a few houses away from the main road. It was a rented cabin she and Atticus had saved up to rent some years back when they were tired of living in apartments.
She had her spare key but it was in her purse which was still at the O'Connors mansion so, she knocked on the door lightly, careful not to gain any of their neighbor's attention.
She did not want people peeping from their windows after they heard her knocks and seeing her holding a baby at night when they knew so well she had none.
"Atticus, Atticus." she whispered as she knocked. Then, she heard her sick husband's cough and hated herself for disturbing his sleep.
She knew he must be too weak to get up but was doing his best to come to open the door for her.
"Atticus." she gasped when he got to the door and opened it.
Her husband wasn't this bad when she left home in the morning. Now, he looked more derailed and pale with his bloodshot eyes growing bags under and his face getting thinner.
"Did your qi drop again?" she asked with her voice already coated in sorrow. Her hand shook silently, she had to firm her grip on the baby not to drop it.
"Doctor Calbar was here, he mentioned the qi dropped an ounce of its essence again." sick Atticus managed to say as he staggered back to bed.
Xylia was taken aback by this revelation, she was hoping for recovery from her husband. She did not expect she would be back to hear he was getting sicker.
Her lips shook as she struggled to say " It pained me we do not know of the source of this sickness" her voice broke as she went to sit beside her husband on the bed.
Atticus was too sick that he did not even notice the baby in her head. He was too drowned in his own pain and misery to notice the happenings in his surrounding.
When she thought to show him the baby, maybe that would comfort him a little she heard his voice say "I know the source now. Doctor Calbar said Prince Adramelech was truly sick." He declared.
What?!
Prince Adramelech was sick and it wasn't just rumored?
She placed the baby on the other side of the bed and cupped her mouth with both her palms to prevent the sob she was fighting hard to keep at bay from getting out.
If Atticus heard her cries now, he might be depressed.
"So you have the bond disease?" She asked him, unable to believe it herself and also wishing Atticus had not caught the disease, of all the divine persons in the line.