Anguish, annoyance and helplessness shook her on the inside and tears rolled out of her eyes. That was her chance. And the child took it away from her. 

"Don't cry," Sae'ror said, wiping her tears. "I will save you." The child seemed so worried that his little demon face looked scrunched. Those tiny horns on his head twitched. 

With quivering lips, Anastasia stroked his head and then hugged Sae'ror for his efforts and because she felt shaky. She wanted support. "Thank you Sae'ror," she whispered. What else could she do? After a long time when she settled a little, she moved away from him and in a hoarse voice said, "Let's go back. Your mother must be finding us, and if she doesn't see you, she will go berserk."

He smiled feebly showing his yellow teeth and tiny fangs. All the way back to the room, Sae'ror held her hand tightly. Once he even murmured, "I won't let you go…" Over such a short time, he had grown attached to Anastasia and treated her like she was his treasure, his possession. 

Anastasia sighed. She had also grown close to the child. 

When they reached the room, she noticed that Jor'gas hadn't come back, so she tucked Sae'ror in his bed and kissed him goodnight. At night, she tossed and turned in her bed. She wanted to go back to the dune and test what she did. Her thoughts went back to Ileus and she caressed the medallion. "Where will I find you, Al?" she murmured. 

Next day when she woke up, she found Jor'gas sleeping next to her son. A smile crept on her lips. The mother and son looked so innocent and oblivious to the vicious world around them. She wondered if she would ever meet them when she got back to the future… her present… Anastasia didn't know that the moment she would step out of Vilinski, her life would change so dramatically. Was it worth it? Yes, it was a thousand times worth it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Now that she knew that Etaya was married to the demon prince, it would be easy to throw Aed Ruad out of the race for the throne. The faes would never allow them to be the rulers of the fae kingdom. 

Politics was not just about battles and wars. It was also about maintaining lineages, maintaining pure blood or having right alliances, and at that point of time she and her father were the only pure blood in her line of ancestors. Her father should have been the king of Vilinski, for he was the rightful heir, biologically and legally. 

She realized that her marriage to Ileus would be viewed as a strong alliance between three kingdoms. Unfortunately, right now it was marred with too many doubts and apprehensions of those with vested interests. 

She was sure about one thing—once Aed Ruad's real identity came out, her name would be cleared. And now it dawned upon her as to why Aed Ruad was hell bent on marrying her and keen on sabotaging her. It was because he wanted to kill the last of the royal blood of faes and take over. 

Now she understood what Hem'ran told her. 'Your marriage with the crown prince of Vilinski is going to usher in a whole new era of various kingdoms.' And the kingdoms were Zor'gan and Vilinski. Once Aed Ruad had control over these, the kingdoms that fell in between would be easily attacked and occupied. This was the reason why her marriage to Ileus was like a thorn to many. According to Ileus it created a political fracture. 

Aed Ruad was like a poisonous vine that was trying to crawl all over the Lore. If not checked in time, it would leave a trail of dead people and ruined kingdoms. 

It was Seraph who must have sent the demons after her in Ivorpool to capture her. Or was it Kar'den?

Who knew she would be blasted to the past? If she hadn't come here, she would have never known the dark secrets of the twins. They did a bloody great job at hiding it. 

Anastasia got up and walked to the window through which a warm breeze was blowing. She looked towards the direction that led to the dune and hoped that it was still there. 

She wondered that if Theodir mentioned all this to her, would she have believed him? It was difficult to accept the reality now that it was in front of her, she would have surely dismissed Theodir's claims as a figment of imagination. Or even if she would have accepted his views, there was no way she could prove it. 

That's it! She had to prove it, but how? Mere seeing it with her eyes wasn't enough. She had to steal a clue from here that would validate her suspicions. Aed Ruad had tremendous support. She had to break that support. 

--- 

Before going to the west wing, Anastasia went to meet the queen. Og'drath was sitting in her room, looking gloomy. Anastasia's heart went out for her. She was such an underestimated, undervalued woman. If Kar'den listened to her or consulted her, he would save himself from so many situations, but he was just too arrogant and had an eye on his brother's wife. 

Og'drath drank the goat milk in one go and placed the glass on the table. "Etaya has lawfully entered the palace. She is going to leave no stone unturned to get my daughter, Dolgra, out of the line of succession." She turned her head over her shoulder to look at Anastasia. "I want you to listen to everything she says today. I am sure she must have convinced Seraph to wage a war against Ian by now." She shook her head. "Ian is such a brave warrior, so powerful and charismatic that a thousand Etaya wouldn't match him. I am afraid that even my husband Kar'den is getting lured by her." 

"I am sorry, m'lady…" Anastasia said.

"Why are you sorry, Natsya?" The queen gave a humorless laugh. "Just go and something for me to feed to Kar'den so that he sees through her." 

Anastasia bowed and walked out of the room. As she walked there, she was met with Jor'gas. 

"Did you hear the news, Anastasia?" said Jor'gas in the most gossipy way. 

She laughed. "How can I? I was with the queen." 

Jor'gas lowered her voice. "There is a buzz that Seraph married Etaya because she was pregnant. She forced him to marry her."

"What?" Anastasia said loudly. How could this be? Did that mean that Seraph had come inside Vilinski earlier? He must have met her a number of times for this to happen. But where did they meet so secretively? 

"Shh! Lower your voice," Jor'gas chided. "Just be careful with her and don't mention it to anyone." 

"Does the queen know?" 

"Yes, and this worries her as hell. She knows that Etaya is going to try her best to remove Dolgra somehow or the other from the line of succession." 

"Gods!" 

Jor'gas tsked. "I pity the queen. The king is too arrogant to listen to her."

When they reached the west wing, as usual they waited in the antechamber. After long hours of waiting they were called in. Seraph raked his gaze over Anastasia and said, "Today the painter will be coming to paint our portraits. Help Etaya to wear something good." 

"Yes, m'lord," she said with a bow. 

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