"Sorry, hon, we had to," Erik apologises profoundly when I open my eyes and find out that it was them who interrupted my sleep.
"I was meeting my father, we had a super important conversation," I snort.
"We figured as much, it's ten already and you weren't waking up," Gotrid caresses my feathers to comfort me.
"So why did you...?" I frown, but Erik pokes me between my eyebrows.
"Because your brain isn't resting when you're having your dream encounters," he says. "We don't want you to collapse. We woke you up so that you can have a long afternoon nap. Hopefully, your father isn't taking naps into account."
I slowly sit up and rub my eyes. Erik is right, of course, I don't feel well-rested. My body relaxed a bit, but my brain was working relentlessly. Maybe even harder than it normally would, these dream meetings sure are taxing.
"Did you learn something interesting today?" Gotrid asks and starts petting my wings because he can tell that I'm upset about being forced to wake up.
"Well...," I bite my lip. The idea of hiding the truth from them again doesn't cross my mind, but where do I even start?
"Yep, it's evidently super important," Erik guesses and gently kisses my right wing.
"I'd better call Liana and the Celestial Council should also know," I consider. "Damn, they will freak out for sure."
"Tell us first, we want to have a private audience," Gotrid tickles me under my feathers. "In a nutshell is enough for now."
"In a nutshell, my father is the Divementis Emperor which makes me a Divementis prince," I say slowly, nervously waiting for their reaction. They just stare at me for a few long seconds. They expected something big, but not this.
"You're kidding!" Erik opens his mouth wide.
"Oh, our Emperor is double royalty," Gotrid celebrates because, in his shock, he fails to see the gravity of that revelation.
"Wait, but... wouldn't that mean that the Divementis could try to claim you?" Erik starts to panic properly.
"That's why my subjects will freak out when they find out," I sigh. "Seriously, now that I think about it, maybe we should keep it a secret after all."
"Nope, just nope," Gotrid shakes his head as it finally comes to him. "That's out of the question, love. The Imperial Guard needs to know so that they can take precautions."
"I must agree with Gotrid on this," Erik nods. "Until now, you've been meeting your father only in your dreams, but what if he tries to take you away from us?"
"I have both magic and telepathy, I'm confident that I should be able to protect myself," I assure them.
"You can't protect yourself in your sleep," Erik argues. "We're telling the Celestial Council and that's final."
"Oh, love," Gotrid hugs me, "what if they try to get you by force?"
"Then we will show them what Celestials are capable of," I say confidently. "Still, I don't think it will come to that. My father might be many things, but he's not stupid. The Divementis desperately need Draconians to become their allies."
"We can't rule out that they could try abducting you," Erik snuggles to me as well. "Besides, I warned you not to trust your father easily."
"He loved Mom, though," I whisper. "I'm certain that he wasn't lying about that. He might not be the dad of the year, but I don't think he's the villain here. The Divementis came to our dimension to hide from that monstrous thing that occupies their homeland."
We stay in a feathery embrace for a few comforting moments until the Celestials waiting outside grow too restless and the maids quietly open the door.
"Your Majesty, are you okay?" Ayala asks anxiously. "It's ten already, we were worried."
Gotrid releases his wings, uncovering us.
"We will have breakfast now," he says. "In the meanwhile, please tell the Viceroy to assemble the Council in advance."
Ayala pales, sensing that something important must have happened. I must admire her composure in such situations. She doesn't ask any questions and hurries to do her job. I stand up so that Ayala and Dalia can quickly dress me up.
"Your Majesty!" Liana is waiting for me in the lounge already when we emerge from the bedroom. "Is it an emergency? What happened? I called for the Council just as you ordered."
"After breakfast," Erik insists. "You know our Emperor has a bad habit of skipping meals or not eating as much as he should when he's stressed. Let's stuff him with food first and talk later."
We eat in silence. Erik and Gotrid focus on encouraging me to eat while Liana is barely holding her questions bottled inside.
"At least tell me if it's good or bad," she cries after a while.
"Potentially both," I admit and let Erik feed me a piece of pancake. "I met my father tonight again and a few other Divementis."
"Other Divementis?" Liana bites her lip. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"No," I shake my head. "We talked and..."
"At the assembly," Erik purses his lips and delivers me another mouthful. Admittedly, without his intervention, I wouldn't have much appetite to eat on my own.
By the time we get outside, all Celestials in the mansion know that something is going on. I can feel their restlessness.
"Your Majesty," Gavreel bows deeply when we reach the throne room. "Everybody is waiting for you."
I nod and quickly walk across the hall to my throne. It seems that one day of my absence gave my subjects time to recuperate from my Celestial wrath. They are still extremely careful around me, but they can meet my eyes again.
I sit down, my beloved partners get seated next to me and start caressing my wings which are shaking a bit. I don't care that it might not look regal. I really need it right now and appreciate that Erik and Gotrid aren't embarrassed.
"My father visited me in my sleep again," I say slowly, carefully articulating each word. "What I'm about to tell you will shock you, but I don't want you to freak out. Please, sit down on the cushions."
The councillors and guard captains look at each other, confused. Liana gives me a panicky look because my tone is even more serious than during breakfast.
"That was an order," I add to make myself clear. Everybody sits down in a hurry and for a few moments, there's only a sound of rustling wings.
"It turns out," I say extremely slowly, "that my father isn't just any Divementis. He revealed to me last night that he's the Divementis Emperor."
Everybody in the hall gasps for breath. I bet now they appreciate that I made them sit down.
"As you probably guessed, that makes me a Divementis prince," I add simply, generously giving them time to let it sink in.
I look at Liana and I can tell that she's freaking out in her mind, but she's doing her best to remain calm at least from the outside. When the worst shock is over, she immediately starts to consider the consequences of me being both the Celestial Emperor and a Divementis prince.
"What else did your father say?" Liana asks sharply while everyone else is still trying to come to terms with it.
"We talked about my Mom and he confirmed that she indeed worked directly for the Divementis in developing Draconia Online," I continue. "She left when still neither she nor my father knew that she was pregnant which explains why nobody suspected a thing. After that, she continued to keep my existence secret to protect me."
"B-but...," Gavreel speaks up, his voice shaking, "what if the Divementis raise a claim to Your Majesty?"
"I'm afraid my father already did," I sigh. "However, it doesn't have to be necessarily a bad thing. I could finally learn why and how the Great Evolution happened directly from the source."
"Directly?" Captain Vermiel widens his eyes. "You mean entering the Divementis premises?"
"It might come to that," I admit.
That causes an even bigger uproar among my subjects than the revelation itself. It seems that coming to terms with me being double royalty is easier for them than the idea of me possibly leaving them for the Divementis.
"I assure you that I consider myself to be, first and foremost, the Celestial Emperor," I say firmly to calm the commotion down. "I might be half-Divementis, but I feel no responsibility towards them whatsoever. You are and always will be my absolute priority."
"And if the Divementis try to take you away from us by force?" Gavreel gulps.
"They can try," I hiss. "If we are to cooperate with them, it must be on equal footing. When my father reaches out to me again, I'll make that clear to him."
The assembly continues for three long hours. Liana wants to know the details of everything that happened in my dream last night and everybody voices their opinion on the course of action we should take. The Guard Captains go to reinforce the protection of the mansion immediately while our diplomats start coming up with strategies we could try when dealing with the Divementis.
Erik and Gotrid have to push really hard to give me that afternoon nap I was promised. I'm a bit apprehensive that my father will bother me every time I close my eyes, but nothing of that sort happens and I manage to get some rest. We return to our suite late in the evening after the whole day spent analysing, strategizing and debating.
"Love, if you don't feel like it...," Erik tries not to be pushy about tonight's sex when it's time for bed and the maids finally leave the bedroom.
"I do feel like it," I assure both him and Gotrid. "I won't let the Divementis ruin our nightlife. You are my beloved partners and I'll make love to you every opportunity I get."
"You're all tense, love," Gotrid notices, tells me to lower my wings and massages my shoulders.
I accept it gratefully, meltingunder his care. When I relax a bit, I fully connect with them to find out whatthey desire the most at the moment. I pity the Divementis for not beingempaths. Reading one's thoughts in such a precious situation like making loveis only half the pleasure. I decide that I should consider empathy to be mybiggest strength and, with that proud thought, I fall asleep.