Chapter 1

Well, this is new. Aadin thought to himself as he walked down the grey stoned hallway towards the dining area. He was heading to a little family meeting that his father had decided to call. He could only hope that it was nothing like the last family meeting where his father had managed to find himself another new wife, even though he already had five, to help him try to produce the key.

Yeah, the key. That was all he ever heard about since he had reached maturity and his father had found out that his first born had proven to not be the key. Determined to create a key since his brother had died a few years back, his father had been doing his best to find different brides and make several babies, but none of them had turned out to be the key yet.

As Aadin had been thinking over everything that had been happening lately in his ever growing family, he had arrived at the dining area and the feeling of cool, solid, living wood drew him back to the present. Taking a deep breath and plastering on a smile that any court person would be proud of, he pushed open the doors, and calmly walked in, not showing his discomfort when he saw that it was only his father and his six wives. There wasn’t a seventh one, so there must have been something that he had done wrong.

“Greetings father.” Aadin said as he sat down in his usual seat, which was directly across from his father, clear on the other side of the room since the table could seat up to one hundred beings. His father’s wives had placed themselves close to his father, but made sure that they each had enough distance from each other in case anyone tried to harm them.

“Is it going to be just us?” Aadin asked, ignoring the light sniffs of disdain that were sent in his direction from the women except for the two that sat on either side of his father.

The two women that sat on either side of his father were sisters, and his aunts. They were his father’s second and third wives, having been married to his father not a day after his mother had died. His aunts had been the only mother figures that he had known, and the only ones that had ever cared for him. He had made sure that they would come to no harm from any of his father’s other wives, and they knew this well.

The looks that they were sending his way made him feel slightly nervous, but he would never show it. His aunts were giving him a look of hopelessness, as if they pitied him, while his father’s other wives were trying their hardest it seemed to not smirk at him as if he were about to receive knowledge that would make him wish he were dead.

He finally turned his attention back to his father when he heard the older man take in a deep breath and release a long sigh. His father looked him in the eyes, and Aadin knew that whatever his father was going to say that he would not be happy about it, and his father knew this.

Placing his elbows on the table and folding his hands together before his face, his father closed his eyes and took another long breath before letting it out in a long sigh again. Aadin knew that his father was both playing with him and trying to buy himself some time before he would have to tell his son.

Opening his eyes, his father finally opened his mouth. “Son.”

Aadin lifted an elegant eyebrow, waiting to see if his father said anything else. When his father didn’t, Aadin took a deep breath of his own and replied, “Yes father?”

His father seemed to look him up and down before he decided to speak again. “ So, do you know the ninth lords daughter, what’s her name?”

His father was stalling, and Aadin had a sinking suspicion that he knew where this conversation was going and why none of his half-siblings were there. “Do you mean Fera?”

“Yes, that one.” His father said beaming as if he had just solved some complex riddle. “Do you know how she’s been doing lately?”

“No, I try to avoid her at all costs. Father, what is it that you are trying to tell me? And no more round about questions either.” He added the last part when his father began to open his mouth, only to snap back shut.

“I have no idea what you mean.” His father said with a slight twinkle in his eye, knowing that the game was now beginning.

Aadin had to hold in a grown when he saw the twinkle that had entered his father’s eyes, he could have kicked himself. He should have just gone along with the first set of questions, but now there were bound to be more, since his father loved to play these kinds of round about question games.

It wasn’t until he saw that his father’s other wives grimaces that he realized that this game might not be so bad to play for once if it caused discomfort to the women. He quickly glanced at his aunts and saw the slight smiles that graced their lips, meaning that they were having fun and didn’t mind. As long as they were fine with it, then he really wouldn’t hold back in this game against his father.

“Alright. I don’t know how she’s been lately, father, would you care to enlighten me?” Aadin asked as he crossed his arms on the table and leaned onto them with a barely suppressed smirk.

“Well, since you don’t seem to care about those who are in positions similar to your own, I guess I shall have to enlighten you.”

“Oh, please do father.” Aadin nearly snickered at the slight groans that some of the other women let out. They all knew that these games could take a long time to finish, especially when both the father and son decided to play it seriously, which is what they intended to do.

“She has gotten to that age were she has begun to think about her future and the future of her clan.” His father stated as if it should be the most common knowledge.

“Really, I thought she had been at the age. How old is she?”

“Well, son, it’s never polite to ask a woman her age.” His father said in mock repromand.

“But father, that is why I am asking you. Unless there’s something that you’re not telling me?” Aadin raised a brow at his father.

“I’m sorry to tell you this son, but I am one hundred percent male, so there is no way that I am not your father. Now, back to the question at hand. I do believe that she is eighty or some odd years older than you, which would make her about five hundred or so.”

“I see. Well, I’m just in my four hundreds and I’ve already been thinking about my future and the future of the clan, so does that mean that I have matured faster than she has?”

“Hmm, you just might have.” His father said as he scratched his beard as if in deep contemplation of the question, trying his hardest to hide the smile that was trying to break out across his face. “But, that’s not the point.”

“What is the point, father?” Aadin let his eyes quickly glance at the various women seated around the table and saw most of them relax slightly, thinking the game was over.

“The point is that she is the ninth lords eldest daughter and she is finally thinking about her future.”

“What does that have to do with our family meeting?” This was the part that Aadin feared the most, and prayed that the next words out of his father’s mouth wouldn’t be the ones he knew they were.

“It pertains to our family meeting because she wants to get married.” His father said, all seriousness.

“Who does she want to marry?” Aadin felt himself holding his breath, and tried to breath, while also trying to relax his ever tightening muscles.

“She wants to marry into our family.” His father said as he sent a glare around the table at his many wives who were sighing and trying to act as if they wished to be anywhere but there.

“Don’t you think you have enough wives, father?” Aadin asked with a strained smile.

“I do, and she wants to marry you.” His father stated while staring at Aadin’s face, looking for any sign that would show his son’s emotions. Seeing none, he eased up a bit, thanking the fact that his son was smart enough to keep his emotions in check.

“And if I say no?” Aadin asked as he unfolded his arms and leaned back in his chair, placing an air of loftiness about himself.

“You don’t have a choice.” His father said with a sad look upon his face. “I have already agreed to it. All we need is Lucifer’s ok and the two of you will be wed by the end of the human year.”

“When did you agree to this?”

“Yesterday.”

“I see.” Aadin grew quiet and seemed to be sitting there contemplating. He looked up at his father and stared at him silently for a few moments before he blinked and, placing his fake smile back on, asked, “May I please be excused?”

“Of course.” His father said, a little bit shocked that his son hadn’t blown up the dining area. This was bad, and as he watched his son walk away he looked worriedly at the two women that sat on either side of him. Both women silently placed a reassuring hand upon his arm and gave him a soft smile, showing him once again that there were related and reminding him of his dead first wife. Sighing to himself he said, “I hope nothing bad happens.” Before he rose from the table and dismissed his wives, walking back to his own chambers to ponder his son’s reaction.