Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

"Lady Adellia!" Mylene shouted. "Please hang in there. Breathe, breathe. Slowly. In. Out.

In. Out. Please remain calm." She held her charge's hand tightly in support. The midwife had several steaming buckets of water and clean towels beside her. She was positioned between the blonde woman's legs while Adellia screamed in pain.

"Mylene! I can't do this, I can't…" She begged. "Please…"

"Come on now! You have to push Oracle." The midwife growled.

Adellia's silver eyes flashed brightly, and she became silent for a second. They faded quickly, and she returned to shouting. Mylene noticed that the woman was motioning for her to come closer, so she leaned her ears closer to the oracle's mouth.

"I saw…the first…you must take the first child."

Mylene gulped and moved away from her lady's hands to where the midwife was and prepared to take the first infant when they were born. Several agonizing minutes passed as sweat began to bead on the maid's forehead.

Several thoughts passed through her mind: 'Can I do this, will the child survive, what if I fail…my life will be in danger…no…I will do this, I can do this. My lady requested to be told the child had died regardless of the outcome. She asked to never be told the truth so she can live in ignorance and hopefully let the child live a life safe from persecution for his origins.'

The midwife shouted for a wet towel. She held in her hands a small creature. It was a boy, and he was easily half the size of a normal newborn. Mylene quickly grabbed a towel and soaked it in warm, sterile water. She grabbed the baby from the midwife before any of the assistants could. The newborn had yet to make a sound, which worried the mother and the maid.

Mylene turned her back to the group and walked to the desk to keep the appearance that she was cleaning the child. She whispered, "[Umbra: paralysis], [Umbra: numb], [Umbra: Silence]"

Three motes of light appeared in Mylene's hand and floated into the infant's small chest. The spells took effect just as the baby opened its mouth to cry. Instead, its mouth was stuck open, and no sound came out. The chest rose so slightly that it appeared not to move at all.

Mylene continued to clean off the child. He was a boy, and on his hand was a mark. Mylene did not know a lot about marks, so she did not know what it was, but the child indeed had something on his hand different from his mother's. "My lady…I…am sorry. He did not make it," The maid stated, tears falling freely from her face.

"Does it have the Mark of Prophecy?" A guard asked coldly.

"No, he does not." Mylene glared at the man who spoke, who seemed to recoil under the pressure of her anger. She shifted her gaze onto her lady, who was screaming and sobbing. "Do you wish to name him before…"

"There is no need." The elderly man from before walked into the room. "The creature was to be executed for not bearing the Oracle's mark anyway. Dispose of the corpse, it is of no use to us."

Mylene glanced at Adellia and glanced back at the elderly man. "As you command, my lord."

The maid quickly left the room to 'dispose' of the body. She ran down the curved stairs that led down from the tower where the Oracle resided. She was eager to avoid coming into contact with other people, but she also needed to rush to her husband to try and cure the curses she placed on the boy's tiny body.

She could place the curses, but she could not remove them, and if she were to wait until they were dispelled on their own, the child might not survive.

Mylene quickly checked the child and noticed that, though faint, he still breathed. She rounded multiple corners as she ran past the palace gardens and quickly located one of the many servant tunnels. One such tunnel was right off the garden and was essentially abandoned. In fact, it was usually covered up by a bookcase for use in emergencies.

Thanks to her husband the bookcase was no longer in the way. He was also standing next to the tunnel entrance, waiting for his wife. Her husband was off duty today and was wearing his plainclothes. He quickly stepped forward and embraced his lover.

"Derrik please, quickly. Light magic." Mylene huffed, pushing her husband away momentarily.

"Right! Sorry. You just...never mind. [Lux: Cure], [Lux: Heal], [Lux: Enhance Vigor]." Three motes of bright light jumped from Derrik's palm and settled in the child's chest. A moment later, the child began to cry. Mylene cried some more and gave the infant a small kiss on the forehead.

"Please…take him to Rubellia and Martin. The boy is marked, but he deserves a chance at life. Please, my love." Mylene begged.

Derrik cradled the baby in his arms, wrapping him in a dry cloak to keep him warm. He then grabbed up a bag which contained bottles of goat's milk and slung it over his shoulder.

"Of course, love. Marked or not, he deserves a chance, just as you said." Derrik whispered gently to his wife, pecking her on the cheek. "I will return in a few days. Stay by Lady Adellia's side. She will need you more than ever."

Mylene nodded gratefully and watched her husband vanish down the tunnel. It had a path that led outside where he had a horse waiting for him to travel to the Petra domain. Mylene listened to the infant's cries slowly quiet and vanish, every second shattering her heart.

"Back to my lady, but first…"

The maid wiped her tears, grabbed a sack that her husband had left for her by the entryway to the room, and left to head towards the pig pens outside the castle. On the way she quickly wrapped the sack in the same towel she had the infant in before.

Normally nobility, let alone royalty, would never deign to allow such smelly animals to live so close to their residences. However, the King of Arcadios was obsessed with a rare species of pig from the beastman kingdom of Eroa after having visited once. Due to this, he imported a few breeding pairs from the kingdom for his personal consumption.

This time, Mylene made sure that people were able to see her rush towards the pig pens. When she finally arrived, she purposefully stepped into the muck and threw the sack and towel into the pen. Pigs were voracious eaters and would eat anything down to the bones, leaving nothing left.

"With this, the young boy will certainly be believed deceased." Mylene turned around to finally return to Adellia. She locked eyes momentarily with the herder in charge of the pigs. He quickly rushed off, likely to report his sightings to his superiors. Mylene was not worried because this would only help sell the story to her superiors.

When the maid finally returned to the top of the spire where Adellia lived, she saw something that once again tore at her heart. The beautiful woman was cradling a small child, with tears dripping upon the baby's face.

"Ah, maid, you have returned. I trust you have properly disposed of the failure." The same elderly man stated.

Mylene clenched and unclenched her fist opposite of his view. "Yes, my lord. I have disposed of the child in the royal pig pens."

"Ah yes, free sustenance for his majesty's prized pets." The man praised as he stroked his beard. "Well, the Oracle has given birth to a girl who also bears the Mark of Prophecy. So take care that you provide for the Oracle and help her raise the next generation."

He quickly left, taking with him the midwife, her assistants, and the guards. Left in the room was only Adellia, Mylene, and a crying baby girl.

"Her name is Lyrah…She has my eyes." Adellia whispered between sobs.

Mylene looked at the child. Her eyes did not open much, but she was able to see hints of silver. Lyrah had a full head of jet black hair.

"She's beautiful my lady…" Mylene whispered as she stepped forward and embraced Adellia, allowing her to cry into the maid's shoulders.

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