100 Chickens Coming Home to Roost

It was two in the afternoon, a full hour after Cedric had returned to his office from his long leisure lunch with his wife.

To the chagrin of his various advisors, King Cedric had taken a quick break at breakfast and then a long break for lunch just because he missed his wife.

Unfortunately, work did not pause and work did not take long breaks. Work had accumulated and was waiting for him on the royal table in several precarious leaning piles of documents to look over and approve or reject.

He was neck deep in plowing through the documents with one of his advisors when his personal attendant Hubert Renfrey entered the office, looking a bit perturbed.

Cedric glanced up from his documents. Here was a man he had not seen in quite some time.

"Hubert. What's the rush."

"Your Majesty. We got word that the monarch of Betaluse, King Jero wants to make a formal visit."

"What does he want?" Cedric pushed a tall stack of finished documents over to one of his advisors.

"Your Majesty, he has sent a note." Hubert bowed. "Permit me to read it to you."

"Read." Cedric commanded.

Hubert looked down at the letter written on official parchment with the seal of the King of Betaluse.

"This is addressed to Your Majesty, the King of Faria, Cedric Blaxtone."

He cleared his throat.

"Greetings to the new King of Faria. Permit me to introduce myself. I am King Jero of Betaluse."

"King Jero of Betaluse." Cedric frowned for a moment and then nodded with recollection. "That's right. He is one of the neighboring Kings that I have not yet had the chance to meet."

Hubert gave a nod and continued reading.

"I understand that my daughter, Talia Belladonna has entered your harem and is now one of your consorts."

"Preposterous!" Cedric shouted. "She is no mere consort! She is my ONLY wife, the Queen of Faria!"

"Yes—yes Sir."

"Wait a moment. He said Talia is his daughter?"

"Yes Sir."

"How is that possible?" Cedric narrowed his gaze.

Hubert wisely kept silent. The fact that Talia had found King Cedric in New Orleans could only mean one of two things.

It was either a deliberate attempt by the Princess of Betaluse to seek out the Grand Duke Cedric Blaxtone, or it was inescapable fate working between the two of them.

It didn't matter to Hubert either way.

He was a man of deep faith and convictions in regards to the sanctity of marriage and childbirth. There was no doubt in Hubert's mind that it was all prearranged on a higher order.

To Hubert, the decisive hand of fate was responsible for Cedric and Talia to be together. No amount of transiting from one plane of existence to another could change what had been preordained by the Universal Source.

"So Talia is a Princess? Why did she not tell me all this time?"

Again, Hubert said nothing.

Cedric scowled, turning to one of his attendants with impatience.

"I need to speak with the High Seer Sibyl Belladonna immediately." He threw the command at one of his attendants standing nearby.

"Yes Sir." The advisor ran off to do his bidding.

Hubert was still standing there.

Cedric turned back to his personal attendant.

"Is there anything else?"

"Sir, permit me to read the remainder of the letter."

Cedric sighed.

He was not normally this distracted that he lost track of what went on. This was not the battleground. This was the Office of the Throne.

It was just that it had been such a tumultuous few days whereby he had just found out that not only his wife was the High Seer's daughter, he was also going to be a father.

As if all that wasn't enough, this was happening right on the heels of such a major life changing event for him. Nevertheless, he needed to control his emotions a bit more and not take it out on poor Hubert.

"Please proceed." Cedric gave a benign gesture.

Hubert took a deep breath and continued reading where he had left off.

"In light of the fact that we have not yet had an official meeting, I would like to propose that we set aside a mutually convenient time and place that we can convene in a formalized setting."

Hubert glanced up at Cedric. He still had a furrow in between his eyes.

Obviously, he was still thinking about the fact that Talia was someone whose family he knew nothing about but was starting to realize just how deeply connected she was to Faria.

Hubert continued reading.

"I would also request that at that time, my daughter Talia Belladonna and my son Tarot Belladonna be present."

Cedric narrowed his eyes. This was an unusual request, considering it was supposedly a stately visit. Still, it was benign enough for Cedric to consider.

Hubert paused. "Sir. The letter ends with a request for an agreed-upon time whereby the King of Betaluse may come for a state visit."

Cedric scratched his jaw. Before he sent out that official invitation, he needed to speak with Sibyl Belladonna.

"Hubert, go dig up whatever information you can on King Jero, the High Seer Sibyl Belladonna, and their son Tarot Belladonna."

"Yes Sir." Hubert bowed and left the Office of the Throne room.

Cedric returned to his work with a troubled mind. There was much that he needed to uncover about his wife, and it was all starting to look more and more complicated.

It did not take long for his new Mother-in-law to arrive.

The High Seer Sibyl Belladonna stood at the entrance of the Office of the Throne, dressed in a deep blue High Seer gown, with her black hair hanging in long loose waves around her.

Cedric looked up, his heart skipping a beat.

Sibyl's eyes were the exact shade of brilliant blue as his beloved's eyes were. Her face and demeanor were so similar to Talia's that Cedric could clearly see the startling resemblance between mother and daughter.

"I received word that you wanted to speak with me immediately." Sibyl smiled with bland interest even though her insides were churning. "This sounds serious."

"It is." Cedric waved a hand, sending all his advisors and attendants out of the room.

"Please have a seat." He indicated at the seat in front of his table.

The High Seer came towards him in unhurried steps and sank down onto the cushioned chair that had been set out for her.

Cedric leveled a gaze at her. "I just received word that King Jero of Betaluse has requested a state visit with me. He insists that his son and daughter be present at the meeting."

Cedric leaned closer to Sibyl Belladonna.

"King Jero has one Queen and four Consorts. None of his wives are you, so therefore, you must be a long-time hidden lover."

"He also has four sons and two daughters. None of them are Talia and Tarot. This can only mean that my beloved wife is the illegitimate secret daughter of a neighboring king."

His eyes narrowed in thought.

"I don't normally care much what my subjects do with their personal lives and who they marry, but in this case, I need to know everything in regards to Talia and Tarot."

Sibyl sighed. Her chickens were coming home to roost.

"Where do I start?"

Cedric gave her a solemn gaze.

"Start from the beginning and how you and the King of Betaluse became entangled with each other for such a long time without anyone being the wiser."