Chapter 255 Aadya

"Aella, are you alright?" asked Frederik, standing close and watching her carefully.

"Frederik, I realized something," she said, looking down at the baby that was rooting against her shirt. The fabric disappeared and she latched on greedily.

"What's that?" he asked, obviously not sure how to respond.

"I served a sentence in that prison of a pit. But it wasn't a life sentence. I fought so heard against having this child, but if I leave, I'll be no better than my father who left me. My mother left, but because she had to. My father didn't have to. She deserves to know me as a mother. Not as the King of the Realm."

"You know, there's a lot of people afraid of you because of how powerful you are," said Frederik. "Some even call you a monster."

"Am I a monster?" she asked, looking up at him.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I love you," he said with a small smile.

"Out of all the people I've come across in the entire realm, I chose you," she said softly.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I liked those wings," she laughed, motioning towards his wings.

"Oh? Is that why you were kissing them?" he asked with a wide grin.

"I am under no obligation to make sense to you," she said, looking away from him.

He laughed, startling the baby who scrunched up her nose to start crying, but hunger won out and she quickly latched back on.

"She needs a name," said Aella, looking down at the child she barely knew.

"How about Aadya?" asked Frederik. "That was the name of my mother. She was incredibly strong until she died when I was young."

"How did she die?" asked Aella, curiously. She didn't know anything of his family.

"My father killed her. He had come home, drunk and in a rage, determined to kill me because he didn't think I was his. My mother refused to move from in front of me, the entire time he beat her to death. She even got in a couple of good hits, before he left in disgust. She died in my lap, telling me to grow up strong and to stay away from my father."

"That's horrible!" exclaimed Aella, scowling. "What happened to your father?"

"He was caught in a brawl in the streets between two other guys in the military, and ended up getting knocked into the river. He couldn't swim and was too drunk to climb out of the water. They came to get me the next morning to take to the pits instead of the orphanage."

Aella didn't say anything. She wasn't sure if he needed consoling for the death of his father or not. He got what he deserved, in her opinion, drowning in the river.

"But you know what?" asked Frederik. "I'm glad I was taken to the pits."

"Why?" she asked, horrified.

"Because I got to meet you," he said with a smile. "I'm now king of the demons, husband to the king of the realm, and father to an amazing daughter. I don't think I would have gotten all of this if I had lived at the orphanage."

"You're probably right, but I hate that you are," sighed Aella.

"You got rid of the pits. The fighting bit that is going on now if between adults, not kids, and they get the option to not participate if they don't want to. Firion did a wonderful job with that."

"He is very talented; I'll give you that. I wonder, sometimes, if he was a plant though."

"Oh, he totally was. He didn't join us in the pits until a year or so before the pit fights. He was way better than the rest of us at fighting, and I'm pretty sure he isn't an orphan."

"He told me once that his father was a noble, but he wouldn't tell me which one."

"He told me that his father was dead, and that's why he was sent to the pits. It could be that his father had him sent there when he died."

Aella nodded thoughtfully. "I'm going to go check on Firion. She's filled her stomach and is sleeping. I won't be gone long."

Frederik took the sleeping baby and Aella paused before teleporting away.

"I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time," she said.

"It's alright," he chuckled, setting the baby down gently on his bed. "I knew you would come to your senses."

"Did you?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Of course. You may have needed some time, but I knew you would come back to me. You always do."

"You are fantastic, you know that?" she sighed with a smile.

"I know," he responded with a smile. "You are too," he added, but she had already teleported away.

Aella looked around for Firion, thinking she had just seen him, but he was no where in sight among the throng of people conducting business. Lights blazed all over the town, keeping it lit enough for people to see despite the late hour. As she floated above the crowds, it made sense that it would be busy at all hours, since it was day and night in different parts of the realm.

"Aella," said Firion, waving at her from a nearby rooftop. "You were looking for me?"

"I was," she nodded, settling onto the rooftop. "I was wanting to ask you some questions about your past."

He nodded, then turned and said over his shoulder, "I'm late for supper, perhaps you would be willing to join us? My wife shouldn't mind too much."

"I don't mind walking with you, but you know I don't need to eat, right?" she asked, falling in step next to him as he walked across the rooftop.

"She doesn't need to know that," he chuckled.

Aella nodded as he hopped over the edge of the roof and dropped to the alley below.

"You had mentioned you father was a noble once, but that he was dead?" she said, joining him in the alley.

"Ah, yes. I killed him when he informed me that I was going to the pits to kill you. Silly of me to think I could avoid going down there once he was dead. The bastard knew I was planning to kill him and had warned the guards to be prepared to grab me. He had everything already planned out, and despite my success in actually killing him, there was nothing I could do about the plans he had prepared."

"So, you were a plant!" she said, pounding one fist into the other.

"I suppose. I didn't think telling you that was such a good idea when you were having so many other problems. Besides, I had changed my mind about killing you."

"You seem much more laid back," said Aella, glancing at him, trying to see if he had any gray hair.

"Oh, I get plenty of fun torturing people who are breaking the laws of the town, so I can hide my tendencies better," he said, giving a woman a smile as she waved at him. "These people have no idea what I am capable of, and I prefer that."

"What laws might those be?" asked Aella with a frown. She didn't want people being tortured if it wasn't called for.

"Murderers, rapists, kidnappers, and in some cases thieves. I have a very complex system of determining what kind of punishment they get for the crimes they commit."

Aella nodded, realizing she should have known that he wasn't just going for common thieves. They would have been too boring for him.

"My wife loves when I bring people over," he said, pausing to let a child and his mother go through the portal to the turtle city before leading Aella through it.

She looked around curiously as they stepped away from the portal, on the turtle's side. In her mind it had only been the other day when the city was built, but in actuality, it had been almost a year. The city was currently underwater, and the bubble the kids had erected around the city was glowing faintly. Fish and the giant otters could be seen through the bubble, and many people were lounging on benches and seats watching them.

"We moved over here as soon as we could, because my wife just loves it when the turtle dives. She loves watching the sea creatures through the bubble and takes our daughter to the park almost daily in order to watch."

"How is your daughter?" asked Aella, trying to remember how old the girl would be by now.

"She's doing really well. She understands the importance of keeping my lessons secret from her mother, because she loves the attention she gets from all of my assassins."

"Does your wife know about the assassins?" asked Aella, curious to see if the demoness was alright with them. The last she had known she had not liked them at all.

"She understands that I have many special forces under my control and leaves it at that. She has a rule that they don't get involved with our daughter, which just means the difficulty is upped in keeping her in the dark."

Aella nodded and paused to look up at the tallest building in the city.

"We live in the very top suite."