Marina

I was watching Declan and Elena as they played around in the kitchen. They were laughing and playing with frosting, it was really cute to watch. Then Declan suddenly got quiet, I could tell he was getting upset thinking about the past. He'd hated not having his sister to share his childhood with. The sound of his sad voice pulled me out of my thoughts, for a moment I just stood there listening. Until I realized what he was about to tell her, he was going to tell her the truth about everything. I couldn't let that happen, we still didn't know who was putting Elena and Liam in danger.

"What's going on in here? Oh, those smell so good!" I said, looking over at the freshly cooked desserts. 

I walked over, grabbed a cinnamon roll from the tray, and sat down at the bar to eat it. When Elena turned away from me I shot Declan an icy glare. He grimaced as if he was a child who'd just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"I took Liam to your room already, so he's with Alec. I hope that's okay, I didn't know you were down here," I said with a smile, after taking another bite of the sticky treat. When Elena hears that, her mood changes spontaneously. 

"Yeah that's fine, I'll just take some of these upstairs then. And I'll see you guys later," she said cheerily, adding a couple more rolls to her plate before rushing upstairs. I smiled softly as I watched her go, thinking of how great of a mother she was. I heard a throat being cleared then my glare returned as I faced Declan.

"G-Good morning mother," Declan said, trying to be nonchalant. 

I  continued glaring at him and even started tapping my fingernails on the counter. 

"I know you are mad at me at the moment but I just wanted her to know. I know what's at stake but I miss her," he said sadly. 

"Declan clearly you don't understand! We don't know who is trying to hurt her or why! I thought you were able to handle this, but it seems like you can't!" I yelled at him.

"But mother doesn't this bother you? Don't you want her to know that she's your daughter? Don't you want to have that mother daughter bond that you missed? Because hell, I do! I never got to protect her from bullies, or have scary talks with her boyfriends. I never got to be her big brother, I missed out on so many things that brothers are supposed to do. It really hurts that I didn't get the chance to do any of it!" He said, tears ran unchecked down his face. 

It was the first time he'd cried since finding out she was alive. He'd always been tough, trying to be a man through everything. Elena being kidnapped, his dad saying she was probably dead, and now having her come back into their lives. 

I took a deep breath and let it out, then I pushed away from the bar and stood up. I walked over to him and gently wrapped my arms around him, I held him as he cried for all the memories he could never have with his sister. 

When he finally calmed down, I looked straight into his eyes, " I understand all that, but what if it wasn't me who was eavesdropping? What if it was your father or Alec? You know that they would have been very cross with you," I said sternly.

"What if we did? What if we both agreed that it was time to tell her. Especially since I just marked her," Alec said, leaning against the wall. 

My husband walked across the kitchen to the coffee pot without making a sound. Liam was sitting on a chair waiting patiently for a cinnamon roll, too focused to pay attention to the conversation going on around him.

"Hi grandpa, grandma, and uncle!" Liam said, happily waving. We all stood frozen in shock.

"How did you know?" I said in wonder.

"I don't know. I had a dream, you and grandpa were there, and my uncle. Then a really pretty lady told me that y'all were my family. She told me her name was Selene and that she was the moon goddess," Liam said. 

Declan smiled and gave him half of a cinnamon roll. It was then that I realized Elena wasn't with them.

"Sweetie, I thought your mom was going upstairs to see you." I asked, a little confused. 

"She's getting ready for work. Now Liam, why would the moon goddess come to you? " Alec asked, going to the refrigerator. He grabbed the milk and poured a glass for Liam and himself.

"I really don't know daddy," he said, taking a drink from his glass.

Alec glanced at me to see if I had any insight but I just shook my head and shrugged. Their conversation ended when Elena stepped into the kitchen to tell Fredrick she was ready to head to work. 

When she saw everyone together she stopped in her tracks, "Umm, is everything ok guys?" She asked, confused.

"Elena are you going to be busy after work dear?" I asked her.

"Ummm yeah, actually Liam and I are going to meet Alec's family. Why?" 

"Oh, well I wanted to discuss some things with you. Whenever you get the time, but I prefer if we do it soon rather than later. If that's ok." I said, trying to make sure it sounded important but not suspiciously so. She nodded her head, then went to fill up a thermos with coffee. 

Elena kissed Liam's head before saying, "Be nice to Marina, okay?"

Liam opened his mouth to say something and I quickly but gently opened my mind to his, Don't say anything yet my dear, just nod your head if you understand.  Liam's eyes widened and he nodded his head excitedly. Do you think I can do that too grandma? I want to try!  I heard him ask me before I let go of his mind.

I sighed then smiled at Elena and Liam, "He'll be fine, and I'll try my best," I answered. They nodded and smiled at me and for a second I could see Elena in Liam. They were like twins and it made my heart twist in pain. Frederick came over and kissed my forehead before going to get the car. Elena said her goodbyes and followed him out. 

Later that day

Liam and I were playing with Play-Doh when I got a call from the Protectors.

"Hey sweetie, I have to take this call. Please stay right there, I'll be back soon," I told Liam, before answering my phone. I walked into the bathroom and closed the door. "Hello? Did you find anything?"

"No My Queen. I'm sorry, I haven't been able to find any leads to where Gianna is. But, I did try to warn your daughter that she shouldn't stay here," Martin said.

"Well keep looking, and I'm still quite disappointed you didn't tell me you knew where my daughter was," I said sternly.

"I know. I'm very ashamed of myself, but I swear I didn't know. Gianna intercepted my letters to you. I'm very sorry." 

"Yes about that, have you got the background info on Gianna? Is she who we suspected her to be?"

"Yes, I have the info, It's her," Martin said. 

I felt my anger rise. I took a deep breath and let it out. "Thank you. I'll be expecting all the info to be in my office within the hour." I said, in a clipped voice.

"Yes my queen, I'll bring over the file right away," Martin said, before I hung up on him. I came out of the bathroom and saw Alec was sitting next to Liam.

"Hello, Marina. I'm sorry for not helping you out with Liam today," Alec said with worry in his voice. 

I smiled and waved him off. "Oh hush now. He's my grandson, plus he's an amazing little boy," I said, playing with Liam's hair.

"Okay. Well, I have to go pick up Elena now. Let's get you ready Liam." Alec said, looking down at him.

"Wait. Before you guys go, when would be a good time to talk to Elena?" I asked Alec.

"Most likely, after dinner. Which shouldn't take but a couple of hours. Will that be okay for you?"

"Yeah that should be fine. I have some things I need to do anyway. Then I'll come back." 

Alec nodded his head and left with Liam. I finished up a few things and left shortly after them. When I got home, Martin was waiting for me by the front door with several other Protectors. I recognized one of them as the leader. I smiled and waved to them to follow me into the house. My husband and son were in the sitting room, they stopped talking upon our entrance, and their faces turned grim.  

The Protectors bowed, "My Majesty, and Highness shall we go to the office?" The leader asked. 

They nodded their heads and stood up. We followed them down the hallway to the main office. We held all of our important business here, conferences all over the world, and our big meetings. For that reason the room was sound proof. They waited for us to sit down before taking their seats. 

"We decided to come with Martin since this case is about the princess," the leader said, explaining why there were so many of them. "Okay, now you may speak and show the documents on the traitor Gianna," he said, gesturing towards one of the men. 

Martin stood up and came to our side of the table. He handed over the paperwork then went to the head of the table to speak to everyone.

"What I've found is that Gianna isn't just a traitor to our kind, she was also born into a group called the hunters. They are the ones who have been targeting your family for quite some time now. Usually they just do random missions, but this was different. We found out that she is –or might be– hiding from the leader of this group, who is actually her father. I've come to the conclusion that she is running away from them because she didn't kill the princess-" Martin was cut off by my painted gasp. 

The thought of someone trying to kill her was hard for me to bear, especially realising how close to death she may have been. I felt for Fredrick's hand under the table and held onto it dearly. His angry eyes met my grief filled ones for a brief second, then we both looked back to the head of the table. 

Martin cleared his throat, "May I continue your grace?" I nodded my head, not sure I could find my voice.

"As I was saying she failed the mission. She took the baby for herself and decided to raise it as if it was her own. When the stress of being a mother became too much for her, she started doing drugs. The drugs caused her to loose the princess to another family who didn't know anything about her background. That's all the information I have. But I feel like there's something big still going on. We need to protect the princess and her child," Martin said, he bowed before returning to the chair.

"I think that's something we can all agree on. They are up to something. Let's hope we find out what it is before they do anything else,'' Marina said. 
 

AN* I would really love some feedback, votes would be nice too but mostly comments. And tell your friends about it if you think it's their cup of tea too. :)