"Calm down and stop fighting me; I will not harm you," Zeus said, undisturbed.

She caved, growing still, and the flow reversed, his power running into her veins an uncomfortable thing.

The door opened, and two armed guards charged inside, pointing guns at him.

"It is alright; he isn't hurting me," she managed. Would she believe her words in their shoes? "Leave!" she commanded, and as she expected, they obeyed.

"You do realize Thane will arrive here soon? And he might not be happy about me 'hurting' his favorite daughter."

"I am not his favorite daughter."

"But you are. Akira was, but you crawled right into that frozen heart and curled up in there, bringing a tiny part of it to life."

She didn't like the idea of having usurped Akira's rightful place in their father's eyes.

"It is only natural, Kay. All of us were his favorite at some point, and then another would be born, and soon enough, we'd find ourselves subtly replaced. It is nature's way of ensuring that we care for the young and they survive. Ask any mother; the youngest is their favorite. They may lie about it, but it is the truth. And the eldest they hold to the highest standard. That is why I am still here, even though we've made peace. That and the council's fear."

"Who is this council, and why did I only hear of it recently?"

"It comprises several of Thane's peers. He is the king, but to keep things fair, the council decides and votes on things before bringing them to his attention. Although he has the final say, they influence his decisions. They are his trusted advisors and his way of keeping his finger on the pulse of his kingdom. The council has been around since before my birth."

"My mother says that there are only about fifty thousand of us," she said, distracting herself from the searing pain of the transfer.

"Back when Father used to confide in her, yes, there were a few of us. At Azera's last count, it was closer to two hundred thousand. Not counting the millions of seedlings that are above eighty percent compatible. They get the best results for transformation and the most success in the high eighty percent area. Did you know you were ninety-six percent compatible? The highest percentage of any seedling ever?"

"Why did so many of the others die in my batch?" she asked.

"Because you were never part of the batch. Your parents created you the old-fashioned way, and no one messed with your DNA until your transformation. Those others were below the threshold. They were never candidates, but Azera faked the results to ensure Thane had no more offspring. Unfortunately, she didn't learn of your inclusion until it was too late."

"If she didn't know about my inclusion, how did she know all those things about me?" she asked.

"She knew about you from before the beginning, just not that he'd actually change you. Because of what happened with your mother and Father, she believed he would not risk your death. She was mistaken, and that bothered her. It is why she didn't trust you from the very beginning."

"Then why did she want me? Just to convince me of her madness and have my play spy without my knowledge?" she asked, and he finally let go of her hand.

"She wanted you for the same reason she wanted Akira. Azera had no way to take out her hurt and betrayal on Thane, so she settled for the next best thing."

"Is that why she kept you all and never killed you?" she asked.

Dizzy, she went to her bed and sat on it with her knees under her chin.

"Yes. What I didn't get was why she spent so much time trying to make us like her at first. Why did she do so much to make Father look like the bad guy?"

"Perhaps she wanted you to love her more than him to prove she can be loved. But then you turned out just like him and cast her aside."

The words made Zeus stare at her for a long time. He turned from the bars and sat down on his bed as well.

"Are you telling me this was all because she thought Father didn't love her because of what happened to her? Did she not know how much he cared and how hard he tried to make her forget about the past? How did she not understand he moved heaven and earth to get her back once he realized what had happened? That none of it mattered, he was just so happy when she returned?"

"Perhaps the king who owned her broke her mind so deeply that it left her unable to even trust her own feelings. How would she love or trust herself and, thus, anyone else? Minerva adored her, and she treated her like a servant ."

"Who?"

"Minerva, her daughter. Turning her didn't work, and Azera just wrote her off but kept her around."

"Strangely, Azera's DNA never provided a successful binding. Not even with a surrogate. She tried hundreds of times. The babies rarely lived and never survived the turning despite high compatibility rates. It drove her nuts."

"Did she envy Thane for having so many children when she had none, and when she finally manufactured one, it was defective in her eyes? Or perhaps she thought he did not love her enough to keep her because she could not give him a child? How many of you were born naturally, without a surrogate or seedling?"

"You, Akira, Artemis, Hera, Cloe, and me. The rest were all born from surrogates or seedlings."

This was not a conversation she planned on having with Zeus, nor had she imagined him reaching out or helping her. Where was the angry man she met before? She had not expected him to change so drastically after so many years of living with such deep and intense hatred. Maybe, like with Azera, it was mostly hurt.

"I was born of a seedling," she reminded.

"But your DNA never ended up in a test tube before being entered into your mother. Eve is one of the purest seedlings in a thousand years. The council marked her for turning, but Father fell in love and allowed her a choice that he offered no other. That must have burned Azera to the core."

"The guards said you two were killing each other. I rush down here only to find you gossiping like a couple of old biddies," Thane said from the door, which the guards had not entirely shut behind them.

Something about him told her he heard most of their conversation. Whether from the monitoring station or listening at the door, she had no idea. She had been too off her game to pay attention to her surroundings.

"Once upon a time, I got boxed on the ear for listening in on a conversation," Zeus said, his manner only slightly stiffer than it had been a moment ago.

"When you discuss my business, it is my business," Thane said, walking into the room and coming to a standstill outside her cell.

"Do you feel better now?" he asked, and she nodded. "I wish I could let you out of here, but then I would need to release Zeus as well, and the council will not budge on that front. Our kingdom is too unstable to rock the boat just now."

"I expected you to scold me for doing something stupid?" she asked, and a grimace touched his lips.

"If Eve was lying on that pavement, I would do the same thing, except her killer would not be alive. Yes, I was mad, but not at you, at the circumstances. After everything we did to save you, here you are, back behind bars. Why are you taking it so well? I heard what happened when you visited your old cell."

"Knowing that no harm will come to me, and this wasn't your choice makes it bearable. But I can't guarantee that prolonged exposure might not bring back all my old insecurities. For Marcus, I'd spend the rest of my life in here." The truth of her words caused a frown to furrow her brow. 

"You can gift her to Akira. She will be a dark fae, but they will not care so much about a little indiscretion. She won't be welcome here, but perhaps in six or seven months, you can bring the matter before the council, remind them what she did for us and get her a pardon. Then she can decide where she feels most comfortable. Light and dark in our world is just a matter of degrees of acceptable behavior, choices, alliances, and the council's opinions," Zeus said.

The idea never occurred to her. A simple, elegant solution, but what would it mean? What consequences would there be for her? Did she care? 

Thane reluctantly nodded.

"Will that be acceptable?" he asked, and she almost gaped in surprise.

"If that means I don't need to be caged like an animal, then yes. But may I ask a question?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Perhaps, if what Zeus said is true, you can also gift him to Akira. She can keep him in the dungeon for a while and release him. But then he will probably never be welcome here."

"But then he can never be my heir again," Thane said, surprising both her and Zeus.

"I haven't been your heir in years, Father, and better candidates like Artemis, Hera, or Chloe exist."

"Don't you think he spent enough time behind bars, Father?" Kay asked, and he nodded.

"If it is what you want, son."

That word did something to Zeus, like a steel dome cracking open to reveal something beautiful living inside, but it didn't disappear completely.

"No, Father, I don't wish to be dark fae, we've been divided for far too long, but that word doesn't mean what it used to mean. The divides are still there, but they aren't a chasm anymore, and I would rather know I could see the sun again in a few months than live like this."

"And Akira could use the help, but I don't know if she should trust Zeus or if she will," Kay said, and he nodded.

"Although I hurt her, upon the debt I owe you for setting me free from my mental prison, I will never harm or undermine Akira as long as I live. My sister's enemies will be my enemies, her friends will be my friends, and her allies will be mine. What I did earlier, I did because you are my sister, not because I wanted you to feel you owe me or tried to manipulate you. If you leave me here, I will be fine. Over the years, I did this family and my father's house enough harm that I deserve never to see the sun again. Those were choices I made, knowing the consequences full well."

"But you made those choices based on lies you believed were truths, and you owe me nothing. That debt has been repaid," Kay said, hugging her knees. She still couldn't believe this was the same man, and a tiny part of her didn't trust it. The bit of her that Azera had warped. 

"No, it has not nearly been repaid. Does she always defend everyone?" Zeus asked, and her father shrugged his wide shoulders, sitting on the metal bench.

"Yes, pretty much. She even defends me and gets it from her mother. Akira calls it a hero complex."

"I am a decent person," she said with a lopsided grin, but it faded almost instantly. 

"Too decent, if you ask me," Thane muttered.

"Is that why our people locked me away, fearing I'll fly off the handle?" Kay asked with a raised brow, and despite the practicality of it, it hurt more than expected. 

"Even I feared you might not be the same after accessing all that power."

Could she blame him for that? Not really. 

"Father, I possess no interest in such things." 

"And having it did nothing to you?" Thane asked.

"No. It was scary, and there was something evil to taking what wasn't mine, even if intended for good. Giving me to Akira is the right choice. What I did says that I'm not light fae material, and forgiving it and allowing my presence would set a precedent that would blur the lines of what we're trying to create." Even the memory made her shudder, reminding her too much of Azera. 

"Now, that one is worthy of being your heir, Father. But unfortunately, Kay loves the way we all do; deeply, intensely, and without boundaries. There's only one problem—if she becomes a dark fae, there will be no marrying Marcus."

That got her attention. Not again. She'd not be separated from him. 

"That I will deal with that when all of this blows over. I will discuss these suggestions with the council and let you know the results."

"Should it not count for something that I suffered under Azera's hand for years as an innocent in all this?" she asked, and he paused at the door. 

"It should," Zeus said. 

"That I cannot guarantee," Thane said, leaving them alone. 

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