High Silhouette Lords, Veil Lords, and Dusk Marshals all knelt simultaneously, as their bounds followed in submission. The sound of countless knees meeting stone echoed briefly, then vanished into silence.
Only the Queen reacted a fraction too late, not knowing how to react but followed the accord of the people as they were seeing. Their gaze lingered on the Black Sovereign, and on the First Child as she was still trying to understand her sudden memories and new environment.
Then, following the movement of others, she knelt as well, but her bound was a tad bit late, she searched through her memory on how to do it and then controlled bound to speed up.
--
The Black Sovereign remained internally satisfied, a result shaped by his restraint, and a willingness to act where hesitation would have doomed the kingdom.
For many lustres he had attempted to father the First Child through the Queen and his five concubines, each woman chosen for their talent, and compatibility.
They were the finest the Nocthe Kingdom could offer, women whose Divides were stable, whose bounds were disciplined, and whose bearers carried strength among the top, yet every attempt had ended in failure.
No lineage cocoon responded, and no calamity followed, only the quiet disappointment of inevitability. His brother Vilad Eidolon, however, had succeeded without intending to, and that irony sat heavily within his awareness, however he had accepted that success anywhere within the bloodline still mattered.
~~
The memory started to unfold as it had only a veil before the convergence meeting, when the Black Sovereign had been engaged in the mating ritual with the Queen within the inner chambers.
As the act continued, their two shadows merged briefly, a sensation familiar to him, carrying the dull echo of obligation rather than any spark of emotion.
Even in that moment, his thoughts drifted toward the other concubines, calculating probability of who could birth the First child with detachment, already preparing to move on once the deed concluded.
Then he felt it, faint at first, like pressure forming at the edge of his perception, something slow, and impossibly heavy taking shape far above the palace.
He had sensed calamity cocoons before, many times after the Void War, but this sensation was different, and unmistakably aligned with lineage rather than destruction. A black lineage cocoon was forming, and though he had never seen one directly, his instincts recognized its significance instantly.
Without interrupting the act, he formed his bound immediately, needing clarity beyond mere sensation, needing sight rather than intuition to confirm what he already suspected. Through his bound's eyes, he observed his brother Vilad leap from the estate below, ascending to the tallest tower with urgency that mirrored his own recognition to the event.
The realization struck then, as memory aligned with present awareness, and he recalled that Vilad's wife, Vestera Eidolon, was due to give birth.
In that instant, the Black Sovereign understood the truth... without denial, accepting it as one accepts an unavoidable conclusion. His brother had fathered the Child of the First Black through circumstance.
He stopped the act immediately, stepping away from the Queen without explanation, his shadow already out of the chambers as his bound dissolved once more. There was no anger or no jealousy in him, only the weight of calculation shifting rapidly as the implications that would unfolded across political, religious, and military frameworks.
His bound dressed quickly and departed the chambers, moving through the palace with purpose, every guard and attendant flattening their shadows and bounds instinctively as he passed.
When he reached Vilad's estate, he slowed, arriving at the doorway as he overheard.
"You shall be called Kael Eidolon, and I will be the Black Sovereign that would take over my brother and you will be the reason for my ascendance.," Vilad's bound declared from inside with emotion.
Those words struck the Black Sovereign deeper than any thing could have, not because of the claim itself, but because of the timing and vulnerability it revealed.
The Black Sovereign did not enter immediately, instead waiting several quints, allowing the moment to settle. Then he tapped upon the door, the sound soft yet impossible to ignore.
The door opened instantly, and Vilad knelt without hesitation, his bearer lowering as his bound followed, both acknowledging each other's presence before the Vilad's bound spoke.
"His Lordship," Vilad's bound said, voice steady despite the significance of what had just transpired.
"Stand up," the Black Sovereign's bound replied calmly. "Our Nocthe Kingdom has finally given birth to the First Child," the bound continued, neither congratulatory nor accusatory, simply stating fact.
Vilad's bound responded without pride, "I am proud to be the father of the First Child."
The Black Sovereign regarded him silently, each bearer observed the other, before his bound spoke again with curiosity.
"What have you named him," the Black Sovereign's bound asked.
"Kael Eidolon," Vilad's bound answered, the name spoken with reverence.
The Black Sovereign inclined his head slightly, acknowledging the choice as appropriate, even inevitable.
"A name, befitting one of the Four Heroes, balanced between delicate grace and formidable spirit," his bound said.
As he turned to leave, the Black Sovereign spoke without ceremony, "Prepare for tomorrow's gathering, Regent Vilad Eidolon, and bring your hollow black child as the father of the First Child."
"Yes, your Lordship," Vilad's bound replied, as he acted obedience unquestioned. "Soon, very soon."
As the Sovereign departed, his thoughts moved rapidly weighing risk against necessity with ruthless intent. The Bloodfallen Kingdom had already produced the First Red, and had also recovered from the Void War faster than expected, and had begun consolidating strength aggressively.
A civil unrest within Nocthe now, especially one centered around succession and lineage, would be catastrophic, fracturing alliances and exposing weakness.
Vilad was among the five strongest assets the kingdom possessed, a pillar of military and political stability, and losing him would cripple Nocthe irreparably.
--
A/N: The Black Sovereign could not lose his brother, Vilad. Nor, could he allow a civil unrest.