Loving Madness

26. Powers

Black Summer- Red Hot Chili Peppers

To his credit, Sebastian does make an effort to get along with Kurt. Kurt makes the effort as well, but some people are just not meant to get along. They weren't jealous of each other being with me, but that still doesn't mean they like each other. Every once in a while, Sebastian still slips up and growls possessively in Kurt's direction. We've taken to all sleeping in the same bed, with me in the middle of course. There's an uneasy alliance happening at the moment. Kurt can't stand Sebastian, mostly due to the fact that he tried to kill me and he doesn't trust him. Sebastian can't stand Kurt because he's a 'goodie two-shoes who only knows how to kiss ass.'

We continue to live in bliss over the next few weeks. Everything is almost perfect. I began to learn more about my duties as the queen and was being prepped to meet my first group of people. My main duty as Queen was to keep the peace between the different groups. Having a queen was so important because each of the races had representation. Apparently, my arrival could not have come soon enough because there was trouble stirring between the witches and vampires. The territory had become a problem.

Vampires were, well vampires. They took human lives and there was nothing that could be done about it. It was just the way it was. Witches were all about being at one with nature and living in peace. Killing living things went against everything they stood for. I made the point that the Werewolves sometimes, accidentally, took human lives and that they hunted animals consistently, but was shot down. There was a difference between willingly taking a life when there were alternatives and becoming a literal animal. To the Witches, Werewolves were the natural order, animals hunting animals. Animals also killed humans all the time, because they didn't know any better. Vampires, on the other hand, could survive off of blood bags, and to their credit, most of the time they did. Just to avoid discovery. But it never satisfied them and occasionally they took a human life.

Both sides of the argument made sense to me. Vampires were going to do what vampires do and drink blood. Witches were upset at the loss of a living being that wasn't part of nature's cycle. I had to find a solution that worked for everyone. Ideally, the vampires agreeing to not hunt in their territory would be best. However, having separate territories was a great way to start an all-out war. The first group of my people I would be meeting were the Witches. I would meet with the masses first and then their Great Coven Leaders. I began to learn all about their customs and history as I wanted to be as respectful as possible of their traditions. I also began learning about the Queens that came before me. I was shocked to learn that the Queen's mates always included one woman. When I asked Kurt about this, he didn't know if there was any reason for this but his theory was that it balanced out the relationship between all of us.

One thing I was given access to was the previous Queen's diaries. Along with all of their mate's diaries. Reading through them really opened my eyes to a lot of things. The first thing I learned was that each mate was only ever interested in the Queen. Separately they were not connected to one another. That made me feel a lot better because the thought of anyone else's hands on Kurt or Sebastian sent a murderous rage throughout my body. The first time I considered this, he came bursting through the door of our room in search of whatever or whoever was pissing me off to this extent.

I assured him I was fine and explained what had set me off. I can assure you that each of us will only ever have eyes for you my love. He said this with such sincerity and loyalty. My heart once again swelled with pride that this amazing man was all mine, for all of eternity.

"Thank you for reassuring me, my cub," I tell him. I hardly speak out loud to him anymore, as it is easier and more private to speak in our minds. The exception to that was when I praised him or was expressing my feelings towards him. I wanted him to know that he was worth everything to me. He knew how uncomfortable it made me to speak my feelings out loud and promised me it wouldn't bother him if I said these things in my mind. I knew he was telling the truth, but I also felt the thrill it gave him to hear me speak out loud.

Sebastian was always quiet. He lurked in the background and made it abundantly clear that he wanted no part of my duties as Queen. He often woke me up in the middle of the night to have adventures around the castle or to have sex in a new room. I wanted him to open up, but I had to give him time. The biggest step we had taken was him letting me know where he was. This might not seem like a big deal, but it was. He left little gifts around the castle for me. A rose, a collar, a stuffed animal. He was just a big softie who wanted to be by himself most of the time.

The second thing I learned from these diaries was how far back the dislike between the Witches and the Vampires went. In every journal, there was some mention of it. It was always a different issue, but always the same core. The fact that vampires were not natural and took a human life. I also noticed that the while the Vampires didn't particularly like the Witches, they didn't really care about them either. Then again, Vampires didn't particularly like anyone outside of themselves.

During this time, I also began working on discovering my powers. I was basically a walking lie detector. No one could lie to me at all. That was going to be useful. The venom was also there, but only really worked in close quarters and I didn't think a fight would ever get that close. I worked with one of our strongest warriors to learn to focus the bursts of my powers, to aim and not fry everything within a 10-foot radius. I learned to shield other people from attacks along with myself. One power stood out among the rest, I could get glimpses into the future as well as the past. Apparently, this power had been lost thousands of years ago and there were very few people on this earth that knew anything about it. A search was underway to find these people. I was fast and strong too. Not nearly as fast as Sebastian though, who was quickly proving to be the fastest of all of us. I could lift thousands of pounds without breaking a sweat and run hundreds of miles in seconds. Lastly, I found out that I could communicate with animals. I had always been an animal lover and wished I could know what they were thinking. I quickly found out.

It all started with a run through the woods with Kurt. I kept hearing crying, almost echoing, like in a dream. Kurt was hearing it through my mind and was utterly stumped. I decided to follow the noise to see what it was and it led straight to a mountain lion cub. She was weeping over the body of her mother who seemed to have died during birth. She didn't sense our presence until we were right upon her. My sixth sense kicked in and told me to soothe her.

"Hey there, little girl. It's okay honey, I'm not going to hurt you." She stopped for a second as if stunned that she could understand me. She didn't trust me and was devastated at the loss of her mother. She was also extremely malnourished and on the brink of death. "Please let me help you. You will be free to leave me home at any time you would like, but please don't die out here."

She hesitated and then began speaking to me in a shaky and strained voice. Kurt could only understand her through my thoughts.

"My mom, she died. I don't know why. She just went to sleep and never woke up. I don't have any food and I'm so hungry. The one thing she told me before she left was to never trust humans." She was terrified of me, just as her mother had been. I was getting flashes of her mother's meetings with humans and was mourning for her.

"Well, lucky for you, I'm not a human. So come here and let's go get you something to eat." I say to her softly. She looks confused for a moment but doesn't have any fight left. She knew for sure that she would die if she stayed out here. She hobbled over to me and I lifted her into my arms wrapping my shawl around her and snuggling her close. And she stayed with me. I had a feeling she was the first of many animals that would reside with me, but thankfully I had more than enough room.

The time finally came to meet with the Witches. It was a sure thing that I would meet my next mate tomorrow and I was nervous. I knew what to expect from the public and from the council, but I was completely new to polyamory and was terrified of how it would affect my current relationships. I didn't sleep well that night and Kurt assured me that everything would be okay. I wasn't so sure about that and tossed and turned into the early morning hours until Sebastian finally got irritated at my restlessness and took me to the kitchen to rearrange my guts.