Niiya stopped eating. What Dmitri just told him was so out of character that he stared at him with an open mouth. For a few moments his brain had frozen. No thoughts drew up. He became speechless and then his brain registered a shock. He peplayed all that he heard from Dmitri and his muscles became weak. Keeping his fork down, he blinked his eyes and then asked Dmitri, “What do you mean? Which members rebelled?” 

“Quite a few,” came the answer. 

​​

Everyone else became extremely uncomfortable in his or her places. Why was Dmitri becoming so rude? An hour back they had together chased a bad spirit and Haldir had proposed to Inyanga. Everyone was in such a festive mood, then why was he dampening the air with his temper? 

Sensing awkwardness, Adrianna interjected, “Let us talk about it later, Dmitri.”

“No, I don’t have all the time in the world, Adri! I have a lot on my plate. This is the best time to speak up,” Dmitri countered. 

Adrianna bit her lip. She was the Queen of the Wizard Kingdom, but she was also his wife. Inside she was fuming with anger about his rude behavior but on the outside, she didn’t go against him. Moreover she knew why Dmitri insisted on bringing up the topic. With the Head position of the Council, he would know about every realm that existed there in the world. In her heart she knew that he was finding a place for him to hide from the dark powers until the child became powerful enough to stand up for himself. 

Dmitri shifted his gaze back to Niiya who was still registering the shock. “There were many members who had asked for your resignation from the Council. They want someone else to be the Head.” 

Niiya exhaled a long breath and looked away. He knew that he hadn’t been in the town and had a tough time sewing his soul together after what Pryce did to him. When he had traveled to the Far East, he did think about the Council, but he also thought that unless he came back with a strong mind, he won’t be able to take decisions and that could affect so many realms. It was a position that came with burden. He poked his tongue in his cheek. “So what have the members decided to do?” he asked Adrianna. He didn’t want to talk to Dmitri. In the back of his mind he suspected that it was Adrianna who wanted him out. “And don’t enter my cell,” he said warning her. “Talk to me like a human if you think you can.” 

Adrianna was in fact about to enter his cell when he became quiet for a moment but then withdrew immediately as soon as he warned her. She bit her lip and said with a slight jitter, “The members want you to be out of the Council.”

“That is preposterous!” Niiya shouted, picking up his napkin from the lap. He crinkled it and threw it on the table as if he was done with eating. 

Inyanga growled, “This is not a place to discuss these things.” She glowered at Adrianna and said, “If you think your husband cannot behave, we can take this party to my house.” It was the first time Haldir saw her so angry. She had always been a very soft person, so if she was angry, then surely she was very pissed off. But then who wouldn’t be? This was such a happy occasion for her and Dmitri was allaying the moods. 

Dmitri stood up from his place with Ileus. “I am leaving,” he said and stormed out of the restaurant. 

Immediately, Adrianna got up and rushed after him. She shouted, “Dmitri, stop!” But he had shape-shifted and with Ileus on his back, he ran in the forest. The six month old baby held on to his werewolf father while he dashed through the woods as expected from a werewolf child. Adrianna also shape-shifted and hurried after him. Since he wasn’t communicating with her, all she could do was follow him. When they passed through the various points, she realized that Dmitri wasn’t going to Werewolf Realm. Instead he headed someplace else. All the time he ran, Ileus had grasped his father calmly. What seemed like eternity when they came to a stop, it was in front of Dmitri’s one of the safe getaways. It was the same place that was hidden behind the waterfall, where they had come for the honeymoon. 

Once they reached, Adrianna shape shifted and picked Ileus from Dmitri’s back. The child, who had been utterly naughty in the Wizard Kingdom, was epitome of patience there. Not once had he demanded Adrianna to feed him. Thinking that Adrianna kissed him and then went to a rock that was jutting out from a corner of the cave. She reclined to sit and opened her shirt to feed him, and Ileus like a hungry baby sucked as much milk as he could. Feeling sorry, Adrianna stroked his hair. The child slept while suckling, so she tickled his ears to stimulate him to have more. Ileus sucked a little more and then stopped. Perhaps he was too tired. He slept in his mother’s lap with a smile on his face. 

Adrianna buttoned her shirt up. She wondered where she would even make him sleep. So she decided to stay like that until Ileus was asleep. She looked up at Dmitri and to her surprise she found that he had prepared a beautiful bed for the two of them on the ground. It was soft cushioned grass just like the last time. He had taken his shirt and used it to create a crib for his son that was tied on the two sides and hanging slighting up in the air. 

Dmitri picked up Ileus from her lap and placed him gently in there. Ileus stirred a little but when his father swayed the cradle, he went back to sleep. “Come here,” he said looking at Adrianna with hopeful eyes. 

Although she was angry with him, she complied. As soon as she reached him, he pulled her on the bed and she fell right on him. Dmitri buried his head in her neck and smelled her for long until he was comforted. He wrapped his strong arms around her and embraced her tightly. “My family…” he whispered in his ears. 

Adrianna smiled and stroked his hair. After a while she said, “What are you so scared of Dmitri? We are going to ward off all the evil together. Please don’t worry so much.” 

Dmitri lowered his mental shields. He removed her shirt and caressed her back. Slowly, he placed her on the grass next to him and placed his arms beneath her head. He circled her breasts, played with them and then took his hands inside her pants. He traced her lips near the sweet spot and then brought them back to her stomach. 

He allowed her to enter his cell. And all Adrianna could see was that he wanted safety for his family. He was tired of warding off the evil. He wanted to spend time in peace even if it was for a few days. She understood how protective he was. His fear for his child had grown multifold and the reason he had brought them all here was because he wanted to hide them from the world in his safe haven. 

“I just want a normal day, Adri,” he said. 

Adrianna held his square jaw in her hands and said, “I understand.” She kissed him on his lips and the next moment as if seeking comfort, Dmitri pushed open her lips to enter his tongue.