The Spy

She could barely believe her eyes. He looked so different from the memory she had, she knew it wasn't her imagination playing a terrible illusion on her. She wouldn't have been able to imagine him like this. His blonde hair was cut a bit shorter, and in a mess, and his traits were emaciated. He looked like he had aged a few years in a few months' span. He even seemed a bit taller, and more muscular despite wearing a thick coat. He wore an unfamiliar short beard, and had a new scar on his cheek, another on his chin, but there was no doubt. Her tears began flowing out this time, and she did nothing to hold them back. He chuckled, tilting his head.

"What is it, sis? You can't recognize your dear big brother after all this time apart?"

"Lucian!"

She ran to him, forgetting about everything else. Her brother laughed and opened his arms to welcome her, hugging her tight.

"Oh my God, I've missed you, sis," he muttered against her raven curls.

"I missed you too... But wha-... How...?"

"I came back secretly ahead of everyone else," he muttered. "Order of my Commander-in-Chief..."

Milena stepped back, her hands still holding his coat firmly, as if she was afraid he'd disappear. She stared at Lucian with her heart dropping a bit.

"Rayan?"

Lucian nodded, and caressed her hair gently.

"He was worried, knowing you were going to give birth soon. Your husband couldn't come back himself yet, so he asked me if I'd agree to come home and help you in his stead..."

"But... the army..."

"Someone's acting as a decoy for me," Lucian chuckled. "There is no shortage of blonde, blue-eyed guys, luckily, and I'm known for disappearing at times... I left a week ago, right after he sent you his latest letter. I didn't come back only for you though, it was also a reconnaissance mission on the way back, to be completely honest with you. We had too many reports of soldiers going missing, and some claimed they spotted Wendigos in the Emerald Forest..."

"We heard that too," muttered Milena. "Not only in the Forest, but here in the Capital as well, the rumors..."

"I'm afraid those are not just rumors, Millie," he grimaced.

Her heart dropped at her brother's angry expression. Never had she seen Lucian make that kind of very serious face, with a wave of silent anger concealed beneath. He looked so much like their father, in this instant...

"You saw them...?" She muttered, worried.

"From afar, just two of them," he nodded, caressing her hair. "Following Rayan's orders, I took a long way around the route we had all taken with the army coming in, the same one we were supposed to take coming back. I saw two wendigos defeating a group of our soldiers that was supposed to go home first."

"Oh my God, don't tell me..."

"A reconnaissance unit of the ninth Division," Lucian nodded bitterly. "We had suspicions, so the Commanders De Iris and De Carseus decided to wait and send several reconnaissance units ahead, but... none of those came back. So, Rayan asked me to take a different route, the kind of route only one man could take, as opposed to a full unit of soldiers. I went completely into the wildest parts, where I think no one ever went before, and climbed the hills, as high as I could, until I got a decent observation point, and I saw it all."

"I can't believe it," Milena gasped. "They really want to prevent the Army from coming back at all."

"They want to reduce the numbers before the Commander-in-Chief makes it home," groaned Lucian. "To be fair, their plan is not half-bad, which makes me even madder. The army is tired, and our numbers have been greatly reduced."

"b****y Hell... This is insane, we need those men! We need as many men as possible to come home!"

"Don't worry."

Lucian grabbed her face between his hands, smiling confidently at his sister.

"He sent me for this, alright? We'll find a way. We just need to know how many there are, and find a better way home, even if it takes a while. We won't sacrifice our men, and we will expose who tried to cross us like this. That's my mission, Milena. I only came right here to check up on you, and our family, before going back."

"...So you're not staying?"

Lucian smiled, and put a quick kiss on her forehead.

"I wish I could, really, but I need to tell my brother-in-law he's a dad now... That was half of why we agreed I should be the one to go on this stealth mission. That, and we were cautious of all the spies around, too... Now, can you let me see my nephews?"

With a large smile, he walked up to the babies, his eyes opening wide upon seeing them.

"My God, Millie, they are so tiny... Is it alright for them to be so small? Hi babies, I'm your uncle... Surely your future favorite one, actually. So two girls, huh? A vampire and a human one, too!"

"Elizio is a boy," chuckled Milena. "Why do you assume they are both girls?"

"Really, with those eyelashes? Damn, your genes are strong... And he's so damn tiny! Nephew, you need to eat more... Damn, they are so cute."

"They are ten days old," Milena smiled.

"Ten days? You mean they used to be smaller than that? Oh, God... What is the little girl's name then? She's a cute vamp... Oh, you're already prettier than your mom! She takes after you, doesn't she? Yes, baby, you're so pretty, your ugly dad is going to be so crazy over you..."

Milena slapped his shoulder, making him wince.

"Hey, I'm already rundown!"

"Maria is pretty because she takes after her dad, too," she protested. "You know scars aren't hereditary... They are both fine, as you can see. We all are, here. But I want to know about you and Rayan. It's been a while since your last letters, I was worried."

Lucian grabbed the sleeping Maria to hold her, completely smitten with the baby girl already, but he let out a faint sigh.

"We are doing alright," he said. "I was a bit glad the war was getting to its end; even I have had enough of it..."

"I've heard you did great on the battlefield..."

"Yeah, that and I have finally matured," scoffed Lucian. "Trust me, the brat who dreamed about glory feels far away now... There are some things I never imagined I'd see, Milena. I know I was the one always dreaming about glory and all that s**t, but... I made friends, among the soldiers. I didn't care about their rank, their families, those guys were my brothers-in-arms. I quickly learned you could befriend someone, and lose them the very next day... Val's death was the worst."

"Lucian..."

Milena sighed, and leaned against her brother on the side, while his sad eyes were on the twins. He hugged the vampire baby girl once more, and took Elizio next to hold him.

"Damn, he's really... small, and light."

"He'll grow up well," Milena muttered. "Don't worry..."

Lucian let out a long sigh.

"You know, I never thought I'd ever be humbled by a baby before, but... When I see these two sleeping peacefully, it really makes me realize all that wasn't in vain. It's for these two, and Val's son. And Rowe. For all those kiddos who deserve to have a future that isn't ruined by war and Goddamn politics."

Lucian took off his neck two necklaces Milena hadn't noticed before. They were little wolves cut in dark wood, put at the end of a tiny braided rope. He put one on top of the baby, where Elizio, who was half-awake, grabbed it unconsciously, and another one next to Maria.

"I carved those for them," he said with a smile. "When I had a bit of free time... To be honest, Rayan and I talked a ton about these two, so I couldn't wait to meet them."

"Sounds like you two got close," Milena said with a smile.

"A bit! I mean, your husband isn't half-bad for a Commander-in-Chief, and... Well, I do admire him. Plus, he did all he could for me when Val got... killed. He appointed me to Val's former position which no one would have approved of, and let me lead my campaigns how I wanted. Plus, I think it felt good to chat with someone who's family. I didn't see him much at the beginning of the war, but now that I'm among the higher-ranks, we were meeting daily before I left."

"...How is Rayan?" Milena asked, her heartbeat accelerating a bit.

"He misses you," Lucian smiled. "Honestly, you're pretty much all we talk about, outside of the war. If he could, he would have come himself... But we both knew I had higher chances of making it, and unlike me, he isn't so easy to replace. Plus, he said you'd kill him yourself if he dared to leave his post for personal reasons."

Milena chuckled a bit. It might have been true a while back, but now, she was so eager to see her husband again, she really wouldn't have minded him appearing out of the blue, taking a short break from the war to meet his children... She couldn't help but feel a bit sorry the twins wouldn't get to stay with their mom, and wouldn't even meet their dad for what sounded like a few more weeks...

"So the war isn't really over yet," she sighed.

"...Not the one we intended," groaned Lucian. "Those damn bastards... The Giants are contained now; the last ones we found were going back to their mountains, far away. It looks like we killed enough of them that now they are scared of us, they won't even engage, for most of them. The main issue is now what's behind us. If the Emerald Forest is full of Wendigos, we've ended one war just to rush into another..."

Milena felt a shiver just thinking about it. It had taken three experienced warriors to be able to shoot down a Wendigo trapped in a well-lit, closed room. She couldn't even imagine several of those creatures roaming free in a forest. A handful of experienced shooters could take them down, but if the army tried to come back, many men would be killed before those things could be taken down. Wendigos were fast, and attacked savagely. A full crowd in front of them would be like a herd of sheep in front of a wolf... It really was the worst scenario. 

Just as she kept frowning and thinking about that issue, Lucian sighed, and put his index between her eyebrows, getting her attention.

"Stop frowning, you're going to start growing wrinkles. Don't worry about that, your dear hubby and I will find a solution. If we have to fight to come home, you can be sure we will get the Emerald Forest cleared and bathed in Wendigo Blood. They may have to rename it the Ruby Forest."

"I'm sure Rayan would love the idea," Milena sighed. "I'm also worried about what's going on here. The wendigos might not only be in the forest, Lucian. There have been murders going on in the City, and they are trying to pass it off as Vampire attacks..."

"Now that you mention it, I found the Capital was unexpectedly quiet on my way here," he muttered. "What happened?"

In just a few words, Milena tried to summarize the situation, including all details she thought to be important. The more she talked, the more Lucian was the one to frown this time, although his eyes would go to the babies from time to time. Once she was done, just a few minutes later, his expression was dark.

"Damn it... Their goal might really be to slow us down," he grunted. "It looks like they are scared of Rayan coming back to solve this. ...What about you? You seem to be doing okay. Nothing... unusual happened?"

"Nothing more than the usual," she shrugged. "Although I did reinforce my personal security since my pregnancy became obvious... Actually, Ellias mentioned he might have pressured his side to leave me alone, too."

"You're kidding?"

"I don't know if he said that to annoy me or not, but that's what he said. That he basically overlooked my pregnancy... and allowed me to carry it to the end."

"But no one knows you've given birth outside of the Manor?"

"No! Of course not... Not even my ladies-in-waiting. Our plan is to send the twins to a secret location I picked, and fake my miscarriage in a couple of days. I suspect the Queen might be near delivery too, so hopefully, the attention will turn to her soon, and my twins will be safe..."

Milena brushed her long raven locks back. Now that she knew Lucian was only back temporarily, and Rayan wouldn't be back for at least a few more days, or weeks, she knew she had no choice but to keep to this plan. As much as it broke her heart, her brother's appearance had confirmed her thoughts that something bigger was afoot, and for nothing would she risk Maria and Elizio's lives. 

Lucian nodded.

"I get it. Sounds like a good option... In a world where moms can't stay with their babies for their own safety."

"Did Rayan mention anything... About the babies?"

"You know him, he'd fly here to meet them the second he could. But for now, I think he trusts you fully to take care of them. I'm sure he'd trust you on this plan, Millie. I do. Now, can you let me take them, then? If this is the first thing I can do as their uncle, and my last move before I go back to the battlefield, I would love to take those two to safety. You know I won't let anything happen to them.

Milena nodded. In fact, it was perhaps an even better idea than sending Jeremiah. No one knew her brother was back, and unlike her bodyguard, no one would look for someone who had already been gone from her entourage for a while... Plus, it really did look like Lucian had matured quite a lot in those past few months. Her brother had gotten bigger and more muscular, and definitely had the demeanor of experienced soldiers.

"Let's do it like this, then... Seems like your skills of sneaking around the Manor will be helpful for something, after all."

"How do you think I got here?" He chuckled. "Aside from your bodyguard at the door, no one saw me, I'm sure."

"Aren't you going to see Dad and Raphael?" Milena muttered.

Lucian hesitated for a second, but then, to her surprise, he slowly shook his head.

"No. It's not that I don't want to see them, it's just... It's a bit hard. I don't want to remind them of Val's death, and... I still... I don't think I can face them now."

"Lucian..."

She knew that expression on his face was the expression of someone who felt guilty, but she didn't believe her brother had to feel guilty for anything. Lucian sighed, and put the baby down, staring at the two of them with a satisfied smile.

"Just let me take the babies to safety, and then I will go back, Millie. I don't want to stay too long... I promised Rayan I'd come back as fast as I could. Plus, the faster I go back, the faster we will both come home..."

Milena sighed. She felt sorry that she would be the only one to have seen Lucian, but she could understand his feelings a bit. This Lucian was very different from the brother she had seen leaving for the war. He had grown, both in his body and his heart. She smiled, and stepped forward to hug him. Lucian hugged her back without any hesitation.

"Thank you for coming back," she whispered. "It feels like the blessing I needed right now..."

She felt a tear coming down her eye. She had been holding it in for a while now, but the mere thought of sending her babies away had been breaking her heart slowly, and now that she was entrusting them to Lucian, it felt a little bit more right, as if she had needed to wait for him to come. He had appeared at the perfect time, too...

"Don't worry," he muttered. "You know I'll always have your back..."

"As long as you and Rayan both come back soon and alive, I will be fine."

He chuckled, and put a kiss on her head.

"Take care of yourself more, sis. Your husband and I will do fine, but... Sounds like you'll be busy here, so don't lose too much time worrying about us."

Milena knew that wouldn't be possible, but she nodded. Lucian then released her, giving her a large smile before turning to his niece and nephew again.

"So, where am I supposed to take those two tiny ones? What's the plan?"