She felt responsible for Orpal's crimes and his twisted mentality. She lived them as a consequence of her failure as a parent.
"Even assuming that Kelia wants me by her side, I don't have the time and resources to shadow her every moment of the day." Milea continued. "The Empire has no Awakened at its service, real or fake.
"With Leegaain often here, I can't even rely on the protection of my mentor. Based on Kelia's choice, I might need your help, Verhen. You have Awakened and Guardians in your house and a much bigger grudge with Meln than me."
"I don't want to give up on the academy." Kelia clenched her firsts. "I- we worked too hard and sacrificed too much to let that scumbag ruin everything. I'm still an Awakened. My power can still grow."
The thought of facing Meln again, the feeling of helplessness she had experienced while trapped inside the Sealed Space ravaged her mind. Kelia's face paled and her lips trembled.
"I need to learn more powerful spells or when Meln comes for me, I won't be of any help. I refuse to live in fear and pray that someone else solves my problems. Yet I can't do it alone. I can't stay alone.
"The silence in my head is killing me." She burst into tears again.
"Then here's my proposal." The Empress said. "Kelia will go back to the Red Emperor for the lessons and Warp here once she's done for the day. It will split Meln's focus and give Kelia a place to stay where she doesn't have to hide her pain or condition.
"This way, no matter when the attack takes place, Meln will have to fight his way through powerful arrays and give us the time to join our forces."
"Okay." Lith and Kelia said in unison.
For the first time in his life, Lith didn't set conditions nor did he ask for rewards for his help. Orpal was a personal matter, and one he wanted dead, buried, and forgotten as soon as possible.
As Lith saw it, he wasn't helping the Empress and Kelia. They were helping him.
***
Kelia spent the days before the start of the next trimester getting used to living with the Verhens. The Mansion was enormous and had plenty of bedrooms for her to choose. Space wasn't a problem.
Getting up in the morning was hard but not as getting used to the company. Crying babies she could get, flying babies not so much. Valeron and Elysia sniffed at her in curiosity, perching on her shoulders while in their Divine Beast form.
After spending weeks in Jiera with the people from Zelex, she quickly became friends with Ryla and Garrick. Protector's children, instead, took her by surprise and so did their absurd games with the Verhen kids.
'Gods, I wish my childhood was like this.' Envy burned deep in her gut seeing the children ride their magical steeds through the park and eat to their heart's content every day.
"Elysia, no! Bad! Bad girl." Solus' voice snapped Kelia out of her daydreams.
Solus was trying to put the sun-shaped pendant on the baby girl's neck but she kept biting it. The self-repair spells could mend the damage left by her small Tiamat fangs but she had tried to swallow the pendant more than once.
Solus was scared at the idea that the necklace would be destroyed and terrified at the idea that the baby might choke on it.
"Ba?" Elysia asked in confusion while sniffing at the shiny piece of metal.
"No, the pendant is good, just not to eat." Solus grunted. "You are being a naughty girl."
She scratched Elysia's chest who laughed and smiled, trying to understand the new game.
"I feel like this is getting nowhere." Solus sighed. "Look, Elysia. Mommy Solus has one too."
She showed the baby her star necklace and Elysia promptly bit it.
"Elysia!"
"What's the matter?" Kelia asked while unconsciously reaching for the crystal shard hidden under her chest.
For some reason, Solus felt like a sister to Kelia as much as Dawn. The presence of another Horseman was the only thing that eased her trauma. That and the constant noise in the Mansion that almost made her miss the silence in his head.
Almost.
"We are taking a family portrait and I hoped that Elysia would behave. I want a picture of the three of us wearing the family set." Solus pout lasted for a second before she returned the baby girl's radiant smile.
"Masa!"
"Yes! Yes, I am." As long as Elysia didn't call Solus Baba anymore, she was on cloud nine.
Elysia had trained her well.
"Three?" Kelia had a hard time grasping the Verhen family's dynamics.
"Yes." Solus beckoned at Kamila and had her show her moon-shaped pendant. "See? A star, the moon, and the sun. To bring light during every moment of the day. Lith crafted them for us on a very special occasion."
"They are magnificent." Kelia nodded, trying to muster the courage to ask her question. "How can three people make a baby?"
She pointed at Elysia's black hair like Kamila, her six streaks like Solus, and the Tiamat form that she had taken from Lith. Kamila and Solus blushed in embarrassment not only for the question but also because it was a painfully common misunderstanding.
Almost everyone who knew about Lith's bond with Solus thought the same while those who didn't had a 50% chance of thinking she was the child's mother.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude on your private lives." Kelia said, mistaking the awkward silence for shyness. "It's just that Baba Yaga often asks Dawn and Dusk for grandchildren.
"I always wonder how that's supposed to happen and if I would somehow have to get involved in case Dusk found a companion. I've never seen a Horseman with a baby of her own before."
"And you're not seeing it now." Solus felt the need to be the one clearing the misunderstanding.
She knew how depressed Kamila would still get sometimes and didn't want to make matters worse.
"I played no part in the babymaking. Elisya and I sharing the six streaks it's just a coincidence."
"It's one heck of a coincidence." Kelia pondered. "Also, why did you call the pendants a family set? I would get if Verhen, his wife, and his child had a pendant each, but the three of you make no sense."
"Because I'm part of the family." Solus couldn't explain to Kelia her origin nor the role she played in Lith's life. "Lith made one pendant for me to reassure me that Elysia's birth wouldn't change things between us."
She could only hope that Kelia would drop the argument.
"Do you have to be here?" Or that something else would draw her attention.
"Give me a break. I like this situation less than you." Dawn would have loved to flip Nalrond off but she couldn't in the presence of the children. "I was just minding my own business when I discovered that you are sharing my legacy willy nilly."
"Your legacy?" Nalrond echoed in anger.
Dawn remained with Kelia during the night to help her sleep and usually left before breakfast.
