The King's Beloved

"My dear daughter, why the long face?" Mitis continued to cuddle her daughter. "Such a waste of your cute face! You don't need to be like your brother, you know? I know you're twins but still -"

"What brought you here? Had a vision?" Clavis asked.

Illumináire kept her gaze on Selena. "Yes, and I need you to interpret them".

"Of course. Should we go to the temple?"

"Agreed".

"Hey wait - I haven't even -," Mitis tried to stop them but before she finished her words, the twins vanished into thin air. "Ahh … those two are at it again. They don't love their mother anymore".

"Maybe it's something urgent, ahm … mother?" Selena tried to console her.

Mitis eyes shimmered upon hearing the word 'mother'.

"Why yes, I have a daughter-in-law now, if they won't let me spoil them, then I'm going to spoil you instead!"

Selena gulped and smiled awkwardly at her, "Ugh - hehehe, thanks?"

And so, Mitis accommodated Selena for the whole day. She helped redecorate Clavis' room, introduced her to the members of the family via their portraits that hung on the wall of their gallery, and many others. Now, they're having tea time to take some rest from all the hard work.

After taking some tea, Mitis returned to her usual graceful self. She was done doing her drama queen acting. Now, she wanted to have a serious conversation with Selena. She laid down her tea cup and faced Selena, looking at her eyes directly.

"She must have noticed it too," Mitis started. "Illumináire, I mean. The moment she arrived, you immediately caught her attention".

Selena was confused. "Hmm? Noticed what? That I'm human? Well, that's easy to tell since I don't have a spiritual aura like you all, right?"

Mitis shook her head. "Yes, that is one, but there's more".

Selena tilted her head. Then, put her tea cup down the table. "More?"

Mitis simply smiled gently at her and said, "Selena … your name suits you".

"Ahm, thank you … mother," Selena gave a light blush.

"Oh, and thank you for getting along with Clavis' ridiculous attempt to fool me".

At these words, Selena became frozen on her seat.

"Fufufufu … I know everything that happened, of course! He thought he could fool me? I am once the most blessed Oracle, afterall!"

"Huh?! So - you knew all along?" Selena looked dismayed. "That Clavis, I thought he was smart".

"Fufufu! Well, he is, but he can't fool me".

"I'm sorry for lying, ma'am," she changed her greeting now since she felt so guilty.

"No worries, my dear. Besides, you never really lied to me. Your answer to my question was the truth. And please, don't stop calling me mother!"

"B-but …,"

"It's alright. Besides, I will indeed be your mother".

"But we're not in love -"

"Hmm … yes, you're right … for now," Mitis confidently answered.

"Eh?"

"Fufufufu," Mitis laughed mischievously. "Oh! And before I forget, don't tell Clavis that I already know, okay? I still love to watch his futile attempt to deceive me".

"Ehh?!" Selena didn't want to agree but she couldn't really refuse a face like that. She sighed afterwards and nodded.

"Hurray!" Mitis was so happy, she clapped her hands.

"Ahm, m-mother, can I ask you something?"

"Sure! What is it?"

"Before, Clavis said something about … vision? And interpreting it?"

"Oooh, right! He never explained that part to you, huh?"

"Well, he never really explained anything to me".

"But of course. Let me explain then. We, the Sortis family, is a line of family that has been loyal to the throne since the beginning of time. We have always stood and served the royal family and guided them along the way like what Guardians do. You are familiar with Guardians, right?"

"Yes, we were vaguely taught about them. They were Sacred Beasts that hold immense power that can rival the king".

"That's right. But they never fought with the royal family. Instead, they formed pacts or contracts with them. And just like them, we have formed a pact with the royal family to always be loyal and honest to the throne, and be their right hand. And it all started with deep friendship. Our ancestors had always been good friends with the very first king. And on and on it went".

"Wow, that's awesome! A very long history of friendship".

"Yes, indeed it is. Aside from that, we help guide the king in ruling over the world. We, the Sortis family, have been blessed by the Supreme Being of what we call "holy energy" as a gift for our loyalty. With that holy energy, we were able to become the most powerful family, next to the royal family. And also, we were given 'gifts' by the Supreme Being as well".

"Gifts? Supreme Being?"

"Yes, the Supreme Being is our God, the Most High, and the Creator. And as for the gifts, they were special abilities. All the male in our family had the ability to 'interpret dreams and prophecies', while the women had the ability to 'see visions and dreams'. Though for the visions and dreams, we could only see what the Supreme Being allows us to see. Then, the men in our family will interpret them. That's why we're mostly known to be a family of 'priests and priestesses' since we commune with the Supreme Being and our power comes from Him unlike the normal Magi who uses spiritual energies from nature".

"Ahh, I see. Wow! Your family is so cool! I never knew that. We were never told that before".

"Maybe your house leaders thought you didn't need to know about us, since you were all supposed to serve the king".

"Yes, that's right," Selena who was on edge a moment ago, started to relax her shoulders. "Somehow, I'm glad I ended up here then".

"Uhm, destiny has its way," Mitis smiled gently towards her again.

Selena smiled back to her. "Oh! Then, does that mean, Clavis' twin saw something? Illumináire was her name right?"

"Yes, she did. She is the Oracle afterall".

"Oracle? Is that different from a priestess?"

"Yes, very different. There can only be one Oracle in a generation. Priestesses are limited to see visions and dreams about the past and the present. However, the one chosen to be Oracle is blessed with the ability to see the future, thus, making her the most important seer. And her chosen interpreter is the only one who can decipher the meaning of her visions".

"And that's Clavis, right?"

"Yes. Those twins, they're really special. Sometimes, I wonder what it is that they see and know that made their faces look like that," Mitis smiled wryly.

Selena didn't know how to respond. "Ahmm, well, if it made them that expressionless, maybe it's something bad?"

Mitis sighed. "That's … what I'm thinking as well". She grew sadder by the minute.

"But!" Selena did her best to be cheerful. "My friend told me that … our decisions shape our future! So … that means, the future can change, right?"

Mitis was surprised with what Selena said. She thought for a moment as she held her chest then, her eyes widened in expectation. "Of course! You're right … the future can change!". She let out a deep sigh of relief and finally, let out a warm smile. "Yes, how can I forget?" Tears could be seen in the corner of her eyes.

"Hmm? Forget what?"

"A prophecy … one that every Magi knows. It was a prophecy of hope foretold by the very first Oracle! Our ancestor!"

"Prophecy .. of hope?"

"It goes like this …

Make way! Make way!

The dragon roars for our savior has come!

With dress as pure as white,

and eyes burning yet calm.

Favoured by the Supreme, she stands

A maiden that is not one of us will save us…"