Henk brought them all to the main hall where a few others were also waiting for them. Not all the faes entered the main hall. Half of them stayed outside in order to create a protection circle so that no other Nyxer entered while the talks went on and the other half remained close to Lerna and the rest.
When they were seated, Henk said, "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you, Princess Lerna. The Hydra Kingdom needs you. We are all--" he paused and looked away. Though Henk had not exactly been a great leader, after what Morava did to all of them, he realized that life got so tough over the last few months. It could have been better if all the Alphas had stayed together even after they had divided the lands. If they had been together and not gotten into Morava's stupid talks, things would have been greatly different.
Lerna shifted in her place uncomfortably as she glanced at Rigel.
When she didn't speak, Henk continued, "More Alphas will be coming in some time."
Lerna nodded once. "I hope all of them are fine."
Sadness crossed Henk's face. "Out of the twelve, only five of us remain..."
"What? Why?" Lerna asked with surprise. When she had left the twelve Alphas were pretty hale and hearty.
Henk shook his head. "Things went down, Princess Lerna. We all began fighting amongst ourselves until it was too late."
Eltanin looked at Rigel and then Fafnir. When his glance went to Lerna, he could see how disturbed she was. He knew that if he didn't take the lead, Rigel would perhaps back out. He could sense the wariness of Rigel about Nyxers. And he was aware that it was mostly because of the safety of his mate.
"I would like to meet Morava first," Eltanin said. He wanted to make sure that what they said was true or not.
"Yes, of course!" Henk said. "She is my dungeon and if you like you can meet her right away."
"I am ready to meet her when you are," Eltanin said.
Lerna wasn't really interested in meeting Morava. "I want to stay here and talk more," she said to Rigel. "Will you stay here with me?"
Rigel held her hand. On a basic instinct he could sense how much she needed his presence. He nodded and held her hand. "I will." Lerna's lips curled up slightly through all the sadness.
Henk took Fafnir and Eltanin to the dungeons. Three faes accompanied them while the rest stayed with Lerna and Rigel.
Eltanin's body shuddered when he saw Morava. She was lodged in a very dark prison. When the guard burned a torch for them to see her, they saw a pulp of a woman lying on a round, rotating torture table that moved like a wheel. Her hands and legs were tied with iron chains. There were numerous bruises and wounds on her body. Her clothes were tattered and she stank horrible.
"Morava?" Eltanin called in a low voice.
"Kill... kill Lusitania... kill her... mother..."