"Why'd you help her siren?" The witch doctor asked the snake that had followed him home. The snake turns around on his back his size growing and then his tail spilts into two.

The witch doctor turns away too Squamish to see the rest of the transformation.

"I didn't do it purposely. I wanted to see if the sun king was really alive and by the time I got there I had absorbed all her poison, I saw a beautiful little thing in there."

"I wonder who would believe such a half hearted lie."

"While I was in there, I had never felt such whole hearted humanity but there was something else too, something strong, a tiny powerful thing."

The witch doctor listened intently before letting out a groan.

"It's the whole innocence thing, I'm surprised it hasn't disappeared yet."

"How can a human who tried to kill her own child still be so pure and clean on the inside." The siren asked standing from his position.

"Manipulation, someone must've convinced her that it was for the good of the people around her." The witch doctor said with a sigh as he walked over to his pantry to get a sweet potato.

"Let's say that was the case and this person knew of the sun King's invincibility, How would her killing herself be of benefit to them?" The siren asked and the witch doctor picks up a sack of big sweet potatoes and walks over to a fireplace.

"Let's suppose that whoever it was did know about the invincibility, I don't believe that someone like her has any enemies and from their parents status and history they are very well admired. If someone found her unhappiness in the palace insufferable Wouldn't It then be a mercy killing." The witch doctor said washing the sweet potatoes before setting them on a cast of iron over the fire.

"So you think it was someone close to her?" The siren asked and the witch doctor shrugged as he walks over to the side of the room to get a pot.

"Perhaps but who?, who would rather see her dead than unhappy?" The witch doctor asked grabbing some cabbage and carrots as he walked over to the fire once more.

"Or it could be the earth guilders, the sun king being born is an imbalance between good and evil on earth." The siren said. The witch doctor lifted his head in thought as he began shredding the cabbage into a pot along with onions and carrots.

"Earth guilders don't kill no matter what and who. This is either the work of an enemy or a very very close ally." The witch doctor said before picking up basil and salt.

"You know I'm an ancient right?" The siren said walking over to the man who was sat on the red ground next to his fireplace cooking as if he wasn't in the presence of an olden kind of royalty.

"Oh?, I thought you were just the product of an ancient." The witch doctor said with a low chuckle.

The siren glared at him before walking away. He walks until he was at the door before the old man speaks again.

"Stay for dinner?, it's been a while since I had the company of a creature beholding of such beauty."

"Everyone confuses me with my mother. Flatter does nothing for me." The siren says sassily.

"Ah But will you stay?" The witch doctor asked.

"Only because you have a pot on fire." The siren says.

-

Akia woke up, eyes fluttering open to a bright blinding light.

She blinks repeatedly trying to adjust her eyes. She swallows emptiness harshly and painfully. Her mouth and throat dry, her stomach burning in a scorching hotness.

"W-water.." She rasped.

Her lips chapped and bleeding from dryness. The siren had drank her essence along with the poison.

She heard buzzing and thrumming before someone lifted her head and put a bowl of water to her chapped lips.

She left the water travel down her throat calming the burning sensation in her mouth and throat.

The king looks down at her and she blinks as the image of his face start to adjust in her eyes.

"Are you awake now?" His voice slips through all the humming noses in her ears.

"You tried to kill yourself." The king said, his voice emotionless but his eyes had dark circles around them that showed he had some kind of remorse.

Akia averts her eyes from the man.

"They said that you've been taking it for a while."

"I know I've been cruel to you but it wasn't my intention to begin with. I never chose you Akialine. I didn't select out of a group to rape. You were chosen and because of that I couldn't let you go, even now I'm afraid that letting you slip from me whether to death or elsewhere is not an option for me." The king voice rang through Akia's ears once more.

Akia's eyes water purely out of shame.

"I didn't intend any of this. I didn't enjoy any of it either, the only time I felt alive on top of you was when you opened your legs to me on your own." The king said voice filled with sincerity.

"I-I regret it." Akia said voice still fragile with the small strength that she had.

"I can tell, it seems pretty obvious now after your suicide attempt." The king said bitterly, Akia remains silent unsure of why he kept saying suicide attempt.

"I was cruel towards you and I'm sorry I could've been more sympathetic towards you and your family."

Kings don't apologize, most don't even know what it means to apologize.

Akia wasn't swayed though, instead she struggled to lift herself up until she saw her mother standing in the corner of the room, biting her nails.

"Mother-" Akia started and her mother puts her hand down and straightens her dress. She walks towards Akia and bends over to caress her coarse hair.

"Please leave us be." Lady Kenya pleaded to the king who hesitated.

"I mustn't leave her side." He said and Akia felt his gaze on her once more.

"Just for a second your majesty."

The king obliged.

Lady Kenya grabbed Akia's hand once they're alone with the guards.

"What did they say?" Lady Kenya asked hurriedly.

"Did they ask who gave it to you?" The older woman asked.

"No mother, I felt as if I was going to die mother and I don't think the baby's gone, I finished it all too." Akia said a little loudly, lady Kenya snapped her head to the side of the room to make sure that the guards didn't hear her.

"If you're asked where it came from say Julius gave it to you." Lady Kenya said to her daughter who's eyes were barely open now.

"Julius.., how do you know Julius mother?"

"Say he courted you in secret before you were brought to the palace."

"But he didn't mother..."

"If they find out I gave it to you I'll be beheaded my dear." Lady Kenya said shaking in a silent panic. She knew if she panicked Akia would follow after.

"Just say this for your mother." Lady Kenya said before taking Akia's dainty hands in her own and placing warm kisses on them.

" mother... the baby's still in me.. what must I do?" Akia asked and lady Kenya rubbed her hand gently.

"Mother will bring you another bash in a couple of weeks, wait for me child."

"Please get one that won't hurt as much...It hurts so much." Akia said breathlessly to her mother who had tears streaming down her face.

"I'll get one that won't hurt at all, it'll be quick and painless I promise."

-

In the middle of the night the siren walks to find himself resting on a mattress caressed with the smell of the old witch doctor.

He tosses and stands in a hurry.

He looks around for the man only to find him on the floor.

Black Foam rolling down his mouth with wide open eyes in his still sleep.

"You old wizards are all the same, inviting me here and persuading me with the sweet smell of a well prepared meal." The siren said before hopping over the man to get towards the door of the hut.

"LADY Celine KENYA-" The witch doctor choked out a name unfamiliar to the siren. The siren ignores the old man's dream speech and begins walking once more until he speaks once more.

"Cyrenaica's Stone."

The siren freezes, he's completely and utterly still.

"Cyrenaica's Stone?" He questioned in a whisper.

"What do you know about the lost stone of the heavens?"