Chapter 6

An old, sweating doctor burst into the room, dragged by the collar by the mercenary captain.

"My Lady, it's twins!" the doctor shouted, his hands shaking as he checked her. "They are positioned perfectly!"

Kamala bit down hard on a rolled-up towel. Her face turned purple as she pushed.

Inside, the pressure was crushing. To spare her mother the agony of a prolonged labor, Emerson coated her own skin in a frictionless layer of Aether.

She slid through the birth canal like a torpedo.

She hit the cold air of the room and immediately let out a piercing, demanding wail to satisfy the humans.

"A girl! Strong lungs!" The doctor quickly clamped and cut the cord, wrapping her in a rough linen towel.

Emerson kept her eyes squeezed shut against the blinding lantern light. The air in the room tasted stale, but she was finally out.

Kamala screamed around the towel in her mouth and pushed again.

Jaden followed a minute later. The moment his body cleared the canal, the lantern flames in the room violently flickered and dimmed. A microscopic pulse of Void magic leaked from his skin. An invisible, freezing chill swept through the room. The old doctor's breath hitched. The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up, and his heart inexplicably skipped a frantic beat. He shivered, aggressively rubbing his cold arms, quickly blaming the strange sensation on the freezing night draft leaking through the floorboards.

Kamala lay completely drained against the pillows. The doctor placed the two bundles into her arms. She looked down at their red, wrinkled faces and sobbed.

The mercenaries took their extra coin. The doctor took his fee. They all backed out of the room, leaving the mother alone with her children.

Hours later, the primal, gnawing ache of an empty stomach hit Emerson.

Kamala unlaced her shirt, smiling tiredly, preparing to feed them.

Jaden's gluttonous instincts activated instantly. He smelled the milk. He threw his chubby arms out, aggressively shoving his body toward Kamala's chest, trying to hog the source. He even leaked a tiny spark of magic to push his sister away.

Emerson, who had been resting, snapped her eyes open.

They were not the eyes of a newborn. They were cold, ancient, and entirely devoid of mercy.

You didn't learn your lesson in the dark.

Emerson raised her tiny, soft hand. She swung it over and smacked Jaden flat on the forehead.

It wasn't just a physical slap. She laced the impact with a highly compressed 'Soul Shock'.

Jaden froze. The terrifying, crushing weight of the entity that had dominated him in the womb slammed back into his mind.

His bottom lip quivered. His face scrunched up. He opened his mouth to wail.

Emerson locked her ancient blue eyes onto his pupils. The threat was absolute.

Jaden's chaotic Void magic shattered instantly. He snapped his mouth shut, swallowing his own cry, and shrank back into his blanket, trembling.

Emerson calmly turned her head, latched onto her mother, and began to eat with elegant efficiency.

Jaden lay perfectly still, watching her eat, too terrified to even twitch.

When Emerson was completely full, she let out a tiny burp and pulled back, giving him space.

Only then did Jaden lunge forward, drinking frantically like he had been starved for a century.

Kamala watched them, a soft laugh escaping her lips. "Looks like your sister is the boss, little man. You're going to get bullied."

Emerson closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. The hierarchy was set. She was the alpha. If he stepped out of line, he starved.