Everyone in the sitting room except Asthelstan de Britannia was stunned, but none were more stunned than Brianna herself. There was a prominent expression of shock on her face. She looked like someone had slapped her in the face with an unwashed sock.
“I… er… what…?” she tried to say something, but it was like her mind had short-circuited.
“Perhaps you should explain yourself before you start calling someone your daughter,” Asthelstan de Britannia said with a sigh, though he was also smiling.
“Oh. Dear me. You are quite right, Your Majesty. I got so choked up that I nearly forgot myself. You clearly wouldn’t know who I am or our relationship.” The man placed a hand on his chest and took several deep breaths before smiling. “My name is Caelius Bridgerton. I work in the Ministry of Communications and Foreign Affairs. I hear you go by Brianna, but your real name is Alison Bridgerton. If you’d like, I can pull up your official birth certification and documents to prove that everything I am telling you is true.”
“Oh… no… uh… what…”
Brianna was still struggling, so Anthony stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He didn’t miss the flash of annoyance that Caelius gave him. He ignored that, however. It did not matter to him if this man was Brianna’s father, grandfather, or her father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate. The only thing he cared about was Brianna, and right now, she was emotionally distraught. Her feelings were permeating his bond with her.
This would not stand.
“Regardless of your blood relation to Brianna, it does not change the fact that she has lived her entire life never knowing her family. According to her, she was abandoned a long time ago,” he said.
Caelius blustered, his face red. “That’s not what happened!”
“Then you should explain, first, what happened? Why was Brianna left all alone in this world?” Anthony pressed.
“I was getting to that!” Caelius snapped, dabbing at his forehead. “You see, we were separated when Alison--”
“Brianna,” Anthony interrupted.
“Alison,” Caelius said with a snappish tone, “was just a young child. It was our first vacation as a family since she was born, and we had gone to the Americas--New York to be specific.”
New York City was one of the few remnants of the old world before the Americas became the fractured mass that it was now. It got many tourists every year. However, it was also known to have its share of troubles.
“Our family was caught up in a magical disaster, and in the chaos, we lost--”
“Brianna,” Anthony said.
“Alison,” Caelius continued as if Anthony hadn’t said anything. “To this day, we are unsure of how it happened. However, we had spent roughly two months looking for her. She was only a young girl at the time. After two months, she was declared dead. His Majesty gave us time to search for her, and then time to grieve when she was considered lost. Here, this is a video of us during our trip.”
The man pulled up a holographic video, which did indeed show a young child who bore an immensely striking resemblance to Brianna. She had the same red hair and green eyes. While her face was that of a young child, he could see the essence of the woman he’d come to know intimately within her. She was holding the hand of an older woman who looked like what Brianna would in a few years, further providing evidence that this was indeed her.
“That woman… is she…?” Brianna choked on the words.
Caelius smiled. “That is your mother. I, uh, did not bring her with me because I knew she’d be too overwhelmed with emotions and it might cause some anxiety, but I would love if you could meet her too.”
Anthony felt the conflicting emotions stirring within Brianna both through their bond and her body language.
“This is a lot to take in,” he said, pulling her closer. Brianna nestled into him as if seeking comfort. “Give us some time to absorb all this.”
Caelius pursed his lips, understanding that Anthony was not asking for time but demanding it. However, he took a few deep breaths, then held out a device.
“Use this to contact me when you are ready,” he said.
Anthony took the device. Then a sniffle to his side caused him to look at Marianne. The girl was… well, she seemed to be on the verge of tears. He raised an eyebrow at her.
“You okay?” he asked.
She sniffed. “Y-yes… it’s just… stories like this always get me choked up, you know? A family loses their child and grieves for years, thinking they are dead, but they suddenly find each other after many years have passed and try to reconnect. Tales like that are so heartfelt.”
“You’ve been watching way too many Lifeline movies,” Secilia said with a sarcastic snort.
Marianne blushed. “Th-that’s… not wrong, but…”
“Those movies are so cliche,” Secilia continued, then shrugged. “But it does feel like we’re living in a cliche right now. I mean, what are the chances of meeting Brianna’s long-lost family like this?”
“Have you become a problem child?” asked Asthelstan de Britannia. “You seem far more sarcastic and confrontational than I remember.”
Anthony shrugged. He was about to say something, but a soft beep caused everyone to stop talking. With a frown, Asthelstan de Britannia pressed a button and spoke into a speaker.
“What is it?”
“There’s an emergency. A non-human was killed in Wapping several hours ago. We were only just made aware of it a few minutes ago. Someone spread the video on social media and riots are breaking out all over London,” the person on the other end said.
Anthony and Secilia quickly tapped into their own social media feeds using their IDbands and quickly found the video in question. The person taking the video was across a canal but had a clear view of a young succubus with several human men surrounding her. He assumed that was her harem. She was smiling and chatting when someone in a thick cloak came up and started shouting at her. While she was taken aback, her men started shouting back at the man, who then pulled a fairly large rifle from within the thick cloak. It was not a fully automatic. The man opened fire at the woman point blank, punching a hole clean through her chest and out her back. As the succubus fell backward dead, her harem went berserk and tried to kill the man, but he expertly took them all down with strikes that were clearly military trained. Then he fled.
Anthony frowned as the video ended.
“Whoever took that video clearly knew what was going to happen,” he said after a moment. He looked at Asthelstan de Britannia. “Do you mind if Secilia tracks whoever made that video? I’m certain if we find them, we’ll find the perpetrator.”
“Go ahead,” Asthelstan de Britannia said with a sigh. “I am going to deal with the riots.”
Anthony looked at Secilia. “Do your thing.”
“Just leave this to me,” Secilia sat down on the floor and crossed her legs as she pulled up a virtual keyboard and began tapping away. Several screens appeared and she whizzed through them. The way her eyes flitted across each screen as she absorbed all the information within a split second always impressed him.
While she worked on locating the device used to post the video, Asthelstan de Britannia was making several calls. Anthony heard him issuing orders to the police to contain the rioters by cordoning off the areas each riot was happening it. Sadly, it sounded like he was having a hard time keeping up with all the riots and more were breaking out with every passing second. The king was starting to sweat.
“What do you mean you don’t have enough forces to contain the riots?!” he suddenly shouted. Someone chattered on the other end and he paled. Then he groaned. “Just… do what you can. If you have to, I grant you authority to bring in the military.”
He left the call and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“It sounds like the riots have become even bigger than you can deal with,” Anthony observed.
“Yes, and it was clearly by design,” Asthelstan de Britannia said with a frown.
“You think they were instigated?”
“I don’t think they were instigated. I know someone instigated them. These riots broke out far too quickly and spread far too fast.”
He wasn’t wrong. Barely two hours had passed and it sounded like there were already over twenty riots with several thousand people in each, and they were growing.
“I can only think it was Lucius Alfoy’s doing,” Trinity said. “He was always the scheming type. I think he was more suited to information warfare and causing political strife than dealing with magical catastrophes. Sadly, Chloe and Hendricks allowed him into the position he’s in today.”
“I can believe,” Asthelstan de Britannia said. “I met the man a few times. He has a sliminess that reminds me of a slug and his words are as poisonous as a viper.”
“I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news, but it seems whoever posted that video has disconnected themselves from the network. I can’t find them anywhere,” Secilia interrupted their conversation.
“Our situation has gone from bad to worse, huh?” the king said with a mirthless chuckle. “I am sorry, but do you mind if I deal with this situation? We can convene again later.”
“Not at all,” Anthony said. “We’ll take our leave.”
Anthony thought about extending his aid more, but he knew that was a faux pas in the present circumstances. Offering help was the same as saying he didn’t think Asthelstan de Britannia could deal with the situation on his own. Even offering to track the video poster had been skirting the edge of civility. Doing anything more without being asked would only cause more problems.
“I will escort you all back to your vehicle,” said Caelius, who had been silent while they dealt with the situation.
Anthony did not have the heart to tell him no, so he let the man do what he pleased. Brianna looked uncomfortable, however. He made sure they kept a decent birth.
They went outside to find smoke rising from certain parts of the city. A mass of people were also outside of the gates and being held back by a large contingent of guards and police officers. Fences and military vehicles had been arrayed around Buckingham Palace to dissuade rioters from attempting to break into the grounds.
Everyone was escorted into their vehicle, which slowly began leaving the compound surrounded by several other vehicles.
“I’d like to see how the situation is updating,” Trinity suddenly said.
“Secilia?” asked Anthony.
“On it.”
Secilia quickly brought up a holographic image that switched between various news feeds and social media posts, showing the situation that was quickly escalating. Someone people might have called it a snowball effect, but Anthony likened it more to an avalanche. The amount of riots was not only increasing but spreading to other cities within the nation.
“I’ve noticed most of the rioters are non-humans,” Anthony said after a moment.
“Well, of course. Since it’s non-humans who are currently facing the brunt of discrimination right now,” Trinity said, then paused. “But look here. This one is made entirely of humans… hmmm… there’s something odd about this group.”
The group in question was from a livestream on someone’s social media. The influencer or whoever they were went by the username @BenRife. The group being video’d went up to a group of non-humans currently rioting and attacked them. Several of them pulled out pistols. Anthony recognized the type as a 9mm that fired projectiles instead of lasers or something more insane. However, it was all the same as they opened fire on the nonhumans.