The next week wasn’t easy. The first time I woke up to my father’s screams, I almost got a heart attack. What the hell did Goran do to him? How could Dad just want to lock him up?
Constance and Isabel were always near, even Sir Robert.
I would slip in Blake’s room and crawl into bed with him, just laying close to him, begging him to wake up.
They got a Night Seeker who reminded me of a vampire. He was as pale as one, fast as one and had the fangs, but they were blind as bats. He walked with a cane tapping against the floor and saw my father three times a day.
Lucian told me what they could do. They were creepy as hell and Blake had a bad run in with one when he was a kid. She was dark and evil and had put thoughts in his head. His mom had caught her in the act and she killed her.
I gaped at Lucian, not imagining Isabel crazy enough to kill someone, but then again, it was for her son. I would probably too.
They were what our kind called psychiatrists. They were just a thousand times enhanced, using magic to work through your problems faster. If the Night Seeker couldn’t get Dad back to where he should be, nobody could help him.
Leo was funny too. That was the Night Seekers’ name. Leo.
He would make jokes about someone following him, or how beautiful the garden was, or warn us about dragon poop. We fell for it every single time, as he was so believable.
Dad thought it was hilarious.
The snow queen was still sleeping. Her vitals were strong, but Lucian did not know why she took so long to wake up.
“A pillar fell onto her. Jeez, we might be dragons but we feel too,” Sammy said one day, and I had to suppress the laughter that threatened to spurt from my lips. “I thought you don’t care about her.”
“She is my dragon.”
“Yeah, whatever. I saw you sneaking out of her room at night.”
“Give me a break.” Lucian got up and left.
“Say hi to Tabitha,” Sammy yelled, making me snort.
“Sammy?”
“What? I hate it when guys can’t own up to what they are feeling. He clearly cares more than he is admitting. Will probably treat her like crap again after she wakes up.”
“You don’t know that?” I said, and she stared at me with raised eyebrows.
“I’m not a fan of the girl. She jumped high whenever my brother clicked his fingers and she was as pathetic as they come, but I never wanted her dead. Hopefully Lucian will rub off on her and she would get some personality that I could relate with.”
“Yeah, I pray for that one, too.”
Sammy chuckled and stared at her brother. “I wonder what they go through when they Dent. I mean, you would’ve not liked my brother one bit. He was a real dickhead, but after he found you, part of his old self came back every day. I can’t imagine my life without him.”
“Me neither.”
“Sorry, I’m being insensitive. Thank you for existing,” she said with a pout and wiped a tear away.
“Hey, he is going to wake up. He has to. I’m so livid with him for not telling me what his duty was.”
“I didn’t know either. I would’ve told him how stupid it was. Just because he has a fire that there is no cure for. That is my dad. I love him to bits but for a long time he didn’t give a crap about us. We had lost him after your father got trapped behind the creepers, and now he is coming back every day too. The old Sir Robert was scary, but I knew he loved us.”
“Hey, your dad loves you a lot, Sammy.”
She shook her head.
“I guess we all have our stupid problems.”
She huffed. “I’m just glad he won’t get those beatings anymore. It was so hard the days after.”
“Your brother?”
She nodded. “It was one reason he never came home when he started Dragonia. Whenever the darkness became too much, my dad beat him to a pulp. It would take weeks for the cuts to heal.”
I swallowed hard. He never told me about that.
“Who beat your dad? I mean, he isn’t a dent or anything.”
“Your father, after a while, they could go longer without it. I think the last time Emanual got a beating was before I was born.”
“What?”
“Yeah, they are horrible when the darkness returns. But it takes longer each time. King Helmut did it, but it was about twice in my lifetime.”
“It’s so barbaric.”
“It’s the way it is, Elena. Like the good book says, nothing works like a beating.”
“That is not what the good book meant, Sammy.”
“Dragons, remember.”
I giggled as I got what she was saying. They enhanced everything with dragons.
“How is Vicky doing with her foretelling?”
“Still trying to figure out what it means. We’ve been searching the library with her, missed a few classes too, to go on these crazy hunches with her.”
“You did that for her?”
“She is our roomie. Of course we did that.”
I smiled.
“We will do it for you, too. Just don’t become as crazy as she does, please?”
I laughed, imagining it. Vicky was so eccentric.
The days sped up after that. Dad still woke up at night, but it wasn’t as intense as it used to be. He sort of lulled him back. Guess the Night Seeker really knew his shit. He came to the castle less and less too.
My father was picking up weight and resembled the man that I saw during my ascension. Constance couldn’t even heal his scar as Sir Robert gave Dad his essence. He was like a dragon now. The public was hungry for news about his wellbeing and every day Gerard van Eck had to give a press conference.
We took walks every day too and mostly spoke about nothing. Just bantering and playing around. He was easy to love, easy to be crazy about. To care for. He was the king of everyone’s hearts and the stories he told about mom, how fierce she was and how crazy she made him at the same time. They differed from Tanya’s stories.
“I’m sorry that she had left you, Elena.”
“Don’t. Dad 1 or 2, stayed.”
He laughed. “1 or 2?”
“I don’t know. Jako is terrified that if I call him dad in front of you, you would not feel like a father, and he is terrified that I’m going to stop calling him dad.”
He tapped my leg with a broad smile on his lips. He still walked with his cane, but there were rumors he wanted to train again. It scared me, as he wasn’t a dragon. It has only been two weeks.
“Dad, just rest a bit more, please. You are not a dragon.”
“You sound like Constance now.”
“It’s the truth.”
“I’m half a dragon?”
I froze as I stared at him. “What?”
He laughed. “My mother wasn’t my mother, sweetheart. The one you learned was your grandmother is not your real grandmother.”
“Then who is?”
“My mom was a Swallow Annex. She was beautiful and my father loved her dearly. I didn’t know that myself until he confessed it to me one day. Did you think a normal spell could conjure the creepers? Heck no. You need dragon magic for those sorts of monsters.”
“They were just like you.”
“Meaning?”
“Scary on the outside when you need to be, but breathtaking on the inside.” I told him about the core and how beautiful it was compared to the outside.
He hung on my words this time. “I wish I could have seen them.”
“No, you don’t. Besides, they have them in the records. I’m sure you can have a look. So what, are you going to stay with the king and queen of Tith for the rest of your life?”
He smiled. “No, but I love being waited on like this.”
I laughed. “You are just as spoiled as they are. Admit it?”
“No, Elena. I’ll eat rocks and socks, and hay if I could have one more day with your mother and you together.”
My heart twinges at the thought. “I probably would too. The records of her made her this icon.”
“She was.” He sighed. “She was so upset with me because I did not know who was going to betray us. I bet if someone told me, I would still not have believed it. I’m sorry, Elena. My choices were not smart concerning you.”
“Dad, don’t.”
“No, if anything had happened to Jako on the other side, nobody would’ve known who you were.”
I sighed as I looked at the willows touching the water. “How much did he tell you?”
“Not a lot. I read between the lines. I knew him longer than you do. The guy practically raised me. He is more your grandfather than my father would’ve ever been.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I can call him pops.”
Dad laughed. “Call him what you want to call him. I don’t mind sharing. He was your first dad that you knew, but you are mine, through and through.” Dad grabbed me around my shoulder and pulled me into him. He didn’t smell like an old person anymore, either.
“Albert!” King Caleb’s voice spoke behind us and I growled.
Dad looked at me and back at King Caleb. “What is going on between the two of you?”
I looked at Dad. “Nothing.”
“No, don’t give me that, young lady. Speak up. Why don’t you like one of my favorite people in the entire world?”
Caleb laughed. “It’s my fault. Sorry, Al.”
“Oh, what did you do?”
I laughed at Dad’s tone as King Caleb sighed. “We all changed, Al. I lost you, Yvonne. It wasn’t easy.”
“Buck up, man. Tanya had lost her dent, and she doesn’t sulk half as much as you do.”
More laughter erupted. “I lost you too. I lost my way. The light. It was just as dark on this side as it was in Etan.”
“I doubt that. So what did he do? No, let me guess. He didn’t believe a word you said.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m right. Caleb?”
“You didn’t tell anyone. What were you thinking? I would’ve raised her, Helmut would’ve raised her. Heck, even Bob would’ve raised her. We would never betray you.”
“Oh, so when did you realize it was Goran?” Dad asked.
Caleb’s face fell.
“Just as I thought. None of us did. This was my child, Caleb, everyone was a suspect. It wasn’t just my choice. Kate only trusted Tanya. It didn’t mean that I didn’t want to tell you. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to tell you just to get rid of those ridiculous rumors.”
“What rumors?”
Dad looked at him. “I’m not stupid. I know that you all thought I grabbed Tanya in some nook in the palace.”
“You knew about that?”
“I have enhanced hearing. I just couldn’t tell any of you why she was so sad. It should’ve made sense when this one appeared on the scene. You know how much we wanted a child.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So what did you do, so that I know how long I have to be displeased with you?”
King Caleb grunted as I tried to suppress a bubble of a laugh.
“I’m listening.”
“I tried to take the title away from her,” King Caleb mumbled.
“What?” Dad asked.
“You have enhanced hearing. And when she told all of us you are alive, I didn’t believe her because of the explosion.”
Dad nodded and looked very disappointed, but he winked at me when King Caleb looked down.
“And I annulled her and Blake’s claim.”
No, that was the ancients.
“Duclin, still?”
“You know Helmut and I are not the same. They practically rule Paegeia.”
“Caleb!”
“I’m sorry.”
“Two months.”
“Two months, what?”
“Two months for all the crap that you did. I’m going to ignore you for two months.”
I laughed, and then Caleb laughed. “Al?”
“I still haven’t decided on the crap you unleashed on my cub, but I’ll think hard about that.”
“Dad, stop. Admitting fault, not lying about it, should be taken into consideration.”
“You think so?”
“Yes, besides, I think you need all of your friends, even the crappy ones, if you want to get better.”
“He’s not a crappy friend, actually one of the best ones I have. But I’ll take that into consideration right after he helps me up.”
More laughter followed and King Caleb walked toward Dad and helped him up.
“Tomorrow at the same time?” he asked, and I nodded. He kissed me on top of my head and I was ready to get up too when Lucian flew out with the speed of light, yelling my name.
My heart raised, hoping it was Blake.
“Oh, crap,” Dad whispered to Caleb who laughed and Lucian neared us.
“She woke up.”
“Your dragon?” I growled.
“Young boy,” Dad said and Lucian looked at Dad. “Tone down the excitement. You are not supposed to like her.”
I laughed as Lucian blushed.
They walked away as Lucian and I watched. “What are you still doing here?”
He shook his head.
“Oh my word, Sammy is right. You are not going to tell her a thing, are you?”
“How can I trust it?”
“The same way I trust Blake.”
“It’s not the same. He wasn’t crazy about Tabitha the way she was about him.”
“She is your dent. According to my mother and father, that is special. According to you, it’s special.”
He stared at me.
“Fine, I’ll go check up on her. Boys.” I shook my head and walked with huge strides to the castle. I marched up the steps as Lucian sauntered into the castle. Constance was checking up on her as I entered.
“Hey,” I said, and she looked at me with those ice-blue eyes. Shit, she was beautiful. Even after two weeks of sleep, a mess, she is still beautiful.
“How do you feel?”
“Like a pillar fell on me.”
“I’m glad you woke up. You want to go for a shower?”
“I was just going to offer her that. They are busy with your food, so I’m sure once you have finished your shower, you can eat,” Constance said.
She nodded with a small smile. Constance smiled and got up. Tabitha grabbed her hand. “How is he?”
My heart fell.
“Hasn’t woken up yet, but you know him. He always wakes up.”
“What happened?” she asked.
“He got face to face with Goran and…”
“Goran was here?”
I frowned, and so did Constance. “No, he is in jail. Who are you speaking about?”
“Lucian,” she whispered.
“He is fine. You saved his life, sweetheart. A true royal dragon.”
“Blake is still sleeping?”
She nodded.
“He will wake up. He always does,” she said and swung her legs off the bed. I rushed to her side and helped her.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Stop, you need help.”
“Elena?” She closed her eyes. “After everything I did to you?”
“Clean slate, okay? I’ll try if you will.”
“I don’t deserve it.”
“I don’t care. I’m tired of being angry at you.”
“That makes two of us. For your information, it wasn’t the pillar that caused this.”
I looked at her. “It’s not?”
She shook her head. “He’s never going to trust me. Not after…” her voice broke.
She dented.
“Hey, have hope, okay? It’s more complicated than you know.”
She stared at me with glistening eyes.
“Time will sort it out.”
She closed her eyes as I helped her to the bathroom and into the shower.
