The head knight and his son sat in the Cobbe family dining room, both silently eating the food they brought. The father of the family sat, eating with his head hanging, he seemed slightly ashamed to be accepting food from strangers. The family's mother and grandmother seemed to be staring at the two relatively large men, behind them were three more children running around the house, all younger than Jasmine. "So⦠how did you hear about us?" The grandmother finally spoke up, "Does little YaÄmur fancy our Jasmine?" The knight's son choked on his bread upon hearing this.
"Uh," YaÄmur looked to his father for guidance, the knight shrugged, giving his son free reign to speak, "Well⦠no, I hardly know her. I'm not even sure how old she is, or if she has anybody or-"
"She's seventeen," The grandmother smiled at the pair.
"Hey son," Boran nudged his son, "Just three years younger, far less of a gap than me and your mother had."
"Paâ¦" YaÄmur made himself as small as possible, eating the bits of meat he had left on his plate.
"What a cute young man." The grandmother turned back to her plate, drinking a gulp of murky water with every bite.
"My ma brings up a wonderful point, mister Boran," The mother looked at the pair with some suspicion behind her eyes, "And if you will, were is our Jasmine?"
"Ah," Boran looked at his son, and at the three adults at the table with them, "I am afraid she was caught trying to steal bread, ma'am." The knight looked at the mother, true sadness behind his eyes.
"That idiot girlâ¦" The mother muttered something else under her breath, Jasmine's father rubbing her shoulder in a comforting gesture, "Is she okay?" Boran nodded, taking a sip of the water as well, almost choking from its quality.
"I should be able to get her back in just one moon cycle," The head knight quietly put down the glass, "If there is anything we can do for you, or for her, in the meanwhile, please reach out to my son." Boran paused as he looked at Jasmine's closest family. He felt his throat begin to choke up and his eyes begin to water. He turned his head away from the family, eyes begging his son to say something.
"We're truly sorry we can't do anything more to help her. Clearly she just wanted her lovely family to be fed. Me and my father care greatly about the citizens of this kingdom, and we strive to protect you from all types of harm, whether that be societal or physical." The three children seemed to be slowing down their playing, noticing the two guests more fully, "And from what my pa told me, Jasmine seems like a lovely young girl."
"Excuse me sir?" The smallest of the children tugged on Boran's sleeve, "Why are you so big?" Her big eyes stared up at the knight.
"Saffron!" The father leaned into the girl, grabbing her arm, "It's rude to ask people questions like that," He looked up at the knight with an apologetic stare, "I'm so sorry about her, she is having trouble learning her manners." Boran laughed,
"It is okay," The knight smiled at the little girl, "I had a little one of my own, once. And he's still learning his manners," He ruffled a hand through his son's hair, "She's just curious, isn't that right?" Saffron nodded vigorously, a smile splattered across her face. "Well it's mostly luck, I suppose. But eating my vegetables had quite a bit to do with it!" Saffron stuck her tongue out, a disgusted look on her face, "I know, little one. But if you want to grow big and strong like me, you have to even eat the yucky stuff, okay?" The girl pouted, turning her head away from the knight. He giggled softly, ruffling the girl's hair as well.
"You have a lovely family, miss Cobbe," YaÄmur finished up his bread, turning his attention to the mother.
"You must be very proud. From how my father has described Jasmine, you must be proud of her, too."
"Oh, please," The mother blushed, a sweet smile appearing on her face. She looked at her own mother, and her husband, along with her three other children. "I am proud, incredibly so. And please, call me Hazel." YaÄmur smiled back at her.
"As you wish, Hazel. I must say, I'm glad my pa brought me with him. I got to meet such a lovely family." The knight's son winked at Hazel.
"How sweet of you," The mother looked to Boran, and back to YaÄmur, her face becoming serious, "Who exactly are you two? How did you know my daughter was caught stealing?" YaÄmur coughed upon hearing her questions, surprised at her suspicion, even after they brought such a meal.
"Me and my father are justâ¦" He paused, exchanging glances with Boran, "Castle guards. And I am in training to become a knight." YaÄmur figured that leaving out exactly who Boran was would be for the best. "And I promise when I become a knight, I will plead with the king to bring support down to you and your neighbors. And if he refuses, I will personally bring you all food as often as I can."
Hazel looked in between the pair, seemingly satisfied with YaÄmur's answer. The knight's son whispered something to the mother, not quite in earshot of Boran. The father and son left once the last bit of sunlight left the sky. The two waved to the Cobbe family and smiled.
"So, son," Boran looked at YaÄmur as they walked back to the castle, "What were you and Hazel whispering about near the end of our visit?"
"It's nothing, pa," YaÄmur blushed, looking away from his father, "I was just⦠thanking her for her hospitality." Boran smirked at his son, coaxing out more without even a word. "I wanted to know if she'd let me⦠court Jasmine." His father laughed, ruffling a hand through YaÄmur's hair.
"Is that it?" He slapped his son's back playfully, "Well if you and her do genuinely love each other. I would gladly support it." The pair smiled at each other as they reached YaÄmur's housing.
"Thank you, pa. I love you."
"I love you too, son."
----------------------------------------
Fenrir wrapped his tail around a tree, waiting for Vogaix to ask her questions. They had been sitting here for nearly an hour, and the half-human had yet to say a word. She continued to pace around the forest floor, her tail flicked around the air, swatting away the night-bugs that came near her. "I don't have all day, child," Fenrir finally spoke up himself, breaking the long silence, "You said you had questions, ask them."
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Okay!" Vogaix took a deep breath, digging her claws into the soft dirt, "First question, you're the last dragon⦠like you, right?" Fenrir growled softly, being bombarded with memories of his family being slaughtered. He nodded, not dignifying the question with a proper response. "I'm sorryâ¦" The half-human's wings curled into her body, "And that happened⦠a long time ago, right?"
"I think I see where you're going with this, Vogaix," Fenrir blew some smoke out of his nose, staring at the half-human.
"Yeah I'm not the most subtle, am Iâ¦" Her tail wrapped around her leg, squeezing the muscle slightly. "Are you my father? Or⦠is father even the right term?" The glass-dragon nodded slowly, eyes scanning over the half-human.
"Father⦠works, the proper term would be progenitor," The little word of draconic crawled out of Fenrir's throat, causing his heir to slightly jump.
"So you⦠knew my mother?" Her tail squeezed around her leg tighter, her normally confident voice faded into one of a shy child.
"I did, she was from the north. From a culture that supposedly worshiped dragons, or at least treated us how we deserved. She was⦠the kindest human I have ever met. She was sent here to help me repopulate, supposedly. She left after our first session, I thought she went back home. I guessed I was too much for her, but when I first saw you with that human⦠I knew you were mine." Fenrir relaxed his tail, now that she knew she would be sure to help him repopulate.
"Not yours, Fenrir. My own, you weren't there to take care of me. But⦠I suppose it's nice to know you're out there." The half-human's stance straightened slightly as she stared at her progenitor. "When are you getting Khora?"
"When the time comes, I have a question for you first." Fenrir stared as Vogaix nodded, seemingly happy to answer his question, "I smell a raven-dragon at your⦠family's village. But none were there. Even a tiny bit of raven-dragon-blood makes those who have it untrustworthy. Why is there none there?"
"Raven-dragon?" Vogaix thought on it for a bit, before she snapped her fingers, "Oh! You probably mean Alaric. He's⦠I don't know much about him, you'll have to ask Morgan. But he disappeared a while back, after we heard news of his father dying, I think." The half-human leaned against a tree, "Why? And why don't you trust raven-dragons?"
"Because they are scheming, manipulating, bastards. Any trust you give them is thrown away as soon as it suits them." Fenrir stood up, flapping his wings to fly back home. "You need a lot of training, my heir. I'll be back here soon." He flew into the night sky, his scales shifting to match the night sky. His heir stood there, watching her father leave. She cursed under her breath, turning back towards her family.
----------------------------------------
Khora pulled on the bars of her window as she precariously balanced on a pile of chairs and stools. She was standing at about double of her height as she gripped onto the cold iron bars. Of course there was no getting it looser, there never was. The princess heard a loud knock on her door, causing her to jump and kick some of the stools down with a crash while she held on to the bars.
"Miss Khora? Are you okay in there?" Mary's voice came from the other side of the door, and she heard the latch click open.
"I'm fine!" She dropped from the bars onto the dresser underneath her. She winced as she landed on her ankle strangely, "Your knock just startled me, let me get cleaned up and come let you in!" The princess sucked in some air as she stepped onto the floor, she must have really hurt her ankle. Khora limped over to the stools, putting them upright as she brushed her hair with her hands. She proudly looked around the room, limping over to the door, she threw it open.
"Lovely to see you again, Khora," From behind Mary, Alaric spoke up. Khora glared at him, sticking her tongue out slightly.
"Miss Khora, Sir Alaric, please be cordial with each other," Mary smiled at the princess, "Your father wants to see both of you immediately." She stepped aside, letting Khora through the door. As she closed it she looked at the pair, "He seemed quite stressed, so I urge you two to be polite." She walked down the halls, leading the bastard prince and princess to the king.
"So, Alaric," Khora said his name with a venom in her voice, "How have you been enjoying your stay?"
"Oh it is absolutely wonderful, sister," He gave Khora a smirk, a sparkle flashed behind his eyes, "I have had such a fun time exploring all the rooms these last couple of days. You are lucky to live in such a massive castle, I'm sure you know it as well as the back of your hands at this point." He silently laughed as he stared at his half-sister.
"Not quite," She scowled underneath a soft giggle, "Hard to know a castle when you're hardly let out of your room."
"Well I guess I'll have to show you around myself, one of these days~" He seemed to stare into her soul as they arrived at the throne room. The door opened to a crowded, busy throne room. Servants were carrying around decorations and bags of food, her father was sitting at the throne, Lopsir speaking to him over the loud crowd of servants. Mary looked at Khora, mouthing a good luck to the princess as she walked away. The king waved the pair over, they both pushed through the crowd, reaching Lopsir and Khora's father. The tiny servant bowed, running off to do his own thing.
"Khora, Alaric," The king looked at both of them, he already looked exhausted, "I need both of you ready for tomorrow, the kingdom of Merla is coming to visit, and they're bringing their prince," He looked at Khora, eyes landing on her hair, "Clean up your hair, daughter. And I expect you to be on your best behavior, Queen Merla and I plan for you and the prince to get married." Khora stopped fixing her hair to stare at her father.
"You can't do that!" the princess loudly objected, she looked over at Alaric, but he was just smirking uncontrollably, "You can't just marry me off like that, father! I should have a say!"
"You and the prince marrying would be advantageous for both of our countries. It would remove the threat of a Merlean attack on our country almost entirely. Do you not want what is best for our kingdom, Khora?"
"Iâ¦" The princess interrupted herself, getting quiet, "I want what's best for our kingdom," She repeated his phrase like a mantra.
"And what about me, Sire?" Alaric spoke up, pretending to ignore Khora's frustration, "What should I do while they visit?"
"You, Alaric, should be on your best behavior. This will be your opportunity to prove you deserve the throne, if I were to die." The bastard-prince bowed and began to thank the king, before Khora interrupted him.
"He gets the throne?" She yelled over the hubbub of the crowd, causing a few servants to stop rushing around and watch the three royals, "You've been promising me the seat ever since mom died! And all of a sudden this nobody comes along and you immediately offer him the throne?" She shoved Alaric slightly, causing him to scoff and wipe his shoulder.
"You will behave Khora!" The king responded to her yell with one of his own, his deep voice echoing off the walls, the command seemingly repeating itself multiple times, "Alaric is older, and you will have the Merlean throne. If that is not enough for you I do not know what kind of daughter I have raised!"
"You haven't raised me! You lock me in my room for every hour you can stand to! Mary is the closest thing I have to a parent, father." Her last word was full of venom. Her father gripped onto his throne's arms, causing the wood to creak.
"You are to go back to your room immediately, Khora. You will be brought an outfit for tomorrow's dinner and dance. And you will be on your best behavior. The Merleans will be here for one week, and I expect you to behave for our honored guests." Khora huffed and stomped out of the room, pushing past the servants who were now all watching her. She heard her father say something to Alaric, "I would like to apologize for my daughter's behavior, child." The princess had stormed out of the room before she heard her half-brother respond.
In her room, now in the night, she heard her door open. She looked up with teary eyes, seeing Alaric standing in the doorway with a dress. "This is for you, but first, come with me. I want to show you something." He held a hand out towards Khora, who wiped her tears and took it.