by SJ West
“Crimes against humanity. He was warned before he left that if he attempted to harm even one human he would have to face the consequences. From what you said to the council, that is exactly what he has done. Now, it is time for Gregoire to do his job and uphold our laws and values.”
“And when he’s found guilty? What will you do to him?”
“He will be put to death.”
“Do you think Gregoire can do that to his own brother?”
“He will have no choice in the matter,” Vincent said uncompromisingly. “The law is the law. If we allow sentiment to cloud it, we are lost. Those who commit a crime should face the consequences of their actions. He was given a second chance through his exile, but it’s obvious he learned nothing from our own war. I do not relish his execution, but it must be done. Your people are not to blame for this war on your lands. We should have taken care of the dragons you now face when we had the chance. We will not fail a second time. Now, please follow me, Sarah. I will take you back to the others.”
Vincent turned and began walking down a tunnel in the mountain that was directly behind him. The large bulk of his body had kept it hidden from my view. Once we were outside, he laid down on the forest floor and angled one of his wings towards me.
“We will need to fly back to them,” he explained.
As I walked up his wing to sit on his back, I asked, “Why not just teleport us there like you teleported me to you?”
“The magic I used to bring you to me is costly,” Vincent explained. “I would rather not waste it when we have an alternative. Besides, it’s been a long time since I flew. I will need to strengthen my wings if I’m going to return to Vankara with you.”
“You’re coming with us?” I asked, completely surprised, yet comforted, by this news. “I was under the impression you stayed away from the others.”
“I have kept my distance from them for a long time now,” Vincent said. “But I believe if I show them that I’m willing to go to Vankara with you to help end this war of yours, they will follow more easily. I am not one to ally myself to just anyone.”
“Thank you for having so much faith in me, Vincent,” I told him as I took my seat on his back and grabbed one of his spines to keep myself from falling off during the flight.
“I have always been an excellent judge of character,” Vincent said, no arrogance in his statement. It was simply what he thought to be true. “Now, please hold on tightly, Sarah. This may not be one of my most graceful flights.”
I did as Vincent advised and soon found myself grateful that I took his advice. Vincent’s lift off from the ground was rather jarring because of its abruptness. As he flew through the air, he tended to lean towards the right for some reason. I kept my weight to the far left just to prevent Aurora and me from tumbling off his back. By the time I saw the lake where the council was still sitting, I began a fervent prayer for a smooth landing.
I heard Vincent begin to chuckle in my mind.
“Sorry,” I told him. It was apparent he had heard me praying about his landing.
“No need for you to apologize,” Vincent said. “If anyone here owes an apology, it is me. I wish I could comfort you and tell you the landing will go smoothly, but I can’t. All I can say is make sure you continue to hold on tightly.”
Vincent circled the lake once before diving down towards it. It was clear he wasn’t practiced enough to land on the small scrap of land in the middle of the lake where Dracen still stood. Instead, he chose to land directly in the water and float over to where Dracen was waiting for us. Vincent extended his wing out towards the small island so I could disembark.
Dracen walked the short distance to Vincent’s outstretched wing and offered me his hand to help me step down. When our eyes met, I saw his were full of questions, but I knew they would have to wait until our meeting with the dragons was over.
“Are you all right?” Dracen asked me quietly as I stood beside him, and Vincent swam off in the direction of Gregoire.
“We should talk after this is over,” I said to him, feeling the love Kira once felt for her father briefly bubble to the surface as I looked at Dracen. “Right now, we need to finish what we started here.”
I turned to face Gregoire just as Vincent stepped out of the water in front of the dragons’ leader.
“Vincent,” Gregoire said, unable to keep the surprise from his voice. “It’s been a long time since we saw you last, dear friend.”
“I needed a good enough reason to come back, Gregoire. Your brother needs to be stopped. You know this.”
“Yes, I know,” Gregoire said, resigned to his brother’s fate.
“Are you saying we should help this human, Vincent?” Runa, the yellow dragon and scholar of the group, asked. “Did she tell you what she was concealing from us?”
“I know everything there is to know, Runa,” Vincent answered. “And I can assure all of you that she is an honorable woman. She wasn’t even aware of the first life she lived until I helped her retrieve some of those memories. The events in her past have no bearing on our present dilemma.”
“Are you going to tell us what she was hiding?” Seneca asked, still sounding dubious about my trustworthiness.
“No,” Vincent said succinctly. “It’s none of your business, Seneca. You will just have to take my word. Or don’t you trust my judgment anymore?”
“I simply don’t like being kept in the dark,” Seneca answered. “Especially if it means fighting in a war that will end in bloodshed on both sides.”
“What exactly do you have to worry about?” Vincent asked. “You’re immortal.”
“But not all together invulnerable, as you well know,” Seneca added, as if he thought Vincent needed to be reminded of that fact.
“Excuse me,” I said, daring to interrupt. “What exactly do you mean? How are you vulnerable?”
“We can still sustain physical damage,” Vincent answered. “We simply can’t die from it. For example, if we somehow lost a wing during a fight, we would survive but the wing would be lost forever. In a way, we’re even more vulnerable than regular dragons. At least they can die from their wounds eventually. We simply have to live with what happens forever.”
All of a sudden, immortality didn’t sound like the reward it should be.
“It doesn’t matter what she was hiding from us,” Gregoire said to Seneca. “Vincent is right. We have to stop my brother and the others from enslaving the humans. It’s obvious now that exiling them wasn’t a solution to our problem after the war. We have to do what we should have done in the first place.”
“Are you suggesting that we kill them all this time?” Cassius, the black dragon, asked bluntly, not exactly sounding opposed to the idea.
“If it comes to that, yes,” Gregoire said. “But, I hope to be able to speak with them before we have to take such drastic measures. Perhaps if we offer them asylum, some of our lost brethren will see the error in their ways and come back home to live in peace with us.”
“I think you’re deluding yourself if you think that will ever happen,” Seneca said derisively. “Look what they did to my Vorana. They turned her into a feral monster somehow! Any dragon who would do such a despicable thing to one of their own kind can never be trusted again, Gregoire. You know that!”
“That very well might be true,” Gregoire agreed, “But don’t you think we should honor Vorana’s last wish to make peace with the outcasts? She believed it could happen even when we all told her we thought she was wasting her time.”
“And now we know we were right,” Seneca said, rather smugly.
“We don’t know anything of the sort,” Gregoire pointed out. “All we do know is that something happened to her over there and now she’s dead. Don’t you want to find out what really happened to your mate to make her feral? You and I both know it had to be something horrible for such a sweet natured dragon to attack two humans. I need to know the truth of the matter. I think we all do.”
“I
agree with Gregoire,” Titus, the green dragon, said. “We should find out what happened to Vorana, and we are honor bound to help this queen get rid of the dragons plaguing her country. We are partly responsible for the lives lost over there. If we hadn’t let our compassion rule our actions, none of this would have happened. We caused this problem, and we need to put an end to it.”
“I say let’s put it to a vote,” Cassius suggested. “All in favor of helping the Queen of Vankara?”
Cassius raised one wing like a human would raise a hand to have their vote counted. Gregoire was next to raise one of his wings. Then Titus and Runa raised theirs as well. Seneca was the last to raise his wing, and he did so with what seemed great reluctance.
“Then it’s settled,” Gregoire said. “Queen Emma Vankar, you have us as allies for as long as you desire. We pledge to drive our brethren from your shores by any means necessary.”
“Is there any sort of compensation that I can offer you for your help?” I asked.
“Do you have anything shiny?” Cassius asked excitedly, showing his true colors as a hoarder.
It didn’t take me long to think of something Cassius might deem worthy of collecting for his treasure trove.
“I have a twenty-foot high wall made of gold,” I told him, remember that at least part of the Iron Wall had been transmuted into gold by Nuala’s mages. “I’m not completely sure how long it is, but if you want it, it’s yours after this war is over.”
“We’ll take it,” Cassius said, sounding satisfied by my offer.
The Iron Wall would have to be reconstructed out of iron anyway and paying the dragons for their services seemed better than owing them a debt to be claimed one day in the future.
“We will need some time to tell the others our plans and prepare for the journey,” Gregoire told me. “Give us a day and we will be ready to travel back with you.”
“I need to go back to Kamora and tell their queen that I was able to arrange an alliance with you. She has troops that we need to aid in the ground assault, but her assistance was contingent on me forging an alliance with you. I need to go to Queen Sora and let her know the outcome of this meeting.”
“Then travel to Kamora and do what you need to do. We fly faster than your airship does. By the time you reach Kamora, we won’t be too far behind.”
“We will meet you there then,” I said, bowing to Gregoire.
“I will send Valen back to return you and Dracen to your airship,” Gregoire offered.
“No need to bother him,” Vincent told Gregoire. “I will take them back when they are ready.”
Gregoire looked surprised by Vincent’s proposal but didn’t question it.
“Thank you, Vincent. That would be most helpful,” Gregoire said. Gregoire looked at the other members of the council. “You all know what must be done next. I suggest we all go talk to our own factions and let them know about our decision.”
One by one, the dragons took off to their own islands. Only Vincent and Seneca stayed behind.
“Daughter,” Seneca said to Aurora, “would you like to meet some other dragons of your own kind? I know they would all like to meet you.”
I could feel Aurora’s need to connect with the other blue dragons, but I also felt her want to stay near me because she knew what I was about to do.
“Go,” I encouraged her. “I’ll be fine.”
“Are you certain, Sarah?” She asked in concern. “I can stay with you if you prefer.”
“This may be one of the few times you get to see where you came from,” I told her. “Just come back to me afterwards.”
“You know I can’t stay away from you for very long,” Aurora said, rubbing her head against my cheek. “I will just go see what’s there and return to you soon.”
“Take your time,” I told her, looking over at Dracen. “I’m not sure how long this will take.”
“Good luck,” Aurora said, before fluttering over to where her father stood.
I watched as she landed on Seneca’s back. He immediately took flight to show his daughter what would have been her home if she hadn’t bonded with me. Only after she was out of sight, did I turn my full attention back to Dracen.
I found him watching me closely.
“Do you know who you are?” He asked in a whisper, sounding almost afraid to hear my answer.
I nodded. “Yes. I know who I was.”
Dracen nodded as if letting me know he understood the distinction.
“How much do you remember?”
“Vincent wasn’t able to find much. Just bits and pieces sandwiched in between a few important memories. I know you are my father. I know my real mother died when I was young. I know that I was married to a man named Jacob who was also a shifter. And I know I had a daughter named Joselyn who died when she was five-years-old.”
“Were you able to see what was done to hide those memories from you all this time?”
“Yes. I saw what you did for me, and I understand why it had to be done.”
“When Gabriel brought you to Ledmarrow, I feared being home again and seeing me would jog any memories you might have of your past. I wasn’t sure if shifting into a baby had worked until I saw you and knew you didn’t recognize me.”
“That must have been hard for you,” I said, remembering Dracen’s first reaction to me. Now, I understood why he looked so sad to see me that day.
“It was excruciating,” Dracen admitted. “When Gabriel told me that you shifted into the queen’s body, I almost killed him on the spot for failing you again.”
“Again?” I asked, finding this a curious thing to say. “When did he fail me the first time?”
Dracen’s eyes widened as if he suddenly realized he said more than he should have.
“While you were living with the Pews,” he said, recovering quickly. “He failed to keep you protected from that woman who pretended to be your mother. If I had known what she was doing to you, I would have snatched you away from that monster myself.”
“Gabriel did protect me from the worst of her cruelty after he got there,” I told Dracen. “As far as I can remember anyway.”
Dracen remained silent as if he didn’t trust himself to say anything else.
“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked. “I have a feeling you were speaking of another failure on his part. Please, don’t try to lie to me anymore. I don’t think I could take it.”
“And I’m not sure you can take any more truth today,” Dracen said worriedly.
It took me a moment, but from the information I just learned about my past and what Dracen just said, I was able to reason out the truth Dracen only wanted to allude to. My mind refused to admit what it had just pieced together. But I knew it had to be true. Otherwise, Dracen wouldn’t look so worried right now.
“Gabriel is Jacob, isn’t he?” I asked.
Dracen’s continued silence told me that my deduction was correct.
It made perfect sense when you thought about it. Dracen didn’t know many people in the world, that much I knew. Who better to entrust the safety of his own daughter to than the man who had pledged his love to her at one time?
“Does he know?” I asked. “Has Gabriel always known who I truly was?”
Dracen shook his head. “No. I never told him. I simply said you were a young shifter who needed to be looked after. He understood the need to keep you safe and to teach you about yourself when the time came. Since he grew up not knowing what he was until it was too late, he recognized the importance of keeping what you were a secret until the time was right.”
“And what did you tell him happened to Kira?”
“I told him she was dead,” Dracen admitted. “I felt it would be easier on him if he could mourn your passing. I wasn’t sure if he would be able to watch over you if he knew the truth. It might have been selfish on my part…”
“Might have been?” I interrupted incredulously. “It was completely selfish.”
“I needed to know
you were protected,” Dracen said in his own defense without any remorse for his actions. “And I trusted Gabriel to do the job right. If you feel the need to tell him the truth, I won’t stop you. But just make sure you’re not doing it for your own selfish reasons. He’s let go of the past and found a reason to live in the present. Jacob doesn’t exist anymore just like Kira doesn’t truly exist anymore either. I don’t see any point in dredging up his most painful memories just to right a wrong you think I made. Sometimes it’s better to bury the truth in order to protect the people you care about the most.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” I said, feeling torn between how Kira loved Jacob and how I always viewed Gabriel as one of my best friends, my knight in shining armor during my time with the Pews. How was I supposed to act normal around him now? How could I possibly pretend that I didn’t have memories of being married to him and loving him like a woman loves a man?
And what about Fallon? After learning about the past Gabriel and I shared, could I really follow through with my feelings for Fallon now? How could I start a relationship with him without fully closing the door on my relationship with Gabriel?
The more I thought about it the more confused my heart became.
“Can I ask…”Dracen said, his voice trailing off in uncertainty.
I held out my hand to him without even thinking about it. He looked at it for a moment, and I saw the shimmer of tears form in his eyes.
“You can ask me anything,” I told him as he took my hand with one of his.
“I was wondering,” he said before meeting my eyes with his own. “What your feelings for me are now that you know the truth.”
I walked up to Dracen and tried to rationalize how I now felt about him. He was my father. Yet, the feelings and memories I had about him felt like they belonged to someone who wasn’t me.
“I care for you a great deal,” I said to him, unable to give him the answer I knew he wanted. “In time, I hope we can build a lasting relationship with one another. But, I need to work through everything that I’ve learned today. My emotions are a complete mess right now. I hope you can understand that and give me the time I need to sort through them.”