“I suppose the same way as everyone else. My parents had a little too much fun one night.”
The dragon tipped her head to the other side but didn’t come any closer, and Cole didn’t get any ill intent from her. She was simply curious.
“Your parents,” the creature murmured. “Who are your parents, child?”
“I’ve been told my mother was Galeah. I don’t know the name of my father,” Lexi replied.
“Galeah,” the dragon breathed and closed her eyes. “I have not heard that name in millennia.”
Cole could have sworn the dragon was both happy and sad about this, but these creatures had no such emotions. They were monstrous, killing machines…
Except, this one wasn’t killing. She wastalkingto them, and she knew things about them, and she wassmiling!
Cole glanced back at the cave to discover the others had crept closer to hover in the shadows. Orin was the only one not focused solely on the dragon as he looked at Lexi and him too. Disbelief filled his brother’s black eyes when Orin’s gaze met his gaze.
“I should have known,” the dragon murmured and opened her eyes again. “You look much like your mother. She was a powerful woman, beautiful, and a princess. And if your mother was Galeah, then your father was Irad.”
When Lexi tried to surge toward the dragon, Cole restrained her against him. He chose to ignore the irritated look she shot him.
“You knew my father?” Lexi inquired.
“I did,” Alina replied. “He was part of the reason the war, that ultimately led to the fall of the arach, started.”
CHAPTERSIX
Lexi swallowedthe lump lodged in her throat. Alina’s words repeatedly ran through her mind as she tried to figure out her next question. Hundreds of them formed on the tip of her tongue, but Alina’s revelation froze her mouth as she tried to process that herfatherwas responsible for the mess they were in now.
“That’s not possible,” Lexi croaked.
Despite her denial, she had no idea why itcouldn’tbe possible. She’d never met the man, and he never had a hand in raising her. She existed because he once did, but she had no right to say what he could and couldn’t be capable of doing.
“It is,” Alina said.
Her tender voice should have been soothing, but it only irritated Lexi. She didn’t want to be soothed, coddled, or treated like a child. She sought answers, but she couldn’t get those answers if she didn’t ask the damn questions.
She took a deep breath and lifted her chin to meet Alina’s inquisitive gaze. “How?Why?”
“For your mother.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You understand love,” Alina said. When her eyes flashed toward Cole, they hardened, but they softened when her attention shifted back to Lexi. “You understand the lengths others will go to in order to protect their loved ones and be with them.”
“Of course I do, but why would that start a war?”
“Someone told me disagreements on ruling the Shadow Realms resulted in a civil war that dethroned the ruling family and sent them into exile. But the war didn’t end after that, and eventually, the arachs all destroyed each other,” Cole said.
“That is true,” Alina said. “Except there were many who didn’t want the ruling family banished from Dragonia and worked to bring them back. They all fought to the death over who should and would rule. Well… apparently notallof them.”
Alina shifted her attention to Lexi. “Your mother was one of the most powerful beings in Dragonia. She had years of fine breeding and the best bloodlines flowing through her to make her such.
“It was always known she would wed a nobleman, which your father most assuredly wasnot. He was a commoner. Someone of low birth, a blacksmith by trade. He was extremely talented, the best in all the land, but not worthy of a princess.”
“She disagreed,” Lexi retorted.
She hadn’t known her birth father, but she wouldn’t stand to hear him considered aslesser. Alina’s mouth curved into a smile.
“She did. I assume they met by chance one day at the market, fell in love, and when your grandmother discovered that love, she forbade your mother from seeing him again. Of course, we all know how forbidding someone works out. Your father was sentenced to death when their continued affair was uncovered.”
