AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Shhhhh!” I scolded, pulling him down to the bed again. “I know because he’s the spitting image of his father, and at first, I thought it was him.”
“I cannot believe this…” he whispered to himself, glancing at the ground like he was relieving those days. “I was young when he was around, too young to be included in your parents’ meetings, so I mostly just trained with Sacha and the others, recruiting men to turn into warriors for our cause,” he explained. “But I remember this. Khayden and Keira Skystorm couldn’t have kids. At the time, they were probably the age I am now—in their late forties—and I was young like you, but I remember they had no children to speak of.”
“He looks just like him,” I repeated. “Probably my age, or younger,” I added, not really sure. It occurred to me I should have probably asked his age before I let him jab his tongue down my throat.
Urgency and reproach gleamed in his eyes the next second. “If you are certain he is Khayden’s son, why didn’t you bring him with you? Perhaps he could have helped us. Undo the devastation his father’s disappearance left behind. I would train him, Evanna. I’d help him restore his family name, I—”
“He’s sick,” I interrupted, heart squeezing with every word.
“Impossible! If he is his father’s son, if he carries our blood, he is immune to illness like us. Able to heal from most injuries like we can.”
“I’m not sure why, but he’s severely ill, Kingston. Something that apparently only his father’s blood was helping him endure.”
That caught his eye, and he blinked, remembering something. “Like a transfusion?”
Shocked, I leaned away. “Yes, I heard him use that word. What is that?”
“I’m not exactly certain, but I remember I once accidentally overheard your parents and him talking about it. I believe it is when you take someone else’s blood and introduce it into your body.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think the human world might be what is making him sick?” he asked, seeming as worried for Braxton as I was.
“It’s the only thing I can think of. If he has our blood—”
“He does not belong there,” Kingston finished my thought. “He belongs here.”
“But I can’t be sure. I’m not sure of anything lately,” I confessed, feeling every emotion possible at once.
My guardian’s hand squeezed mine reassuringly. “That’s normal. Every leader goes through that. You wouldn’t be doing a good job if you thought you had everything figured out.”
“Thank you,” I offered, smiling at him. “Now I’m worried about what might happen to Braxton.”
“How did his father die? Was he sick too?”
“No. He died terribly, Kingston.” I shook my head, my heart tearing when Braxton’s words replayed in my mind. I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “Something exploded in the middle of the night and his home burnt to the ground, the fire taking him with it. All I know is that he stopped the flames from reaching his son and wife. He died saving their lives.”
Sorrow and horror mixed in my guardian’s eyes, and he bowed his head, as though paying respects to the man who had once been our ally. “What is his son’s name?”
“Braxton. He’s such a beautiful person,” I whispered, remembering him. “Probably as honorable as his father used to be.”
A small smile stretched Kingston’s mouth. “If that is so, then that would make him a great man… Did you tell him who you were?”
“No, because he knows nothing of our world, or our kingdom. He thinks he’s one of them, a human, not one of us. He doesn’t even know Dragons exist.”
“His father didn’t tell him anything about our world?”
I shook my head, sadness filtering into my chest.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand why he would hide that from his son, other than perhaps he didn’t want him to have anything to do with us. Maybe he was trying to protect him because of his illness. However, it makes sense that Khayden would name his only son after his late father.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because the death of his father was what started all of this.” He motioned to the refuge around us. “Losing him the way he did, turned him into the Harbinger of Justice, helping free us all.”
He didn’t offer any more details, but I could see in his eyes that there was far more to be said. Perhaps another time, at the moment, there were more important things.
