AllFreeNovel
Share Us
3
“The true heir to the Dragon Throne…” I whispered, half confused until I finally processed what that meant, and all humor left me.
Holy shit. The shock pushed me to my feet.
“I’m not talking the throne away from Evie,” I declared, horrified they would even think I would do such a thing. “She has given her entire life to this kingdom. To these people. She’s trained since she was a child to be their queen. She’s fought Raithian’s forces countless times, faced the losses of the people she loved while I didn’t even know this place existed! I don’t care where the fuck my family tree comes from, I’m not doing that to her. I love her. And even if I didn’t, even if she was a complete stranger, she’s more worthy of that throne than I am. She’s already a better ruler than I could ever be.”
Mom’s expression sparkled with both pride at my reaction and amusement. She stood, and I had to assume my dad did too. “Are you done?” she asked, trying her best not to laugh, but then turned to my father and chuckled. “I know, he’s so cute. Our baby is in love.”
“Mom! I’m serious.”
“I know, Baby… Khayden, stop it. He’s a serious, seriously grown man.”
Throwing my arms in the air, I turned around. WTF.
“Okay, sorry. We are not at all making fun of you,” Mom added. “It’s just. Well, after you have a baby with Evie, you’ll understand.”
Holy hell. They were already thinking about grandbabies??? Double WTF.
“Son, you are right about everything, except this. No one. And I mean, NO ONE, is more worthy of theDracones Thronithan you are. You are the first, true, pure-hearted Devenish Prince to be born since Raithian killed his own father and stole his power. Those countless battles you just mentioned, and the innocent lives lost, were not just fought to keep our people out of Raithian’s claws. They were fought to keep our people safe until you could return and free them all from his tyranny.”
Stunned cold, I watched her glance next to her and nod, listening to whatever my dad had to say.
“All the sacrifices we ever made, those of Evie’s parents, her aunt’s, and even Willow’s family were made for you just as much as for Evie. Everyone who has given their lives to this cause, died so that one day you could stand here, in Caelisium, and claim what is rightfully yours by birth. So that you could use your gods-given power and your Dragon influence to take the throne away from Raithian and destroy that monster. Never forget or underestimate that.”
Pain whirled in my gut, constricting my chest with the weight of her truth.
“I’m sorry, Mom. My words were never meant to disregard their sacrifice, or yours. I didn’t mean to undermine what the Devenish once stood for. I just, I was thrown into this world from one moment to the next, while Evie had already spent years experiencing what it truly meant to fight for it. And even after being here for over two months, I don’t feel connected to that part of you yet. I don’t feel—”
“Worthy,” my mother finished for me, and I nodded. “It’s okay, Son. After everything that happened, I stopped feeling worthy of the Devenish name too. For a long time, I blamed myself. I felt I was at fault for not trying to stop him. For not doing something before he killed my mother, my grandparents and uncles, and the Elders. I thought I should have been braver. I blamed myself for leaving and for so many other things… If I had just tried to poison him or something. But I was so young… and I had already seen the depth of his sadistic cruelty, I—”
My father called her attention to him then, and she closed her eyes as though he was kissing her hurt away.
“Your father just reminded me that if I had tried to end Raithian in any way, he would have known and killed me too. I would have never had a life with Khayden and given birth to you. I barely survived as it was. If Khayden hadn’t stopped him that day…”
Her head shook as though to interrupt the thought, and her hands returned to my cheeks. She caressed them, watching me with adoring eyes.
“Believe it or not, you were the one who made me feel worthy again. Bringing you into this world, protecting you, and raising you to be the man you are today was my true destiny. You helped me see that I was meant to go through all of it, so a new line of pure-hearted Devenish could be born to raise this world from the ashes, and into a brighter and peaceful future. You, my dear, sweet boy, gave me hope again, making me believe once more in the noble destiny of the Devenish name. You are the one who will bring back peace to Caelisium, Braxton. That is your fate.”
“No pressure then,” I joked, my throat heavy with emotion.
“None at all.” Mom chuckled, letting go of me.
The next moment, a gigantic, wet tongue dragged along the length of my body, pushing me sideways until I fell to my knees.
“What the fuck, Tharion?!” I roared, turning around on the sand to see him huff a few times, his way of chuckling.
He knew I hated when he did that, and still, he freaking did it ALL THE TIME. All the Dragons in the honeycombs had done that to me at one point or another, but he loved to annoy me with it.
Before I could jump out of the way, his scary as hell girlfriend licked me too, forcing my body to fall on my back, and lay flat against the sand while her tongue went over me. It was such a weird feeling to experience. Their tongues were heavy, but also squishy and soft—like a huge body pillow.
Part of me wanted to scream,“It’s so fluffy!!”every time they did it—like little Agnes fromDespicable Me. If I weren’t so disgusted by it, I probably would have.
“Stop it, both of you!” I admonished, getting to my feet with sand stuck to my entire body. “It’s not funny, Tharion. And if you ever do that again, I swear…” I waved a finger at him like my mother used to do when I misbehaved, but it didn’t have the same effect on him.
His brow lifted at me challengingly as though saying,“What? What exactly are you going to do to me?”
“Well, I don’t know yet, but you should be scared!”
