Chapter 4 Lily
LILY
It was a two-day journey to the Empire Colonies.
Most of the terrain we crossed was our own, the wildlands that the dragons inhabited to live their lives in peace.
Even though they were all grateful my father had rescued them from their mental prisons, a portion of them detested human interaction.
They chose to live on their own terms away from the castle—and we accepted that was their right.
Hawk and I landed in a clearing at sunset next to a mighty oak tree. The second I looked at it, I thought of the man in my bed…and my heart. We worked together wordlessly as if we’d set up camp before, my brother retrieving firewood while I prepared the stones to build the campfire.
After twenty minutes, we had a fire going, the dragons were hunting in the night, and the two of us were eating the food from our packs.
It wasn’t like the indulgent meals we had at the castle, just dried meat with fresh fruit and bread.
I was still used to this sort of thing from my six-month journey sailing the seas, but I wasn’t sure if Hawk was.
Though he ate without complaint, leaning against a heavy log that he’d dragged over, his ankles crossed as he stared at the fire. He tugged a piece off his bread with his teeth before he ate it, having no table manners at all out here in the wild.
I’d seen worse, so I didn’t mind.
I stared at the fire as I listened to the flames dance and pop. But then I felt a change in the air, a distinct power that I felt every time my father stepped into the room. A warm chill ran through my body before my eyes shifted to the right.
Wrath had appeared in stealthy silence, standing to the side of the campfire in his uniform and armor, his head tilted back as he looked up at the clear sky.
Even more stars were visible out here, away from the lights of the village and castle.
He stared at them for several minutes before he turned back to me.
I gazed at him like my brother wasn’t there. But I couldn’t say a word, only look upon such a beautiful man.
Then he approached the campfire, squatted down with his enormous sword sticking out past his shoulders, the hilt the size of my head. Flames danced in his eyes as he remained deep in contemplation. Then he shifted his eyes to me, where they locked in place.
“You think Dad will be okay?” Hawk asked suddenly, interrupting a conversation that wasn’t actually taking place.
It took strength to yank my stare from Wrath and look at my brother. “I know none of us will stop until we heal him, so yes.”
“I don’t know what heals a wound like that.”
“Nor do I. But I assure you, we’ll figure it out.”
“They must know the antidote. Otherwise, they wouldn’t risk permanently wounding themselves by mistake.”
“True.”
“Then we’ll torture them until we get our answer,” Hawk said. “Sounds like a good time.”
I stared at the fire again before I felt Wrath’s stare on the side of my face. Hawk seemed to be absorbed in the flames, so I turned to look at my lover, hoping that Hawk didn’t find my concentrated stare into the black wilderness odd.
“He’s more than I originally gave him credit for.”
All I could do was stare.
“Reminds me of your father, in both good and bad ways.”
My father didn’t possess a single bad quality, in my opinion.
“Do you see something?” Hawk suddenly asked.
My eyes flicked back to him. “Thought I heard a bear, but I think it was a rabbit.”
“I’d hunt if I weren’t so tired,” he said. “Sitting on a dragon all day is strangely exhausting.”
“Yeah, my thighs are always sore. I actually prefer traveling by ship because of it.”
“And being sick all the time?” he asked in disbelief.
“I don’t get sick.”
“Every time I’ve been on a boat, I’ve spilled out my guts. Guess I got that from Mom?” he said as he cocked his head. “But I don’t recall her saying anything about seasickness.”
“It’s not an inherited trait. It’s an acquired taste. At least that’s what Dad told me.”
He gave a quiet chuckle. “I’ve kept my eye on the horizon just like he taught me.” He shook his head. “Never made a difference.”
“It’s more than that. It’s understanding the rock of the waves and remaining in equilibrium. It’s a dance that becomes second nature. You anticipate the next movement and constantly keep yourself perfectly upright, unless there’s a nasty swell.”
Hawk listened to every word then gave a slight nod. “I suppose that makes sense since he spent a lot more time with you out at sea than he ever did with me.” His voice was packed with a twinge of resentment…and disappointment.
I wished I could tell him about Lena. Wished I could explain why Dad was just naturally more worried about me since he’d already watched his first daughter die in a leap of flames.
But I just couldn’t, not when it wasn’t my place, not when I shouldn’t have known about it in the first place.
“He’s spent more time with you than me with other things. ”
“Nice try, sis. It’s fine.” His eyes dropped back to the fire as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Not your fault. I shouldn’t come for you like you’re the problem, because you aren’t.
If we were any other family, I would have been the favorite just because I have a dick in my pants.
Would be the heir to the throne and the recipient of the world’s adoration.
It wouldn’t matter that I was younger. It would only matter that I’d been born a boy instead of a girl.
” His eyes flicked back up to me. “And it’s pretty cool that Dad doesn’t think that way. ”
“Yeah, it is cool.”
“I just need to come to terms with it. I’ll get there…in time.”
“You know how much Dad loves you.”
“I do,” he said. “But it’s not the same as the way he loves you.”
It was like a horse kicked me right in the chest and dented the plate that protected my heart and ribs.
“A father should love his children differently.” Wrath remained kneeling by the fire, his eyes on my brother before they turned back to the fire.
“Because every child is different, regardless of whether they’re raised in the same environment by the same parents.
They have their unique strengths and weaknesses.
Your father’s error was simply overcompensating for his personal loss. ”
“Talk to Dad about this.”
After a long stare at the fire, Hawk gave a slight shake of his head. “Who knows if that chance will ever come now.”
“It will.” I thought if I said it enough times, I would believe it.
I couldn’t live in a world where my father was gone.
That was the natural way of life, to grow into your prime and watch your parents wither away until they faded from this world completely.
But with the power of the dragons granting us immortality, my father was supposed to be there always.
That was what I expected, as horrible as it was that others didn’t get to expect the same.
But all of that changed when a war interrupted our peace.
“And when it does, I implore you to speak with him.”
“We don’t talk the same way that you two speak.”
“Well, it’s time for that to change, isn’t it?” I challenged.
He took a drink from his canteen then rose to his feet. “See you in the morning.” He moved to the small tent he’d put together on his own. Pushed back the flap before he crawled inside and tied the entrances shut so bugs and rodents couldn’t get inside.
Wrath turned his gaze back to me.
A flimsy tent wasn’t enough of a barrier to keep out conversation, so I kept my silence.
He rose to his feet then moved to my tent on the other side of the campsite. He stood outside of it and waited for me to crawl inside first.
I let the fire continue to burn because there were no enemies in these lands as far as I knew, and I removed my armor piece by piece before I placed it outside since there wasn’t room in the small shelter.
When I crawled inside, he was somehow already there, in nothing but his underwear in my bedroll, already prepared for bed.
It was too small for both of us to share, so I crawled on top of him and felt his hand slide into my hair before he moved his head up and kissed me.
Kissed me like he’d been thinking about it for the last hour.
But his advance never went further than the kiss.
He released me and helped me get into the bedroll with him, the light of the flames visible through the thin material of the tent.
He cradled me mostly on top of him, his hand deep in my hair, my arm over his muscular chest. He turned slightly then brushed a kiss to my hairline before he went completely still.
He didn’t say another word to me, even though his words could be spoken in silence.
I never slept well on my travels. The bunks under the deck of the galleon felt more like wooden planks, and the bedroll I packed for land was as thin as paper. But sleeping on a hard stone of a man was somehow the most comfortable of all.
We cleaned up the campsite and prepared for departure.
Wrath was there, dressed like the god he was once more.
He stood beside Zehemoth as I prepared my pack, my dragon and closest friend oblivious to the other being that was so close he could touch his scales.
“The world is different outside the Southern Isles. A queen without a king is not seen as an equal, but an inferior in stature as well as might.” He continued to look down at me, eyes focused and a little angry at the edges. “Prove them wrong, Xivin.”
I gave an imperceptible nod in case Zehemoth or Hawk looked in my direction.
“Prove the power of your fist and show them the sharpness of your tongue. Hold your head high on those strong shoulders—because the god of the underworld and the king of the dead is always watching.” Then he disappeared within the blink of an eye, gone so abruptly that I still questioned whether these interactions were real… or a desperate ploy of imagination.
Hawk was already on Movack. “Ready, Lily?”