Chapter 25 Lily #2
“I can be queen someday. It doesn’t have to be now. We literally have all the time in the world.”
“You inherited the kingdom in a time of war and prevailed. I’d like to hand it to you now in a time of peace. There’s no swordsman out there who could challenge you in battle. You’re the single most powerful leader in this world. It’s not me anymore.”
“Just because I have the strength of a god doesn’t mean—”
“Zunieth.”
I turned to look at him, to meet his gaze.
“I’ve only seen you as my daughter until recently.
But now, I see you for what you’ve become, what I’ve trained you so hard to be.
You’re wise and strong and fierce. I couldn’t see past my prejudices, but you could see the truth so easily.
You’re the better ruler of the two of us. ”
“That’s not true.”
“I think it is,” he said with a hint of pride in his eyes. “I will always be here for advice and guidance. I will always be here to be your father and your friend. But I suspect you don’t need any of that.”
“I’ll always need you, Dad.”
His eyes softened before they looked down.
“Your mother agrees that you deserve the crown. We’re honored to give it to you.
We know the Southern Isles and the remaining free dragons will remain safe in your keeping.
And I’m so proud that I can give this to you without a hint of hesitation or reservation—every father’s dream. ”
I dropped my eyes, overwhelmed with emotion that I didn’t know how to handle. All I’d ever wanted was my father’s admiration, and now I had it…all of it. It was the first time I’d felt like his equal and not his child.
“Soon, you’ll be married, and I know Callum will protect you.
Not just your body from injury, but your well-being from emotional harm.
I know he’ll help you recognize your faults and find solutions.
I know he’ll be the perfect partner to you.
I know he’ll serve you as his queen instead of trying to rule as king. ”
“He’s always said he wouldn’t take the title even if that dream became a reality. Said he would serve as the queen’s guard, not as a monarch at my side. He’s never said why.”
My father stared at the side of my face. “Because he only wants you, not your power or influence.”
I turned my gaze to look at him head on again. “What did you say to Khazmuda before we left for the island? You stepped forward and placed your hand on his nose, and then Khazmuda seemed to abandon his hatred for Callum.”
He considered the question for a while before he answered. “I told him that Callum had asked for my blessing to marry you, and I gave it to him.”
My lungs automatically filled with air in response, my heart doing a beautiful dance when I heard what Callum had done. I wasn’t sure when that conversation had even taken place in light of the constant happenings in our lives.
“I think that made Khazmuda reevaluate the situation. He knows I’m always going to choose my children over everything else, and I know he’ll always choose his hatchlings over everything else.
But the closeness he and I share…is indescribable.
So he chose to preserve our relationship rather than let his pain destroy it. ”
“I’m glad. That means a lot to me.”
His fingers moved to my shoulder, and he gently gave me a rub with his fingertips before he withdrew his touch. We sat in silence again, the two of us enjoying the fall day in the courtyard, the leaves starting to turn red and gold before they left their branches.
He broke the silence. “Lily, there’s something I’d like to share with you.” His tone completely changed, his voice turned low and somewhat guarded, his eyes on the view past the courtyard, the rest of the land out in the distance.
Something about his tone told me what was coming, that he was about to tell me about Vivian and Lena. I’d expected him to take this secret to the grave, but he walked to the edge of the precipice and prepared to fall forward.
He was quiet again, working his jaw and then giving a sigh.
I turned to look at him, and I saw the film of moisture in his eyes.
I wasn’t sure if I should pretend I didn’t know and let him get it off his chest…or spare him the pain of sharing it.
He began. “A long time ago—”
“Dad, I know about Vivian and Lena.”
He noticeably stiffened when I cut through his words, stopping him from having to break his heart unnecessarily.
He turned to look at me, his eyes wide in shock as the film of moisture reflected the sunlight.
His eyes shifted slightly back and forth between mine as he processed what I shared, that I already knew.
“I’m so sorry that you lost them both.”
His eyes stared into mine as they continued to water, confusion and grief all mixed together.
I hoped he wouldn’t ask how I knew. “Once I knew, it all made sense. Why you’d been pushing me so hard since I could remember.
Why we sailed headfirst into the storm. Why my perfect swordsmanship was never good enough.
Why you taught me how to hunt and fish and clean my kills, how to survive if there was ever a time when I only had myself. ”
His eyes kept watering, the tears almost billowing over the lids.
“And now I feel terrible for leaving on that ship and sailing off for months, knowing how scared you must have been the entire time. If I’d known…” I shook my head. “I never would have gone. I never would have put you through that.”
His tears spilled over and dropped down his cheeks, two perfectly straight lines that moved to his hard jaw.
“I’m so sorry you lost your family, Dad.” My own eyes began to water, thinking about the misery he must have carried for decades before he’d found my mom…and found love again. “I’m so sorry.”
He took a breath and tried to stifle his tears, but when he closed his eyes, more tears broke free and streaked down his olive-tinted skin.
“And I’m honored to carry Lena with me in my middle name. To keep her alive and with us always.”
He looked down at the bench between us then reached for my hand.
He grabbed it like a snake about to constrict its prey because he gripped me so hard.
He stared at our joined hands as he tried to maintain his emotions in front of me, especially outside in the courtyard that was open to the guards and others.
“Now you understand…what you mean to me.”
“I’ve always understood, Dad. Even before I knew.”
He bowed his head slightly as he took a breath.
“My father and I had our differences, but he raised me into a man. I’d always wanted to be a father, to do the same with my children, and Vivian and I tried for a while before it happened for us.
” He paused, his eyes still soaked and red.
“I was so excited…beyond words.” His voice cracked when he spoke, but he continued on.
I’d never seen my father this way, never felt this close to him.
“So when I lost them both…” He closed his eyes like he couldn’t bear to think about it. “I didn’t think I could go on. I tried not to, but Khazmuda fused with me to keep me alive. I hated him for that…for a long time.”
“Dad…” I squeezed his hand.
“It was over twenty years before I met your mother. Twenty years I spent in the different stages of grief. Irrevocably scarred by what I’d lost. I was an angry man who wanted to burn down the world so everyone would suffer the way I suffered.
I took back the Southern Isles, not just for the dragons and my family, but because of what they took from me.
” He drew in another deep breath. “The life that I should have had.” He stared at our joined hands for a while.
“I found happiness with your mother, a love so deep and layered and true that it healed me. And then one day…we were blessed with you.”
He lifted his chin, a new wave of tears that he didn’t wipe away.
“Boy or girl, I didn’t care. I was just grateful I had another chance at fatherhood.
But when I saw you, you were exactly what I wanted.
And I vowed I would love and protect you always.
” He started to actually cry, reaching a wave of catharsis.
“That I would never let anything ever happen to you.” The tears poured down his face as he grabbed my hand with his other one.
“So I raised you like a man, the way my father raised me. Didn’t shield you from the world but toughened you for it.
I’ve lived with the fear of losing you since the moment you were born, and it’s a burden that only another parent would understand.
But Callum made me realize…it’s time to let go. ”
He looked at me again. “My job raising you is over. You’re a woman now, a woman who can protect herself, can think for herself, who has earned the love of a man who would die for her.
You aren’t a helpless little girl who needs me.
You’re Queen Lily Lena Rothschild.” His voice changed, his tears silenced as his voice deepened with pride.
“You’re ferocious and fierce and smart and strong and brave—fucking powerful—everything I’ve ever wanted you to be. ”