Chapter 70
"And what are you going to do if it doesn't?" my mother asked and stared at me with a hard look on her face. "I know that you need it, correct?" She raised an eyebrow in question, and I hesitated before I slowly nodded in confirmation.
"Yes," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted ever so slightly, pressing my lips into a thin line. "I need that bond with him because it is the only thing that is keeping us connected together."
"Can we go see the dragon?" Yeely asked. "Please? I'm so excited that there is an actual dragon that we can see and touch." She cocked her head to the side and stared at me with wonderment in her eyes.
I bit back a small smile and tucked my head closer to my chest. "I will talk to Jonah about that," I said and looked at the others before I looked at our mother. "If that is ok with you, too."
My mother hesitated before she slowly nodded.
"Yes," she said before she cleared her throat and shifted in the chair.
"You all may be able to see him if Jonah allows you to see him, but do not pester either your sister or him to go see the dragon whenever.
Is that understood?" She scowled and narrowed her eyes while she looked at each of my siblings in the eyes.
They looked at each other before they looked at our mother, hesitating ever slightly before they slowly nodded. "Yes, Ma'am," they said in unison, and my mother breathed a small sigh of relief and nodded.
"Good," she said before she turned to look at me, pressing her lips into a thin line while she grew serious. "Do you think that he, this... Elf, is the reason why your bond has disappeared with your dragon?" she asked and raised an eyebrow in question.
I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thin line.
"I do not know," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted on the ground, shifting my younger sister ever so slightly.
"I am sure that it is, but I do not know.
I'm going to ask Arden and Jonah tonight when I visit them, but I am sure that they will have more questions for me than I will have for them. "
My cheeks turned red when I thought that, and I couldn't help but turn to look away from them while my mother raised her eyebrow in question.
"Oh?" she asked, amused and raised the eyebrow higher in question. "And why would they have more questions for you?" she asked and cocked her head further to the side while she studied me with a small smile on her face. "What did you do, Marini?"
I bit back a tired sigh and shook my head, pursing my lips in annoyance.
"It is not about what I had done, but it is about someone who had taken an interest in me.
.." I said before I cleared my throat and shifted on the ground, and my cheeks turned another shade of red.
"Apparently I had caught the attention of the Prince. "
"The Crowned Prince?" Yeely asked and cocked her head to the side while she stared at me with wide innocent eyes.
"Is he as dreamy as he looks?" She sighed happily and swooned just a tad, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes and scowl, pressing my lips into a thin line, even though I couldn't help but become amused.
"You are too young for princes, Yeely," I warned. I narrowed my eyes and scowled, pressing my lips into a thinner line while I stared at her. "You are also too young for him so do not try snooping for him or thinking that he is dreamy."
"But that isn't for me," Yeely said and shook her head, staring at me with wide innocent eyes. "That was for you."
I scoffed a laugh and rolled my eyes while I scowled, pressing my lips into a thin line. My cheeks turned another shade of red, and I looked away from them before I looked at my mother.
"So was it the Crowned Prince that had taken a liking to you, Marini?" my mother asked and raised an eyebrow in question while she studied me with an amused expression on her face.
"No," I said and shook my head. I cleared my throat and shifted on the ground, and my cheeks turned redder while I looked away from them. "It is his brother, who is my age. Apparently, I have caught his eye and I do not know how I have done it."
"Because you are pretty and strong, Marini," Yeely said. She sighed happily and cocked her head to the side while she studied me with a small smile on her face. "Has he caught your eye, too?" she asked and raised an eyebrow in question.
I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thinner line and biting the inside of my lip. "I do not know," I said and shook my head. "I know that he has become a friend of mine, but that is all that I am comfortable with being with him, at the moment."
"Does he know about your dragon friend?" my mother asked and studied me further, and I nodded in confirmation. "And?"
"And?" I asked and cocked my head to the side while I studied her with a small frown on my face. I furrowed my brows and stared at her, studying her ever so slightly. "And what, Mama? What do you mean by that?"
"And what does Jonah and your other friend, the Witch-Master, think about him knowing about the dragon friend that you have?" she asked and cocked her head, continuing to study me further.
"Ilas does not know, or at least I do not think that he knows, and I am not going to be asking him because if he doesn't know, then I don't want him to find out from me," I said and shook my head. "However, Jonah seems to be fine with it as well as the S?lan N?ran."
"S?lan N?ran?" my mother asked with a small frown on her face. She slowly blinked and looked at me, and her eyes flashed with a cautious look in them. Her whole body was tense, and I could tell that she didn't like not knowing what that meant. "What do you mean by S?lan N?ran? What does that mean?"
"High King," I said and leaned back, trying but failing to get comfortable as well as trying but failing to not be as uncomfortable as I felt. "He is the king of the Elves, and he is also a Dragon Rider. However, his dragon was killed a long time ago."
"Why?" Yeely asked and frowned. Sadness and pain flashed through her eyes before a look of nervousness flashed through them while she studied me. "Why did his dragon get killed? How did his dragon get killed?"
I hesitated and shook my head, pressing my lips into a thin line, and my heart ached and became filled with sadness. "I do not know," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted on the ground. "All I know is that his dragon is dead."
"Do Elves have a name for a dragon rider?" Griffith asked, and I nodded in confirmation. "What is it?"
"Digra," I said. "That is how you say "Dragon Rider" in Elvish tongue."
"Digra," Griffith said and furrowed his brows with a small frown on his face, and the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention while a shiver went down my spine. "Did I say that correctly?" he asked and cocked his head to the side, raising an eyebrow in question.
I nodded in confirmation. "Yes," I said, my voice barely above a whisper and breathless.
I licked my lips and shivered just a tad before I cleared my throat and shifted eve so slightly to relieve some of the pressure that I felt.
"You said it correctly. However, be careful when you say that because it does have power to it. "
"How so?" Griffith asked and cocked his head to the side while he studied me with a small frown on his face. "How does it have power to it?"
I bit back a small smile while I shook my head before I cleared my throat and shifted on the ground. "It just does," I said. "I do not know how it does, but it does. Jonah got upset when someone called him that, and it looked like he would have killed him if I hadn't stepped in."
My brothers and sisters looked at each other before they looked at me. "Why?" Yeely asked and cocked her head to the side while she studied me. "Why would he have killed the person if you hadn't stepped in?"
"Because," I said and tucked my head closer to my chest, and a sad smile appeared on my face while I stared at them with pain filled eyes.
"He was like me. He was a dragon rider, but like the High King, he lost his dragon to something, something bad, and I'm afraid that something bad will be after me and my dragon next. .."