Greetings all!
What a week! I have learned so much about homemade dog food! I even managed to help out a friend with a dog that suffers from gluten allergies, so I feel pretty good.
I have been working on the last book of Fell Dragon and it is coming together nicely. I have a couple of people that are privy to knowing what is coming, and I think I am moving all the characters into the right places.
Anyway, please enjoy the current update. Soon Saita will read that letter, and it's a doozy of a long update.
Saita was happy, she really was, but she struggled to get the right words to tell Pura anything, and when he finally named her, she nearly burst into tears again, but she managed to keep it together until after he left. She had set the letter down in her lap and wiped at her face with the grimy bandages of her left hand.
“Hey, stranger.” Came a voice from the door.
She looked up and grinned when she saw Bolx standing there. “And where have you been all this time?”
“Who do you think has been holding your hand while you slept at night?” the Saith came to sit on her left side.
“You look terrible.” She commented as she wiped her face one more time.
“Well, my arm was basically peeled like a banana, so that hurts. Got most of the feeling back and should be starting physiotherapy soon.” He indicated his arm in the sling across his chest.
“How much did you hear?” she asked.
“Oh, I heard enough.” He grinned. “So? Is it serious?”
Saita cast her eyes upwards and said. “Lord, please let the ground open up and swallow me whole.”
Bolx snorted before he dissolved into laughter. “I don’t suppose we were being too subtle about it during the Games.”
Saita looked at her left hand as she pulled it into a fist. “Would have been nice to have had a chance to actually fight. Bet Chaka is pissed that he didn’t get his cut.”
“Dreg Lords bounce back, and if he was smart enough, he would have had insurance in place.”
“I need to write a letter to Bruno and him.” Saita sigh. “Or at least I would if my right hand wasn’t currently regrowing again from the way it feels.”
“I can jot down a few notes unless it’s personal.”
“Just moving assets, I guess.”
“Assets?”
“I had to learn to look after myself for two years. I had to learn a lot of things during that time. One thing I was good at was making money when I fought. No doubt that will come in handy. Hell, I don’t even want to see the bill that is going to come from this.” She indicated her leg.
“You worry over the strangest things.” He shook his head. “Are humans always worried about medical debt?”
“I grew up running around in a hospital it’s practically what I know.”
“And what’s in your lap?”
Saita looked at the letter and felt her chest draw tight. “A letter from my father. I don’t know if I am brave enough to read it, to be honest. All I see is the two of us screaming at each other. He was always the hardest to bond with.”
“Well, you’ll never know what it says if you don’t actually read it.”
“I can’t read it while you are here.” She said.
The Saith snorted and said. “Why? Because you are going to sit and cry?”
“I might. Been a lot of that happening recently.” She looked down at the letter. “I…”
She sighed. “The walls are breaking down.”
“I told you, it is all right to feel; the good and the bad. I will go if you want the privacy to read it.”
“Not yet!” she said. “Stay a little longer. Feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.”
Bolx grinned, stood up and hugged the exhausted human to his chest with his right arm. “I will always be close when you need me, Princess.”
“Oh, stop it.” She gently hit his belly with her left arm.
Aidan had wanted to run into the room to give his mother her lunch, but he had stopped dead when he saw the Saith hugging her. She was laughing while in his embrace and genuinely seemed happy. He was confused at first. His mother had always been a loner. He had never known her to get attached to anything. Even when she had been around family, before she was banished, she always acted coolly. Yet here she was happy to be close to someone else. There were a lot of things that Aidan didn’t understand with what had happened the last two years, but he knew the signs of someone getting attached to someone else. He had seen it with Sarah and Viribus.
Instantly he was jealous, and it surprised him. He wanted his mother to himself after everything. He caught himself with that thought and silently chided himself for his irrational feelings. It took his mother a second time of calling his name before he reacted.
“Aidan, come here.” She said with a grin. “I want to introduce you to someone.”
“I know Bolx already.”
“We’ve met.” The large Saith grinned.
Saita beckoned her son, and he reluctantly stepped forward. He set the wrapped food on the table next to his mother while looking at the floor. He was shocked when his mother leaned to her left and almost effortlessly lifted him by the back of his shirt to bring him up onto the bed. He found himself between his mother and the Saith.
“I’m the one that wants the answer to what Pura asked.” Said Saita as she set her hand on Aidan’s head. “I come with my own baggage, as you know, and a kid. So? How serious is it?”
Bolx snorted and set his hand over hers, and said. “I’ve never had a son.”
“And I am not marrying anyone, who is dopped up on medication.” Said Sash as she entered the room. “But kudos Bolx, that was the right answer. Now get, I must change her dressings. Out, and while you are at it, there is an overly concerned human sitting in the hallway. Tell him to give me 10 minutes then he can come in to see her.”
“But I just got here.”
“And someone is also waiting for you outside. Let me do my work please.” Sash put down the remaining food. “You can stop by later after your appointment. I’ll have the other doctors overlook visiting hours but please remember that she is trying to heal, and keeping her up at night is not conducive to healing.”
“Spoilsport.” Bolx gave a hand to Aidan.
“No, Aidan can stay. Off with you.” Sash pointed to the door.
Bolx gave an eye roll at Saita, who laughed then he left the room. He found Myla and Doran waiting in the hallway. Myla looked him up and down, stepped forward and tapped him hard on the chest. “You take care of her!”
“Only if she wishes it.” He said.
“No, she needs someone at least as stubborn as she is. I don’t know you well enough to trust my daughter with you, but you were there for her when I was not. You kept her from going down a very dark path alone, and I can’t ever thank you enough for going after her. So, look after her.”
“As you wish Your Majesty.” He bowed his head.
“Not for some time but I will take it.” Myla looked at Doran. “Pura has requested to see Saasha again about the peace treaty. Will you join us?”
“Call for me, and I will be there.” He said.
Myla was silent for a long time before she said. “I’m sorry Doran.”
“For what?” he seemed surprised.
“For what my family has done to you in terms of Saita. We never saw what it was doing to you all this time. Please, accept my apology.”
Doran waved it aside and said. “She is back, it’s over, don’t bring it up again.”
“When Karesh is better will you say that to him as well?”
Doran paused for a deep breath and said. “Give me a little more time with that.”
“Sash said you can go in as soon as the dressings are done. I think they are also getting ready to re-evaluate her leg to see if it still needs more traction or if it will be recast.”
“That isn’t a cast?” asked Doran.
“No, keeps the connections in place as the leg is stretched back into place, but Sash could tell you more about that than I can.”
“She’s not going to come home with us, is she?” asked Myla.
“That’s not up to me.”
“Doran you can join us now.” Said Aidan from the doorway.
Doran leapt at the chance to finally see Saita conscious. Though the first thing he saw was a very pale Saita, who was looking at the ceiling in pain while muttering to Sash. “Usually, I can control the pain, but I am struggling today.”
“Likely because you haven’t slept much today. If you struggle to fall asleep, I will put an order in for some more pain meds, but I really would prefer to start weaning you from it.” Said Sash as she checked the machine next to the bed’s readouts. “Also, you shouldn’t be trying to pick your son up with one arm while twisting your body the way you did. You are lucky you didn’t tear anything.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Saita wearily opened an eye and saw Doran standing in the doorway. “Hey there, old man.”
Doran had held on to a lot the last three years, and he had suffered silently through it all. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or do both. He just stood there and looked at her.
“Doran?” Aidan tugged on his hand. “Are you okay? It looks like you are about to cry.”
“Don’t you ever do that again.” He hissed at Saita. “Do I make myself clear? You do not ever put yourself in that level of danger again. You don’t ever make me search for you again. Understand?”
“Captain Doran.” Sash was surprised by his outburst.
Saita wasn’t. She sighed, nodded her head once and said. “I understand.”
“Good.” He picked up Aidan and came to sit next to her. “Let’s talk about where you are in your training.”
Just a warning to anyone who hasn't read my work before. I can't write romance to save my life! So excuse the cringe that is inbound soon.
For those of you who have never heard of Fell Dragon you can find Book 1 here, Book 2 here and the start of Book 3 here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I love discussing my books!
As the series continues, it will combine with another book series I wrote. To avoid confusion about what is happening, introductory chapters will be introduced separately so that you don't have to be lost. However, these chapters will contain spoilers. You can find these chapters here:
Races Explained
Banishment
Royal Guard
Saasha’s Direct Family
Saith Characters Recap
Human Characters Recap
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Haven't read the other parts yet? Follow these handy links:
Part 15>>You are Here>>Part 17
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