Hi All
And there the story starts ramping up. I am here to prepare all of you, that this story is going to get rough. There are a few happier updates in between, but mostly, it's gonna get dark, so prepare.
Bolx had been making plans to pick up Aidan from the Royal Guard Academy when Astec approached him. He was surprised that the man wanted to speak to him at all, but he was willing to hear him out.
“Aidan’s coming home soon, right?” asked the human.
“Yes, I received the dates that he will be on break a few days ago. Saita is too busy to go pick him up…”
“Can you take VB with you?”
Bolx was surprised by the request. He was aware that VB was Aidan’s half-brother, but he was only about six years old, he had no idea why Astec would trust him with his other son.
“Look, I know we don’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but VB loves his older brother and my wife let slip that the boy is coming home for a few weeks. Now I get no peace because VB was under the impression I was going to pick up his brother.”
“If that is what you would prefer, I’ll back off. I was only doing it because Saita asked me if I could.”
Astec waved the comment off, “I’m not asking for you to back off, Bolx. I just want you to take my youngest with you, so he can go pick up his brother. I’m in back-to-back meetings this whole week and as much as I would love to be the one to go get Aidan, I don’t have the time.”
Bolx knew that this wasn’t an excuse. Aleux had perfected his algorithm and was putting teams together to track the Wolven beasts in hopes of cornering the Fell Dragon. Astec was the head of one of those teams. It had been rough on his younger child as his father was barely home at this point.
“Come on man, help me out with this.” Begged the human.
He chuckled, “It’s not a no, but I won’t be going for at least three more days. There’s a whole ceremony we also need to sit through.”
“VB is a quiet kid; he won’t be a distraction.”
Bolx wasn’t trying to make excuses but it would seem that the human wasn’t going to back off on this. Saita had told him to be a little more friendly to her old childhood friend, knowing full well that he wasn’t the one who was making their friendship impossible.
“I’d welcome him.” Bolx grinned. “Have him at the castle early in three days and I’ll take him along. I’m sure Aidan can’t wait to see how big his brother got.”
Astec seemed to relax. It was clear that Bolx had taken a heavy weight from him. The human looked exhausted, and it was clear his child had been hounding him. Before any more could be said, Saita joined the two of them.
“Jeez! What’s with the bags under the eyes? The Saith keeping you up at night?” grinned Astec.
Quick with a reaction, Saita grinned back and said, “All the time.”
Astec’s face flushed for a second and then he roared with laughter, “Touche!”
“I just had a call from your wife telling me your son is bouncing off the walls about his brother coming home.” She sighed, “I told her I’ll take the boy with me to get Aidan.”
“No, you won’t.” said Bolx, “You have a meeting with Saseric in three days and you won’t have time to sit through the ceremony.”
Saita squeezed her eyes closed and blew air from pursed lips, “Right, I forgot.”
She turned to Bolx, “Can you manage another kid?”
“I can and have already agreed.”
Saita smiled at the two of them, “Making nice at last?”
“Being as nice as is allowed.” Said Astec as he playfully slapped the Saith’s shoulder. “I thought it would be safer to ask him than you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve been snapping at anyone who slightly annoys you. Like now.”
Saita bit her lip to prevent her from snapping at him again. He was right. She had been short with several people lately. Some she knew deserved it, but others hadn’t. She shrugged her shoulders after a few seconds and said, “Sorry. I know it’s not that fresh in everyone’s minds, but Pura’s passing is still hitting me hard.”
Astec softened and smiled at his childhood friend, “I understand, and no doubt that crown is far heavier than you make it seem.”
“I learnt a few things from the Saith Queen. Delegate, delegate, and more delegation.”
Bolx chuckled but knew far more than Astec and the rest of the castle. Saita had started not sleeping again. He had woken several times to find her sitting at her desk or on the balcony, so she wouldn’t wake him. He would coax her back to bed, but she didn’t always sleep. Astec hadn’t been too far off with his teasing.
“Anyway, thank you, Mountain, I appreciate that you will take my youngest along.”
“The more the merrier.”
Astec gave a mocked bow and skipped out of the way before Saita could lash out with a foot. Bolx smiled and said, “Looking forward to having your son come home?”
Despite the exhaustion she felt, she smiled, “It’s been so long. We have spoken often and even exchanged letters, but that doesn’t give an accurate indication of how he has grown. However, he’s starting to look more like his father. I was hoping he would have a few more years that he would look like me.”
She waved off her own comment but continued to smile, “I need some time to rest and not a lot of time to do it in.”
“You know, Astec was right about me keeping you up. We can scale it back a bit.”
“And let the stress eat me alive? No, thank you.”
“Is there much else you need to do today?”
She shook her head and said, “Let’s go have dinner.”
“It’s still early, the kitchen wouldn’t have prepared anything for the castle yet.”
“Mora has never not fed me when I stepped foot in his kitchen.”
“True, but he does curse you out.”
“And the day that that stops, I will know he no longer respects me. Let’s go eat.”
“Glad to see you have an appetite again.”
“Starving and tired, yet not tired enough to fall asleep. The joys of ruling. Come on.”
She all but dragged him after her as she made her way to the kitchen.
And how can Lex make this worse?
For those of you who have never heard of Fell Dragon you can find Book 1 here, Book 2 here, Book 3 here, and Book 4 here, Book 5 here, Book 6 here, and Book 7 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
Alternate Timeline Brucel
If you want to join the Reader's list, just ask or follow me for updates on this and my other stories.
Haven't read the other parts yet? Follow these handy links:
Part 21>>You are Here>>Part 23
Reader's List
