Greetings All
I hope you have all had a fantastic week so far, and the rest of it will be mellow.
I have been working on a few projects at the moment. Namely Fledgling and my chainmail.
For those that don't know, I know how to chainmail, but haven't touched it in years. After ComiCon, and wearing my chainmail vest, I decided to get back into it.
As for Fledgling, that's the newest book I'm working on. As for where it stands in terms of Fell Dragon...well, you'll have to wait, as I don't want to give spoilers.
Until I'm ready to talk more about Fledgling, please enjoy this update to Fell Dragon!
Brucel, while still annoyed at being effectively exiled, found that he was enjoying his time amongst the humans. A mixture of intelligence and strength within the species made him look up to them in a way he had never expected. Even the young queen was far more impressive than he had given her credit for. For the first few months, she had been shadowing the ill king in his duties, but soon she was sending him to his room to rest and taking over the duties she had clearly been taught of in the past.
Despite her regal duties, she still took time every day to train with her castle guard or Bolx. Occasionally, she would approach the brooding Saith, but he had declined all invitations. He was content to learn by watching for now. He was more interested in learning how the humans were preparing for the coming battle.
Doran had several well-known human leaders and soldiers spreading the word and training throughout the kingdom. He would spend his days traveling to ensure that the word spread as far as he could. Even Bolx was given an honorary position so he could assist where possible. Brucel kept a close eye on the boy. He was so similar to the boy from his time, and it concerned the Saith.
The Bolx from his time had a habit of hiding important pieces of information. He had hidden the fact that he had found powerful allies in the humans. He had hidden the fact that he had been in a physical relationship with their warrior queen, and he had hidden the fact that a set of twins had been born from their union. He had been so good at hiding secrets that Brucel hadn’t been aware of the twins until they were well into their teens, fighting back-to-back with his own grandchildren.
So, Brucel kept a careful eye on the human queen and her Saith consort. In public, it would be difficult to tell what was happening behind closed doors, but Brucel knew differently. He knew how important it was for Saita to face the Fell Dragon. He also knew the reason Bolx’s Saita had failed in this task was because of a failed pregnancy. Brucel couldn’t allow that to happen again. While he was sure that wasn’t what Saasha had in mind when she sent him to this planet, he was going to make sure that none of the mistakes of the past would be repeated. So, he waited and watched, ready to do what he must if the time called for it.
“Captain?”
Startled from his thoughts, Brucel snapped his attention to the human queen that had come up along his side. She had gotten good at sneaking up on him and it irked him.
“Breakfast?”
He wanted to decline but realised that he had likely done it one too many times before, and this time it didn’t sound like a request. He forced a smile and nodded his head. He was caught off-guard by her sudden smile as she held an arm out to direct him.
Much to the kitchen staff’s annoyance, she had taken to eating her morning meals in the kitchen. Brucel understood why, even though the rest of the castle staff didn’t. This was the only place no one dared to disturb her, as the head chef, a rather overweight man by the name of Mora, refused entrance to anyone else while breakfast was being made.
There was a small table at the back of the kitchen that was always kept clean for her breakfast. It was out of the staff’s way, but enough in view that Saita could still see the activity and hear possible rumours. Brucel couldn’t help but chuckle. The girl was far cleverer than what people gave her credit for.
Mora welcomed the girl with a frown, which turned into a scowl when he saw the Saith. He indicated to one of the other kitchen staff to bring a larger seat for him. It didn’t take long before the pair were seated with some fruit appetizers and the bitter drink Brucel had learned was called coffee.
“Let’s get the difficult part out of the way, shall we?” said Saita as she reached for a cup to sip at the contents. “I can’t get pregnant.”
Brucel felt blood rush to his face. No one had informed him that Saita was a Truth Seeker. Saasha had taught him skills to protect his thoughts in the past. He could have employed those had he known. How long had she been reading his thoughts while he was spying on the two of them?
Saita chuckled and continued, “It’s no secret, Brucel.”
The captain had an apology on his tongue but paused when he noticed the hurt on the young queen’s face. This was a sore point for her.
“When this machine was put into my body, the Dekai Edzeeker knew about the pregnancy that Bolx had had with Kaiden, the Saita from his time. He wanted to put a stop to that possibility. I just can’t be a mother again.” She set down the cup and continued, “As much as I wanted a large family, that was taken from me, and you hanging around me daily trying to stop something that can never happen is hurtful and disrespectful.”
He had no excuse, and he knew an apology would only make light of the situation. He was embarrassed at being caught when he had tried to be so careful.
Saita took a deep breath and then continued, “Now that that is out of the way, we need to talk about something else that’s important.”
Anything to break away from this awkwardness.
“What will it take to make you happy?”
The food he had had in his hand was halfway to an open mouth when he had paused. He didn’t know how to answer that question. If she had been aware of his spying, it was likely she was privy to all his thoughts. He was embarrassed and furious at the invasion but realised it was no less than what he had been doing in the last few weeks.
“My time is destroyed, my family dead, and those here can’t look at me without disgust plastered on their faces. You can’t make me happy.” He said harshly before he bit into the fruit he was starting to grow accustomed to.
She thought this over for a few minutes before saying, “Do you want me to send you back?”
“To my wife who can’t stand to look at me?” he snapped.
“That’s not what I meant.”
The older Saith looked at her and frowned, “I know you can copy techniques, and that the Dekai that enslaved you could travel time. Can you send me back to my own time?”
Saita looked uncomfortable with the question but nodded her head slowly, “The Heavenly sealed it away, but I have the technique. The least they can do is return that ability after everything they did to me.”
As much as Brucel wanted to tell her yes, he knew his time no longer existed. He had seen his son die along with most of the people he had kept close in his life. What would she be sending him back to?
He ground his teeth a little and then after a while shook his head. “I can’t go back. This is my second chance, my penance for what I have done.”
“Then what can I do to stop you from terrifying my castle staff? Would you rather be housed away from us?”
“Give me something to do.” He said. “Right now, I am nothing more than a dignitary and your people are tiny in stature, it isn’t hard to scare them.”
“I have asked you time and time again to join the ranks of those in my castle guard. Is that not what you want?”
He opened his mouth to say something and realised that he didn’t actually know what it was that he wanted. Returning to a time where all of his family lived was like a dream come true, but now he was isolated from them, and he didn’t know what it was that he needed.
“How about family visits?”
“Why are you trying so hard?” he snapped at her, forgetting that he was talking to a queen.
“Saasha was good to me during a very difficult part of my life, and I want to return the favour.”
Brucel sighed heavily and pushed the food in front of him aside as the kitchen staff brought him a hot meal. He quite liked what the humans called bacon and was happy to see a large pile on his plate, far more than what was on Saita’s. He looked up at the chef to thank him and the man only gave a wink.
Saita watched as the man ate. She had seen his past and knew how it was starting to erode the confidence he once had. He had done what he thought was right as there wasn’t anyone to guide or reprimand him for his actions. Now that there were people who could, the horrors of what he had done, what he had witnessed, were starting to surface. He had watched Saasha be killed before him and he had never dealt with that. Seeing her before him in this time had been as big a shock for him as it had been for her, but he had had no idea what she had been through while he lay dead in this time.
“You know, therapy did both of us a world of good.”
Brucel almost choked on his food. Therapy was something he never had bothered with but hearing that Saasha had put herself through something she hadn’t believed in when they were younger shocked him. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of Saasha spilling her guts to a near stranger. Then his thoughts drifted to if she shared the nightmares he would have now and again.
“It doesn’t fix what happened, but it teaches you healthier ways of coping. I know I am overstepping my bounds here, but I can’t have you walking around like a corpse in my castle. If you want to work, then work, but you’re going to have to work on yourself first before I can trust you with the kind of responsibility I have in mind.”
Brucel snorted, wondering to himself where this impudent human got her moxie from. Yet, she was the only one brave enough to call him out, and Saasha had made her his ward. He continued to enjoy the food on his plate while the human queen continued to stare at him, waiting for an answer.
“Fine.” He grumbled. “But I’m not speaking to a human. I want a Saith, and I want them to have been in the military.”
“I will request it. That leaves one more thing.”
“Oh, what else do you want?” he grumbled.
“I’m going to have Bolx teach you his teleport technique. You don’t have to stay here if you’re unhappy too. With the teleport ability, you can stay with Lardan, and return daily to work with us.” Saita grinned, “And if Saasha says anything, you can tell her that I ordered it.”
Let's see if Brucel and Saasha can make up in the long run.
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
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Part 1>>You are Here>>Part 3
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