Page 10 of Vengeance and Fire

“Spent most of his time in Incantatia,” Dravyn finishes her sentence for her. My mother turns and looks at Dravyn as if she is seeing him for the first time, then her eyes go wide in recognition.

“Yep, it’s him. He’s alive. He’s the fifth mate. Oh, and shit, he is the golden Dragon.” OK, so I had a bit of diarrhea of the mouth when it came to telling my mother things, I couldn’t help myself.

“Dravyn. Wait, he’s—”

“So, who pays for all of this?” Cordelia cuts off my mother’s line of questioning before it even begins. I feel Dravyn’s relief, he didn’t want to talk about his traumatic past. Cordelia had caught on to that as well, offering him a wink from across the room.

“Cordelia, you do. The gold in your vaults pay the wages.” Torin leans against the wall, smiling as he watches the wheels turning as she takes in everything around her.

“This is all yours, you know.” Dravyn laughs.

“Vaults? Gold. What the hell?” She looks so cute when she’s in shock. That little crease in her forehead is just lickable.

So, I decide to put her out of her misery. “The gold’s all yours. You pay the bills, gorgeous. We are Dragons, we hoard. It’s not a stereotype. It’s fact. Get used to it. You’re our sugah momma now.” I wink, causing Cree to laugh so hard she’s gasping for air.

“Ignore my son. I dropped him off the mountain a few times,” my mother tells Cordelia and continues the tour.

“You love me. I’m definitely the favorite,” I say from the back of the group.

“Gale, honey, hush.”

* * *

“You want to do what?” Mom sits back in her chair at the end of a long dining table with a huff of confusion. She looks at me, Torin, Adrian, and even Dravyn, with disbelief in her eyes before she focuses again on Cordelia at the head of the table. It has been a long day, and I think everyone needs a nap after Cordelia was shown every inch of the palace. Including the dungeons where she made it clear she wasn’t ready to deal with Thaddeus’s Barons just yet. We even saw the royal apartments that had been left in the exact condition they were in when Thana died. Cordelia’s nursery is like a shrine to the child the Realm had lost. It is a lot to take in, and after seeing all the space available, she’d made the decision with ease, as if she had pre-planned it.

“They’re criminals, Cordelia. You can’t offer them refuge here. It’s not right.” My mother was waiting for every one of us to agree with her, even Cree, but none of us say a word.

“What I saw was more than criminal, but it wasn’t the people. It was the conditions in which they were living. How could you call someone’s child, who didn’t ask to be born into this world, a criminal? What about the so-called criminal's mate that had been dragged right along with him or her into theBarren Lands? Are they criminals by proxy?” Cordelia picks up her glass of white wine and knocks it back, then tilts her head and studies my mother. My mother opens her mouth and closes it like a fish out of water. Well, technically she is out of her depths with this argument.

“I think what mother is trying to say is that it’s unorthodox. I understand where you're coming from, though. We’ve had extensive conversations about whether or not the families living in theBarren Landsshould remain there. Unfortunately, nothing ever came of it.” Cree side eyes all of the three Regents in the room, her judgement is clear on her face.

“Why?” Cordelia turns her eyes on us.Have they gotten lighter and become more amber than brown in the past few days?I wonder as I wait for Torin or Adrian to jump right in with an answer. I don’t usually get involved with the politics of it all. I honestly left it to my sister and mother. I honor their role inKaelumaniansociety. I guess I was a pretty representative when Thaddeus came calling. Mom has always remained the real Regent ofKaeluma.

“If we even attempted to bring up the topic of theBarren Lands, Thaddeus would shoot us down. He never wanted to discuss it and said he had it all in hand. I guess we know why that is now, don’t we?” Torin looks at Dravyn, who seems lost in his thoughts as he stares down at his empty plate.

The doors to the dining room open up, causing all of us to look up as a servant comes in to clear away the plates and leftover food on the table. My mother had finished her tour with a lavish dinner for us. She didn’t feel it was time to allow other higher ups in our society to mingle with Cordelia yet until she is ready. Looking around at all the strained faces, I can tell that this conversation is about to go south really fast. My mother’s face is beet red. She isn’t used to anyone going against her wishes anymore. Well, the queen has returned to the throne, and she is going to need to roll over and accept it. Once everything is cleared and the servants close the doors again, Dravyn begins to speak.

“You mean my mom, and of course the portal.” Dravyn says, breaking the silence around us. He sits next to me with his hand clasped on his lap, his words lack emotion, but his body is wound tight.

“Wait . . . Mom? What do you mean a portal?” My mother asks incredulously. I don’t see her calming down anytime soon.

“Exactly what he said. Thaddeus has access to Incantatia through an unsanctioned portal. Apparently, it was originally created by Dain, Cordelia’s father.” I don’t know what came over me when I spoke to my mom, but everything rushes out of my mouth before I have a chance to stop myself.

“Yes. Dain was my father. From the look of shock on your face I am guessing my mother kept her cards close to her chest.” Cordelia drums her fingers on the table. I can feel her grief, we all can. Of course, Adrian immediately gets out of his chair and scoops her up in his arms then sits back down with her.

“We all knew about Dain, but, Cordelia, you don’t understand, he shouldn’t have been able to impregnate your mother. That’s why your other fathers had no issue with him being her fourth mate. They knew you would be one of theirs by blood. Well, that was the lore anyway. You’re living proof that we don’t know shit really.” My mother sits back, shaking her head at everything she’s found out in only a matter of minutes. It’s a shock to the system for sure. She looks up at Dravyn and gives him a sympathetic look.

“Thaddeus told us your mother had perished. When you disappeared suddenly, he told us the same thing about you. He never opened up about what happened to you, and I always wondered what really happened to the little boy with the violet eyes.” She smiles sadly.

“Well, I am exactly where I am meant to be, and I will be reunited with my mother soon.” Dravyn offers her a smile in return.

“So, it’s settled. Cordelia, we will make the arrangements and alert the staff. I am not sure how many families are left, but I am sure we have enough room in this big ass place to house them all. To be honest, all the bad guys are either with Thaddeus or down in the dungeons, so I am not worried that there will be any problems. I will see this through for you.” Cree leans in to lock eyes with Cordelia who smiles wide at my sister’s words.

“I am grateful to you, Cree. I think they all deserve a chance to begin again. This is only a part of something I am working on, but soon I will reveal all of my plans.” Cordelia is looking at Cree, but I know she is speaking to all of us.

“So, do we prohibit people from going into theBarren Lands, and close it off permanently?” Mom asks the room, her face is relaxed, and with relief I see she is seemingly less agitated than before.

“Absolutely not.” Cordelia smiles.

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