Lotus: Dark Lotus Chronicles One

by Nephrys Darkwater

  Home is Where the Heart is

  Es was nervous to be back home. The last time she had been on this planet, she had discovered some very dark secrets. How would her people react to seeing her now? Would they confront her about her father and ask that she pay for his crimes in his place?

  On the trip home, Valdrik had gotten her caught up with everything that had happened both at home and with her father. Apparently, after he had failed to start a civil war between the Elves and everyone else, he had tried to annihilate those he considered to be impure Elves. When he didn’t get far with that, he took his children and fled the planet.

  They had been seen on various planets and in several space stations and check points, but no one had seen them in over seven years. If he’d been in hiding for that long, perhaps she didn’t have to worry about him hunting her and Kalis down. Her people, however, were most likely wanting some justice and she was worried she may have to pay the price.

  “Are you ready?” Valdrik asked.

  She jumped as he gripped her shoulder. She had been lost in thought and hadn’t heard him come in. He must have seen the worry on her face for he bent over and kissed her forehead. Valdrik took her hand and pulled her up against him. He rested his chin on top of her head as he gently rocked her back and forth. “Everything will be all right. I will not leave your side. Everyone aboard this ship and Yasu’s are willing to fight for you. You will be safe. You have nothing to worry about.”

  He kissed her hair and continued, “Well, the only thing you may have to worry about is my sisters dog piling you and my mother breaking a couple of your ribs when she gives you her death-grip hug, but other than that, you have nothing to worry about,” he said with a smile.

  She looked up at him and smiled. Here she was worried about facing her people and she had completely forgotten that this would be the first time meeting his mother. She had met his younger siblings a couple of times before, with the youngest taking after their father. Valdrik had talked about his mother in the past, mentioning the fact that he was only half werewolf. His mother was a siren.

  He described her as unusually strong for one so small in frame but always happy, and because she was happy, his father was happy. Valdrik and one of his sisters had her green eyes. His mother sang beautifully, of course, and she was a wonderful cook. She had often sung to her children before bed. Delphi was kind and gentle, yet she had quite the scary temper.

  Valdrik had also said it wasn’t her voice or her beauty that his father had fallen for in their youth; it had been her cooking. She had rolled her eyes at this, learning that Yasu had inherited Able’s appetite.

  Valdrik helped Es with her cloak and they headed for the cargo hold.

  “Does anyone know I’m here? Or that I’m coming?” she asked.

  Valdrik smiled. “No, Love. You and Kalis are our little secret for now.”

  As they entered the hold, Es saw a whole crowd of the crew in various colored cloaks. They beamed at her and she smiled back.

  “Like I said, Princess,” Valdrik whispered in her ear. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  Ӝ

  Valdrik scanned the area as he led Es to his home. Despite having reassured his mate about her safety, he wasn’t completely certain that all of the King’s spies ware gone. He had instructed everyone to keep their hoods on and to remain vigilant. The plan was to get her to his home first and let her reunite with his family.

  Next, they would spend a few days rummaging through what was left of the castle to find any evidence they could. Also, Valdrik had a personal mission to obtain anything that once belonged to the Queen and Es. After that, they would reveal Kalis and Es to their people. It made things a little easier knowing that everyone knew the King’s true side.

  Valdrik rounded a corner with Es right behind him, Kalis behind her, and Yasu bringing up the rear. Several of their crew members were strewn about throughout the village, keeping an eye and ear out for any enemies.

  Upon reaching his childhood home, Valdrik bound up the steps and knocked on the door. A blue-green-haired beauty opened the door and smiled. “Welcome home, dear.”

  Valdrik removed his hood as he stepped inside and kissed his mother’s cheek. He had asked his mother years ago how she always knew who was at the door before she even opened it. She had first explained it simply as “intuition”, but later explained that she had a special mental connection to each of her children, allowing her peace of mind that all of them were alright.

  They stepped aside to let everyone in and closed the door behind them. Yasu was quick to drop his cloak and hug their mother. He’d always been a momma’s boy and Valdrik had teased him about it when they were younger. Now he envied the kind of relationship they had and hoped to have that kind of closeness with his own offspring.

  Es had drawn close to Valdrik while Kalis stood apart from everyone.

  “Well?” Delphi questioned. “Go on, remove your hoods. It’s impolite, you know.”

  Valdrik looked at his mother with a smile and turned to his mate. He lifted his hand to her hood and paused. “Mother,” he said glancing back in her direction. “We have very special guests today, and you must keep this a secret for now.”

  Delphi nodded as she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

  Valdrik removed Es’ hood and heard his mother hiss. Before he could even turn around, his mother was upon Es, inspecting her face and touching her ears and running her fingers over her hair.

  “Mom, this is Princess Revlis, soon to be my mate,” he said with slight chuckle.

  His mother’s head snapped in his direction and then glided back toward Revlis. She placed her hands on Es’ cheeks and smiled with tears in her eyes. She pulled Revlis into her death-hug and Es laughed as she wrapped her arms around the woman in return. Delphi pulled back and held her at arm’s length.

  “Well, goodness me, my baby got himself a princess! And a pretty little Elf at that,” she said with a big grin. She turned toward Kalis as he removed his hood and she hissed a second time as her eyes went wide. “You.”

  Sensing there may be a problem, Yasu was quick to intervene by stepping between the two. “Mother, he’s a friend. He didn’t do anything the King claims him to have done. And we can prove it.”

  “There is no problem here, boys, I promise. I trust you to not bring any dangerous people into our home. I’m just shocked to see them both here is all. After all, she’s been missing for centuries and he’s been dead for even longer, and yet, here they are.” Delphi said in disbelief as she swung her arms in their direction. “Just you wait ‘til your father gets home. You are staying for a while this time, right?”

  “Yes, mother, we would like to stay here tonight, it that’s okay with you,” Valdrik said.

  “I’m your mother, of course it’s alright!” Delphi exclaimed. “Besides, what safer place is there for these two than family, am I right?”

  Es smiled and Kalis breathed a sigh of relief.

  “I’ll cook up something real special, just you wait. In the meantime, I bought some fresh bread from the market this morning if you’re hungry,” she said with a wink and disappeared further into the house.

  “I like her,” Es giggled.

  As Valdrik helped her out of her cloak, the front door opened and a shadow filled the doorway.

  “Hey, pops,” Yasu greeted Able as he stared at them from the doorway.

  “Boys!” the big wolf bellowed. He closed the door with one hand, yet it slammed shut.

  “How many times do I have to tell you not to break the door?!” Delphi shouted, coming out of the kitchen scowling with a ladle in her hand pointed in Able’s direction, her blue green hair now up in a bun.

  He gave a sheepish grin as he apologized and strode across the room to kiss his mate.

  “If I break it, I’ll fix it,” he said with a grin.

  “You bet your ass you will,” she said with a smirk and walked off.

  Able turned to the group and sm
iled even bigger. He grabbed Kalis around the shoulders and ruffled his hair. Then, he held out his massive arm to Es, who happily curled up against him in his gentle hug.

  He held both at a distance and looked them over as Kalis attempted to fix his hair. “You both look well, especially for one having been dead all this time,” he said as he ruffled Kalis’ hair again.

  “It’s good to see you,” Es said.

  “Dad,” Valdrik spoke up. Able looked at his boys. They had both seen better days, but they look happy now, so he didn’t say anything.

  “Dad,” Valdrik said again as he cleared his throat. “Revlis will be my mate soon. So they are family now. And no one knows they are here, so we need to keep everything quiet.”

  Able raised his thick brows as he looked down at the Princess. She was no longer the small, laughing child he remembered, but a beautiful woman. If she was anything like she had been before her father released him from duty, she would make a wonderful addition to the family. And Kalis, every bit the scholarly warrior he was, would fit in just fine. Fates knew Delphi felt for them and would give them every bit of motherly love she could and at every opportunity.

  “Welcome to the family, or so I’d like to say,” he said with a shrug. His boys gave him a confused look. He continued, “But to me, you two have always been family,” Able finished, hugging the two again.

  The door swung open with such force, it hit the wall and Delphi came storming back into the room. “Slam that door one more time and see what I do to your hide!” she yelled before disappearing again.

  Es glanced toward the door. There stood the triplets, gawking at their father. The girls squealed as they ran for Able. However, it wasn’t him they were after, as both Es and Kalis were yanked away from Able and into the middle of a triplet’s hug.

  The girls could hardly contain their excitement, asking one question after another in rapid succession while touching the pair of Elf siblings and hugging them repeatedly.

  “Girls, girls, stand back now,” Able laughed. “Let them breathe.”

  The girls step back and look at each other and then bombarded their brothers.

  “Did you guys just get back?”

  “How long are you staying?”

  “Are you staying long?”

  “Where did you find them?”

  “Can you spar with us a bit this time?”

  “Please tell me you guys are staying the night.”

  “Woah, girls, calm down, one at a time.” Yasu said laughing as he hugged the blue haired triplet, Renae. “We don’t know how long we’re staying, so we can’t make any promises yet, but we hope we can stay for a while. It depends on their safety.”

  The girls looked at Es and Kalis and grinned.

  Valdrik hugged Rira, the red-headed siren of the triplets. “We might be able to get a little sparring in while we’re here, but I can’t make any solid promises, okay? For now, we need you girls to keep them a secret, understand?”

  The girls nodded. “We’re going to change our clothes, okay? We’ll be right back,” Renae said, letting her blue wavy hair swish as she spun and they all left the room. The girls disappeared down the hall and a moment later the door opened once again. Dune, the youngest pup, stood in the entryway in his academy uniform with his mouth wide open.

  “Hey, Dune,” Yasu laughed, walking over and ruffling his little brother’s sandy hair. “Are you trying to catch anything with that mouth of yours?”

  Dune snapped back to reality and glared at his eldest brother. Yasu was always teasing him, but that’s how things were. Yasu had always played the mean big brother while Valdrik would care for and defend them. Dune walked up to Es and Kalis and looked between the two.

  “Hello, Dune. Do you remember us?” Kalis asked.

  “Not really, but these guys talk about you a lot,” he answered as he gestured to his family.

  “They are family now, Dune,” Able told him.

  Dune gave a perplexed look to his father.

  “I am soon to be Valdrik’s mate, Dune,” Es said with a smile.

  Dune’s eyes widened. The girls reentered the room, squealing when Es gave the revelation, and then they swept up Dune into their triplets hug.

  A high-pitched whistle cut through the air, and everyone turned to see Delphi standing in the doorway. “All of you go wash up and prepare the table. Lunch is almost ready.”

  Ӝ

  The meal was filled with laughter and loud conversation, helping Es feel right at home, and yet she was missing her own family at the same time.

  “I can help you clean up,” Es told Delphi.

  “No, that’s quite alright. You can find something else to do, dear,” Delphi replied.

  “Ah, mother, why not let her help? After all, you did cook quite a bit of food and it will give you ladies something to do until I return,” Valdrik piped up. The women stared at him, so he cleared his throat before he continued, “I need father to come with me to the market to pick up a few things for dinner.”

  The women exchanged looks as Able stood. “Alright then, ladies, looks like Val has a special dinner in mind, so let’s get going then.”

  Ӝ

  “So? What’s really going on?” Able asked his son as they wandered through the market.

  “I want to get her a betrothal gift father, and I thought you could help me with that. I want to give her something she’ll love, like you gave to mother.” Valdrik replied, his eyes darting from one stall to another.

  Able chuckled at his son’s nervousness. “Val. You don’t need my help. You’re just worried you will disappoint her.”

  “Exactly,” he said as he spun on his heel to face his father. He hissed out a whisper, “What do I get for a Princess? What can I possibly give her that will please her?”

  Able laughed and shook his head. His son was usually calm and collected, and yet here he stood as nervous as he was as a pup faced with his first day at the academy. “Take a deep breath, Val,” he said as he grabbed his son’s shoulders. “Listen, calm down. There is no need to feel so much pressure. You know what she likes, yes?”

  Valdrik nodded, remaining silent to listen to his father’s advice. “Then the answer is simple. I know how you feel. I felt it when I was in your shoes many years ago. And you know what?” Valdrik shook his head. “I failed. Your mother turned me down several times. Do you know why?” Again, Valdrik shook his head, growing worried that his father may not have been his best choice in assistance.

  “She refused me like she refused all the others that came after her. Your mother was a beautiful young lady with a voice that nearly out-shined her face. She had males courting her day and night. And like all of the rest, I came to her with the same gifts of flowers, expensive materials, and beautiful jewels. She turned her nose up at every single one. Do you know what I came to give your mother?”

  Valdrik stood waiting, as he indeed did not know. “I continued going to the bar where your mother worked and lived. Day after day, night after night. Over time, I came to realize she didn’t care about how much money we spent on her and didn’t even like flowers. Her mother was obsessed with pearls, so naturally she hated them.” Able chuckled and continued, “One night, I approached her and simply asked her permission to court her. I did so many times until she finally gave in. I brought her many gifts, all of which she accepted. Do you know why?”

  Valdrik tilted his head and shrugged.

  “She accepted my gifts because I had not only taken the time to learn her interests, but because I had asked her permission to court her.” Able smiled. “Your mother is a stubborn woman, but simple. After weeks of courting, we mated. To this day, I still bring home the occasional gift, whether I bring home dinner, something she needs or the pair of earrings I’ve caught her eyeing. Val, what matters is that you pay attention to her. It’s that simple. You can please her simply by doing that.” Able finished with a smile, patted his son on the arm, and disappeared into the crowd, leaving his son to ponder
what courting gift would be best suited for his mate.

  Valdrik smiled as a thought struck him and he made his way through the market.

  Ӝ

  Es had spent the last couple of hours enjoying tea while having some girl time with Valdrik’s family. The only male in the house was Kalis, who had returned to his room after the meal. After Able and Valdrik had left, Yasu had claimed he would be a kind big brother and bestow his mate-catching wisdom on Dune and help him find his mate. Dune, however, tried to resist, though found his struggle to be futile; Yasu dragged him out of the house by the backside of his collar.