My mom, Lysa, came over and brushed my hair aside. “Jonas is well. He’s downstairs getting cleaned up. He told us how brave you were.”
I had faced my fears, but so had many others. “We all fought. In fact, Meina and I would have never gotten to the dungeon if Fenick and Ren hadn’t created a diversion. And Meina fought like a skilled warrior—fearless and agile. The success of the battle was not because of me; it’s because we all fought back.”
“True,” Jonas stood in the doorway, his hair looked wet and his face looked older. “But the villagers are free because you took down their corrupt leader and helped rescue their king.”
“Jonas!” It was good to see the man who had cared for me during the trip to the village. He was alive.
“Good to see you, Raynar.” He looked about the room. “I see you’ve drawn quite the crowd.” Jonas laughed as he approached.
“What happened? The last thing I remember was fighting the guards. And then getting out to the courtyard. And...thinking I was dead.”
“I came back for you,” Torin recounted. “You were in bad shape. I worried I was doing more damage as I picked you up to carry you. But I had to get you to Poe. Once the villagers saw their king was still alive, they fought against the remaining guards. Poe began healing you and our father, King Vintras, while Fenick and Ren got the others out of the area. Then they returned to bring you both here.”
“Neither of you would have made it back to the shop without some initial healing,” Poe added, his eyes still closed.
“Did King Vintras make it?” I asked.
“He did. Mom has been by his side pretty much non-stop since he arrived.” Torin rubbed the back of his neck.
“He has heart failure and was without his medications,” Jonas explained. “Henrick could do nothing to help him after they were imprisoned. The king’s health has declined, but I’ve given him some modern medications and he grows stronger. The medications are not a cure, but he is stable.” Jonas had sympathy in his eyes. And while the news was hard to hear, I was glad King Vintras was alive.
“What about the village?” I asked. With Larkin gone and Vintras’s failing health, I wondered how unstable life for the villagers had become.
Kaden came over. “Some have chosen to stay while others are ready to explore the land further south. The king will need someone to help him manage the village. There is much to rebuild after the battle. In fact, he has mentioned that either of you would be a great successor and would like to speak with you both.”
“Oh, I’m not sure the king would want me, the dragon who bit his son’s head off, to rule with him. Better send Torin.” I nodded to my brother who stood at the foot of my bed.
“Turns out I have some of that dragon blood too.” Torin confessed.
“You turned into a dragon?” I wished I had seen it.
“No, I wish.” Torin sighed.
Jonas explained, “He was the only one who came out of battle without any scratches or wounds. I took a sample of his skin and found he’s coated in microscopic scales. It’s like he’s wearing a suit of armor.” Poe opened his eyes and sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“I need some of that.” With my vEDS, a suit of armor would help keep me from most injury.
“You have that.” Poe answered. “I checked your skin too once I found Torin had this mutation. The more I’ve had time to think on it, the more I believe your dragon genes activated when I healed you that first time. Jonas wants to retest you for vEDS when you get back to Midland.”
“If he goes back.” Torin added. “The people need a ruler who will treat them as fair as Vintras. Who better than Cross to lead them.”
“You would be better than me.” I countered. Torin was a natural leader. “Jonas has groomed you to be a strong leader. I saw that from the moment I met you. You had the fight and perseverance above the conflict.”
Torin turned to Jonas. “Is that why you’ve kept me at an arm’s distance my whole life?”
Jonas bit his lower lip and nodded slowly. “I knew one day you would be needed here. I trained you and taught you the best I could, and I was careful not to get too close to you.”
“Did you ever think about what I wanted?” Torin’s voice had a strong edge to it.
“You are a king’s son. You and Raynar are born of royal blood. Our village—” Jonas was interrupted by Torin.
“I wasn’t even born in that village! Visiting there a few days does not make it my village.” Torin shook his head. “You told me we were coming here to meet our dying father. That’s it.” Torin shoved Jonas in the chest. “I don’t want to rule a village. All I’ve ever wanted is to be your son. Why couldn’t you be that for me? Why couldn’t you be more like Cross’s parents?”
My heart broke for my brother. He stormed off down the hall with Jonas following after, shouting for him to stop and talk to him. The door to the shop slammed a moment later.
I turned toward my Guardian parents, “How come you raised me different than how Jonas raised Torin?” I wondered if they doubted my ability to rule when they learned I had vEDS. The worry was always in my mind that people took pity and didn’t expect much from me. Sure, I had limitations because of the fragile disorder, but I was still a person with a sound mind, and with dreams, hopes, and beliefs.
My dad looked down at the ground a moment and then met my eyes. “Jonas had warned us not to get close. He told us that as soon as the barrier lifted, we were to bring the king his children. None of us had any idea it would take as long as it had to lift the barrier, but your mother and I aren’t sorry for the time we had with you or how we treated you. We’ve loved you since the first day we held you in our arms.”
My mother grabbed my hand. “As far as the vEDS is concerned, yes, we have cautioned you about dangerous activities to avoid, but we’ve always helped you find a safe way to do the things you’ve wanted to do. When all the kids at swim lessons were diving off the diving board, we had the instructor teach you the Ray Cross Pencil Dive. It was a way you could go off the low boards with minimal risk of injury. And all those times you wanted to ride your bike around the neighborhood with friends, I wanted to put you in a bubble to keep you safe. But instead we bought you a walkie talkie so you could be free and check in from time to time. We know you are capable of great things and we have never for once doubted that you could lead the people of Yardis.”
My dad set his arm on my mom’s shoulder. “Why do you think Jonas wouldn’t let us go with you to meet the king? He worried we would cloud your judgement about staying and becoming the next king. It killed us not to go.” He shook his head. “But he was right. We grew too close to you and you needed to decide this on your own.”
I tried to swing my legs out of bed but found I was hooked to some tubes. “Hold up.” Poe held me back with his arm. “You have a catheter in. Let’s clear the room so I can remove it and get you checked out.” Poe urged everyone out of the room.
It was odd knowing he had to put a catheter in me. “How long was I out?”
Poe returned with a small bucket and a syringe. “Two days.” He lifted the blanket and within a minute, the catheter was removed. He pulled off the tape holding the piping to my leg and pulled the blanket over me. “Listen, I don’t know about this king business but I know about choices—make this choice for you, not anyone else. You’re at the crossroads and you get to choose which path to take. Your choice.” He wrapped up the medic supplies and excused himself to dump the bucket and wash his hands. He returned a moment later and shut the door behind him. “Seems Torin took off somewhere. Needed to blow off some steam.”
“Yeah, they really need to talk it out.” I added.
“Agreed. Now, let’s have a look at your wounds.” He began unbandaging my left arm.
“How did you know how to do this?” I motioned toward my privates.
“I have all my father’s notes on healing. Thankfully they were very detailed.” He laughed uncomfortably. Glad
I wasn’t the only one weirded out by catheter bit. “Unbelievable.” He set the first wrap on my blanket. A pink line with slight bruising was all that remained on my bicep. “This had a huge gash in it.” He grabbed a jar from the bedside table and spread some ointment on the scar. “I had to pack the wounds before I could transport you back here. After I cleaned the wounds, I stitched you up but you healed so quick, I had to take the stitch out the very next day. I’m starting to think healing is your special power.”
“Oh yeah? Why is that?”
“I checked the wounds yesterday and they were almost closed, but a wound that large should have taken a normal person ten days to heal, probably six days for Fenick and Ren. But you healed up in one day!” Poe unwrapped my other limbs and put ointment on each of the scars. “I’m glad they didn’t hit any organs or blood vessels. You got lucky.”
“Why was I out cold for so long?” He had said I was out for two days.
“I don’t know. I can only guess it has to do with this rapid healing thing you got going on.” Poe closed the jar and wiped his hands on a towel. “Come on, Mom said she’d heat something up for you when you were ready.” Poe led me downstairs which seemed surprisingly empty.
“Where’d everyone go?”
“Good question. Here, sit and I’ll look around.” Poe checked the lower level and finally returned with our mom behind him.
“Poe says you might be up for some warm food.” She looked tired.
“It’s okay, a bag of chips will do. If they still have some” I didn’t want to trouble her. “Is everyone else gone?”
Poe grabbed two bottles of water and a bag of chips. He tossed them at me as he sat across from me. “Ren and Fenick took them to Yardis and then headed out to look for Torin.”
Our mom brought over a tray with sliced bread that looked familiar and smelled heavenly and two bowls of a stew. “I had made this yesterday. I think stew always tastes better the next day as all the ingredients marinate in each other.” She said with a warm smile. “Lysa and Jaron brought this bread for you. I think they called it Wonderful Bread.”
I picked it up, took a bite, and tasted heaven. “I have missed carbs so frickin’ bad. And not that it matters but it’s Wonder Bread, though it is pretty wonderful. Here try some!”
Meina ate the piece I had torn off for her. She did not seem as elated as I was over the non-nutritious hunk of starch. “Thank you, it was…soft.” She picked up the other bowl and tried to hand it to Poe.
“Mom, I already ate,” Poe protested politely.
“You should try some Wonder bread. It’s wonderful.” I laughed and Poe joined me.
“Seriously, Poe, you need to rebuild your strength. This will help. Eat.” She pushed the bowl into his hands. “Now, please excuse me, I want to return to Vintras and see if he needs me.” She smiled and retreated to a room on the right side of the shop.
When she was no longer in sight, Poe sat back and opened his water and took a long drink. “I didn’t think she would ever be happy again. But having this time with the man she had loved has brightened her spirits.”
“What happened? I mean with her and your dad?”
Poe let out a forceful breath. “Long story. Mom always seemed to be the unwanted child. The Yardinians hated magic users and tried to run off her and her mother. And the Gylos would not accept her because it went against the Gylos law to marry outside the tribe.”
“So, wait, how many are in this Gylos tribe?” If the tribe was small, they’d be inbred and look pretty messed up.
“There were about two hundred. My father came from the Gylos tribe but he fell in love with my mother. They didn’t have a problem with breeding outside of the tribe but when my parents decided to marry, the Gylos turned their backs on him, well most of them. He had a few friends from the tribe who would come check on him and trade goods.”
“Why did that matter? Why were they allowed to mate outside of the tribe but not marry? Makes no sense.”
“One word—Religion. Marriage in the Gylos tribe is sacred and marrying outside the tribe is blasphemy.”
“So what happened? To your Dad?”
“One day my mother went out to bring in the linens that had been hung up to dry.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. “I remember hearing her screaming followed by a thunderous roar. I ran to the window where I saw a large dragon attacking an army of Gylos.”
“Was your mom the dragon?”
He nodded. “I’d never seen her transform before. It terrified me. At first I thought the dragon had come and ate my mom. But by the end of the battle, she turned back into her human form. It was hard to understand. The Gylos were supposed to be peaceful healers yet they came here picking a fight.” He took in a breath and looked at me. “The Gylos charged at her, attacking her first and the battle begun. When it was over, they were all dead—every Gylos male, including my father, who had hurried to her side to fight beside her.”
“The Gylos killed your father?” I tried to imagine Poe watching this from an upstairs window as a young child.
“No.” He was silent as he looked down at the ground and said, “My mother killed him, on accident.” Poe did not look up as he rubbed at his left eye and let out a long sigh.
“I’m so sorry. When did this happen?”
“It was a few weeks ago.”
“Did you and your brothers help fight?”
“Ren and Fenick were out doing the trades. My father ordered me to stay inside. He told me he was going to speak peacefully to the men and worried my presence would only complicate things. I should have never listened to him.” He shook his head and tears fell. “I should have run out there and alerted my mom, made her aware that he was there.”
“Stop,” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t do this to yourself. You don’t know that it would have changed anything. It might have made it worse.”
“I felt so helpless, standing there as my parents fought these men, as my father died.” Poe probably hadn’t had much time to grieve and vocalize the emotional event, but I could see the tension leave his body the more he opened up. “All of this over a religious law…”
He wiped the tears away. “Yeah, so when the Gylos women came to collect their dead, one came forward and apologized. Her husband had been a high council member and had incited the violence after his son had announced his marriage to a commoner. The council had been outraged with this news. So, the dad had decided to scare his kid by making an example of my family.”
“But you weren’t living within the Gylos tribe, were you?”
“No, but it didn’t matter. They came to crush all that was good in my father’s life and punish him for a choice he made years ago. Only they never anticipated facing a dragon.” He took our empty bowls to the sink and rinsed them before returning.
“That’s terrible.” Religion was good for many things, like uniting people with similar beliefs, and providing hope and purpose. But sometimes, like this instance with the Gylos, I didn’t agree with religious law. I didn’t understand why two people in love, living peacefully in the world, should be attacked, “Meina has been through so much.”
“She has. She’s been lost without him, spending more and more time away from the shop. I’ve had to look after Ren and Fennick and keep things going here.” He plopped back into the seat across from me.
“No wonder Ren and Fenick listen to you as they do.” I stretched my legs, they felt stiff from laying still for a few days.
“When they do.” Poe corrected. “Can’t believe Ren torched your ride.” He shook his head.
“Me neither. I guess Torin pissed him off.”
Poe laughed. “Not hard to do that with Ren. I swear that kid was born pissed off.”
“Can I go see him?” I nodded my head toward the room where King Vintras and Meina were visiting.
“Yeah.” Poe stood and held his hand out to help me up. “I’ll be around if you need me.”
I walked to the room
and knocked on the open door. My biological parents held hands and laughed about some shared moment. They turned and greeted me.
“Raynar, come here son.” My father said as he motioned for me to come closer. “Sit, sit.”
I took a seat next to my father, across from Meina, my mother. “How are you?” I asked.
“Oh, I’ve been better.” He chuckled and coughed.
“You look better. I’m sorry about Larkin. I should have done something different, injured him instead of—”
“Raynar if you hadn’t, he might’ve killed me,” my mother said. “You acted quickly to save me. I’m alive because of you.” Her voices sounded thick with emotion.
My father said nothing, but tears filled his eyes.
“Anyway,” I stood to leave, “I’m glad you are okay, both of you.” As I stepped into the hall, I heard my father call to me.
“Raynar!” I turned to see my father trying to sit up in bed, my mother helped him. “Raynar, you mustn’t carry this burden. Your mother is correct, your quick thinking saved both of us. I am sad. I loved Larkin and wish this would have ended differently. My heart is broken over his betrayal.” He choked back his emotion and shook his head. “Never in my life would I have thought he would lock me away to take control. He knew my health was failing. Who does that to their own flesh and blood?”
My mother lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it.
“I think he worried that if villagers left, he would lose control and the village would fall apart. Did you know he murdered Kyra and the others that attempted to leave?” I asked.
He lowered his head and nodded. “I do now. Kaden told me yesterday.” He shook his head. “I had no idea such atrocities happened by my own child while I wore the crown!”
“He made those choices, not you. He was responsible for his actions. You were bedridden and unaware of his doings. Had you known and turned a blind eye, then you would be partially responsible.”
I heard the front door open and familiar voices filled the shop. I peeked over my shoulder. “Looks like Torin is back.” I stood and patted my father’s leg. “I’ll come back later to check on you.”
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