“None taken.” Kamila swallowed a lump of saliva.
“If I’m right, these attacks aren’t meant to kidnap her. Whoever is behind it must know the attempts are bound to fail. They are just probing the defense system that protects Kamila while also making sure that there are no loopholes in the Guardians’ oath.
“That’s why all the assailants know it word by word and try to play around it.”
“Wait a second, something isn’t right.” Rena’s brain spun at full gear. “If whoever is behind this knows about the Guardians, then how can they hope to escape your wrath?
“Grandma can read minds and the moment a woman approaches Lith, Salaark will know of her involvement in Kamila’s death.”
“You are too naïve, child.” Salaark sighed. “Everyone knows I read minds because that’s how trials in the Desert work. Hence whoever they send will probably be just a puppet. Someone who doesn’t even know she’s being used.
“Someone who loves and respects the culprit and who will unwittingly follow their plan. Someone who probably has a genuine interest in Lith in order to pass the screening that those around him will put her through.
“If Leegaain’s theory is correct, this is the work of a single Awakened bloodline. They were present at the ceremony, have the means to spread the news, and must have already a violet-cored candidate ready to step in.”
Lith’s brain was still frozen by the revelation, but the looming threat quickly snapped him out of it, allowing him to see a sliver of light in the darkness.
“You said that it happened to you in the past. How did you solve the problem?”
“Easy.” Leegaain replied. “You find them and then you hit them so hard that nobody will ever dare to try something like that again. A total wipe out.”
“But, if I’m really against an Awakened bloodline, what can I do with just Solus and Tista alone?” Lith asked.
“Alone?” Friya and Nalrond snarled, feeling offended. “Have you forgotten about your friends”
“Alone?” Leegaain growled, feeling outraged. “Do you know what happens when someone tries to steal a Dragon’s egg?”
“No.” Lith didn’t know the answer, but something in the tone of the Father of All Dragons told him he was going to like it.
“My Brood goes on a warpath. The egg of one of us is the egg of all of us!”
“I get it but Kami-”
“She bears the eggs.” Salaark put her hand on Leegaain’s shoulder before his wrath scared the children. “As I told you, this happens often so when our kind finds a spouse, we all take it personally.
“None of our children cares about what happens to Kamila, but if you ask their help to avenge her death, they will all follow. This is public knowledge and usually deterrent enough to nip such ploys in the bud.
“That’s why Leegaain spoke about a single Awakened bloodline, cocky enough to try. The others are probably scared and waiting on the sidelines to see how it goes.”
“Well, I have bad news for them.” Leegaain growled. “Salaark, Tyris, and I have let the assailants slip past the Queen’s Corps and your magical beasts on purpose. We hid them from sight so that whoever is behind this couldn’t collect any real data.
“We gave the instigator a false sense of security while also capturing all their pawns alive and ready to be interrogated.”
Lith sighed in relief at Leegaain’s foresight and was glad to have him as an ally. The Father of All Dragons spoke slowly and with a calm voice, but the fire behind his eyes threatened to burn Mogar to a crisp.
***
Later that same night, after Solus was done venting with her support group, the Verhens moved to their mansion on the east side of the Trawn woods. They wanted to have a mana geyser nearby to allow Solus to keep her human form and keep her company.
Also, they wanted to start getting accustomed to the place now that it had been fully furnished. Soon there would be two Royal Galas and they would be both hosted in the Verhen Mansion.
One for Lith’s birthday and another for Elysia’s birth.
Once there, Lith felt the need to share with everyone the parts that Salaark had left out simply because she couldn’t witness them even with her breathing technique. Like his meeting with Mogar and his latest quarrel with the Voidfeather Dragon.
Lith hoped to gain insight from reliving the events and maybe also receive some advice.
Alas, no one knew what to say and after a cup of warm milk, everyone felt tired from the long night and the heavy news they had received.
“Please, be honest with me, dear.” Raaz said while putting on his pajamas. “Am I a bad father?”
The room had a King-sized canopy bed in the middle of the north wall and large windows on the east side so let sunrise in and wake up its occupants. A soft had-woven black and red carpet covered the whole floor, keeping the room warm and dulling the steps of its occupants.
The tapestry bore the Verhen family’s insignia on the four corners and a scene from Lith destroying the black star in the middle. There were lots of wardrobes lined up against the other two walls, filled with more clothes than Raaz and Elina would ever wear.
The clothes were gifts from merchants and nobles from all over the Kingdom who wanted to get into their son’s good book. Manipulating Lith was nigh-impossible whereas his parents were still simple people, easy to impress.
By giving Raaz and Elina gifts, those people hoped to gain a direct channel of communication with Lith through his parents. Alas, Raaz and Elina had gone through a lot so they were simple but not dumb.
They accepted everything under the condition that those items were tokens of gratitude for their son’s endeavors, they took the names of everyone involved, and then passed them all to Lith to check them out before even bringing a single button inside the house.
“Why do you ask me that?” Elina was puzzled by his question and glad that their room had its own bathroom. “You have always been a fantastic husband and an amazing father.”
“I wish.” Raaz sighed. “Between Lith and Solus seeing Mogar with your face and Solus needing only your comfort, I must have screwed up big time at some point. I wonder if Rena and Tista feel the same, but I’m too afraid of their answer to ask.”
Elina pondered his words for a while in silence. She had always considered those things flattering, without thinking about how they could affect her husband’s fatherly pride.
“I don’t think so.” She replied after a while. “I’m sure that all of our children love you as much as they love me, especially Tista and Rena. Lith is a special case. I admit that our bond is probably stronger than yours, but not because you did something wrong.
“I was just lucky.”
“What do you mean?” Raaz asked with a confused expression.
“Rena is one of our firstborns. We gave her and… her twin more time and attention than most of our children got. ”
