He took a breath, then let it out slowly, his gaze fixed on some distant point in the blue sky.
"So be it. My name is Valor, gifted to me by my mother. In our native tongue, it is impossible for the mortal tongue to speak, but in the mortal tongue, I am simply Valor.
"But I was not always so. Once I was Prince Valor, the son of the mortal prince, Naheem, and the immortal princess now known to history as the Breaker. As is always the case, politics and power, betrayal and intrigue, this broke my home when I was little more than a toddler. My mother's people came and slew my father, for the Elder's Council had deemed my father imperfect, unfit to be my mother's mate.
"They then ordered my mother to dispose of me, for I too was deemed imperfect. My mother was to dispose of me and mate with the prince they had chosen. But my mother was clever, and so she both obeyed and disobeyed. She obeyed by disposing of me - and giving me to her grandmother, Her Royal Grace. And then she disobeyed by disappearing, warning them she would never mate with the prince they had chosen, that I was her heir. And then she warned them that if I ever died, so too would the peace that Her Royal Grace's wedding had brought."
"But I speak too soon. Let me return to the beginning. The land from which I come from is very far away, very old. It was still a new land when Her Royal Grace inherited from her sire, the Dragon Emperor. Unfortunately, the Dragon Emperor was very arrogant and conceited, and very indifferent. His only weakness was his daughter, she who was the Fireborn. And when he relinquished the throne to her, the fractured land demanded unity. The Elder's Council came to her and demanded she execute her sire for his numerous crimes, and to mate with the prince they had chosen."
"Aye, Grace, a familiar tale already. But Her Royal Grace had inherited her sire's stubborn nature. She refused to execute him, but agreed to mate with one of theirs. Alas, the Elder's Council was also very arrogant and conceited. They had chosen for her a warrior hardened by battle, a male who would be a worthy king, so that she might do a female's duty and bear him sons. So they did not know how to react when the male she chose was one they had never expected."
"As a boy, the one they called the Flamesword had always been ever present in the company of the Fireborn. Not as a companion, nor as a lover, simply as a friend. And while she learned the tactics of war from the Dragon Emperor, he learned the gentler healing arts. When she returned from the training field, he is the one who tended her injuries.
"History tells that they fell in love, and when the Council tried to force the Fireborn into marriage, she quietly married the Flamesword. The Council had no choice but to acquiesce, for the Flamesword was not afraid to defend and protect his Queen."
"In time, their eldest daughter, Alexa Sunjewel, married also. Her choice was one of her mother's best allies, called Carter the Brave. But by this time, peace also prevailed over the land."
"And then Juliana the Breaker met Prince Naheem. And so I am here."
"Father...you said that your mother died for me?"
"Aye. The Elder's Council found me, after all these years. I was too strong for them, but you were not. And so the Breaker willingly fell on her sword to protect you. After all, if she was not around to teach you the women's magic, then you were no threat."
"But...
now what?"
"It is done. That you regained your magics tells me that the Elder's Council no longer binds us. We are free to live our lives as we truly wish."
