Chapter 17: TalkAfter school one day, Oswin took her first son into the sitting room to talk.
"Leo," she said, placing her hand on his. "There is something very important we have to talk about."
"Is it about father being a werewolf?" He asked her. "Because I already know and I don't mind. As long as he doesn't shed on my stuff."
"Oh, no, it's not about that. It's about your future."
"My future?"
"Mmhmm. You are my heir," she told him.
When his face looked blank, she decided to start at the beginning, with her father, his disappearance, and the responsibilities that would fall on both her and him.
As Oswin explained to her first son all about their past and present, Solanine was talking to Oswin's second son about his potential future.
"Listen, Oblique. Repeat after me. Vicious Werewolf."
"Pup-py."
"No, child. Vicious, Soul-Crushing Werewolf."
"Puppy," he said brightly, beaming with joy.
Solanine sighed in frustration. This boy was Good, just like his mother. And he responded to love and affection so positively. So healthily.
Surely, there was a way to change that delighted little mind of his.
"So I'm going to be emperor some day?" Leo asked his mother.
"I'm afraid not. You're going to stay here, in Aurora skies, and I'm going to take your heir with me to the next city-state so they can have an heir there. We want to connect these places to our blood line, so they feel part of the Empire again."
"Do you think it will work, Mom?' He asked her.
"We have to try, Baby," she said, kissing his hair. "We have to try."
Delilah spent much of her time honing her magic abilities. In her early teens, she would catch up a butterfly, only to have it burst into smoke and disintegrate in her hands.
She had not yet mastered the ability to direct her power. She could feel it coursing through her from time to time, or jolt her like a static shock when she had gone without practicing for too long. When she asked her father about this, his response was extremely positive.
"You're a powerful girl, Dee. It's going to be harder for you to control all of that energy than some idiot witch who can barely manage a card trick," Luther told her. "Don't be frightened of it. Embrace it, my love."
She nodded. "Of course, father. I'll keep practicing."
"And when you get some more control, we can duel," he promised her. She smiled and nodded. She absolutely adored her father. She knew he would do anything for her. When Chin had made a comment about how her sub-par magic skills had caused a vase to break, Luther rolled up a newspaper and beat him down like the dog he was.
"Respect my daughter, Dog, or next time it will be my boot and my foot will still be in it."
And although Delilah didn't know it, Luther had been asking around to see if he could find anything to make her magical transition easier.
He truly believed it was because she was much more powerful than most, and the energy was building up inside of her.
He didn't expect to run into part of the Ashen underground in his quest, but he certainly wouldn't look a gift dragon in the mouth. Especially not when it was so very attractive.
"I remember it being in here somewhere," Solanine said to herself as she searched through the old leather bound tome.
"Ah, yes. That's the one."
"Goodnight, little Oblique. I have the most perfect present for you when you're older."
