Eir's POV
Hearing my father's story was both heartbreaking and beautiful, but it also led to even more questions at the same time as it answered questions I had. But first and foremost, I glared at Seb.
"So? Can you?"
"Yes."
He answered way too lightly with a sheepish grin,
"Then why didn't you?"
"Isn't that obvious? So, I could show you the helicopter?"
I had no response to that; I mean, can anyone come back with a sensible answer to that? My father cleared his throat, too loud and theatrical to be anything else than asking for our attention. Grateful to end this discussion, I smiled towards my father, only to falter as he began to speak.
"I recognize that word! Your mother thought to me about these helicopters! Do you have one? Please show me!"
I jumped up in my chair, all the curse words I ever heard flashing through my mind as I slammed my palm over Seb's mouth that was about to answer.
"No, no, he doesn't have one! And no, absolutely not something you would like to see! "
I rolled my eyes as both reacted like disappointed teens. Quickly yanking my hand back, I dried it off on my clothes, completely overlooking Seb's attempt to get a reaction from me after he started licking my palm.
"This friend she had, my... mother. Where is she now?"
I had a hard time calling her my mother; not really sure why because I've used it so many times before. But this time, it suddenly meant something else. Like I now realized what it meant what it was supposed to be, and for me, that was not what she was. Not what she had been when I grew up. Hearing my father talk about her, remembering how Tew talked about her, both jealousy and hatred smoldered deep down in my stomach. It was fruitless, I know, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't help feeling that the only one she didn't love, care for or treat right was me. So, had I been the problem all along?
"Lydia? Oh, she's still around! She never got over the fact that her best friend just left her here without a word. Poor girl"
Drifta growled deep down in my mind as I gritted my teeth. I had no reason to dislike this woman, but my gut told me I had most of the pieces I needed to understand what she had done. My father's story was, of course, very different than both Tokes, Tew's, and Hade's stories, but some things were still the same or had similarities. I still remember the part Toke told me about that so-called friend that tricked Mom into leaving, to run in panic and fear that faithful night. That woman had helped her escape, promised to keep everyone busy so she would get a head start, and also, from what I hear now, she lied.
"So, you never gave me away? Never promised that the dragons could have me when I turned 12 years ?"
My father's brows furrowed, and he looked between Seb and me a couple of times before he leaned back in his chair with a worried and puzzled expression on his face.
"No, of course, I didn't."
"I remember this day! I was not that old, but I remember the girl I played with, and I remember the woman yelling and cussing me out. I am sorry, Eir; I see now I might be a reason for your misunderstanding, so let me clear this up immediately: When I said you were supposed to be my mate, it was not because your father promised you to me, but because you did."
My brain had a hard time wrapping around that statement, and not before I realized I was about to break the table and let it go did I feel his hand on my back. Slowly stroking up and down my spine, and for a change, the sheepish grin or mischievous glint was nowhere to be seen. He almost looked anxious, and it made me realize he thought he had done something wrong.
"Wha... I... What does that even mean?"
The warm pressure on my back continued slowly, and I still hated to admit the calming effect he had on me. One second, he jumps around, waving his meat stick like a hormonal stupid teenager, asks about my arousal or other very inappropriate stuff, and then he turns around and does things like this. Comfort me before I notice I need it, calm me and protect me when he feels it is necessary. I looked at him for a while, maybe in a new light even. I've always hated people that insisted on protecting someone, almost like they thought they had no control over any situation themselves. But thinking back, Seb did things differently. Like when we arrived here, he protected mem made sure to keep me safe, but he never interfered or stopped me from experiencing or solving the situation on my own.
"It is more stupid and unimportant than anything else, at least now, seeing what you have been thinking or fearing all this time. I was the little boy playing with one of the girls in this pack. You found me wandering around and demanded I help you with your pinecone farm. Well, I thought it was a pinecone farm, but apparently, it was pinecone battleships ready to go to war. You know, to protect the pinecone farm you were not playing with. I let you drag me over and watched with curiosity; I've never played with sticks and pinecones. But I did a good job, I guess; we won the war and managed to keep the farm safe. After that, you declared that you would gift me the princess as mate and hand in marriage as thank you before telling me you were, of course, the princess too."
"I don't know what a hand in marriage is, but I knew what mates were, and I accepted the gift with a deep bow and a gratitude speech while you giggled. I said you could keep your hand in marriage but that it would be an honor to have the princess as my mate. You see now? It was just kids' play, an innocent little incident that stuck in my brain, and for some reason, I always thought you remembered it too. I never meant anything by it when I said you were supposed to be my mate; it was only to say I remembered you. That I remembered our first meeting, it was supposed to be a sweet gesture from my side. Not at all meant as torment and a threat to hang above your head."
"Ehem."
Our heads snapped in my father's direction, now standing by the table on the opposite side of us. Awkwardly shifting the weight from one foot to the other.
"Talking about Lydia.."
Just when he said this, the door opened, and a tall woman walked in with a beaming smile towards my father. I still struggled to keep up, the story Seb just told me, the one my father told me, and now this? Her? It's too much, too fast, and I'm not keeping up. Her long and slender legs were golden, like newly made buns from the oven, making it apparent she spent much time in the sun. She had high cheekbones, full lips, sun-blushing cheeks, and thick, bouncing brown hair down her back. Healthy and strong, she could walk right out of a bikini model magazine. My father's voice brought me out of my obvious staring,
"Eir, this is Lydia."
He placed a hand around her waist and kissed her cheek before they both turned towards Seb and me.
"Lydia, this is Eir. Also known as Rosabella, my lost daughter! "
I swear her face twitched for a brief second, crunched into a horrified grimace, but my father continued talking, and like a breath of air, her reaction was gone. Again, that beaming smile plastered on her perfect face.
"The daughter I thought I would never see again! And this, this is your mother's old friend, Lydia. The woman that supported me through my darkest times held me up while I crawled through misery and hatred. She made sure there was always light enough for me to find back home and helped me up so I would not stay down and rot away with the falling leaves through the years. A woman I took for granted for so long while chasing what I had lost. It may have taken me decades, but I finally realized what I had right here. It took me years to see anything but my loss, and when I finally could, she was there. We were each other's pillars through loss and pain, the voice that called for my sanity when it started to stray. Eir, Rosabella, my beloved daughter, please meet Lydia, my soon to be, Luna and mate."
My body felt cold, and even with Seb's warm hand steady on my back, it felt like everything around me started spinning. Edges became blurry, people became colorful smudges blending together, and voices were a sound of nuance fairways. Cold air brushed through my hair as everything turned into a blurry haze around me, and all I could picture in my mind was that beautiful woman turning into a snake. A black snake coiling up around my father, biting his back repeatedly, slowly filling his body with poison. A dreadful nightmare, a shadow creature slowly killing him right before everyone's eyes; this nightmare took me to the cold and sweet darkness as I felt myself fall.