Dragon’s Breath

Taking a deep breath, I push the door open. I step in, Soren and Daniel following closely behind. I close the door after everyone's inside. It clicks slightly as I do. Slowly, I turn to face Gregory, my pulse quickening. Looking into Gregory's deep brown eyes, I gulp, trying to keep my heart from leaping out my throat. I approach his desk slowly on trembling legs.

"I've discovered some new information, and thought you might be interested in knowing," I say while clasping my fingers together nervously.

After the words leave my mouth I suddenly feel like I'm going to hurl. Telling him that Gwen was the one behind killing my brother was one thing but this...this just feels wrong. He has a right to know, but at the same time, I feel as though I'm the one ruining his family. If I hadn't come here in the first place Gregory could live on in ignorant bliss. The only problem being he wouldn't know of his granddaughter's wrongdoings.

Staring at Gregory, I clench my fist tightly until my nails dig into the palm of my hand, but I barely notice the sharp pain. The only thing I'm really aware of is the sound of my heart throbbing against the cage of my chest. Inhaling a deep breath, I pull my bottom lip between my teeth tugging on it.

It is times like this, these short but painfully long silences, that make the world feel like it is slowly disappearing before me. Or maybe it it's just me who was fading away into the silence? It's moments like these I hate most. My empty burning lungs and my heart hitting my chest so hard it might break my ribs and rip apart my skin is the only thing I can think about. And the void. The black abyss in my head, deep inside my soul slowly swallowing my hope up. These are the worst moments.

I'm jolted out of the depths of my mind by a warm hand lightly touching my shoulder. My body jerks forward at the sudden contact. Swiftly, I spin to face the person only to see Gregory standing there, worry etched into his kind features. His brown eyes swirl and dance as they look into my own. Without saying a word, he pulls me into a calming hug, gently rubbing my back. I can feel all the tenseness leave my body at his kind gesture, and I am once again relaxed.

"You looked like you could use this," his silvery voice sings out to me.

I slowly curve my arms around him, returning the gentle hug. He was right, I needed this, a lot more than I lead myself to believe. Ever so slowly, he pulls away from me, and smoothly pushes me into a chair near his desk that was not there previously. Then he moves to sit at his desk once again. Assessing me closely with his all-knowing eyes, he begins to speak once more.

"Now that you seem calmer, do tell me why you're here my dear," Gregory asks softly.

I take a deep breath, then begin to speak, "Three...three days ago after I...I left your office, heading to my chambers I saw...I saw something..." I found myself unable to finish what I was saying, the words caught in my throat. And I once again find myself falling into the pits of my mind. I'm dragged into the raging sea of thoughts, feelings, worries, and doubts.

I can't tell him this, I can't be the one to break this news, I can't hurt him, not again. Gregory has been nothing but kind towards me and I feel as though I am returning that kindness by taking everything away from him. Everything I touch falls apart right in front of me.

I suddenly feel a strong presence behind me commanding me out of my head. I turn to see Soren staring at me with a pointed look. He sighs then pats my head giving me a small smile.

"Let me do the talking. You're way too shaken over this, Nora," Soren says kindly to me.

Wiping all kindness from his features Soren looks at Gregory with deep seriousness. I can always count on Soren to handle the tough situations.

"I hate that I have to be the one to tell you this, your majesty, but what Nora was trying to say was that your wife, queen Evalene, is having an affair. Nora, through three days of careful watching, has come to suspect that the man Evalene is involved with is prince Geoffrey's true father. The man closely resembles the prince and they share a similar scent that can be found in family members. If what Nora has discovered is true, then her engagement is void," Soren carefully and easily explains.

Gregory sits in silence, an unreadable expression on his face as he takes in the information we have presented. Gregory lets out a long, painful-sounding sigh while running a hand through his loose white hair.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," Gregory says.

"Your majesty, that is not all," Soren begins, "Knowing that prince Geoffrey might not have royal blood brings us the opportunity to ask another question. You know of the young blacksmith Flavius, do you not?" Soren questions.

"I know him," Gregory replies with a nod.

"It has come to my attention that he carries dragon slayer abilities, which I have discovered during my time training him. To my knowledge, only humans of magical bloodlines may carry the dragon slayer trait. As far as I know only you human royals come from magical bloodlines since the rest of your kind died during The Fires of Alira, so I must ask if the blacksmith is indeed your son," Soren questions.

My heart nearly stops as Soren lays everything out in there open. I'm curious as to what his response will be but I am also consumed with fear.

Running a hand through his hair Gregory clears his throat loudly.

"I cannot bring myself to judge my wife for her wrongdoings, because it is as you say: the young blacksmith is my son. Some years ago, during a visit to the city, I met a woman by the name of Cora, and I fell in love. But it was unknown to me that she worked in a brothel until Evalene confronted me about the affair. In order to not sully mine and my wife's reputations, I left Cora. It wasn't until after I left her that I found out about Flavius. As much as I longed to meet my son, I dared not bring him into the harsh world of royals. As a bastard, he would have lived a very hard life. As a father, I felt the best I could do for him was to not involve myself in his personal affairs," Gregory says this, a deep sadness and longing filling his eyes.

I guess Flavius wasn't the only one suffering. This realm is so very cruel yet Gregory still chooses to show kindness in the face of cruelty.

"Now that we know the truth, something needs to be done about prince Geoffrey," Soren voices.

Gregory stares out, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

"We will continue with the wedding as planned in order to stop Gwen, but since Geoffrey is not my natural-born son, he has no claim to the throne. Therefore, after the wedding, I would like to formally claim Flavius as my son and heir to the throne. When things stabilize in Samirya and the Perilous horde, I would like to hold a grand wedding for Nora and Flavius as my thanks for their help." With those words, Gregory stands up and walks over to me. Clasping my hand, he stares down at me gently.

"I want you to find happiness, and I can tell Flavius makes you happy," Gregory tells me with a soft smile.

"Thank you," I whisper out.

Daniel steps forward, suddenly clearing his throat.

"Well, today has definitely been full of surprises. But I must ask, your majesty, are you sure you want to make Flavius your heir after everything is said and done? Flavius is, after all, a bastard and the people may not agree to have a bastard as their king," Daniel points out.

"Worry not, I will handle everything. The only thing that I ask is that you bring Flavius to me sometime soon so we may sit down and properly talk about this," Gregory says.

"I will bring him the next time I have a day off," I say.

"Good. Now if I may ask both Daniel and Soren to please leave the room so I may have a few words with Nora in private," Gregory asks.

With nothing more than a nod, both Daniel and Soren leave. Gregory sits back down behind his desk, and looks at me carefully.

"I know that you may be feeling as though you are the one bringing all these problems, but you must remember that this has been going on since before you arrived in Samirya. You have simply cleared the smoke revealing the things I failed to notice. For that, I must thank you. You have been a great help to me, and I view you as nothing less than my own daughter. Please never be afraid to tell me anything," Gregory says.

It's beyond me how such a kind soul exists in this world. Gregory has always been helpful, and when this is all over, I want to find a way to repay him.

"Thank you, Gregory. Since I've gotten to know you, you've always been like a father to me. You've helped me get through so much and find things out about myself. I can't thank you enough," I say sincerely.

Standing up, I walk over to Gregory and bend down to give him a hug. Standing, he returns the hug, holding me to him closely. Pulling away from the hug, I look at Gregory.

"I'm going to head out now. I still have some wedding stuff I need to take care of, and I've already asked Evalene to push back the schedule so I could talk to you and she might actually bite my head off if I'm any more late. I'll come by with Flavius in a few days so we can all talk," I say with a chuckle.

"Alright then, my dear. I'll let you get back to your work," he says.

With that, I leave to meet with Evalene.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter don’t forget to like and comment.- Ray