Bleeding Ink

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

For some reason, Cleo always loved watching her cousin interacting with her children. In Cleo's opinion, Lyv was one of the best mothers there could ever be, which was somewhat surprising given she was raised by a human mother who absolutely despised her and tried to ruin every single thing she ever had in life. Lyv didn't even know Bridget was her real mother and Alberich her real father until she was twenty. She always said it wasn't just the absolute love she'd gotten from her parents once she knew them, but also a promise she'd made to herself long ago.

"When I thought it was Guinevere," she'd told Cleo one early morning just a few months after Dessa was born. Cleo was spending a few weeks with them in Ayveri, needing a break from her duties in Arloerin. "I promised myself I would never be the kind of mother she was to my own children as she was to me."

Cleo smiled, glancing down at the sleeping baby Dessa curled up in her arms, wrapped snuggly in a pink and gold blanket. "Well, so far, you're doing an absolutely perfect job. Not only with her, but with Elys, too."

Lyv smiled, brushing her fingers along the top of Dessa's head, across her soft dark hair, her silver streak at her temple.

And she was still doing a perfect job now as Cleo watched from the from doors of the palace as Lyv fussed over Dessa and three-year-old Lenora. The princesses were going out for another day of flying with Milena, though they weren't taking the males with them this time. By the mischievous looks Dessa and Len were giving each other, then their smiles to Milena just a short distance away, Cleo immediately knew they were going to cause trouble. Even the dragons, Eria and Arsais, seemed to be in on it, too.

Just like she taught them.

The thought had her grinning.

It had been eight days since Cleo's arrival, and she had yet to see Dessa and Elys in conversation. They were looking, though, and trying to make it seem like they weren't.

Yet everyone still saw it, were still waiting for them to have some kind of interaction.

Cleo supposed that discord between them was her fault. She shouldn't have brought up Elys's past in Laria, though those two relationships only lasted a mere few weeks. And Dessa herself had been in a few relationships herself from what Cleo knew. She still didn't know the one she was searching for was right there in front of her with Elys, though he'd always said he would never push her into anything she didn't want.

But by the looks she and everyone else saw between them...well, it wouldn't be too long.

"You be safe, all right?" Lyv said to Dessa and Len as she kissed them both. "Don't stay out too long, though. We've got dinner planned..."

"Just like every night?" Dessa questioned, rolling her eyes.

"No, this time we're going out. And don't get sassy with me, young lady."

"I get it from you, don't I?"

"Still...don't do it."

Dessa smiled, lifting Len up into her arms just as she looked up at Cleo, still standing in the doorway. Her eyes drifted behind her then, watching the three males descend the stairs inside before joining her at the door. And while Eamon and Archer continued outside, fully dressed in their armor since they were planning on spending the day training just outside the city, Elys stayed at Cleo's side.

Dessa quickly looked away, still speaking with Lyv as they walked over to the dragons.

"It's been over a week, you know," Cleo mumbled to Elys when she finally looked over at him.