The Dragon

Prologue

Prologue

"Oh my god, Hadrian!"

Ambrosius looked up to watch his husband, Thorn, walk into the office with Hadrian trailing at his side. He shot to his feet and pushed away from the desk, rushing over to his son. The child stood there, emotionless, with blood dribbling from his nose, smeared across his face, a bruised jaw, and his clothing askew.

"Again?" Ambrosius demanded, dropping to his knees in front of his son to cup his face gently. Thorn sighed, reaching up to rake a hand through his thick wavy brown hair before he nodded solemnly, speechless at this point. After all, what was there to say that hadn't already been said before?

Ambrosius swallowed thickly as he reached up to brush the silky black hair back from his son's face, tucking it behind his ear so he could examine the damage. Someone had certainly broken his nose, gave him a solid right hook to the jaw, and was that grass stuck to his cheek?

"Baby, what happened?" Ambrosius asked, trying not to choke up. He hated seeing his son in pain. Hated seeing what other children were capable of.

Hadrian stared at him with big blue glowing eyes before he stared up at Thorn, who gave him a nod to go ahead and give it to him. The boy turned his head back to Ambrosius.

"I told Adrin he was smelly," he answered, referring to one of his infamous classmates. Ambrosius grimaced. Adrin was... ripe. He'd met the boy on a few occasions at teacher conferences and school events. He was a hefty boy, muscular for his age, big for his age, easily capable of breaking another kid's nose, even if they were only eight.

"Why would you say that?" Ambrosius asked. Hadrian frowned now.

"Because he is."

"Honey, you can't just tell people things like that. It hurts their feelings."

"I don't see how the truth hurts anyone's feelings."

"I know," Ambrosius sighed, stroking Hadrian's cheek and sending magic in to heal the damage. Hadrian winced a little, but not much. He was so strong, so brave, Ambrosius noted.

Hadrian was always... different from the other kids. Nothing could explain why Hadrian was the way he was. He didn't understand why certain things were okay and others weren't. Didn't understand that speaking what was on your mind wasn't always the right thing to do.

It wasn't that he was mean, Ambrosius noted. Absolutely not. Hadrian was as kind as kind could be. The kid often shared his lunch with other kids if they didn't have one. He brought presents in for holidays, even when no one told him to. He helped any other kids who were being bullied on the playground too. He was a total sweetheart, and yet, he couldn't seem to tame his tongue. He was brutally honest and that tended to anger some of his classmates, including Adrin, who'd apparently had enough of Hadrian's 'honesty' and took a whack at him.

Ambrosius's first instinct was to hunt the other kid down and put his head through a wall. Then he had to quickly remind himself Adrin was also a child. And that Hadrian was in the wrong this time as well.

"Sweetheart, sometimes the truth hurts," Ambrosius said softly, making Hadrian frown curiously, "People don't always have to hear it. Sometimes it's better to keep things to ourselves."

"So I should lie?" Hadrian asked. Ambrosius shook his head.

"Lying isn't okay, but keeping things to yourself isn't lying. It's just... not telling someone something."

"Isn't that what lying is?"

"No, lying is telling someone something that isn't true."

"Oh."

"From now on, try and keep things you think will hurt someone's feelings to yourself, okay? Adrin doesn't need to know he's smelly. He probably just doesn't like taking baths."

"That's gross."

"Yeah, well, don't say that either. Just... you know, tell him how much you like bathing, maybe," Ambrosius tried, earning a weird look from Thorn, and Ambrosius glared at him, making him turn his head awkwardly away. Hadrian wrinkled his nose up and appeared to be thinking hard about the message before he nodded slowly.

"Okay. I won't tell Adrin he's smelly."

"Good job," Ambrosius said with a smile. Hadrian nodded, then looked up at Thorn.

"Can I go play with Lumen now?" He asked. Thorn nodded and Hadrian scurried from the room to find his little sister. Thorn watched him go, then turned as Ambrosius sighed and rose to his feet.

"Solid parenting advice," Thorn said, earning a droll stare from Ambrosius, "No, seriously. I still don't know what to say to make him understand that it's not okay. He always has a comeback, that one. He's smart."

"Incredibly smart," Ambrosius agreed grimly as Thorn came over and wrapped his arms around his husband, and Ambrosius clung to him tightly, resting his head against his chest, "I just don't get why the truth is so important to him. He's only eight. We've never lied to him, have we?" Thorn shook his head.

"Not that I can think of. Never told him Santa Claus was a thing, or the Easter Bunny, or the Chupacabra," he explained, earning a stare from Ambrosius, "What? It's not real. It's actually a bat-like creature called a Crid. They're descendants of the Kilins from Atlantis who--"

"Okay, I get it, you nerd," Ambrosius deadpanned, making Thorn grin, "Yeah, I know, so why does he insist on telling the truth no matter what? I really hope he learns to tone it down. Something tells me it'll come back to bite him in the butt, and next time, it won't just be a broken nose." Thorn nodded, cradling his husband to his chest, stroking his back to soothe him.

"It's alright, Ambrosius. He'll learn. He's still young."

"I know, but he's going to get a lot more spotlight soon and I just don't want anyone to hurt him for the way he is. They don't understand how special he is."

"I know. But hey, he's got plenty of backup. He's got us. He's got Lumen. His cousins, his aunts and uncles. He's got an entire army behind him ready to fight for him if anyone tries to hurt him."

"Yeah, but they can only stop the physical damage that can be done to him. Not the emotional or mental damage," Ambrosius murmured. Thorn hesitated at that. He hadn't considered that. The thought of someone breaking his son's heart... that infuriated him.

"I'll kill anyone who breaks his heart," Thorn promised. Ambrosius smiled and tilted his head up to stare at him lovingly.

"Me too, baby. Me too."