Dragon Rider

Chapter 8

After grabbing my stuff from my room, I walk back to Tiamet, and get him ready to leave back for the school. Sniffling as I place the halter and reign on Tiamet, trying to stop myself from crying.

"Larken!" Laria calls, running from the house toward me from behind.

"What, Laria?" I sigh, not turning to face her as I pull the strap of my bag across my body.

"Dad did not mean what he said," she tries to defend Afra. "Papa is upset, and they both feel horrible."

"Laria, go back inside," I request on another sigh. "I will contact papa after I return to school. I just cannot be here when he is acting the way he does."

"Larken," she starts, and I turn to face her now, and she stops when she sees my tears.

"I am hurt, too, Laria," I cry, wiping my face with my shirt sleeve. "He knew about me, and choose papa as he should have, and Afra admits he does not treat you and I the same. How do you think you would feel if the situation was reversed?"

She chews on her lower lip for several seconds before answering; "I would feel like crap, and not be here, so I could think."

"Then you should understand how I am feeling right now," I sniffle. "I cannot be here with right now, and I need time to process this information. Go back inside the house, Laria."

She turns around to head back inside the house, and I climb onto Tiamet's back, and tell him that we are heading back to the school. Ten minutes later, we arrive, and I settle him into his enclosure with enough food and water until tomorrow.

Once I have grabbed my stuff from my bedroom, I walk back to Tiamet, and get him ready to leave for the school, sniffling to myself the entire time, and trying to stop myself from crying while I am here.

"Larken!" Laria calls, running from the house, and stopping several feet behind me.

"What, Laria?" I sigh, not turning around to face her as I pull the strap of my bag across my body.

"Dad did not mean what he said," she tries to defend Afra to me. "Papa is upset, and he feels horrible."

"Laria, go back inside the house, please," I request on another sigh. "I will contact papa once I return to school, and I have Tiamet settled. I just cannot be here when Afra acts the way he does toward me."

"Larken," she starts, and I finally turn to face her, and she stops speaking when she sees my falling tears.

"I am hurt, Laria," I cry, wiping my face with the sleeve of my shirt. "He knew about me, and choose papaas he should have, and admits that he does not treat us the same. How do you think you would feel if the situation was reversed?"

She chews on her lower lip for a second before answering; "I would feel like crap."

"Then you should understand how I am feeling right now," I sniffle. "I cannot be here with him right now, and I need time to process this information. Go back inside the house, please."

She turns around to head inside the house, and I climb onto Tiamet's back, and tell him that we are heading back to the school. Ten minutes later, we arrive, and I settle him in his enclosure for the night, and make sure he has food and water bowls are filled.

"Good rest, Tiamet, thank you," I sniffle with a soft voice as I pat him down.

"Good rest, Larken," he replies, and I head toward my rest quarters to unpack and contact papa.

Entering the room, I pick up the communication device off the desk to contact papa, and he answers on the third ring; "Hi papa. I am back in my rest quarters at school. I feel horrible for leaving like I did, but I could not stay after Afra made me feel as if I am not welcome there. I do not blame you for any of this, or not telling me sooner, or not at all. Please do not be mad at me."

"I am not mad at you, baby for your reaction," papa gently says with a soft expression. "I would understand if you were because I let you believe Afra is your biological dad, also that I let him treat you like he did."

Sniffling softly at him with a shrug of my shoulders; "I am sure you had your reasons for doing this, so how can I be mad? I just wish he would not treat me the way he does, but I guess he could be worse."

"Believe me, Larken, he and I will be discussing this later tonight," papa says, and he sounds angry.

"Papa, please do not say or do anything that you may regret later," I softly plead. "I do not want this to damage your marriage with Afra. I do not want to be the reason you and him are having problems."

"Larken, I hear what you are saying, but whatever happens between him and I will not be because of you or Laria," he replies with a frown. "He had no right to out the situation like he did. Afra and I had discussed when to tell you about him not being your biological dad. We had decided to tell you shortly after you turned eighteen and not before."

"But I asked him why he did not like me," I mumble, still feeling horribly guilty. "So, I am sorry for causing problems."
We talk for another twenty minutes, and I feel a little less guilty by the end of our conversation, but not much.

"Bye, papa, I love you," I murmur with a small smile.

"Bye, Larken, and I love you, too," papa replies with a tiny smile, and we end our calls.

Unpacking my bag, I let my thoughts wander to what happened at home, my crush on River, and Tiamet. I would love to date River now, but he would be fired if the school found out about a romantic relationship, and I could not do that to him, even if he feels the same about me. I love how connected I am with Tiamet.

There is a loud knock on the closed door, and I am confused as to who is here. Walking over to the door, opening the door with a raised left eyebrow to find River standing opposite of me with a worried, and confused expression.

"Why are you here instead of at home? I saw you and Laria fly off on Tiamet," River states as his eyes scan over my face and body before landing on my face again.

"We did go home, but I came back obviously," I shrug nonchalantly. "Laria is still there. Why aren't you with your own family?"

River lightly chuckles; "Fair question, but I am going home tomorrow, and my friend Charlie is coming home with me, too. Charlie is an Instructor here, too. DO you want to talk about whatever happened at your home?"

Shaking my head no because I do not want to burden him with my family drama; "No, thanks, River. You do not need to hear about my family drama."

"That is okay, but if you change your mind, you can talk with me," he says with a soft smile. "Here, hand me your communication device."

Turning around, I walk over to the desk, grab my communication device, walk back over to him, and hand it to him; "Thanks, Larken."

He then adds his name and number into the device before handing it back to me with a bright smile and a wink; "Thanks, River, I appreciate this. Hey, can I ask you a strange question, and you obviously do not have to answer."

River shrugs his shoulders; "You sure can."

"Um, do you have romantic feelings for me?" I nervously ask, fidgeting between my feet.

River's smile broadens; "Actually, I do. I do not want to act on my feelings though until you are eighteen, and are no longer in my class because I do not want to cause any problems for either of us with the school. Do you have any romantic feelings for me by chance?"

Biting my lower lip, I nod, deciding to be honest; "Yes. I agree with your statement."