Prisoner of Chaos (Redemption Book #4)

Chapter 56

Kyla

Raia stares at me with her huge amber eyes. She's asking me not to leave. I can sense it.

"I must secure this world I've brought you into," I tell her, nuzzling her face with my snout. She coos at me. "I must make sure you don't have to fight the way I did."

"Meep," she chirps, opening her mouth for more food.

"I'm sorry, my little love," I tell her. "I'll return shortly. You listen to your grandfather Ryland. Rift tells me he'll feed you plenty of meat too. The brothers have a great big stash in their cellars. Some of it is dry aged."

"Meep?" she cocks her head.

"You wouldn't understand what that means yet," I say, choking back tears. "But it just means it'll taste good."

"Meep," Raia says, waddling over to me and curling in a little red ball.

"Oh, Raia, Momma loves you," I say, letting the sob fall out as I cover her head with kisses. "I promise I'll be back. This has to work."

Rift approaches us and leans against my beast. "Kyla, Princess, I'm going to need to run an errand before we go."

"And that errand would be?" I ask him, narrowing my eyes suspiciously.

"Stocking away some gold for you and our fledgling of course," Rift says.

"Why would we need to do that, I'm a princess?" I say with a laugh.

"I'm not a princess, and if you and I plan to hightail out of here to live anonymous lives after this is all over, we'll need something to live off of," Rift mutters with a shrug.

"Are you planning on losing your powers?" I ask him, as this is the only reason he'd consider such a strange errand.

"In all honesty, I am not sure," Rift murmurs. "Once the Dark Lord is gone, I may lose all the powers I got from him. Which would include my ability to create gold."

"Unless your powers are not from him and all your own," I suggest.

"Do I really want to take that chance?" Rift asks. "Besides, I can always donate it to the Sanctuary if all my abilities exist after all this is over, but I'm not about to get my start in life as a normal mortal would. I'm used to living with these abilities, if I lose them I'm sure I'll feel... I don't know... like my dick got chopped an inch, or something."

"It doesn't matter what happens to you," I say, suddenly finding all of this exchange quite hilarious. "You're still Rift."

"Well, I may not be the son of evil you first met, but I'll be damned if I don't use my current powers to my advantage in case circumstances call for it," Rift snorts, crossing his arms.

"Don't change too much, love," I tell him, shaking my head at him and laughing. "I fell in love with you as the mischievous, pragmatic person you are. We leave in the morning, Rift. You've got that long to have your gold in order."

"I can work with that," Rift says. He gives Raia a kiss on the nose. "How's my little girl?"

Raia answers him by hiccuping a puff of flame and covering Rift's face in black soot.

"I believe that last wild boar didn't sit right with her," I say.

"If this is our child's equivalent to baby spit up, I'm positive other parenting needs are going to be above my human skill set," Rift says dryly, patting Raia's head and wiping his face in vain as it only smudges the soot over his chin.

"Good thing I'm not completely human," I tell him, realizing how much I'm beginning to love what I am. I may not be considered a Cursed, but I'm glad for the fact that I can fly, and am strong enough to knock down a building. I used to despise my beastly powers, now I can't imagine living without them. I understand what Rift means about fearing the loss of his abilities.

After another sooty goodbye kiss from her daddy to both of us, Raia and I wander over to where Father Ryland tends to his duties at the Sanctuary.

"How are you, Princess Kyla?" Father Ryland asks me.

"You don't need to use my title," I say, "Kyla is just fine. And I must thank you. I'm told by Rift you were key to saving him from the possession of the Dark Lord."

"I owe him," Father Ryland says, I realize his face is much like Rift's in many ways, except thirty years older. "And that young man may think that I saved him, but truly, he's the one who saved me... before him I carried guilt, shame, and hypocrisy as my legacy here in the Sanctuary. Now I don't care what anyone thinks, I don't care if the brethren of the Light remove my title as a holy father because of my actions. Rift deserved more than what I gave him and I'm determined to make up for what I should have done, not just because I believe it's the right thing to do, but because I desperately want my son to know... I love him." Father Ryland's eyes well up with tears and I realize even I am not prepared for the sight. "Dear Kyla, thank you for allowing him to understand love as I could not show him myself."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to make up for it after we've defeated the Dark Lord," I tell him with a smile.

"That's another thing I must thank Rift for," Father Ryland adds. "Without him I wouldn't be playing a part in ending the most despised enemy of my world."

"Do you truly think you can handle taking care of Raia while Rift and I fly to King Lionel?" I ask him.

"Of course! She's only a baby drakon, I've even got a book on raising them in my library," Father Ryland says.

"Will she ever take a human form like I do?" I ask Ryland.

"We can hope," Father Ryland says, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "My magic is telling Raia has great power inside her and that power would include taking both forms. In the meantime, you should get some sleep. You leave first thing in the morning and you'll need all your strength."