Ember Gods

Chapter 18

The next day, Dad finally awakened. Early was so excited to let Jacob know, she could barely get the words out of her mouth. As soon as the message had sunk in, though, Jacob jumped from his desk and raced around the house, making sure everyone knew. He keyed them all to Taga Village where a joyful reunion occurred with lots of smiles and tears.

Kenji and Ebony threw a feast to celebrate the return of their king—Lord of the Rings style, as Akeno noted—and a ton of people came, including Gallus, the Fat Lady, and Aldo.

After, once everything had calmed down, Jacob and his parents went for a quiet walk around the village so Jacob could have his questions answered.

"Why didn't you ever tell me who I was or who you were? Where we came from?"

Mom took Dad by the hand—she hadn't been able to let go of him for more than a minute or two. "We didn't want you to feel different from other children when you were younger. You already had an active imagination, but to add royalty, magical powers, and demons and monsters to it would have been cruel. They would have mocked you endlessly. Things became blurry the older you got, though, and we kept putting it off." She glanced at him. "Not on purpose, of course—I don't think we ever really had a conversation where we decided not to tell you. It just didn't come up."

"I got really busy at work," Dad said. "And it felt good to be needed by people who didn't expect me to do something just because I was royalty. It felt like I'd earned my position with the firm."

"And you have," Mom said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm so proud of how much you've done."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Mushy, mushy," he said to remind them he was still there. "Okay, so tell me everything that happened, from the start."

Dad and Mom took turns filling him in on how they met and fell in love and how the Lorkon had come into their lives. Apparently, Dad hadn't exactly been a knight in shining armor, and it took some convincing for Mom to entertain a courtship with him. Sometime in his early twenties, he had a change of heart and deserted his father's kingdom for Arien's family, bringing Kelson, his stable-boy-turned-best-friend, with. Mom said it was the best thing that ever happened for him, since her father had a great influence on Dad during several impressionable years. Her best friend had married Kelson.

It had taken a while for Jacob's parents to conceive, and Mom had been pregnant with Jacob when the Lorkon came and attacked their castle.

Dad took a breath, releasing it slowly. "After getting through all the Lorkon traps and then hearing that your mother had given birth to you, we realized just how serious things with the Lorkon were. There was no way we'd be able to stop them on our own, not with how intelligent and powerful they were. We saw we needed help from the Shiengols."

Jacob leaned forward, eager to hear more about the Shiengols.

"The Lorkon somehow trapped them in their own fortress. Kelson, my best friend, headed up a large group to rescue them. Hoping Kelson's attack would provide enough of a divergent, Kenji, Aldo, and I went for you and your mother."

He fell silent, and Mom continued. "Unfortunately, every single member of Kelson's group was slaughtered."

Jacob's eyes widened. "Horrible. How many were in the group?"

"At least fifty," Dad said. "And they were skilled warriors—experienced and well-trained."

"How did they die?"

Mom answered. "Only Aldo knows." She swallowed. "Kelson was married to my best friend. The Lorkon killed her as well."

No one said anything for a moment, then Dad continued. "At first, we believed your mom being pregnant was a coincidence, but once we'd rescued you both, it became evident that the Lorkon had been after you all that time."