The Roselands

Chapter 26

   I walked out of his tent, walking into the little village with my head down and my wings pulled up against the light drizzle.

   "Zeek?"

   I glanced over and saw dad standing under an overhang with Leer and Vinn, eating those little drigil seeds while sipping from canteens. I looked away and kept moving, intent on finding some play quiet and private before we had to leave for the attack. I needed to think. It hadn't been the biggest thought on my mind ever since escaped that camp. My biggest thoughts had been focused on finding dad and mom and the rest of my family. Then I'd been focused on unravelling the Drago secrets.

   But now that everything was beginning to straighten up, I could think of nothing except how I'd failed Sprite. She was being tortured and beaten because I couldn't get her away from there. I sighed and sat down on a steep embankment, not lifting musings to shield me from the drizzle anymore. Just letting the water soak into my hair and stream down my face.

   "Zeek? You ok, son?"

   I didn't turn and look at dad, knowing he'd try to help me, but only end up making my worries worse. Thyte sighed and sat down beside me, not touching me or speaking to me. After about five minutes, I glanced up and let out my breath. "What do you want?"

   "I wanna know why you're beating yourself up so much over this."

   "Why shouldn't I beat myself up!? I left Sprite behind so she could be tortured and raped, not knowing if I'd succeed and save her!"

   Tears dripped off my lashes and slid down my cheeks as I raged at my father. Instead of backing off, Thyte only nodded his head. "Zeek, before you start yelling at me, I know how you feel. You may not believe it, but I do. When you were conceived, I'd planned on marrying your mother right then and there, but then the law was passed that said I couldn't. At first I didn't notice the loophole that said that I could marry her in the Roselands, but instead of looking for a way out of it, I set up the schedule of when we'd meet, gathered my belongings, and left." I scowled and wiped away the fresh tears. "I know that. You guys have told me that story before."

   Thyte reached over and touched my wing, shaking it gently. "Let me finish! When I was flying back home, I thought about what I'd done. I'd left poor Fay alone, pregnant with a magical child, in danger of being discovered and persecuted for my crime."

   Thyte looked away and closed his eyes. "She doesn't know it, but I'd planned you. I fell in love with your mother the first moment I saw her. That's why I saved her. Zytreys rarely ever show themselves, but I wanted to love your mother. Over those couple months, I managed to get her to feel the same way for me and when we had sex the first time, I tried for you. And I'm proud of what I got out of it, but that's besides the point. I'd abandoned your mother at the worst possible time to protect my own skin. You left Sprite behind to save her, your friends, and the rest of the Roselands, without giving a care for yourself. That's something to be proud of, Zeek."

   Wow.

   Silence stretched over the next couple minutes before I gulped and looked at him. "Thanks. I think I needed someone to tell me that. Or at least straighten me up. That story really fascinates me though. Mom doesn't know? Why?"

   Thyte's blue eyes closed for a moment and then he shook his head. "I was scared that she'd be mad at me for getting her pregnant on purpose. The first few times, she tried so hard not to conceive, using every tactic she could think of. It made me feel selfish and kind of evil every time she'd cleanse herself, knowing that I was trying so hard for a child and she was trying so hard not to. Eventually I got sneaky and would get her drunk before having sex with her. She'd pass out afterwards and by the time she woke up, it would be a little too late to cleanse. After a couple tries, she conceived and…"

   Here, Thyte paused and smiled, ruffling my hair gently. "I'd imagined her face for several weeks, trying to think of how she'd respond to the news she was pregnant and never in a million years did I expect what I got. She came walking into the living room after her bath, her face pale and her hands clenched in the towel she'd been drying off with. She explained to me that all the symptoms added up and she felt like maybe she was pregnant. As she said it, she started crying and I felt so evil, knowing I'd done that to her on purpose, but then she rushed into my arms and laughed, weeping and crying as she kept saying: We're gonna have a baby! We're gonna have a baby!"

   Dad looked at me and smiled, hugging an arm around my shoulders. "You made your mother the happiest woman I'd ever seen. That's why she spoils you like she does. She couldn't imagine life without you and neither could I."

   My heart was overflowing with either love or happiness, knowing that my parents loved me so much like that. Then I sighed and shook my head. "I love that my parents have such a wonderful story, but it makes me kinda upset that other hybrids either don't know their parents or their parents were mean to them. Sprite's mother used her as a whore, selling her to men and chaining her to her own bed. The only comfort that Sprite ever had was her father."

   Thyte shrugged and glanced at me. "After this fight, how about me and you go to the king of Killhar and make a request. I say that we let hybrid marriages be legal in the Roselands and we also need to set up a day when hybrid children can be reunited with family if their families want to. How does that sound?"

   I smiled and nodded ecstatically. "Yeah! That's great! Sprite said she wanted to see her dad again and apparently a couple of my friends had caring parents."

   Dad nodded and then stood. "Well. Let's go. We need to start flying towards the Zytrey lands so we can get all our fighters together. That and we can say one last goodbye to Fay before we shove off."

   I followed him quickly and after a few moments of waiting for Blackvein to rally his soldiers, we all took off into the air. I tried to remember all the tips I'd learned from dad the other day, but I couldn't seem to get the hang of flying. Once again, I faltered and veered towards Blackvein to my right. He chuckled and flapped his wings once, shooting upwards and out of my path. "Take it easy, Zeek. You're overthinking it right now. Just look straight and flap every three seconds."

   I took a deep breath and once I'd righted myself, I tried Blackvein's tactic. It didn't work, I'd end up drifting and then I overcorrect myself and end up nearly plummeting to my death. Leer soared up beside me and shook his head. "Zeek, I know that everyone keeps giving you lessons and tips, but the only way to truly fly is to believe that you can. You've never been able to fly before and your trust in yourself is low. Fly with your heart, not your mind."

   I took another deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment, envisioning how dad had flown as he'd approached mother that first night. I slowly flapped my wings and listened to the sound, hearing how it sounded like dads as well. I opened my eyes and focused ahead of me, flapping every few seconds and using dads banking tips whenever we'd change altitude.

   Blackvein smiled a toothy smile, blowing a small puff of smoke from his nostrils. "Well, will you look at that. I guess Leer's cheesy comments really do work."