Callum bolted up with a start. Lighting flashed just outside his bedroom window lighting up the night sky followed by a crash of thunder. Quickly, the six-year-old got out of bed and hurried down the hall looking for his mother before he suddenly remembered what happened.
"Callum?" came a voice.
Callum turned to see his step-father the king. Harrow came up to his step-son and, kneeling down, pulled him into a hug. Thunder sounded again causing Callum to cling tighter to his step-father.
"It's okay," Harrow said soothingly known how afraid of thunderstorms Callum was. "It's just thunder. It's the storm; not the dragon."
"I don't like it," Callum said trying to hold back tears. "I want Mommy."
Harrow took Callum's hand and went into his study so they could talk.
"I know you want your mom," Harrow said kneeling down so he was on eye level with Callum. "It's not fair that she was taken from us and I'm so sorry that it happened."
Callum let the tears he had been holding back fall. He never knew his real father; King Harrow was the closest thing he had to one. But until now there had been a distance between them.
"You're lucky, you know," Harrow said. "You had six years with your mother. I only had two and Ezra had just one that he won't remember. Do you know what that means?"
Callum shook his head.
"You and I and your Aunt Amaya are going to have to remember her so we can tell Ezran all about her."
"I still miss her," Callum said.
"I know. I miss her, too."
~*~
The storm had blown itself out by morning allowing the sun to come out and dry up all the rain. Fortunately, there wasn't any damage. King Harrow turned away from the window. After their talk, he had put Callum back to bed but, at some point during the night, the six-year-old had crawled in bed with him, much like he had done before his mother died. Harrow didn't mind. He wanted to keep his boys close right now. Ezran may be too young to know what's going on but Callum was going to need him. Harrow had decided to keep the afternoon open and make sure that Callum's tutors knew not to schedule any lessons after lunch. He wanted to spend the afternoon with his sons.
But right now, he had a more pressing matter. Though he wouldn't re-marry, the princes needed someone to be a maternal figure for them. Amaya would be the obvious choice but she was at the Breach. There were nannies and nursemaids but he didn't want to pay someone to give his sons the love and attention Sarai would if she was still alive. Then a thought came to him. Opeli loved the boys as if they were her own. Ever since the quest to retrieve the magma titan's heart, Opeli had been spending less and less time on her work as a member of the Council and more and more time tending to Callum and Ezran. On top of that, she would never expect to take Sarai's place as queen. She was very happy with where she was in life and had no desire to be queen.
Yes, Opheli would be the perfect choice to be an acting mother for the princes. She was already taking an active roll. She had informed Harrow and Sarai two years ago that Vern's son Sorren had been teasing Callum and calling him "step-prince" and that he was still doing it. (Harrow had several talk with Vern about it and how Vern should talk with Sorren. Now Harrow planned to take matters into his own hands and have a talk with the boy himself.)
"It should have been me, Sarai," Harrow said looking at a miniature picture of the portrait done of their family when he became king. "Callum and Ezran still need you. But I'll see that both our boys get all the love and attention you would have given them. Callum misses you. I miss you. And I still love you. I always will until the day I join you on the other side."
