Dragon's Khu'meir

Chapter Ten

As we entered the hall, I could see the king talking to a few dragons at the far left of the hall. They were looking at a map that was hanging from the wall, seemingly deep in conversation. I couldn't understand what they were saying as they were talking in Draconic. I followed Nakiirn over to them, who gave a small bow to his father.

"Hathos, do you have a moment?"

Natirien looked over to his son, a bit of concern on his face. He turned back to the other dragons and giving them a nod, he came over to us. The other two dragons walked away slowly, still in conversation as they went. Natirien came to a halt a few steps away from Nakiirn. The concern was still present, but there was also a bit of curiosity as he looked at his son, then glanced at me and back to Nakiirn. A surge of fear went through me for a moment as I looked at the king from behind Nakiirn. I was half hidden by him, still really worried about how Natirien would react to hearing the truth.

"Nakiirn, what is it?"

Nakiirn looked over to me, giving a small smile. "My Khu'meir."

"Truly?" Natirien looked shocked at first, but then a warm smile spread over his lips. It was far more reaction than Nakiirn ever showed, smile wise. I wondered who Nakiirn took after most, his father, or... Oh. His other father. That was still strange to me.

"It is. And we've bonded."

"Your Hathier would like to know of this."

"Is he well?" Nakiirn asked, his voice taking on a different tone.

"Doing better. It was only a slight sickness. And it didn't last long this time."

Nakiirn hummed in contentment. I could feel his relief, as well as his excitement. God how weird it was to feel Nakiirn excited. He hardly looked it. Still stoic, still like a rock wall standing in front of me. Powerful and... Stop! No need to think of that right now... I was about to meet his other father. God what was wrong with me.

Then came his amusement. To which I huffed and rolled my eyes as I looked away. "If Hathier would be up for it, I was hoping to have them meet today?"

"I don't see why not," Natirien answered, their conversation continuing on as if nothing had happened. As if it were simply talk of weather or something.

I supposed now was a better time than any for me to tell him the truth, seeing as I had Natirien right in front of me. Taking a nervous step from behind Nakiirn and towards the king, I cleared my throat. It was not as loud as I had hoped and I wasn't even sure if either of them had heard it.

Natirien turned his gaze over to me and gave a smile. "There's no need to be shy," he offered. Next to me, Nakiirn's very soft chuckle was barely even audible. His affection was clear too and I avoided his gaze entirely even though I could feel him looking at me.

"Umm..." I started, not really sure where to begin, "I... have to tell you something, my-" Even though it hadn't really become a habit, I still had to stop myself from falling back into my lies...

"Your highness, As you are probably already aware, I may not have been very truthful." I said slowly, a hint of fear still lingering in my body and voice. I was a bit worried about saying something wrong, so I tried my best to speak formally. "I come from earth. I came here through a portal. I am not exactly sure how I actually ended up here. But I do know that I should have died." I said, that hint of fear growing a bit.

Nakiirn stepped close to me, his arm around my waist and I was drawn into his grip, up against his side. Natirien seemed to think over my words. I couldn't tell if he was puzzled by what I said, or if he just didn't understand.