Know Your Heart

Chapter 24: Aftercare (Part 2/2)

A/N I hope you all enjoy it! 

Javier's pov:

"Can I wash you Daddy?", Naia asked, her eyes wide as they stared at me, while I finished rinsing the soap off her.

"Next time. I need to get some sleep, I have a few meetings in the morning", I explained as I flicked my wrist controlling the washcloth and the water to clean me quickly.

"Ohh please, tell me I can do that?", Naia asked as she watched with amazement in her eyes.

As I stepped out of the tub and offered her my hand to help her out as well, I answered, "With enough practice, yes. Though I'm not the best magic user among my brothers. I'd rather you learn from Jadid"

Naia stepped out of the tub and stared at me with wide eyes, "I'm guessing you're triples, that's why Jexk felt and sounded the same."

"That's right baby girl", I told her as I quickly started to lotion her body down.

"I'm the oldest, then Jexk and Jadid is the youngest '', I explained as I picked Naia up in my arms which made her gasp in surprise.

"Are you sure there are no other siblings you're hiding from me?", She asked in a teasing tone as she played with the hair on the nape of my neck.

"Aside from the boy that spent a few summers with us in our youth, I promise", I sealed my word with a kiss before I tossed her naked body on the bed.

She yelped in surprise as she landed on the bed, bouncing a few times before she settled. A wide grin on her face and I climbed onto the bed as well.

"That boy counts as your brother? You must have been very close", Naia asked as she slipped on the clean Concubine dress that I laid on the bed earlier.

"Yes. He was a little troublemaker but also a sweetheart. We were so sad when the visits came to an end one summer that we made a blood pact to always be brothers" I explained to her as I smiled at the memory.

"You shared blood with each other?" Naia asked slowly as her eyes widened a little.

"Yes that's usually how they work, baby girl", I answered her with a smile, as I teased her just a little by poking her nose lightly.

"Did he leave before or after you shared the same harem? Did he have sex with Nikole as well that night?" Naia asked in a serious tone that raised my eyebrow.

"After. Now that I think about it, we did. Do you think that he might be your father?" I raised my eyebrow as I realized where she was talking this conversation.

Naia shrugs her shoulders, "I don't know. I am trying to follow the truth. Is there any other way to tell I'm your daughter?"

"Your scales. Since you're only half dragon, your scales should be a shade lighter or darker than my own" I told her as I shifted my hand to my claw to show her my crimson red scales.

Naia gently took my claw in one hand as her other hand slowly trailed down my scales. The warmth of her touch and the wonder in her eyes made me smile.

"How do I summon my claw?", She asked as her eyes bounced between my claw and her hand.

"Just think about it changing", I told her my method of morphing to my dragon form.

Naia tries over and over to morph her hand only for there to be no change at all. She became upset and tears started to fill her brown eyes, before falling down her cheeks.

I picked her up in my arms, pressing her close to my body as I spoke soothingly, "Everything is fine. Even if you aren't my daughter, you are still my mate and my queen."

Naia sniffled before lifting her head, her voice coming out strained and full of fear, "But what if I can never summon my dragon".

"You will. There are ways to bring out your Dragon. You and I will get you a familiar after my meetings tomorrow, I promise", I swore to her as I kissed her forehead.

"Ok Daddy", She whispered as she sniffled a bit more.

I wiped her tears before grabbing a remote from the drawer in the nightstand. I pressed a button, which pulled back a section of the wall revealing my large flat screen TV.

Holding Naia close, I climbed onto the bed and leaned against the headboard while searching for something to watch. It was at that moment that I realized I didn't know what Naia liked in terms of shows or movies.

As I was about to ask, she shocked me by asking quietly, "Are your parents dead?"

"What?", I asked in shock of her blunt wording before answering in a softer tone,"No, they're retired."

"Oh cool. On earth, the most common way to become king, I think is for the previous king to die", She explained as she wiggled slightly on my lap.

"Well that doesn't happen on,Thandranlo. Princes are put through a series of trials to prove their worthiness of the title for king. It takes a year to get through and anyone, royal blood or not, could qualify for it. No killing of the precious rulers", I explained as I looked down at her as she stared at the TV.

"Who picks the winner?" She asked as I settled on a random channel.

"Well throughout each trial the candidates start to drop out, or get eliminated. In the end there are usually only six left, who have deemed themselves worthy enough. In the end it's whoever the newly forged crown picks is the new king.", I told her in the simplest way possible.

"Will I have to go through the same trails?", She asked as she shifted again to look up at me with curiosity.

"It is tradition, My mother went through the same thing", I told her as I lifted a hand to run through her short dark hair.

"Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people", Naia yawned the words out before covering her mouth and ending it in a cute moan.

"Alright on that note, let's both get some sleep, little one", I told her as I turned off the Tv, casted a quick protection spell on the room, then laid down properly with her in the bed.

It didn't take long for us to fall asleep. I knew holding her in my arms would be the best way to keep her safe. That night my mind was pleaded with the possibility of my childhood friend taking my mate away, with his right as her father. 

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment, The next chapter should be up next week! 

Remember if you want to read ahead go to my Patreon and subscribe for as little as 1 dollar a month or check out my Dreame account.