Page 25 of Adding Fuel To The Flames

Dain turned away, saying, "I would watch you playing with your nannies."

"Guards, Dain. Stop calling them nannies. They were his guards," Destrain said as he rolled his eyes.

Dain became angry, and shouted, "What the fuck does it matter, Des? Nannies or guards or what the fuck ever--The point is, it wasn't me! You and Clove got to dance in the fucking courtyard with your son. You got to play and laugh and go on picnics with Desdain! I had to watch mine grow, see his pain, and yes, even loneliness. You have no fucking clue how hard that was! Then you ordered me to replace Aracus and Casimir! The only people he had left in his life!"

Destrain rasped, "We had to--"

Dain turned to Destrain angrier than Ethan thought a man could be. "Your actions forced me to send my son to the fucking tomes! Didn't you have enough, Destrain? You had your mate, your child--You had it all!"

"We were attacked, Dain! Remember? I had to protect our people. Do you think that was an easy choice for me to make? I hated to take away Rhys' only friends, but our people needed them!" Destrain argued.

"The palace was attacked?" Rhys asked in confusion.

Destrain nodded. "Yes, Garlin's men had regrouped after his death. It took them time, but they planned and executed an attack. That's when we were informed that they knew you were alive and the fairies and elves were coming for you. They couldn't get to my son, but figured if they could take you they could use you as leverage against Dain and myself. If you died it would destroy the regent and weaken the crown's defenses."

"That's why you had me doing all that research on them and why you were so hard on me about my studies. You wanted me to be able to handle myself if I ever crossed paths with an elf or a fairy," Rhys stated with understanding.

Nodding, Dain replied, "One day I was out doing village patrol. I was looking around one of the hut areas when a man approached me and said that the enemy knew where my son was being held and that there was another attack being planned. We knew you were not safe in our realm at this point, so I got Dorstin to bring you to this one. I swear to all the Gods, son, I had no idea he was one of the treasonous bastards. When Desdain told us he had seen that bastard we went on the hunt and got the rest of the pricks. I rushed to find you and bring you home," Dain said.

"You were so angry," Rhys replied softly.

Dain shook his head. "Never at you, Rhys."

"What happened to Dorstin?" Day asked.

"When we got to him, we didn't know if Rhys was dead or alive. He begged us not to kill him. He said that I owed him because he was supposed to kill Rhys, but instead, he dropped him into the human realm. He said that because he didn't kill you I couldn't kill him. He was wrong. I killed the fucker," Dain said with a scoff.

"Rhys, there's something else I need to say," Dain said with a sigh.

"There's more?" Rhys asked in disbelief.