Page 3

LILY

My father was dressed in his trousers and a long-sleeved shirt, abandoning his king’s uniform and his sword. Instead, he carried a pack over his shoulder and wore a dagger at his hip. It was a cool day, the fog lingering because of the lack of heat in this bone-chilling winter. “Ready, Zunieth ?”

I packed my bag the way my father had taught me. It contained my canteen, matches, dried meat and nuts, and my dagger. “I’m always ready, Dad.”

The corner of his lip ticked up in a smile. “That’s what I like to hear.” He took my bag from my shoulder and checked it to make sure it was properly prepared for our journey before he returned it. “Good job.”

My mother came through the doors, arms crossed and her eyes sharp as the dagger my father carried. “Is this really necessary, Talon?”

“Yes.” He didn’t look at her right away, trying to avoid the sting of her stare.

She came closer, approaching my father as an enemy rather than a wife. “You won’t be able to see in the fog.”

“That’s the point.”

“She’s only ten?—”

“She needs to know this, Calista.” His tone had been happy a moment ago, but now it darkened, and he spoke to her in a way I rarely ever heard him do. They didn’t raise their voices and shout, but this was clearly a battle.

She continued her stare, her head tipping slightly. “I understand why this is important to you?—”

“Then let it go.”

A silent argument ensued between them, my father’s dark eyes drilling holes into hers.

My mother finally conceded the loss. “Be safe—both of you.”

“Khazmuda is always close.”

“I know he is.”

They stared at each other again, the air changing around them.

My father walked up to her and cupped both of her cheeks before he gave her a quick kiss. “I love you.”

All her anger seemed to fade instantly. “I love you too.”

He stepped away so my mother could embrace me.

She gave me a hard hug and kissed my forehead. “Be safe and aware.”

“I know, Mom.”

“And listen to your father.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like you ever do…”

She smiled, her eyes beaming at the joke.

My father smirked too.

“I’ll see you soon.” She returned to the main door of the castle and walked inside. The guards closed it once she was through it.

My father came to my side and put his arm around my shoulders. “Let’s go, Zunieth .”

We took a small sailboat from the port and ventured out onto the sea. The fog was heavy on the waves, obscuring our sight. He’d taken me sailing many times, so I already knew how to raise the anchor and set the sails. He sat and observed me in silence, letting me do all the work for him to judge.

“Where are we going?” I opened my pack and pulled out the map. It showed the Southern Isles, the tropical lands to the east, and the Northern Isles across the Great Sea.

“Skull Island.” He lounged in his seat as he looked into the mist, even though there was nothing to see except the fog. “Take us there. And we need food and water.”

The food in our packs was reserves for emergencies. He taught me to live off the land. I could sail us to Skull Island without issue, but I’d never done it in the fog. I had a compass to guide my direction, but without being able to see in front of me, I didn’t know what I might hit.

He didn’t seem concerned about it.

I found east with my compass and changed the sails to take us in that direction. We started to glide through the water, the wind right in our sails, taking us across the calm waves at a quick speed.

My father stared at me.

I gripped the tiller so we continued in the right direction.

But my father gave me that hard stare, like something wasn’t right. “Is it wise to travel at this speed when we can’t see more than ten feet in front of us?”

His disapproval stung. Made my whole body go numb. But I let it pass and addressed his concern. I changed the direction of the sails to catch less of the wind, to bring the boat to a third of its original pace.

“Now you can have more time to react if we come across another boat or an outcropping of rocks.”

“Yeah.”

He looked into the mist again, growing quiet and intense.

My father was always like this on these adventures. Back at the castle and over meals, he was warm and affectionate, the best dad there ever was. But out here, he didn’t feel like my dad at all.

I guided us through the water for hours, constantly checking my compass to make sure we were on the right course. Based on my memory of other landmasses, I was able to circumvent a crash.

He didn’t address that.

The waves started to grow choppy, and the wind picked up, like there was a storm hidden behind the fog.

We’d sailed in a storm before, but this one seemed more intense than the others.

We’d been sailing for half a day and had another half to go. Dark came earlier in these winter months, so if we didn’t get to land soon, we’d have to sail in the dark, which was easy with the stars. Except, we didn’t have stars tonight.

We just had clouds.

He seemed to detect my unease because he said, “Nothing can happen to you while I’m here, Lily.”

My hand remained on the tiller as I looked at him, seeing the confidence in his gaze. “Why do you teach me these things?”

“I’m teaching you to survive. There may come a time when you’re without the protection of men and dragons. You need to learn that all you need is yourself.”

“Why would that time ever come?” I’d learned the history of the Southern Isles, knew that my father had reclaimed the kingdom that had been taken from him. But I didn’t know the specifics. “Peace has been restored to the world.”

“Peace is merely the pause between wars. It’ll probably be a very long time before our kingdom is challenged, but since we live forever, we need to be ready for it today…or in a hundred years.”

My father had told me I would fuse with a dragon when I came of age. Right now, I was far too young for that, far too young to be preserved in this small body.

“My father taught me this when I was your age, and it’s the reason I’m still here.

” My father slowly came back to me, the man who wore his heart on his sleeve, who showed his love for me in just a look.

“The reason I’m lucky enough to have you and your brother.

My father’s legacy is the crown, but his true legacy is this, a legacy I will pass on to you. ”

The storm hit.

It was just the two of us in that small boat, the wind nearly tipping us over into the cold waters. Rain splashed into my face and blurred my vision. I saw my father move around the sailboat and command the sails to remain in place when the mast nearly splintered in two.

“Dad, get Khazmuda.” Even though I was with the strongest man I’d ever known, I was still scared.

“We can do this, Lily.”

“I don’t know where we’re going.”

“You have a compass.”

“It won’t stop spinning!”

“Lily.” He came to me and grabbed me by the shoulder. “I know you can do this.”

A giant wave came over the side of the boat and struck me in the face. Ice-cold water poured over me. “Dad, I’m scared.”

“You know I would never let anything happen to you, Zunieth .” He squeezed my arm. “I know you can do this. I know we can do this together.”

I started to cry.

“It’s okay to be scared,” he said. “But it’s never okay to give up.” He patted my arm. “Come on. Let’s do this.” He grabbed his compass and pulled it out, seeing the dial continue to spin as the boat was knocked around in the waves. “Hold the tiller still.”

I sniffled and gripped it hard, feeling it pull due to the power of the waves.

“See that.” The dial would move northwest before it would shift somewhere else. But it would always come back. “We’re on the right track. Hold the tiller and keep your eye on the horizon like I taught you.”

The next few hours passed in the same way, buckets of rain pouring down on us, the wind stinging our eyes, the boat shifting back and forth and nearly toppling over several times. I’d thought the fog was the bigger challenge, but that had been just a warm-up to this.

No wonder my mother hadn’t wanted me to go.

Hours later, land finally came into sight, a dark haze in the distance.

“Are we at the right place?” he called from the front of the boat. It was a test. He already knew where we were, but I wasn’t sure.

I opened the wet map and compared it to the compass that continued to spin out of control. “Yes…I think this is it.”

“You think, or you know?” he questioned.

“Yes, I know it is.”

Even through the rain, I could see him smile. “Attagirl.”

We battled the waves until we came to shore, rising up the beach in the rain. There was a dock there with galleons tied up. Cabins on the beach. Pirates inhabited this island, pirates who were loyal to my father’s rulership.

And then a dark mass came from the sky and landed directly before us, shiny black scales that dripped with rain. While my father brought the boat up the shore, Khazmuda lowered his head to look at me. Zunieth.

I ran to him and took shelter under his massive body. I gripped one of his legs and held on, using it for support as I let my exhaustion rise to the surface. “I was scared.”

I was above you the entire time. Would never let anything happen to one of my hatchlings.

“I know.”

You were brave. Brave like a dragon. You should be proud.

I watched my father secure the boat, soaked to the bone with rain, and then walk up the beach to where we were standing.

Khazmuda lowered his snout and greeted my father.

Even though he must have been tired and uncomfortable from the cold water soaked into his clothes, he stopped to embrace his dragon, to place his hand upon his snout in an affectionate gesture.

They seemed to have a conversation in private because I couldn’t hear Khazmuda’s voice anymore.

Their eyes remained locked on each other until my father withdrew his hand. Rain continued to drip down his face.

He moved underneath Khazmuda’s body and came to me before he took a knee.

That way, our faces could be level with each other.

“You have the strength of your father, the resilience of your mother, and the fire of Khazmuda. You’re a Rothschild, future Queen of the Southern Isles, and I’m proud to call you my daughter. ”

Just like that, all the suffering I’d endured was worth it. To see him look at me like that. To feel his pride fill the space between us.

“I know this was hard, and I hope you never have to thank me for it.” He brought me into his arms and squeezed me tightly, cupping the back of my head in his hand. He held me like that for a long time, and his breaths grew deep and uneven.

I pulled away first and saw the mist in his eyes. “Dad, why are you crying?”

His eyes immediately shifted down to hide his emotion. He sniffed then quickly blinked his tears away. “It’s a privilege to be your father…and I never take that for granted.”