A Dreaded Family Reunion [Thea POV]

Each incessant beat of Thea’s heart sets her nerves even further alight. Each tentative step she takes leaves her feeling even more uneasy and uncertain. Each hesitant breath that fills her lungs is shorter and shallower than the last.

Ahead, down this agonizingly long yet far too short hallway, stands the door to her parents’ quarters.

A room that she has not stepped foot inside for... for a very long time. Not since she was a kid seeking comfort and safety after suffering through a bad dream.

“Hh...!” Thea sharply inhales, her shoulders stiffening as she is... startled... by a hand suddenly grasping onto her own. With hardly a thought, her soft-blue eyes dart up to glare into the no doubt smiling face of her most presumptuous lover. But all she sees is a tapestry, which is soon left behind.

It takes Thea a second to realize that the fingers gently holding onto her are not nearly as large as she expected. Quite the opposite, in fact. They are... rather small.

A tinge of annoyance prickles at the back of her head. Is that Halfling so nervous that she is turning to Thea for reassurance...?! Now is not the time...! If Adeline wants to be comforted, then she should bother that barbarian they both love! Or even that clingy Were-Beast!

Before Thea pulls her hand free from of the grasp of that skittish pest, she finds herself glancing down at the significantly shorter non-Human girl walking by her side. Only to freeze.

Adeline does look a bit anxious, as always, but that isn’t what this is about. Those big, hazel-brown eyes are gazing up at Thea with... warmth and love. A small, shaky smile plays at those little lips. As if to say that everything will be alright. That, no matter what happens, Thea will still have her, Krvavy, and Khalia.

Heat begins to fill the noble girl’s face as she quickly turns her head away.

This damn little bunny...! She... she isn’t helping...!

Click...!

That dreadful door, just a few paces away now, is softly shut. An old man clad in a boring brown robe bows his head and quickly steps aside, descending down the stairs.

Thea’s heart sinks. If a healer is still needed now, almost a full day after her Father sustained his injuries...

Her fingers squeeze around Adeline’s little hand, hard enough to draw an adorable squeak from that Halfling. The beating of her heart grows even faster and louder as Nikolas, her harsh jerk of a brother, pushes that door open. She so desperately wants to look away from whatever lies beyond that barrier, to stare through the balcony window and look over the rooftop gardens... But a strong hand free of any paw-like features presses into the small of her back, not letting her linger out here.

Gently and reassuringly, that Dragon bitch she loves so dearly encourages her onward.

The room that, to Thea, has always belonged to her parents is... exactly as she remembers it. The wooden furnishing is the same. The same tapestries and portraits still hang on the walls. The shelves are still filled with the same trinkets and baubles from her childhood, along with books that at least look the same. The fireplace still crackles as it always has. The windows overlook the same land as before, even if it is freshly scarred. The large and grand bed...

A figure lies in that bed, difficult to see past the few people lingering by its side. Two of them are standing, her eldest brother and the second of the twins, and one is sitting in a seat that has been pulled across the room.

“Dosi...?” An older woman rises from that chair, the loose veil on her head held in place by a familiar gold circlet. “It... it really is you...!” The embroidered hem of her deep green dress swishes across the floor. Arms with layered sleeves that split at the elbow – fabric with the sheen of silk drooping down as clingy fine-threaded cloth continues on – wrap around Thea before she can so much as stop them. “Dosi, oh Dosi...!”

Visible in the very corner of Thea’s eye is a smile that is steadily growing wider with each utterance of that embarrassing nickname. “Ugh...!” She fails to free herself from this fussy embrace. “You have not called me that since I was a kid! So sto–!”

“My dear baby...!” Her mother’s hands grab onto Thea’s face, squishing her increasingly flushed cheeks. “I thought we had lost you...!”

A flash of intense anger gives the noble girl the strength needed to shove her mother back. “Lost...?! Lost!? You –! You gave me away! You sold me! To a horrid monster of a man! A despicable wretch who had me abducted by bandits! Who wanted me broken and obedient! And who would have done so with your tacit consent! You –!”

“Hhhkk!” A loud cough cuts off her righteous rant. “Please...” The worn voice that follows is far weaker than she has ever heard it before. “Spare your Mother the consequences of... of my actions...”

The flames of Thea’s fury are smothered in an instant, leaving naught but a hollow chill in their place.

Her soft-blue eyes dart towards those of her mother. She can’t help but feel a little guilty about her entirely justified outburst. And not just because of the strain and stress and sorrow she can see in that tear-stained face, a face which looks so similar to her own... No, it is clear that Thea’s mother, as hurt as she, doesn’t blame her for being angry and upset. For lashing out in pain.

Dimitrios suddenly tenses, fingers lingering so close to the hilt of the sword he still wears.

A pair of strong hands covered in black scales come to rest atop Thea’s shoulders. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, leaning against her toweringly tall lover who simply cannot for the life of her stand without slouching. Not that Thea will complain about that. At least not right now, with the back of her head buried in the comfortable cleavage that she wouldn’t be able to otherwise reach.

“Nnhh...” A quiet whine passes through Thea’s pouty lips, that brief shoulder massage coming to an end as she is, once again, gently pushed forwards. Thea can’t help but frown as she steps closer to that bed and the figure propped up within its blankets, guided by her mother’s hesitant hand.

Dozens of different thoughts and contradicting emotions flit through Thea’s head as she looks towards her father. Towards the man who she wants to be mad at, who she wants to shout at and berate for all he has done. Towards the figure who always felt invincible and unbeatable, who bore such a great burden but still did all he could to keep her safe as a child... even if he had less and less time for her as the years went on.

He... he seems to have aged decades in the months since last she saw him. His hair, once a lively gold, is filled with countless dull streaks of white and grey. His beard is thin, almost ragged, and... and has been cut in two. An ugly, scarred line extends up from that point on his chin, growing wider as it passes over his lips, clips his nose, and... goes through an eye that remains closed.

For the first time in her life, Thea’s father... looks frail and weak.

“I am sorry, Theadosia...” He slowly sighs, an unfathomably deep weariness to those words. “We...” He shakes his head. “I thought that there was... no other way. That Svaneti could avoid –...”

“I know...” Thea quietly cuts that apologetic excuse short. “You did not want to be rid of me like that. But neither did you want Svaneti to be ravaged by war. So if sacrificing your daughter was what it took to keep thousands safe...” She trails off, blinking a few times as her vision begins to blur. “If... If I had not caused such a fuss when his messenger came... If I behaved better, more mature and more like the woman I was supposed to be... Then maybe it would have even worked.”

A single hand, bearing only an echo of the strength she remembers, cups Thea’s cheek. A single thumb wipes away some of the tears flowing down her face. Remorse and regret fills that single sky blue eye. “My dear daughter... do not blame yourself. I... I should have known better than to take Dovoryn at his word... There is no negotiating with men like him. All they seek is the subjugation of others... the humiliation and destruction of those who dare resist...”

Those muttered words blend together in Thea’s mind. She takes a deep breath and leans further forwards. Her father doesn’t quite have the energy to stop her, his right arm bumping into her own. Soft fingers tentatively touch weathered skin, following that scarred line upwards towards an eye which she gently forces open.

A milky iris stares at a spot past her shoulder, void of a pupil.

Thea lets that eyelid drop back down. She opens her mouth to speak, but cuts herself off before even a sound can make it past her parted lips. Only now has she noticed that a stump without a hand is pressed against her wrist. The noble girl scowls and turns around, pulling away from the hand loosely holding her face. “Why did you not tell me just how wounded my father was?” A tinge of accusation underlines those words, her narrowed gaze focused on that damned Dragon of hers.

Krvavy blinks in that blank, slightly surprised way she so often does. “I tried to, but...” That barbarian hesitates, clearly not wanting to sound like she is blaming Thea for anything. How annoyingly considerate... “But I, well, I couldn’t say much more than ‘he was cut apart and lost a lot of blood’ before you, uh, focused on this.”

The scowl on Thea’s face only grows deeper as her attention is drawn towards the slightly raised line that hugs the curves of her barbaric lover’s big breasts. Though she would prefer that pale skin to be as unblemished and unmarred as her own, Thea... doesn’t hate that scar. Or any of the others that Krvavy earned last night. They help to make her Dragon seem all the more imposing. Stronger and fiercer. It is just...

“Whatever attack left that mark destroyed your armour...!” The noble girl hisses, taking a step towards that toweringly tall and frustratingly stubborn Drakling. “And I do not even slightly believe your lie that it was only a shallow cut! Look at this!” Her hand slips deep into that wonderfully displayed valley of cleavage. “A shallow cut would not bounce up and down like this! So tell me! How deep did that bastard’s blade go?!”

A reddish hue fills Krvavy’s otherwise snowy cheeks, her emerald eyes glancing at the others in this room, at Thea’s brothers and her parents. Those strong shoulders slump slightly. “I wasn’t paying too much attention to that, but... He cut right through my ribs and a little bit into my... my heart and lungs...”

Thea closes her eyes and... wraps her arms around Krvavy’s chest, pulling that giant Dragon down enough to let her cheek rest atop that scar.

“You...” The voice of Thea’s third brother – Kostas, the other twin who that noble girl is fairly certain her Krvavy had not yet met – quietly disturbs the peace brought by this embrace. “You survived such a strike? And are no worse off for it?” He asks, his tone equally incredulous and inquisitive.

“Yet all she could do was stabilize Father, leaving him in this miserable state?”

“Tkk.” Kostas clicks his tongue at their eldest brother’s biting words. “I imagine mending flesh and bone is much easier than completely regrowing something as complex as an eye or hand. Yes?” He doesn’t wait for an answer to that question. “Besides, these injuries that Fathers sustained can be further healed later, when we have the resources to spare. Stopping him from losing too much blood was more important in the moment. That is the reason he is still here with us.”

“If you believe as much...” Dimitrios’ tone grows colder and sterner. “Then I must ask of you: would Father have lost so much blood if not for her profane magics draining the life from him?”

“As I informed you earlier,” Nikolas interjects, speaking steadily and evenly. “The blood was not taken directly from my men, wounded or otherwise, when I encountered this companion of our Sister. Only what had already been spilled. And I spoke with those who fought by your side: they reported the same.”

“Ugh...!” The noble girl loudly groans as she pulls away from Krvavy, who has only grown more uncomfortable and tense as that short conversation continued on. “Can I not...!” Thea can’t help but blush at the thought of what she is about to say in front of her parents and brothers. She hardly lets her hesitation drag on for even a second before pushing through her nervous embarrassment, aided by her growing anger. “Can I not have a sweet moment with the one I love most in this world...?!”

Silence lingers in the air, disturbed only by the soft crackling of flames within the fireplace.

Too many eyes, and uneven amount of them at that, stare at Thea. She does not waver nor back down. That attention only makes her more defiant. She crosses her arms and glares at her eldest brother, the one who – for some damned reason – is the most against her being happy...!

“Theadosia... my dear daughter...” Her father’s tired voice drifts through the air. “I... was in no state to meet your... companion... last night. So, please, introduce her... and your other friends... to your Mother and I.”

Thea takes a deep breath and –

“Eeep...!” Adeline quietly squeaks as that noble girl gently grabs onto her little hand, leading her towards that imposing bed. She shudders and clings tight to Thea’s leg, doing her best to keep her gaze directed down, not wanting to even risk drawing the attention of the other nobles in this room... as hopeless a task that may be.

“Father.” Thea addresses that bedridden man, her heart rapidly beating beneath her bosom. “This –” She immediately cuts herself off, looking down at the little blonde bunny pressing so tightly against her side. It would be a mercy to introduce that girl first, so she doesn’t have to dread being in the center of attention for too long, but... Thea’s elbow bumps into Krvavy’s thigh. “Pick her up, please.”

“Eeeeeieiiee!?” The Halfling squeals in surprise as those alluringly strong hands grab onto her infuriatingly wide hips. That adorable fur-tipped tail of hers twists around Krvavy’s left arm, coiling from wrist to elbow, as her cute little paw feet wiggle and twitch, unable to find anything to stand on as they dangle beneath her. Trembling little fingers grasp at those velvety and luxuriously soft bunny ears, but a measure of restraint is exercised. She does not hide her face behind them.

The faintest of smiles enters Thea’s otherwise dignified expression. “This is Adeline.” Her soft-blue eyes can’t help but be drawn to the bottom half of that Halfling’s figure. There is more meat in a single one of those thick thighs than in everything above that girl’s beautifully thin waist. And that ass... This little bunny truly lives up to her ridiculous family name. “Adeline Stoutbottom.”

“Your handmaiden.” Dimitrios so ‘helpfully’ adds, his tone not nearly as harsh and hostile as before. Is he finally seeing sense? Has he finally decided to not be such a jackass? Either way, Thea is not going to forgive him so easily.

“Her family,” the noble girl continues on as if her brother never even spoke, “are your subjects, Father.”

“Is that so...?” That single sky blue eye turns to the nervous Halfling, who can’t help but fidget and squirm under that... actually rather gentle... gaze. “Where then, Miss Stoutbottom, are you from...?”

Adeline lifts her floppy ears up a bit, partially hiding her little mouth. She takes a deep breath and very very slowly begins to speak. “Wik-bar-tun-ness-ell-wuld-shur.” As if worried that her voice may not have been heard, she quickly and more loudly repeats herself. “Wickbartonnestlewoldshire...!”

“Ahh... That is... to the northeast, near the border with Raseyne... yes?” That Thea’s father somehow understood and even recognizes that Halfling gibberish absolutely stuns Thea. “Good... They should be safe... Far away from the invading army that we... invited... in...”

The light rattle of Dimitrios’ sword belt shifting nearly draws Thea’s wrathful gaze. He is only spared by the sound of his heels quietly clicking together in that subtle tell that has always betrayed his nervousness.

Thea’s hand gently comes to rest atop the shoulder of that adorable bunny-mouse, drawing a skittish twitch from the girl. “Much like Khalia, the...” She briefly glances back towards that Were-Beast, who has found a nice armchair to laze about in, staying a fair distance away from those who are not used to her unsettling presence. “The... halfbreed of a sort over there...” It would take far too much time and effort to explain what Khalia actually is. “Adeline here is...” Colour begins to creep onto Thea’s cheeks once more, her face growing hotter. “She is very special to me. I...”

Adeline completely freezes up as a second hand delicately cups her chin and tenderly turns her head. Those big hazel-brown eyes of hers stare back into Thea’s soft-blue pair, growing wider as that noble girl rises onto her toes to better match this still held up Halfling in height.

Warmth flows through Thea’s hammering heart as her soft lips press against those of her fellow fiancée. “I...” The sight of Adeline’s serene and slightly melty expression brings a smile to her heavily flushed face. “I love her. Though...” Her confidence wavers a bit, but mostly holds. “Though not as much as I love Krvavy...!”

“Eeeeiihh...!” Anxiety and relief fills that squeak as Adeline is all but forced back down to the ground. The rather scrutinizing gazes that were, for a moment, directed her way are quickly drawn towards the Drakling, whose pale lips have been claimed in a kiss that is deeper and longer than the one she was given.

“Haahhh~...!” Thea happily gasps for air as she pulls back from her barbaric lover, a thin string of saliva catching the firelight before it snaps. “Krvavy... Krvavy is my saviour, and...” She quickly lifts her left hand, palm facing towards herself, and draws attention towards the Far-Speaking ring sitting snug around the finger between her middle and pinkie. It is not a proper engagement ring... but it will suffice. “And I am her betrothed...!”

“Dosi... dear...?”

With hardly a thought, Thea spins to face her mother, glaring at that older woman with the flames of fury flickering in her eyes. “I will not hear a word of complaint or protest from even a single one of you! I am not asking for permission to marry the love of my life! It will happen, regardless of what any of you have to say! Because none of you have the right to decide who I choose to marry! Not since you sold me to that heartless bastard! So be thankful that I am even telling you thi– Why are you smiling?!”

Tears trickle down her mother’s cheeks, flowing free from eyes that are glistening with joy. “Oh Dosi...” A handkerchief dabs away some of those happy tears as that older noblewoman turns her gaze towards... Krvavy. “Thank you oh so much for bringing our dear Dosi back to us...!”

“Back!?” Thea bristles, her rage burning even brighter as she steps between the Drakling and her mother’s outstretched arms. “Were you not even LISTENING to me?! I am NOT ‘back’! I am NOT staying here!”

“Sist–”

Thea’s righteous fury snaps towards her eldest brother, not letting him speak. “NOT A WORD! I only came along to make sure my Krvavy cleaned up the MESS that you lot made! Once we are done here, then I will be going back home with Krvavy! Where I will not have to think of any of you ever again! And where none of you will be able to treat me like a burden!”

Dimitrios’ face twists slightly. Not with anger or pain or anything of the sort, but in... concern. And pity. “Is that what you think...?” His softly spoken voice takes advantage of the fact that Thea is busy catching her breath. “That you were a burden on us...?”

“Hmph! Do not lie and say I was anything but...!” The noble girl bitterly hisses. “I was useless...! I could not focus while studying and what I was able to learn never stayed in my head for long...! I could not do basic paperwork without creating more issues that took more people more effort to fix than had I never ‘helped’ in the first place...! I could not organize others for even the most basic of tasks...! I c-ould not even save who knows how many lives by just being a good little wife-to-be...!”

Her brothers, her mother, her father, even the lovers that she brought here with her... they all stare at Thea, unsure of what they could possibly say.

“But with Krvavy...” Her voice lowers to little more than a gently sighed whisper. She closes her teary eyes and leans into her Dragon’s warm embrace, pulling those reassuringly strong arms tight around her. “It is different with Krvavy. I found a place where I can belong, where others can love me despite... despite my flaws. Where I can be pushed and encouraged into actually improving myself, into finally learning magic, into finally being able to protect and care for myself...”

The crackling fireplace sounds almost deafeningly loud in the silence that follows. After a second, or two or a dozen or more, quiet footsteps begin to cross the floor... heading further away. Thea flinches faintly as light click rings through the air, and again shortly after when she hears a slightly heavier clack. Her deafening heartbeat drowns out the fading footfalls that follow.

Anxious thoughts swirl through Thea’s mind. Which... which one of her brothers decided that he had heard enough, seeing no point in sticking around...? Did she... break her mother’s heart and send that woman, who she once wanted to be just like, running off to mourn in private...? Maybe the stress of this whole encounter became too much for Adeline to bear...?

One of the hands all but holding onto her waist... suddenly pulls away.

Thea’s mouth is almost painfully dry, her throat tight enough that she can hardly breathe. She forces herself to swallow what little saliva is left in her mouth before opening her eyes.

Adeline is still here, still standing by her side. Not one of her brothers have left the room. Her father, of course, still lies propped up in his bed. And her mother... Her mother is right there in front of Thea, both of her hands clasped around a much bigger black-scaled one, the fingers of which have been curled back into a loose and upright fist.

Her mother’s eyes are directed to a spot a fair distance above Thea’s head. Her mother’s lips, curled into a proud smile, are slowly moving. But all Thea hears is her heartbeat and a dull mumbling sound.

The arm still holding Thea close suddenly gives her a squeeze. And then another. And another slightly more insistent one.

“–ea...? Thea, my little princess, you there...?”

Slowly, almost in a daze, Thea tilts her head back and meets her Dragon’s loving gaze, that upside-down face framed by curtains of vibrant crimson. “Y-yeah...?”

A faint bit of colour enters Krvavy’s cheeks, those pale lips spreading into a wide and warm grin. “Look what your mom just gave me~.”

That closed hand moves in front of Thea’s soft-blue eyes, scaled fingers peeling back to reveal... a ring.

A beautiful ring, with a twinkling platinum band topped by three glimmering and glittering gems. Two triangular diamonds, held in place by silver prongs at their points, flank a much larger sapphire braced by four bits of gold. That polished centerpiece, a near-perfect sphere the colour of a clear and open sky, has within its very center a darker hexagonal pillar of which six spokes extend outwards.

{reveal "Authors Note:"} Here is what this ring looks like.{endreveal}

Thea’s heart skips a beat as a pleasant and fulfilling heat pulses through her body, through her soul and her very being, burning hottest just below her belly. Sultry lines sear into her soft skin, forming a shape she is more than familiar with. But her mind hardly notices that euphoric tingling. Her wide eyes stare strait that... at that ring.

She has seen it quite a few times before.

Ignoring the notifications popping into her mind, Thea’s full attention snaps towards her mother. “Th-this is...!”

“It is yours now.” That older noblewoman so calmly states, love and happiness in her teary eyes.

“But it...! I...!”

Her mother gently cups both her cheeks. “I always wanted you to have it, my dear Dosi.” Those whispered words matter far more to Thea than the soft and motherly kiss planted on her forehead. “Besides, none of your brothers have yet wed, so they cannot complain~.”

Trails of warmth stream down Thea’s face. With trembling fingers, she moves her Far-Speaking ring from her left to her right. “Ha...!” Thea can’t help but let out a small laugh as Krvavy fumbles slightly, needing help from her mother to grab that wondrous heirloom from her palm. The Drakling could have done that herself, had only she been willing to release her half-hug and let go of Thea.

Giddy joy fills the noble girl’s very being as that ring is slipped into its proper place, sitting comfortably snug around her finger, as if it is exactly where it belongs.