Once settled in the living room, Wren took a deep breath. "I am from the Kingdom of Atruvia which is in a different realm than Colorado."
"I think I've heard of it," Sarah mused, "but I'm not sure. Go on." She sipped her coffee.
"My brother is the king."
Sarah almost spit out her coffee. "Your brother, that's coming here?"
Wren nodded.
"We're going to have to up our game on the cabins. They're not ready for royalty."
"No," Wren held up her hand. "Nothing special. It's my fault that they're coming here."
"Explain."
"I was supposed to marry Xandros, a dragon king from the Kredel Empire."
"Now I have heard of that place, but I haven't heard of him."
"I thought he was a wonderful man, at first." Wren took a drink. "But then he broke my heart because all he wanted was our land. There was no way I could marry him just because he strong-armed my mother into agreeing to give him our kingdom before she died."
"True."My brothers are going to flip their shit when they hear this.
"Ezra, my brother, tried to reason with Xandros, king to king, but he got nowhere. And then when I told Xandros to go to hell and I'd rather stay single forever than marry him, he started to collude with any other kingdom that wasn't friendly to us. Now, he's managed to put my entire family in danger, which is why they're fleeing Atruvia."
"And that explains the urgency that they needed the cabins."
"We had heard of the Hale family, and what you were, so it made sense to come here. They'll be careful not to be followed, just as I was. We won't put you in any danger."
"I'm not worried about that. Lord knows we've had our share of drama around here. But why did you come first?"
"I thought that if I left Atruvia, Xandros would back down. To you, I've only been here a day. To him, I've been gone for a couple of weeks because I took my time getting here so I could throw off anyone following me."
A knock on the door interrupted them. Vinia stuck her head in the door. "Is it safe?"
"My kitchen needs to be cleaned, if you're up for it."
Vinia smiled. "I just wanted to let you know that I did something."
Sarah noticed a different glint in her mother's eyes. "What did you do?"
"I sent a message to King Ardec. You were right. We need to exonerate your father."
Sarah glanced at Wren. "Suddenly, we have so many kings bouncing around."
The beat of her heart echoed in her ears. What would Luke say? Would he even respond?
Chapter Eight: A New Reign
Luke Ardec
Luke let out a deep breath. "Come on. Let's go get coffee first. This could be a long conversation."
Larisa agreed. "Just let me take this blood to the infirmary first. I want to get the tests started right away. I'll meet you in the kitchen."
Tuva was already in the kitchen when he walked in. "How's your father?"
"Unconscious. Do you have any idea what happened to him?"
