“Xiathan, you can never disappoint me.” My hand moved through his thick, dark hair as I watched him slowly calm himself. “It’s okay. I just wanted you to know how to hunt in case you ever needed it in the future.” Hopefully he would never need it. Hopefully this peace would last forever.
“I like animals.”
“That’s okay.”
“Why are they any different from dragons? We don’t hunt dragons.” He finally turned to me when he stopped crying.
“Don’t ever say that to a dragon,” I teased. “Khazmuda might bite your hand off.”
He smirked before he released a quiet chuckle.
I continued to rub his back. “I wish you’d told me you felt this way sooner.”
“I thought you would get mad.”
“Never.”
“Mom is queen and you’re her guard.” He looked away again. “I just don’t want to look like a pussy.”
“What did you just say?”
“Oh…sorry.”
“Where did you learn that word?” I demanded.
“I…I don’t remember.”
“Xiathan.”
“Um, I might have heard Uncle Hawk say it one time.”
Of course. “You aren’t a pussy, Xiathan. And don’t ever say that again. Real men don’t use words like that.”
“Uncle Hawk isn’t a real man?”
“Not if he talks like that around women and children.” I stood up and helped him up with me. “There’s no shame in liking the deer, son. It means you have empathy for others, and that’s not a bad thing.”
“Empathy? What does that mean?”
“It means you care for others.” We started to head back to the castle, walking through the wildlands that belonged to the dragons.
“You don’t think Mom will be disappointed?”
“No.” My arm moved around his shoulders, and I gave him a squeeze.
“Could we…not tell her?”
“Why? It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Xiathan.”
“I know, but I want to grow up and be like her.”
“How so?” I asked.
“Strong and fearless and powerful. I know she would hunt the deer.”
I patted him again. “That’s nice of you to say about your mother, but why be her when you can be you instead?”
Lily came home later than usual, so late that I’d already fed the boys and put them to bed when she walked in. Her dinner was left on the dining table, covered with a silver platter to keep it warm even though it was long cold.
