Dylan easily knew I’d find these. So, this was a ploy to mess with Eric and not have anyone take the statues besides him. I laughed linking Eric, “You’ll want to get to the area outside the pool.” Eric asked, “Is someone trying to fight you again? Never mind, I’ll be there in two minutes.”
I didn’t bother to answer that it was not a fight. My father in law rounded the corner at a dead run and came up short. He snarled and yelled, “DYLAN!” I laughed, “You make it more fun for him.” I counted what I saw announcing, “I must be the first person who saw them, since what he ordered is still here. Youcan just take them before anyone else sees them.” Which means I was meant to find this.
Cassie popped in seconds later. My sister in law’s eyes went wide when she saw the display. Eric pleaded, “Princess, please conjure these out of here and into a fire.” Cassie kissed Eric’s cheek saying, “I will do just that, dad.”
The table and bobble heads disappeared. Cassie turned to me and smiled. Then my sister in law warned, “Egres is annoyed.” I replied, “Of course he is… please tell him it was not my fault.” Cassie laughed and popped away.
Xander decided to pop us back home since he didn’t want to drive. Most people agreed with him. I wasn’t sure why we didn’t arrive that way. Maybe some of the group found it relaxing to drive. I didn’t. Leisurely driving and I still didn’t mix. I was not a fan.
We got settled back into a routine at home. Luna Lena’s death was faked and she was in the Hackura realm… in the least surprising turn of events. The second week of March rolled around…. and I was nervously cooking food again. Today was the group therapy session… that I had asked for. Freya told me, “It will be fine.” Sure… fine. Totally fine… this was me being fine.
I dropped food off at the pack house and went to dance in the field I liked here. I had been there for a few hours when Egres stepped out from the shadows. My husband’s Lead Guard advised, “Duchess, maybe talking would help.”
I paused to say, “I have to talk later. I don’t know why… I asked Haley to set this up. I mean… I do know why. It needs to happen. I’m just nervous… and the whole thing seems silly. It’s not like my family tells me their true feelings…. about most stuff. They get upset. Then they stop talking, then they just… I don’t know it’s silly.”
Egres urged, “Tell them that exactly how you just said it. Tell them how you feel when they do that.” I asked, “Can I reallytell them how to process things? Is that fair?” Egres laughed. I continued, “I’m serious….really… they are just tiptoeing around me. It’s so…. annoying. They are doing it because they feel bad.”
Egres reasoned, “Guilt is a hard emotion to get over.” I sighed, “I used their guilt to avoid talking about things… that I didn’t want to. It was wrong of me.” Egres disagreed, “Not necessarily wrong. You were going through a lot at the time. You didn’t trust them or anyone here except Duke Alexander really.”
He paused then added, “In my opinion, you were afraid to show all the pieces of you because of all those years your abusers told you he wouldn’t want you. It’s scary to reveal all of yourself to someone else.”
“Especially when you’re afraid you could lose them. You spent a lot of time fearing you’d lose Duke Alexander. It’s not like you took years to tell everyone your secrets anyway. You went through a lot of things that you never should have.”
I shrugged… because the facts… didn’t really make me feel less guilty. I had my reasons, but I’d perpetuated this cycle I now wanted to end. It all seemed really hypocritical today…. and probably tomorrow. My family and I would make progress… then I was the one stepping back.
I went inside to my office and started to read some of the books I’d brought from Faerie. I copied some pages I felt were important and highlighted passages. I used colored tabs for important notations. I had narrowed down the Holloran I believed to be the mate of an O’Toole to five people.
I was thumbing through another book when I stopped my thumb on one page, surprised. There was a small picture of a dragon that caught my eye. I read the passage:
The Princess who comes will join with the promised siblings to liberate the Δρ?κων from the war fought amongst themselves.The Princess who wields the sword of Ormr will be the saving grace of her race.
Only if she is united with her fated mate will she be successful. If she is without him, then all is lost. She will bring outside forces, along with the promised siblings, to save her people. Then Faerie and the Δρ?κων realms will unite once again to bring peace and unity to both.
I read it several times and highlighted it. I set aside my search for Holloran/O’Toole answers and looked for what the sword of Ormr looked like. Someone knocked on my door. I yelled, “In a minute!” I picked up another book as someone came in.
I scented that it wasn’t Xander. So… I knew that much I knew. Freya snorted, “You know who it is.” I did know that. Sierra said, “Mel, I can reschedule your family session, but you did ask for this one. So…” I interrupted, “Just a minute.”
I kept flipping through books. Sierra argued, “You’re already late.” I reasoned, “So a few more minutes won’t matter….” Then I found it. I shouted, “YES!” There was a picture of Ormr here. I frowned as I read the passage.
The sword of Ormr was lost to the Δρ?κων realm. It’s rumored to have traveled between realms. It’s been centuries since a Fairy, or Dragon, has seen it in person. It is a useless tool in anyone’s hands except its chosen Princess. It cannot even make a cut to its opponents if not held by the chosen. It’s been centuries and no Princess has been chosen. When found again, the Dragons will be known again.
I grumbled, “Well…. that makes no sense.” I took a picture of what the sword looked like with my phone. It was a gold Kimono sword. When held by its chosen a gold mist could appear and the blade would come out. Until it had its chosen, the blade was not there.
Sierra sighed, “Ok, do I need to get your Xander? I told him I could get you there on my own.” I stood up, saying “I’m going, I’m going… right now even. I do need you to send a message to K. I need to talk to her.”
Sierra replied, “K sent a message the other day that she’d be going dark.” I frowned, “Ok… that’s fine. I’ll tell Xander to tell Hastein to tell her.” Sierra nodded, “You know how K gets though. She’ll reach out when she feels like it.”
I agreed, “I do know that… but now she’s with family and people… also… this is important.” I was certain she was the chosen Princess. That had to be part of why her family sent her here…. right? It had to be so Kingsley could find her mate so she could bring us all back to save them.
I quickly googled Δρ?κων as I walked over to the building Haley’s office was in. It was Greek for Dragon. I linked Xander, “Can you tell Hastein I need to talk to Kingsley? It’s really… like really important.”
Xander answered, “Of course. Do I need my mom to reschedule this group session? It’s ok if you need more time.” I answered, “No… I’m coming.” I started to jog there. I walked in and everyone’s eyes snapped to me.
I muttered, “Sorry I’m late…. I was researching some things… and lost track of time.” Haley quickly said, “It’s fine, Melanie. Go ahead and pick a seat.” I naturally went to the one near Xander and promptly began to pick at my clothes.
Haley cleared her throat, “Alright. We are here to talk through some things at Melanie’s request. I’m just going to mediate the conversation and jump in if things get too tense.” I looked around noting my grandparents were here. Well… on my dad’s side.
Grandma Esther smiled softly at me. Alpha Peter and Luna Chelsea were here too. Dalton, Dakota, Cooper, Paige, Avery,Tristan, Everly, Jason, Addison, EJ, Elise, my parents, and Eric were all here too. There really were a lot of people in here.
