Dash let out a long sigh. “Really, Mother?”
“They annoy me, and I don’t have time for their nonsense because they think they’re not worthless when we know good and well that they are.”
Dash shook his head. “Did you come all this way to say that?”
Lowering her hand and using her powers, she manifested his wanted poster. “Explain this to me.”
A million snarky, rude retorts went through his head. But that would only serve to anger her and that never ended well for anyone. Even him. “It appears to be self-explanatory.”
“Who are the seven kingdoms who dare to come at you?” she demanded. “I want the names of their rulers and the names of their children, parents, and anyone and anything they care about.”
How typical of her to want to wipe out everyone her enemies cared for.
Ryper shrugged.
“We think it’s a lie,” Dash said. “No kingdom, other than Thassalia, has come forward to depose me.”
The poster burst into flames and was carried away on the breeze. “Better be a lie. If you are deposed, it won’t go well for any of the other kingdoms. My wrath will be eternal and excruciating.”
He wanted to remind her of the fact that he’d been sent to Meara to be tortured as a colt but knew better than to bring that up. That had never been her idea. Rather, the brainchild of his father. And the one time he’d made the mistake of mentioning it to her, she’d used her powers to reassemble his father’s corpse from his ashes just to desecrate it.
The one thing they knew about their mother...
She wasn’t the most stable of creatures.
To this day, he didn’t know or understand how Ryper and Yutaka had been sent to Meara.
Until his mother had lost control when he’d brought the subject up, he’d always assumed that she’d sent them as his father had with him. Too late, he’d learned Naomi didn’t willingly put her children in harm’s way.
That was the biggest difference between his mother and father.
When she’d sent him to his father, she’d assumed his father would care for him. Cratus was lucky Dash had been the one who’d killed him during their fight.
Regardless of her love for him, Cratus’s death at Naomi’s hands would have been far more brutal had she known how he’d treated her son.
With an imperious air, Naomi swept her gaze over the ones she’d frozen. “I assume you’re marching to take back your kingdom.”
“Of course.”
With a curt nod, she placed her hand over the hilt of her sword. “My soldiers are yours. Show us the enemy and we’ll annihilate them for you.”
That he had no doubt about. “Thank you. And while you’re being so accommodating, could you please unfreeze the rest of my army?”
Pursing her lips, she glared at him. “Must I?”
“Please.”
She held her hands out to Ryper. “Give us a hug before we do so.”
Ryper stepped into her arms. “Good to see you,Kaasan.”
She kissed his cheek and released him, then turned toward Dash. “And you.”
“Rather not.”
That caused her nostrils to flare. “We are your mother. Unless you wish for it to be known to all, hug us.”
Emotional blackmail. Her forte.
