Siren Call

Gifted

It was dark when Adalynn awoke.

It was always dark, whether morning, noon, or night. There was nothing to keep time for her in that blackened hole and her thoughts always wandered upside where the sun would shine warm and silkily across the blue sky.

Her wound had been cleaned and dressed as she slept and her nightgown was new.

As she stumbled out of the thick mess of blankets and fur pelts, a wrapped package sat innocently at her bedside drawer.

With a trembling hand, she lifted the attached card and brought it close to her face.

I am sorry, my little girl, for my roaring and snorting like a wild bull. Please enjoy this as a token of my love for you and join me for meals.

                                                                                    Your dear father

Wide eyed, Adalynn tugged at the pink ribbon tied tight across the package and unwrapped a gorgeously leather-bound book sitting atop a beautifully red gown. The dress was modest, to be sure, meant for someone of her age but she could not help the excited bouncing that overtook her. The book looked as if to be full of new fairytales and stories, complete with extravagant scenes painstakingly hand painted onto each page.

Father's trip must have gone terribly well.

Practically jumping into the dress, Adalynn dressed quickly and raked a brush through the tangled nest that was her hair. The braid had twisted and knotted during her angst ridden sleep and more than a few strands of hair was tugged fiercely from her head in her haste.

Finally deeming herself presentable, Adalynn took one sober moment to tie her hair up with the velvet pink ribbon that had been tied to the package. Gathering up the book in her arms, she shot out the door.

Dashing like a child possessed, Adalynn brushed past several startled guards and servants alike before finally skidding to a halt to their private dining rom. Waving ecstatically at the chuckling guards who stood watch outside the door, Adalynn burst into the room.

There he was, his back to her as he sat at the head of the elongated stone table.

"Oh father, it's perfect!" she cried out as she raced up behind him and wrapped her frail arms around his neck as she accidentally smacked him in the face with her book in her exuberance.

He groaned from the sudden impact and gently shuffled her onto his broad lap. His deep chuckles rumbled through her and she smiled into his wide chest. She nuzzled her nose into his chest, absorbing the musky scent of power and warmth that her father embodied.

"I'm glad you think so Linny," he replied and the use of her pet name brought another broad grin to her face. Only he and her brother called her that. All was right again.

 "If only your mother could see you, she would be so proud," he murmured, planting a firm kiss against her hair.

Adalynn looked up and planted a gentle hand against her father's grizzled cheeks. The tears that glistened in his eyes brought stinging tears of her own to the front.

Her father deeply missed her mother, that much was certain. It was apparent in his steady walk, the slight slump of his wide shoulders, and in the ever present flicker of sorrow in his breathtakingly grey eyes. Adalynn's eyes.

Her mama had passed away after taking ill with a terrible cough that never got any better. They had been what her older brother Bernal described as "soul mates". Once she had passed on, her father was left behind, broken and forever saddened by the loss of his true love.