The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 91

"He's in this very room. Perhaps if you had any motherly instincts, you might have picked up on that." The statement was like a dagger to Lilith's heart. If it were true, her son was near, and she had been oblivious to it.

Whoever this Destiny person was, Elysia was no longer a fan. Such a rude remark was uncalled for, she didn't care who this person was. Queen Lilith was a gentle soul, her life full of misfortune and hardship. If the story were true, and Destiny truly took Queen Lilith's babe from her arms, never to return him, then such belligerent comments were uncalled for.

"How about you stop messing with everyone's heads and answer some questions? Starting with where Gabriel is," Elysia demanded. 

Destiny blinked at her. Obviously this woman was unaccustomed to being spoken to in such a manner. Under the scrutiny of Destiny's gaze, Elysia found herself taking a step back. Shade moved closer to her, ready to keep her safe however necessary. 

"You mortals are so impatient. No fun at all," Destiny sighed. "You don't have to look far, Princess. Gabriel is standing right beside you."

Elysia frowned, looking around. There was no one there, only Shade. 

She froze.

Shade had never looked so lost before. He turned to Destiny, a question on his face.

"Yes, you in the cloak, I'm talking about you," Destiny confirmed. "You never knew your real parents did you?"

Shade stiffened. Before he could speak, King Alan stood and placed himself between Destiny and his daughter. "Enough of this. Let us go somewhere private and speak."

The guests looked disappointed, enjoying the free show. It wasn't every day one of the Fates paid a visit. And this visit was turning out to be quite the dramatic one. She was sure rumors would spread like wildfire. 

Elysia's head was spinning as they moved to a private room. She gripped Shade's hand tightly, and to her surprise, he clung to hers in return. He was nervous. It scared Elysia senseless, for Shade to be worried. He was always the calm one.

Shade's identity was in question. She tried to understand how that must feel. To spend your entire life believing you are one person and find out suddenly you're someone else. That this entire time he had parents. He had a family, a name, a purpose. 

None of Destiny's words were making sense. There was so much missing information. So many questions still unanswered. 

As soon as her family left the chapel, it erupted into a roaring of voices, chorusing over one another with gossip. The guests were revelling in the drama of it all.

In the small room, her entire family, Shade, Queen Lilith, Finnian, and Destiny gathered to hash out the details of this chaos. 

Each one of them had questions, and they all spoke them at once. Apparently Finnian's voice had returned to him, as he began arguing so loudly with everyone else his face turned red.

Destiny looked ready to leave. It seemed the pleasure of her initial announcement was gone. No doubt she hadn't thought so much explanation would be required. 

"Stop your squawking," Destiny commanded them, silencing the room. She put a hand to her forehead, the true wrinkles of her age gone, replaced with a young, blemish free complexion. "I will explain what I can."

When she wasn't interrupted, she continued, addressing Queen Lilith first. "I took your son, Gabriel, the day he was born. His destiny was very specific. A moment couldn't be wasted. So I took him straight away to a place unknown by most maps. There I knew of a master guardian, a man who took orphaned babes and formed them into heartless assassins or, in Gabriel's case, skilled guardians."