Inheritance: Threads of Fate

Chapter Twenty One - Threads of Fate

"I'm sorry Bug. I never meant for you to get involved with the Lords..." He looked up at you with tears in his eyes. "I never wanted this life for you."
"Well lucky me that what we want seems to always come to pass right? Lucky that we never have to plan for worst case scenarios. Lucky that you and mom never had to think about what would happen to me if you just disappeared and left me, a little girl, alone to care for a baby..." Tears began streaming down your face.

Your dad reached out and held your hand as you paced by him for the twentieth time. You looked down at him angrily, but you cheeks were wet with tears. He pulled you down to him and hugged you. "There is nothing in this world that I can say that will make it ok. No amount of apologies can take away the pain and suffering I know you endured. If I could go back I would..."

"I know it wasn't your fault..." you broke down. "I know you didn't leave on purpose. I remember you fighting with everything against those Slavers... but I still spent years blaming you... I blamed you for abandoning me. Abandoning us. I blamed you every day that I woke up in the middle of the night to Sis crying, or every time I had to change her diaper... it's not your fault... but I still feel so angry...."

"You, and your sister, are the most important people in the world to me, and your mother. That never changed. I dreamt of you every night, and thought about you every day. Even to this day, my only reason for living, my only reason for waking up each morning was the thought that one day I just might see you again."

"I thought I'd never see you again..." Sobbing, you hugged him back. "I don't want to be angry... I don't want to feel like this anymore..."
"You feel however you need to feel sweetheart, it's ok. You can blame me." He kissed the top of your head. "But know I will never abandon you. They had to drag me away kicking and screaming the first time, they'd have to kill me next time."

Kneeling on the sand, you cried together until you were both exhausted. You felt like you had squeezed the last drop of hydration from your eyes. You took a deep breath.
"Now..." He smiled at you. "Though it's not what I wanted, it's what is. You have taken my place as Lord of the Scale of the Sea, and at least one other Lord knows it so it's only a matter of time before word spreads."
"Actually... Cale and Lalin know too..."
"Cale? That son of a gun is still pirating at his age?" He chuckled. "I don't know this Lalin though.."
You told your dad about your encounters with all the lords so far, and what Cale told you about the humming of the Scales.
"He's right. I'm glad someone told you. There's a lot that is supposed to be passed down when you earn it that you wouldn't be able to learn on your own."
"Like what?"
"Well. I assume you know the legend now, yes?"
You nodded.
"Part of it is also that when the Scales come together they are meant to have the power to make great change in the world. They amplify their owners, good becomes great. Bad becomes...well... worse... That's why it's so important to pass them on to those who embody those traits one would consider noble. It's also why one Lord is not meant to own more than one Scale... I'm sure that's going to come back to bite Rictor in the ass someday... Sorry. Butt." He corrected himself and you laughed.

"Dad. I've used the word 'ass' before...and worse..."

"I don't want to know that my little girl is using words like that..." He laughed. "Anyway, once a year all the Lords are meant to come together to discuss the state of things around the world. See what they can do to improve things, without causing wars or fighting among people. I fu...I mean, messed up..."  (you rolled your eyes) "When I chose to stay on the Lone Islands with your mother, I should have immediately chosen a successor... I didn't. I stupidly thought that one less Lord wouldn't make a difference. Then I heard about King Caspian IX's suspicious death, I tried to convince myself that it was politics, regimes rise and fall every day, the Lone Islands would remain unbothered by whatever happens in Narnia, so far away... A few days later the Darkness crept in, those of us who went in the water would disappear. Not long after Calormen invaded. It was a chain of events that I ignored my role in. If the six Lords had been meeting annually like they have been for centuries... none of this might have happened."

"But what could you have done? What power do these scales hold over anyone other than pirates?" You asked, astonished at his admission.

"It's as if they have their own will to pull at the threads of fate. Once the six decide on something, it just seems to happen. Be it good or bad..."

"So if I just...willed us to get out of this desert and appear back on the Lone Islands?"

He chuckled. "No, not quite like that. All six have to be present and come to a decision on a specific topic together. If you were all present, and you all agreed that the best thing for the world would be for you to get back to the Lone Islands safely, then a series of events would occur, sometimes out of the blue, that would have you find your way back home."

"When was the last time all six Lords met?" You asked.
"Probably the year before you were born." He spoke softly. "The last time I called myself one."
You sat in silence, processing the enormity of what was just revealed to you. Were you the right person to hold this kind of power? Are you a good enough person to make world altering decisions? Finally you asked. "Is there anything else I should know?"
"Hmm. I think you got a crash course in everything else already, the only thing you didn't do is the ceremonial stuff."
"Ceremonial?"
"When a Lord chooses a successor there's a kind of party, a ceremony, passing the title on to the next. It's not more than tradition, but it's something all pirates look forward to attending. They're known to be quite..." He cleared his throat "spirited..."
You laughed. "For pirates I can only imagine."

He looked up at the stars and took a deep breath. "For the record, you should know, I'm so proud of the woman you've become." He turned back to look at you. "I see a lot of myself in you, a lot I wish I didn't but still... You've grown into the best person I could have hoped for."
"Thanks Dad." You smiled at him.
He yawned and stretched. "I better get a few hours of sleep before the sun comes up. We have a long way back to civilization. I can't tell you to go to bed anymore, can I?" He laughed.
"Nope." You giggled.
"Goodnight Ladybug, love you."
"Goodnight Dad."
He slipped into one of the tents.