Adventures of Jessa

34

"I was told what my duties as the gold dragon princess will be, should I manage to shift form to that of the gold dragon. I will not do that to Dhiren or to the elves. I can't be married to one and have the children of another. 

"Actually the very thought of flying a dragon makes me ill. I would have no control over whose children I will be having. It could be a complete stranger or one I find completely repugnant like Selnik."

"I will do my duty, but the very idea, well I will be hating myself each time. 

"How can I ask someone else to deal with me having sexual relations with another and having his children? How can I ask another to be with me, and love me when I'll hate myself more and more each time? I can't do that and so, I thought it would be better to end things quickly and not string him along with there being no hope of us being together." Jessa shakes her head and looks down.

"I care far too much for him, I won't do that to him. I saw what choosing love over duty did to my parents." Jessa wipes the tears from her eyes. "That just ended in their death with my father shirking his duty to his people and my mother shirking her duties to her god."

The Ancient One sighs. There are a few guilty looks from some of the occupants.

"Forgive me, Jessa, I didn't realize that you were doing this to spare him even more pain." The queen starts to say but Alaric holds up his hands to stop her from speaking.

"There has been a lot of miscommunication and lack of information. Jessa, I think you misunderstood a few things." Alaric tells her but the gold deity speaks up.

"You will not be flying a gold dragon, now or in the future, Jessa. Alaric hasn't told you enough about your heritage." The Ancient One glares at Alaric and Alaric looks down in shame.

"Dragons don't mate permanently often, but when they do it's forever. Once you gave your heart to Dhiren, he will be the only one that will be able to give you children. And so the gold royalty line will end with yours and Alaric's death."

"It would be easier if I could be turned to a gold dragon," Dhiren says in the stunned silence of the room. "But since I am pure elf that won't be possible."

There is even a more profound silence that meets his words. Dhiren looks up from his study of the floor to find the eyes of all the occupants of the room riveted on him.

"Jessa, before any more is said in regards to that, you should know something about your mother. She didn't shirk her duties. As a matter of fact she nearly died completing them when she told your father that she couldn't forsake her role. She collapsed while performing the rite of passage for the young acolytes that wish to join my service.

"She was dying. The other clerics prayed to me and told me that Rachel had broken up with her boyfriend not long before. I instructed them to find him and bring him to her. He was the only hope that she had.

"Once they found him and brought him to her, it took days before she regained consciousness. I am the one that told her that she was no longer my high priestess, but I allowed her to keep her powers. It was far more important for her to be with her heart sworn than it was to serve in my temple. I had found her man to be acceptable and had them married." Jethro smile reminiscently as he thinks back to that time.

"In my marriage rites the two fight until one capitulates and they accept each other. That was the day I saw Rachel glow with happiness. She went on to serve me by helping Reniel kill the evil dragon kin. She only stopped once she found she was with child. Reniel did not."

"Reniel, disobeyed me by not flying a gold female, but by the time I ordered him to do so, his heart was engaged by Rachel and he would not be able to fly. He completed his duties to the best of his abilities by hunting down and killing the dragon kin. 

"It was my pride and anger that I wouldn't acknowledge that he couldn't fly a female. I could have had Rachel stay with me when she was with child and Reniel was away fighting. But I didn't, and so I lost my opportunity to know my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter when you were born, Jessa. 

"It is because of my pride that they died." Alaric can't look at any of them in the room.

"And almost caused the death of your granddaughter," the Ancient One states and Alaric nods miserably.

"There is one more piece of information that Jessa should know," Jethro whispers, not wishing to break the silence. But since it is silent they all hear it easily.

"What is that Jethro?" Zira asks the human deity gently.

"You are all aware that I was raised from a human to a god. I was married while I was human and she journeyed with me. She very nearly became one with me and would have, except she was pregnant and couldn't join me on the last quest. By the time I returned to her, I had just enough time to hold her and tell her how much I loved her as I held our new born son. She died of a sickness that no one knew how to fight. 

"Healing was sparse in those days. So I collected the knowledge of healing and taught it to others so that they won't suffer as I did. That is how I became the god of healing as well as war. 

"Jessa, you are the last of my direct line descendants. This doesn't make you have god powers or anything like that, you just are of my bloodline."

"That's why you blessed her so greatly while she was here and never called upon you." Lady Zira says greatly amused but she keeps it hidden. Jethro is still greatly pained for the loss of his wife, even after all these years.

"Yes, of course. I couldn't let your children treat her so abominably. I was just evening the score a bit."

"I see, thank you Jethro for sharing that," Alaric tells the saddened deity.

"Should Jessa continue to stay away from Dhiren he is likely to die." Ureuk says in the stillness.

"Then the royal line of the moon elves will die as well." The queen says bitterly. She had desperately wanted more children but couldn't have any more after Dhiren.