The moon hung brightly in the night sky, cascading down in misty rays of ivory light off the icy ocean and onto the white sands of beach. A couple sat by the water's edge, letting the cool waves kiss their feet. A young child sat between them--no older than a year or two--trying his hardest not to fall asleep as the lullaby of crashing waves danced around his ears. It was Arturo, Adalia, and their son Aurelio.
"Isn't it beautiful Aurelio?" Adalia scoops Aurelio into her arms. He coos softly as she cradles him against her chest. "Perhaps one day you'll have a fine lady to share its majesty with."
"Until then you're stuck with her." Arturo laughs jokingly and pats Aurelio's head. Adalia playfully hits Arturo on the arm and Aurelio giggles softly. "It is a wonderful night though. Why don't we spend the night here? It's not every day we get a chance to leave the castle, a chance to get away from everything for a little while."
Arturo and Adalia remove their cloaks and spread them on the sand across the sand like blankets. The two lay back and gaze up at the shining night sky. Aurelio rolls over and sits between his parents before curling up and falling off to sleep. Arturo and Adalia follow suit, drifting off as the waves licked at their toes and sung them to sleep.
As the moon drifted down across the sky, the sun rose high up into the air, ridding the horizon of its lazy purple hue and replacing it with gentle shades of pink and orange. Aurelio had awoken just as early and was crawling about, playing in the sand as sea gulls began to cry. The crashing waves had started to die down, becoming no more than a sleepy ebb and flow. However, Aurelio could faintly see an object floating in the distance, and it caught his attention. He patted gently at the water, waiting, and soon enough, the gentle lull of the waves had brought the object ashore.
It was a straw basket with a baby swaddled inside.
Aurelio crawls back over towards his parents and begins to pull at their feet, babbling softly in hopes of waking them up. Adalia rolls over groggily and opens her eyes.
"What is it Aurelio?" Aurelio continues to babble. Adalia sets up and now, fully awake, she could see the basket. "Is this what you wanted to show me?"
Adalia scoots over and pulls the basket close. She was surprised to see a baby tucked inside, one that was sleeping like a rock amongst her mass of silken blankets. The baby had soft olive skin and black hair, much like Arturo and Adalia. Her ears were pointed. Adalia lifts the basket and nudges Arturo awake.
"Arturo, Arturo wake up! You have to see this!"
"What is it?" Arturo sits up and rubs his eyes. He was just as surprised to see that a baby had washed ashore. "Is that..?"
"Mm. It must've washed up here during the night. Aurelio woke me up and showed her to me."
Arturo looks over at Aurelio with a smile. "What a smart son I have." Aurelio smiles back. Arturo looks down at the baby and then back to Adalia. "But what are we to do with her? Where did she come from and who does she belong to?"
"Well, whoever had her didn't seem to want her." Adalia sighs sadly. She reaches over and scoops the baby out of the basket. "I mean, who just tosses a baby aside? Especially via the water, how cruel... Arturo, I say we keep her."
"Keep her?" Arturo chuckles. "Are you certain?"
"Well we can't just leave her here. Besides," Adalia smiles. "Aurelio needs a sister to keep him company. Isn't that right Aurelio?" Aurelio looks up at his mother and babbles. "That sounds like a yes to me."
Arturo chuckles reluctantly. "Very well. Hm, I suppose we'll have to go to the church and have her christened, won't we? What shall name her? Traditionally, the initials of everyone in the Arqferian royal family are 'AAA,' but why don't we change that? What about Callista? Callista Alicia Arqferious?
"That sounds lovely." Adalia smiles and lifts up Aurelio with her other arm. She holds him and Callista close. "Say hi to your new sister Aurelio." Aurelio looks at Callista and at the same time, Callista opens her eyes and looks at Aurelio. The irises of her eyes were golden yellow. Aurelio coos softly and smiles, and Callista smiles back, laughing softly. "Aren't they too cute together?"
"My little prince and princess..." Arturo smiles. "I can't wait to see them make us proud..."
~~~
"Kahaha! You can't stop me, I'm the evil Wolf Queen! A young girl, now older than five years old, stood in the center of the castle courtyard, brandishing a stick around like a sword. It was Callista.
"You're evil ends here Wolf Queen!" Aurelio also waved a stick around.
"Yeah!" A third boy joined in on the fray. He had fair white skin, incredibly unruly brown hair, and was a few years older than Aurelio and Callista. His name was Ian, and he was Rochelle's son.
The three children begin to chase each other around the courtyard, playing their game and swinging their sticks. Arturo, Adalia, and Rochelle sat by the edge of the wall, watching their children closely.
"This takes me back." Rochelle smiles. "Remember when we used to play games like this Arturo?"
"Yeah, back when we weren't old." Arturo laughs.
"So what's Ewan doing these days Rochelle?" Adalia asks.
"Beats me," Rochelle sighs. "He's probably doing Gods know what back at the thieving town. He really needs to focus on his duties as a soldier a bit more..."
"Well it's not like we have to worry about wars anytime soon." Adalia smiles. "Arturo's done a pretty good job of keeping the peace. Let Ewan party a little."
"Ha! He's gonna get soft if I let him party anymore..."
Callista runs over and tugs on Arturo's pant leg. "Daddy, it's your turn! You get to be Wolf King!"
"My turn?" Arturo runs over and grabs a stick with a smile. "Okay, but you asked for it!"
The three kids then proceed to band together and beat up on Arturo. Arturo falls ove, pretending to be hurt. Callista climbs up his leg and stands on his back, holding her stick high and chanting victoriously. Adalia smiles. Rochelle sighs and looks over at Callista.
"Does she know?" Rochelle asks.
"Know what?" Adalia replies.
"That she's adopted." Rochelle says back bluntly. "I mean, she's clearly not your kid. With those eyes and ears, she looks just like Rei..."
"No, she doesn't know, and Arturo and I don't plan on telling her anytime soon." Adalia sighs. "But know that you say that, you don't think she's a Manakete do you?"
"Well I'm no expert, but they've all got pointed ears don't they?"
"Well, if she is, she hasn't shown any draconic tendencies, other than she seems to bite a lot as of late."
"Are her teeth sharp?"
"Very." Adalia chuckles and shakes her head. "And that scares me. I don't know how dragons work. What if she transforms or something? What do I do then? Ugh, I wish I could talk to Rei..."
"I do too, so I could give him a piece of my mind." Rochelle grumbles. "How could he just leave Moira alone with a child like that? I'm sure it was hard enough for her and Maylis to raise Angelica without Cedric..."
Aurelio runs over and hugs Adalia's leg. Arturo walks back over with Callista riding on his shoulders. Ian walks over and Rochelle scoops him up into her arms.
"Momma, can I borrow your lance?" Ian asks.
"What do you need my lance for?" Rochelle chuckles.
"To shave Daddy's beard." Ian replies. "It's itchy."
Rochelle laughs. "Is that right?"
"Your beard's itchy too Daddy." Callista says, pulling at Arturo's long, curly black beard.
Adalia picks up Aurelio and hugs him tightly. "I suppose we should get going huh? It's about their naptime."
"Momma, you're squishing me..." Aurelio tries to pull away from Adalia's grip, but she just pulls him closer.
"Yeah, I'm sure Ian's getting tired too." Rochelle says. "It was nice seeing you guys again. I needed a break from the soldiers, they've been real whiny lately..."
"I'm sure they're just getting a bit restless." Arturo chuckles. "You are working them, aren't you?"
"Harder than I ever have." Rochelle smiles.
The group heads their separate ways; Rochelle exits the courtyard and makes her way back towards her house and Arturo and Adalia make their way back to their room inside the castle. They place Aurelio and Callista into their respective rooms, letting them nap after a long afternoon of playing. Once they finally drift off to sleep, Adalia sits down on the edge of her and Arturo's bed with a sigh.
"What's the matter?" Arturo asks, sitting down next to her.
"It's Callista." Adalia says. "Rochelle pointed out something to me that I've never really noticed. What if Callista is a Manakete?"
"What?" Arturo chuckles a bit. "She couldn't be, she's physically aging at the same rate as Aurelio. Don't Manaketes look like they're ten for a rather long time?"
"I suppose, but surely you've seen her ears Arturo. They're pointy. All the Manaketes on Sanasa have pointed ears and yellow eyes, or at least all the ones we've seen do. What if she transforms? What'll do? What'll she do? How would Aurelio feel about his sister being a dragon?"
"I would be rather excited to have a draconic sibling myself." Arturo says. "But I see where you're coming from Adalia. It is a scary thought, but we have no way of knowing. Something could happen, something might not happen. Without any way to track her true heritage, we can't say anything for sure. It's probably best that we just wait and cross that bridge when we come to it."
"But-"
"If something happens to Callista, we'll deal with it. I'll deal with it. If she has any problems, we'll help her through them, and we'll love her like we always have..."
"I suppose you're right." Adalia nods. "I just pray for the best..."