The Forgotten

13

After spending the better part of the afternoon with the young designer, Tine was ready to have some time alone with Mira. Standing, he nodded to her mother, who had just entered the room.

"I would like to take Mira for a stroll, if I may?" At her mother's nod, Mira smiled. Tine gently guided her with a hand on her lower back. 

Just as they were about to reach the door someone knocked. Tine was hesitant to answer the door. While his mate did live here, this wasn't his home to allow anyone entrance to. Just then, almost as if she had heard him, Lady Amethyst bid him to let the guest in. When he opened the door, Raptor stood there, his eyes wild and red rimmed. His hair mussed like he had run his fingers through it multiple times and his heart was on his face. 

Before Tine could offer any words of comfort, Raptor brushed past he and Mira to approach Lady Amethyst. "I must speak with you and your husband. I cannot hold my peace any longer." The concerned look on her mother's face was enough to stop Mira from wanting to leave the house and hear this conversation. Seeing this, she shooed her and her chosen out the door to enjoy themselves.

Watching the the front sitting room window and making sure they are out of sight, Amethyst turned to find her husband pouring Raptor a large shot of whisky. 

"Good lord, man! You look like you could use this. Perhaps two or three of them." Raptor swirled the reddish amber liquid in his glass and raised his eyes to look at Amethyst.

"Have you said anything to Issac?  Have you ever told him?" Raptor almost demanded in a stern but trembling voice.

Amethyst approached her grandfather with a somewhat mysterious smile and nodded. "Yes grandfather. My husband know everything. Even the fact that my grandmother fell in love with her "chosen" but was not allowed to be with him because of the decisions that the Clutch had made due to the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Tine's parent, the king and queen, 700 years ago. I also know that they fear a recurrence. Rightly so. There will be many attempts on the king and queen's lives. However, Mira is unaware of who and what she has chosen to join with in marriage. Her love for Tine is complete, but she is aware that there is something very different about him and you, as well. The idea that you are her great-grandfather and look only as old as her own father, is what will worry her. The thought of out living her loved ones will disturb her. She hasn't yet realized that the people in this village often live well past the century mark. Her own great-grandmother, Amelia died only because of a terrible accident with a carriage. Even then, the separation caused Adalinda to almost shut down with grief. Her father would not let her.:At the mention of Amelia's death and calling the man that Amelia had married Adalinda's father caused Raptor to release a low growl.

Amethyst immediately responded. "I don't think so! That man stepped into the role that the Clutch should have allowed you to fill. If nothing else, then take her with you to nest together. It almost broke her! Seeing the effects of her mate being away from my daughter first hand, I can only imagine what you and Amelia went through. You should be thankful to that man. Have you any idea what would have happened if her father had been less supportive of her and helped to find her a husband so quickly? She would have become an outcast. She would have been shunned and cast out of the village. Her and Adalinda would have died, starving to death because she wasn't raised to hunt or forage for her food. I would not be here, Mira would not be here. More importantly, your daughter would not be here, living in the house that her father built for her mother. A house built and filled with love. Amelia grew to love him, but she told me once when I confronted her that her heart still longed for her "chosen." The love she had for her husband was a soft love, but the love she had for you was fierce, deep and would go with her to her death."

Raptor was stunned. He had no idea that his female offspring were such strong women. And yet, a new generation was about to begin. Being a dragon, Tine ill most assuredly impregnate his mate on their wedding night. The Harvest moon was know to be a time when his kind were fertile and that was there official mating season. The young king had chosen wisely to have their wedding. Looking back at his granddaughter and her husband. 

"I am sorry. The Clutch has much to atone for. This mating and wedding will be the beginning of reparations. I am aware that a few of the village Elders have the look of the dragon. However, they are not as strong as your line. It wold appear that my line was stronger than originally thought." Raptor reached out and took Amethyst's hand in his and held it to attempt to convey his sorrow, grief and anger and pulled away from his chosen and the wonder that he flet at finding his family.

"What is your bloodline? My grandmother said that when a mating was about to happen, the bloodlines were read so that the male would understand the weight that he carried into his marriage. His heritage and his family honor was a gift that he willingly gave to his bride." Raptor asked.

"My grandmother used to tell me stories about the rituals. She told me that you had been the first dragon in almost 700 years to come to our village. She also showed me and old scroll with the old stories of dragon/human weddings going back 1500 years. The writing is in draconian script and she could only read a small amount. When she passed, it was given to the village Elders for keeping and remembrance. Unfortunately, it appears that we have not remembered." Amethyst hung her head in sorrow. 

"You asked me a question. You asked about my bloodline. It is as old as Tine's line. It is said that our ancestor's who came to settle this area were the best of friends. They even supposedly loved and mated the same woman, together. It was not uncommon back then. We were much fewer than we are now. Yes, we are few. But only in this area. Around the world there are many of us. It is said in the early times when we were just becoming a species of recognition, that the gods decided to make the possibility of offspring better by pairing up women with multiple mates. You would not think that as dominant as we are that this could be achieved in harmony, but I am told that it not only was harmonious but widely considered the norm for female dragons. When dragon females became fewer and less were being birthed, we started looking towards human females. But because of how close minded and judgmental humans tend to be of things they do not understand, this practice was no longer pursued." Raptor sat back and watched the play of emotions go across his great granddaughter's face, chief among them was relief.

Hearing the front door open, all three occupants of the sitting room turned to look as Tine and Mira entered the room.