Dragon Blood

Forty-Nine: Ready

Hal slammed his fist down on the trunk that had been left in their newly assembled tent. He wanted to tear something apart, beat something senseless. His Skylar, his little girl, had just turned her back on him. She had just left him and her mother to walk away with a dragon. 

Seeing her turn into a dragon had made him angrier than he had been in a long time. A part of him had been in denial about what she truly was, and seeing her shift so naturally had shattered every illusion he'd allowed himself. He knew it wasn't fair of him to be upset with her for embracing what she was, but he was nonetheless. He and Violet given her everything, loved her with his whole heart, taken care of her, protected her from herself, and she turned her back on them so easily. She asked them here to protect the dragons and acted as if she hadn't grown up their daughter. She acted like this place was her home.

He ran his hands over his face and sat back on his bed. Violet walked over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 

"Hal, love," she whispered, squeezing his arm and sitting down next to him. "Darling, what's gotten into you?"

He knew what she was talking about. He had acted irrationally when Leo brought up a marriage between Skylar and Orion. Leo was a good man, obviously a strong leader, and Hal had let his anger get the better of him. Something else he'd been in denial about: his daughter's feelings toward the young man who had saved her life. Having someone else say it to him, especially in reference to marriage... Hal had lost it. Leo had not deserved it, and he had meant no harm when he'd mentioned it. What had happened had stemmed from Hal being unable to control his anger, but he felt that Leo's overreaction gave him some room to pass judgement. At least Hal didn't turn into a raging monster if he became too upset.

Unfortunately, his shock and fear at seeing the black dragon advancing on him was nothing when compared to the loss he felt upon seeing his only child walking away from him, hand in hand with Orion. All he could see in his mind was the image of the infant he'd picked up at Draco's castle, the instant love he'd felt for her. His baby, his only child, and it felt like his time with her was up.

"We've lost her, Vi," he said quietly.

Violet rested her head on his shoulder. "Darling, I don't think we have. Not yet, at least. But if we keep acting like dragons are terrible creatures... as if they're something other than people, I know that we will. She loves them so much. These people mean have come to mean so much to her."

"We're supposed to mean everything to her," he countered. "We're her parents, the people who have loved her since she was a child."

"But we've never truly loved her for who she is, have we?" Violet whispered, her hand squeezing his arm. "We made her hide for her whole life. Here she can be free. How could we expect her not to fall in love with it?"

Hal wasn't going to admit that he'd handled the situation badly. What else was he supposed to do when he discovered that his child turned into a dragon? Let her? No, he didn't think so. Besides, he was still feeling slighted.

"You mean fall in love with him," he spat, instead. "When she told us that back at the castle, I didn't believe her.  But seeing her with him just now... Violet, she truly intends to marry him."

Violet snorted in the most un-ladylike fashion. "Can you blame her? He's been nothing but a gentleman to us despite how we've treated him. He's dealt with us because he so obviously loves her. And you apparently haven't seen the way he looks at her."

"What, like he wants to lock her away somewhere so we can never get to her again?"

"Harold, now you're being juvenile." Violet reprimanded, leaning away from him. "Love, he looks at her like you look at me."