Fly With Me

7 (New chapter)

-7-

Ethan slowly rolled his glass of water in his hands as he sat on the porch steps, his mind reeling from all the information he just received. Half of him still expected this to be a joke, or maybe a dream. He hoped he would wake up in his bed and laugh about its bizarreness with his parents. Them, dragon shapeshifting freaks? Unlikely. They were the most normal, human parents Ethan could think of, but he guessed it was all just a bluff.

"Hey bud, how are you holding up?" Mr. Sky spoke up as he slid the sliding door closed and sat next to his son.

"Dad, please tell me this is just an elaborate joke. I feel as though, all the sudden, I don't know who I am. Like, I'm going through some mid-life crises here." Ethan looked at his dad pleadingly.

Mr. Sky had to hold in his laugh from his son's use of works, trying to cover it by taking a drink of his beer. "Listen son, I'm always here if you need to talk. Its my job. Your mother and I, we thought we were doing the best thing for you when we followed the king and queen's advice. We never thought your mate would suddenly appear, let alone be the prince."

"This whole mate thing confuses me even more Dad." Ethan sighed as he set his glass of water down and rested his chin in his palm. "I feel, well, comfortable around him. Almost to the point where I want to be around him. When he took me from school, I didn't fight it, and when they me left alone in the hotel room, more than capable of running away and seeking help, I choose to stay. On top of all of that, I don't even like boys! Or do I? Ugh, I'm so confused now!"

Ethan let his face fall into his hands as his dad reached over and gently rubbed his back. "Let me tell you a story. When your mother and I first met, the war was still raging on and I had just become a royal guard. Your mother was actually a runaway."

"A runaway?" Ethan questioned and looked at his dad, confused.

"Yep, hard to believe, huh? She was one of the many women caught during a frantic attempt to cross the borders into my kingdom. Her own kingdom wasn't going so well, stuck between the two fighting ones; my own, the Fire Sky, and the enemy, the Darkened. Again, the translations from Greek to English is a little off but we'll go with it. Anyways, when I first saw her, she was in cuffs, being escorted with about seven other girls to a bus to be transported back to her kingdom. I about socked the guards who were yanking her around but was able to keep my bearings and quickly explain the situation to my commander.

Your mother was feisty, and even though she could also feel our bound, she didn't let her guard down. Even after I was able to approach her and seek a conference with the king that allowed her to stay, she kept her distance. I was upset, but I could understand. We were in the middle of a war after all. About a year passed and we finally became close enough to marry, with the Kings blessing no less. I was promoted to a commander and your mother had somehow become good friends with the Queen, landing a position as one of her ladies in waiting. Now that I think of it, the Queen was pregnant with Prince Andronicus around then.

It was about three years after we married that the war finally came to an end with the Darkened king's death; just in time too, because your mother had found out she was pregnant with you." Mr. Sky paused to take another swing of his beer before looking at Ethan. "My point in telling you this is to let you know it's ok to be confused, even scared. A mating bond is very special and can be quite unexpected, as shown in your pairing. No one really knows how they work, but we follow them to find the one we are destining to be with. Sadly, not everyone is able to find theirs. Your mother and I are very lucky to have found each other with how hard times had become back then."

"But, what am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to handle this?" Ethan mumbled, feeling lost, yet happy to have the reassurance from his father.

"Take it slow. A mating bond does not mean you need to jump into his arms. Your mother certainly did not jump into mine." Mr. sky laughed and finished his beer, setting the empty glass down.

"Thank you, Dad, but that still doesn't explain why you had to hide me from all of this. From who I really am!" Ethan exclaimed, standing up and pacing the grass a bit as he spoke. "So, what if I am a white dragon? It's just a color. It's not like I'm some rare gem or fragile object you have to protect and hide from the world."

Mr. Sky sighed and looked at his son helplessly. "But you are. There are two colors very rare among dragons; black and white. While black has been seen a few times throughout the generations, surprisingly making an appearance twice in a row with the king and Prince Andronicus, white has gone several generations unseen."

"So, I'm simply a rare color?" Ethan tilted his head, seeming to grow more confused. Mr. Sky ran a hand through his hair and bit his lip.

"Damn, your mother would explain this a lot better. There is a lot more to it. You see, the two colors are a bit gender specific. Black tends to be male, while white tends to be—"

"Female." Mrs. Shy piped in as she leaned against the door frame. "The Prince is heading back to the hotel if you want to say bye really quick." Ethan hesitated, but gave a small nod and walked inside. Mrs. Sky looked at her husband sadly and they both thought the same thing. They knew this was all going to spiral out of their control soon. With their secret out and with Ethan now knowing, they could only hope they could keep their boy safe for as long as possible.

Andro gave Ethan a happy, but worried laced smile as he grabbed his coat. "How are you feeling?"

"Um, still very confused, but I think I'm starting to catch on. At least, a tiny bit." Ethan looked up at him and rubbed his arm a bit. "So, your leaving?"

"I can stay a bit longer if you want, but your mother was pretty intent on giving you your space, to organize your thoughts and all." Andro offered a small smile as he gently touched Ethan's check. "I'm sorry for all this. Today was a wild day and I know the whole kidnapping thing was quite over the top. I could have handled it so much better."

"Yeah, like maybe waiting until after school was out." Ethan tried to joke and offered a smile. "Mom definitely won't let me join track now that I technically just skipped school."

Andro seemed a bit confused, but then let out a loud laugh and smiled happily. "I guess so. She told me about your D in math. She enjoys talking about you, you know. I can tell she's proud of you, and if you ever need help with math, I can help. My private tutor was always quite pleased by how good I was at it."

Ethan was a bit taken aback by this, but gladly excepted the offer. He saw Andro, Damo, and Theo out, watching as the three men climbed into a taxi and soon headed off, Andro waving out the window. Ethan gave a small wave back before slowly closing the door and turning back to his parents.

"So, I was supposed to be a girl?"