Wildfire

Two

...

Prince Emrys

...

"He's my son and I will not apologize for bringing him, Your Majesty." The man inclining his head to my Father and my self while we sit in the small throne room used for private audiences has no shame as he confirms the rumors that have been floating around the palace since late this morning that a common runt had been brought here to be presented after the sounding of my mating call. 

It was unexpected, to say the least, and while I don't necessarily mind, unbothered by the thought of a common bride due to the trust I have in my inner beast to chose what is best for us and the kingdom just as the beasts of my father and grandfathers have done for centuries, my father seems to have taken great offense to what technically is a snub to our longstanding family lineage.

"It is highly inappropriate for you to have brought someone with no family history to speak of to be presented to my son, Lord Akeno. Have you no thought of the shame that you have just brought us? The shame that you've just brought yourself by even imagining that some random bastard you-" Just as my Father leans forward intent on laying into the man that had been his most trusted advisor until deciding to step away from palace life in favor of raising his children in his childhood home after inheriting his Father's estate and title when he was taken from this world, but he gets cut off by a glare that is most out of character, the words that follow sincere enough to bring a smile to my lips even though I know Father and I need to present ourselves as a united front. 

"Your Majesty! Forgive me for interrupting, but my Rayne is no bastard. He's my son. It doesn't matter if I played a part in his creation, I took responsibility for him and raised him into a proper young man. He has a father and family that loves him very much.  I meant no offense to either of you by bringing him along today; I simply wish that he be afforded the same opportunities as my other children. Out of all of my girls, he's the one who reacted most strongly to Prince Emrys's call and I could not bear to leave him home knowing that bringing him here for the selection may be the reason why the universe entrusted my wife and I with his care so many years ago." Lord Akeno's speech seems only to befuddle my Father, the stern affection in his old friend's voice enough to give him pause, "He's no bastard. Rayne is part of the Cloud family, and he deserves to be here."

To allow my Father time to collect his thoughts instead of giving him the chance to reply using the anger I know his beast feels at not being permitted to finish his rant about conduct and decorum, I let my curiosity guide my mouth into action, "You say he was affected by my call?"

The rueful smile that works its way onto Lord Akeno's lips makes me glad that I've let the answer fall from my lips in order to give my Father a chance to cool his flames, "Yes, Your Highness... Your beckoning brought him to his very knees, and once there he couldn't calm himself for some time, his beast crying back to you without even taking the time to shift and do it properly." The smile that had put me so at ease slowly drops from Lord Akeno's face as his eyes cloud, the afterimage of that day clearly playing before them, "I don't think I've ever seen a runt react so viscerally to hearing a call before... Not even biting down on his own knuckles could keep his dragon quiet..."

Nor have I...To not be able to control your inner beast is one thing, though knowing that Lord Akeno would never permit someone in his household to go without such skills means that that cannot be the case... That his claimed son had lost control of his inner self so entirely that it was able to take control and try and alert me to his presence while not being conscious enough to realize that I would never hear its weak cries without shifting before calling back to me... It almost makes me wonder that if he had been able to shift and call back to me, what would my reaction have been? 

I had heard many returning calls that day, feminine shifters all announcing that they've heard me... That they've acknowledged the start of my search for a queen and that they each wish to be the one I chose... But none of their songs had elicited any reaction from me. All I could do was sit and wait for the branch families with daughters and the most feminine of sons both young and old for me to chose from, the last of which had arrived from the furthest reaches of all the territories that make up our vast land just this morning and are currently resting until its time for the evening meal.

"Intriguing reaction or not, you've insulted everyone in attendance today by bringing a common runt onto the Palace grounds. I am sorry, Akeno, but I cannot permit Rayne to be presented with the other-"

"Father?" My interruption is welcomed just about as much as Lord Akeno's had been, though I know my words will be even less welcome and altogether more shocking, "I think I would like you to allow it." 

I am curious about the young dragon who couldn't even find it in himself to shift before trying to call out to me, the youngest adopted son of my father's oldest friend. There had been more to the rumors circulating today than just the fact that a commoner was here to be presented along with the other possible brides... 

There had been gossip that the young man with no background or breeding to speak of holds a beauty more special than even the most stunning of roses here in our gardens... That he is pale and fair in every sense of the words, nothing but a sliver of flushed moonbeam poured into the jade green robes that mark him as a member of the Cloud family despite not having sprung directly from the noble branch family's loins. 

I think I might like to see Rayne, the Cloud family's adopted runt... If only to pay him and his family a small kindness, "What would be the harm to include him just this once, if only to keep from publically shaming him by not allowing him to be here at all?"