Flashback: Fheldin and Arla (4/4)

"I… I was afraid… for my son – I mean – the child. I didn't… know if I'd get to see him again…," Arla explained in a low voice.

It's funny, really. Arla always ridiculed the idea of "love at first sight," yet she instantly fell in love with her child the moment she saw his little hands.

Arla expected Lord Fheldin to say something… yet he just stood there in silence. Not knowing what the dragon wanted just made Arla even more nervous.

Not knowing what else to do, Arla slowly loosened her grip on the baby, and she showed the child's face to Fheldin. "I… I'm sorry for taking your son away. I know how upset that must've made you…"

Arla squeezed her eyes shut, and she waited for several seconds.

She expected Fheldin to pluck the child from her arms…

…yet instead, she suddenly felt a huge pair of arms pluck her off the ground. One of his arms were holding her under the knees, and his other hand was firmly holding her back. Her legs dangled down – revealing her small ankles, and her large wings were touching the floor.

"That's easily solved," Fheldin said while squeezing her tighter. He then let out a sarcastic, self-deprecating laugh, "I should've done this a long time ago. I'm sorry. I should've been clear with my own feelings and respected yours."

"Ara… Will you be my wife?" he finally said.

"…What? W-why did you change your mind?" Arla asked in confusion.

"I'd been thinking about it since the day I met you," Fheldin said despondently. "I was… I was too much of a coward to bring it up. I couldn't even admit it to myself."

Arla looked down, and she stared at her son deep on the eyes. "What'll you do if I say no?" she asked.

"…If you're going to say it, say it now!" Fheldin growled. "The world gate is just over those mountains. I can drop you back off with your family. I'm giving you this choice as an apology for my cowardice."

"HOWEVER!" Fheldin added with a hiss, "this is your ONLY chance to say no. Once you accept my proposal, there's no turning back, and you'll be stuck with me for the rest of your life. If you run away again, I'll catch you. Any world you step on will whisper to me of your location, and you'll never escape me."

"How are you going to treat the children?" Arla asked hesitantly. She'd heard the stories her mother had taught her – horrible tales of dragons imprisoning their children and abusing them – all in the name of "making them tougher".

The idea of her son being locked up like an animal made her sick.

"Don't worry," Fheldin assured her, "I'll give the children a large palace to live in, and wide, open air to play under."

"You're not going to beat them, or force them to do some ridiculous, sadistic training?" she asked.

"I'll only train them if they ask for it," he answered. "And I will never beat them or break their bones. I'll teach our sons and daughters to be righteous and chivalrous."

"What about me?" came Arla's final question.

"You'll be the Queen of this world!" Fheldin announced.

"I know!" Fheldin added excitedly. "A Queen needs subjects to rule over! I remember that all the inhabitants of this world fled when I took over. I could invite them all back, and I could promise them that our sons will protect them from danger. Yes, our sons will be raised to be benevolent guardians, rather than selfish tyrants. Every soul in this world will know who raised these sons, and they'll all love you."

"…Hmm…" Arla looked down thoughtfully.

While Arla was still thinking, Fheldin suddenly said, "My son… I'd like to hold him… please?"

"Sure…," Arla conceded. "Let me down, first."

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Once Fheldin set the phoenix down, she held the child out, and Fheldin took the small creature gently.

Arla watched the old dragon carefully, and she saw some fire spark in his eyes. His face went placid, and there was a rare moment of peace in his heart.

For some reason, all of his reassuring words did less to persuade her than this one, simple, action. Seeing the careful and loving way Fheldin was handling the child, she already made up her mind.

However, she held her tongue and remained silent. She could tell that Fheldin was experiencing a rare, sacred moment, and she didn't want to interrupt him.

"They're… so tiny…," Fheldin mumbled under his breath.

Seeing the small face that resembled Arla more than his, he couldn't help but believe that this child was going to be more handsome than brutish looking.

Suddenly, Fheldin had a thought. Maybe it would be all right if his sons weren't big and strong like himself. If any of his sons didn't want to be powerful warriors, is it really that big of a deal to just let them live at home in comfort?

'Still,' Fheldin thought, 'I realize now why my father was so content when he died – why he accepted it so easily. The feeling of your own child growing up and surpassing you… I realize now how proud he felt. One day… I hope one of my children surpasses me.'

In that moment, his dream of finding strong opponents to duel forever died. In the ashes of his dead dream, a new dream was born – a dream of being a father of many dragons – a dream of one day being surpassed by one of his own blood.

Given the way Arla was leaning towards him and rubbing her cheek on his chest, he didn't need to hear her answer to his proposal. She was already treating him like her husband.

"Let's go home, Arla."

"… What was that about you having 6 horns?" Arla asked as they flew off into the distance together. "You told me that you only had 5 horns...?"

"…I'll show you when we get home."

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By now, Arla had learned how Fheldin's father had given up a horn for his son. Because of this, his skull had shrunk all the way down to the size of a mere 5-horned dragon.

Apparently, Arla treasured her father-in-laws sacrifice more than Fheldin did. Before she learned about the thing still being here, Fheldin had left the thing to rot near the teleportation circle.

And so, every year, Fheldin and Arla would go down to the deepest parts of the palace – well, deepest except for the teleportation gate used for getting Drakavar's sacrifices.

There, they'd approach old Yelken's skull and pay their respects to it.

As soon as their first children got old enough to walk and talk on their own, Arla started bringing them down to pay respects.

"Who's skull is that, father?" young Hraldin asked inquisitively.

"That's…," Arla began to answer, but she was interrupted by her husband.

"Oh that? That's your uncle!" Fheldin blurted out.

Arla peered over and shot her husband a warning glance. 'Why'd you just lie to them!?' Arla hissed telepathically.

'What? If everyone knew I was a 6-horned dragon, and that my dead father here only has 5 horns on his skull… won't that give away the fact that I'm a Bloodchosen?' Fheldin reasoned to her.

'I suppose…'

"Daddy!" the child just younger than Hraldin blurted out – this one being a daughter. "Why are you keeping uncle's skull here!? Why are we even visiting it in the first place?"

Without skipping a beat, Fheldin bellowed out a laugh, "Haha! This loser… he was… uh… He got jealous of daddy because mommy is so beautiful. He wanted to take mommy away from us, so I killed him!"

"Really!? He must be a bad guy, then!"

"How'd the fight go!?" Hraldin roared in excitement.

"Uh…," Fheldin's voice faltered. "You see know the Geralt mountain range to the south – the one with a giant ravine stamped through the middle?"

"The one I pointed out while you were flying me around?" Hraldin asked.

"Yes that one!" Fheldin smiled. "Well, that happened all because of our battle."

In reality, Fheldin had accidentally stepped on that mountain range when Arla was trying to flee with baby Hraldin in her arms. There was no climactic story behind those deformed mountains…

"Well," Fheldin giggled gleefully, "Here's how it went. We…"

"That's enough!" Arla butt in. "Don't go teaching them weird things this early in their lives. It's time for them to go to bed."

'Stop embellishing your lie,' Arla hissed at Fheldin.

'What?' Fheldin shrugged. 'The children were enjoying it.'

What Arla and Fheldin didn't count on was how hooked their children were on the story. Over and over again through the years, the children would pester him for more details about this "uncle", and Fheldin would expand on his lie each time.

And thus, the story spread throughout the world – the story of the 5-horned dragon's skull, which is sometimes left on display outside the palace to warn visitors of the master's true strength.