fandomania | The Adventure continues...

Our eggs:

Our hatchlings:

The Story:

After a few minutes, we heard footsteps coming towards the doors. The doors creaked open to reveal an elderly man. His face went from a neutral expression to very joyful in a matter of seconds. “Master Donal! It is you!!!! We all thought you were dead! Come in! Come in! Your grandfather will be overjoyed to see you again!”

“Thank you Danvor! It is good to be here at last! But I am not alone. I have brought my family and a friend and quite a few dragon hatchlings. Will we all be welcome?”

“Of course you will, Master Donal! I am sure that any friends of yours will be most welcome! As for the hatchlings, would the east wing of the stables be suitable for them? They have been empty for quite a few years now. I will call the head stable boy to come and help you get them settled. As for your friends, you can drive your wagon and park it in front of the main house. This way your grandfather won’t have to walk so far.”

Danvor then opened the doors wide so that the wagon could enter the compound. He closed them and then ran for the house, after Donal drove us inside.

There were quite a few buildings within the walls. To the right, some looked like warehouses; some looked like commercial buildings, which perhaps held offices. There was a large stable complex farther off to the right hand side. It looked like it could hold several hundred horses or other beasts of burden. Behind them there were fields and paddocks. To the left there were a series of houses, ranging from dormitories, to cottages, to large houses, with the jewel of them being the main house, which was a very large mansion, indeed.

As Donal drove the wagon in front of the main house, a white haired, very elderly man in his mid-eighties came out, followed by four middle-aged men. Donal leaped out of the wagon, opened his arms wide and cried out, “Pahpey! It is me, Donal! I have returned at last!”

“Donal! My boy, my grandson!” The old man said and started to cry as he took Donal into his arms. “We thought you were dead! Oh, it is good to see you once more!” When his grandfather released him, Donal went over to the other men, “Uncle Brian! Uncle Farrell! Uncle Stevar! Uncle Eoin!” He hugged them all as he said their names.

Donal turned back to the wagon and helped me down; while Orlando helped the children disembark.

“Pahpey, I want you to meet my Patra! Lady Patra finSorda, to be exact. Patra, this is my Pahpey, my grandfather, Piatrus conDylar.”

I extended my hand to him and gave him a small curtsey, “I am very pleased to meet you, sir.” I then turned and introduced my children. When I had finished, Donal put his arms around me and patting my belly, said, “And this is my soon-to-be child, or children, as Patra has informed me. And last, but not least, this is Orlando, a friend of ours.”

A myriad of emotions ran across Piatrus’ face. But he managed to hold them in check very well. Looking at him and Donal together, you could see who Donal had taken after physically. Piatrus was what Donal would look like in fifty years and Donal was what Piatrus looked like in his youth. Piatrus’ sons were all similar in looks too, seemingly all peas from the same pod, with straw colored hair and green eyes, with only slight variations in facial features and height. All of the men had that same slender, but muscular build.

“Everyone come in! We shouldn’t be standing out here in the hot sun! Come in! Come in! We were just about to sit down for lunch. I am sure that Rosa will be able to get the staff to make more for all of you!”

“Tauntie Rosa is still living here?”

“Where else would she live? My sister is as indispensable to me as air. She keeps us men all in line and fed and properly clothed. My daughters-in-law all give her the respect and due she deserves. Even Farrell’s wife, Suthi, who is as feisty as the day is long, never argues with her.”

And so we entered the main house, which was built in a very grand scale. The foyer gave way to a large meeting room/reception hall, which was so large it put many royal throne rooms to shame by its grandiose scale. From there we went into the dining room, or more correctly, dining hall, as it was also of huge proportions. The main table in there was set for sixteen people, but already the servants were adding leaves to the table and more chairs, plus two high chairs for Loysa and Jayzon.

Orlando said that he would prefer to see to the hatchlings first, and a servant showed him the way to the stables.

When Rosa finally made her appearance in the dining hall, she immediately frowned because she, as I had, noticed that Donal was placed next to his grandfather, while I and my children were placed at the very end. I didn’t know what to make of this, whether it was a slight or an accident. I decided to ignore it rather than make a fuss about it. However, Rosa sat herself with us and held a lively conversation with me and the children. She was a very easy person to get along with. She had ordered foods that were appropriate for my babies, and for my children to eat. She even helped me by feeding Loysa while I feed Jayzon. She commented to me once how most of my children were dark haired with olive toned skin, while Loysa was the spitting image of me.

“My children get their coloring from my late husband, but Loysa isn’t my child.” I felt I had give as much truth as I could to this woman, as she seemed very astute and seemed to pick out half-truths from the truths very easily. There was no way that she would understand the real truth about Loysa. I continued, “She is my niece. Her mother was my twin sister, and she and her husband died when Loysa was six months old. I have been raising her as if she were my own. She calls me ‘Mama’ because her mother and I were identical. My children call her ‘sister’ because it is easier to do so. When Loysa is old enough to understand, I will tell her about her parents. But for now I think it best for her to have as much stability as I can give her.”

“That sounds reasonable.” Rosa paused to feed Loysa the last of her food. She then turned back to me in a very quiet voice, “How long has your husband been gone?”

I hesitated for a moment before I answered her. “Four months.” I said truthfully.

She looked startled for a moment. I could see her looking as my belly and calculating the difference. “Did Donal kill him?” she whispered.

The room started to spin. But I managed to get out, “No!!! Absolutely not! Donal is not that kind of man!”

“Maybe not. But it would appear that he is perfectly capable of seducing a married woman.”

I must have fainted because everything went black.