Chapter Two Val leaned back against the wall, watching the door across from him, waiting for Amelia to come back out. A familiar voice -- no, two familiar voices made him raise an eyebrow. He barely had time to stand straight before the door swung one and he was tackled by a reddish ball of fur. "AHH!" He staggered back and hit the floor heavily. "Lord Valgaav!" Jillas cried, hugging him with a death grip. "Jillas, what are you doing here?" Val groaned, more from the fact he had the wind knocked from him than at the sight of his servant. "Ya screwy fox, let the man up!" Val sucked in a gasp of air as he was finally able to breathe again when Jillas was lifted off him. A meaty hand reached down, offering to help him up. He gladly took it and was hauled to his feet. Before Val could get his bearings, he was pulled into another smothering hug. "Damn glad to see ya, boss!" "Thanks," he gasped, trying to get some leverage. "Can I breathe now?" "Oh, sorry!" Gravos set him back, keeping a big hand on his shoulder to steady him. Val paused for a moment, just getting enough oxygen back in him to make his ears stop ringing, then looked at the two, who were watching him with expectant expressions. "And what the hell are you two doing here?" he asked, his lips twisting into a grin even as he spoke. "I could ask the same thing," Jillas retorted, clinging to his arm gleefully. "And they're both long stories," another voice interrupted "so why don't you all come in?" Val looked to Amelia, who was leaning in the doorway, her arms crossed casually over her middle. She had a soft, amused grin toying at her lips, and pushed away from the door, shaking her head, stepping back into the room. He followed her, looking around at the large room. It seemed to be more of a conglomeration of places; a parlor, a library, an office. Several other doors indicated the presence of more beyond the walls, but none were open for him to glean an idea of what might lay beyond. Once they were all assembled behind the shut door, Amelia gestured to a chair. "You might want to sit down, Val." "I'm fine." "Trust me." Something about the way she said it told him it might be a good idea after all, so he sank down, sitting on the edge of it, hands on his knees. "Now what's going on here?" "Miss Filia sent her servants to me some time ago," Amelia said, leaning back against her desk. "She was worried about Mister Xellos harming someone, and sent them to protect and deliver something to me which she felt would be the safest here, in a city of white magic, hidden away in the castle." Val glanced to his servants, who were watching him intently. "That sounds reasonable," he agreed, looking back to Amelia. "What was it?" Amelia hesitated, then looked across the room to a door. "Nurse Zeeki, you can come out now." Val followed her gaze. An grandmotherly woman appeared behind the opening door, and Val almost missed seeing something else emerge with her. Everything tilted off kilter when he caught sight of something the size of a large dog padding around a chair into view. The young, fur-covered Dragon sat back on its haunches, feathered wings folded behind, and canted its dark head to the side, studying him. "Aunt 'Melia? Whozat?" Val shivered, feeling illogically cold as a chill crept down his spine. That was a baby Ancient. The fur, the feathers... yet the eyes... "Oh, gods," he breathed, knowing the answer even before Amelia confirmed it. He sat back against the chair heavily, slouched, feeling as though the wind had been knocked from him all over again. He rubbed his hand over his mouth, staring. "Val," she said softly, walking over to crouch by the young Dragon, "I'd like for you to meet your son, Von." Von purred as Amelia stroked his neck, and butted his head under her other arm, snuggling close. "Whozat?" he insisted again. Val just stared, trying to find words with little success. His heart and lungs felt constricted, and the enormity of what he was attempting to wrap his mind around seemed too surreal to be true. Amelia's words rang repeatedly in his mind. Your son... Amelia hugged the young Dragon, nuzzling his neck. "Von, this is your father." Von continued to study him with those big blue eyes -- all Val could do was wonder if she knew he had her eyes -- and then looked to Amelia. "Like Unka Pill?" "Yes, like Uncle Phil's my Daddy." She stroked his head between his eyes. "Why don't you go over and say hi?" Von lay his head against Amelia's arm, peeking up at Val, then shyly buried his face against Amelia's stomach and skittered behind her, knocking her off balance from her crouch onto her rear. Amelia squeaked in surprise, clutching fistfuls of fur to keep from falling over completely. "He hasn't known anyone else," the nurse said, speaking up for the first time as she approached him. "We've kept his existence secret from everyone who's not in this room, His Majesty aside. He hasn't any experience with strangers, so please don't take it personally." "I'm not," Val whispered, watching Amelia trying to coax Von into being more outgoing. It was an effort to breathe past the lump in his throat. He made a few false starts at talking before he could force out anything coherent, his voice raw to his own hears. "Does...does she know?" "Who?" the nurse asked. "Filia." He gestured toward Von, part of his mind struggling to wrap around everything it was seeing, and another part denying it -- no, denying thinking any deeper into it all. Too many questions, too many answers, none of them which he wanted to know, and many of them which he already knew. She had been alone through this, he should have been there, she should have him -- both of them -- at her side. If he thought too much, he feared it would overwhelm him. "Has she... does she..." he stammered, trying to rephrase it in a clearer manner. "If you're asking if she's ever met her son, no," the nurse said, and Val nodded slightly. "She sent the egg to Miss Amelia as soon as possible." "Yeah, Xellos never knew about him," Jillas said. "Oneesan had it all worked out. She really fooled him." A sick feeling settled low in Val's stomach. "She fooled Xellos?" It rang false in his ears. He found himself praying inwardly -- to whom, to what, he couldn't say -- that she was successful, and yet... yet he knew the Mazoku. To think that she even tried... "Yeah." Gravos shook his head. "She fooled me for a while, that's for sure. She was acting all sweet on him and everything. She had me and Jillas working on a special wagon to cart the egg here in secret, made up a story why she needed an ox, and did everything she could to make Xellos think she was putting you outta her life." Val closed his eyes, feeling ill at the wave of guilt sweeping over him. The barrette, settled in his pocket, felt painfully heavy. It wasn't because she wanted to, but because she had to. And the odds of her actually succeeding as well as they said... "One last question," he whispered. "Yeah, boss?" "Why here? Why not to me?" When no answer came, he opened his eyes, looking them. Jillas and Gravos exchanged glances. "She was afraid Xellos would kill you. He threatened to kill her if she did anything that even looked like she might be trying to get in touch with you," Jillas explained quietly. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, covering his face with his hand, and tried to breathe. All the less than generous thoughts about her which had plagued him for so long now felt like thorns in his side, his heart. "Is she okay?" he whispered. When no one answered immediately, his heart tightened to the point of physical pain. "She's a survivor," Jillas replied. Val stared at him. "That's not what I asked." "But that's the answer you're getting." It wasn't good enough. Val finally looked away from Jillas to Amelia. "How soon can we get Inverse here?" he asked hoarsely. "I'm still working on ideas to get her attention as quickly as possible. I'm not sure where she's at. We'll find her, though," Amelia replied quietly. The room was silent. Across the way, a mantle clock, resting on its namesake, began to count out the eleventh hour with delicate chimes. "Will she help? I know she's friends with Xellos..." He wasn't sure what he'd do if the answer were 'no'. "Friends? Allies, enemies, mutual users, yes. They understand each other, but I wouldn't call them friends," Amelia said. "And yes, I think she'll help." "What wrong?" Von cooed softly, nuzzling Amelia. Amelia hugged the young Dragon. "Nothing's wrong, there's just a lot of surprises." "'Prise'a fun!" he trilled, sitting up and looking around. "Wheres'a pressa?" "No, Von. This isn't the kind of surprise that comes with getting presents," she explained. Val watched the exchange, and managed a faint smile. As much as he hated it, there was nothing he could do for his mate at that moment. But in the here and now, there was their son. "I'm not so sure about that," he said quietly, and slowly moved off the chair to sit on the floor, holding his hand out. Von eyed him critically, studying his hand. "Gotta pressa for me?" he asked slowly, his tone contemplative as if attempting to ascertain whether it would be worth going over to the stranger if there was a present involved. Val reached into his pocket, pulling out the barrette. He had cleaned and polished it while walking to Seyruun, and it sparkled in the lights. "It's your mother's barrette." "Hmmm." Von studied him, but Val recognized the eager look. It was a rare Dragon who could turn his back on jewels and gold, and a young Dragon didn't even care if it were real, just so long as it shone. Von pulled away from Amelia, still timid, but the siren call of a potential addition to his hoard was too great to resist. Von stopped just out of reach, and stretched out a paw to pluck it off Val's hand. The hatchling skittered back another step away, and inspected the barrette. "Shiny!" "What do you say to your father, Von?" Amelia rebuked gently. "Shiny!" Von repeated. "No, you say 'thank you'." "SHINY!" Von insisted stubbornly, clutching the barrette to himself. Val couldn't help but chuckle. "It's all right, Amelia. From our kind, that's as good as it can get." Amelia sighed and shook her head as she got to her feet, making a token effort at smoothing out the wrinkles in the formal gown she still wore. Val saw a faint smile cross her face as she watched Von sit back on his haunches, inspecting every sparkle and facet of the barrette intensely. "How old is he?" Val asked. "Two?" Amelia nodded. "Going on three," she replied, moving to a chair. "How are you holding up?" "I wouldn't turn down another glass of brandy, that's for sure," he said quietly, his mind too full to pull out any one clear, coherent thought. "I..." Before Amelia could finish, the door swung open and a huge bear of a man with a big bushy moustache, and wild dark hair topped off by a golden crown, clad in the finest white and gold silks, stormed in. "What's this I hear about you getting married?" he demanded, then looked at Val, pointing to him. "Is it him? Who is he?" Amelia squeezed her eyes shut tightly in annoyance. "That does it! The next time I see Miss Lina, I'm telling her that Martina was singing songs about her small chest!" "Well? What's going on?" said the man, who Val guessed was likely the King. "Daddy, I'm not getting married. Not yet, and not to him," Amelia explained. "This is Mister Val, Von's father." If Val thought that would calm the man down, he was mistaken. "What?" Philionel bellowed, causing Von to startle and zip behind Amelia's chair, peeking out from under it. "You brought him into your chambers after what he did? Without protection?" The nurse clucked in annoyance. "Your Majesty, do watch yourself," she scolded as she walked over to Amelia's chair and stooped to pet the frightened hatchling. "Daddy, he didn't do anything!" Amelia protested. "We just pieced all the parts together! It's a trick, an evil, unjust trick by Mister Xellos! He's defying true love and trying to keep Miss Filia and Mister Val apart!" Philionel was quiet for a moment, then looked to Val. "Is this true?" he asked gruffly. Val gave him a curt nod, biting back a few dozen scathing comments with no small effort. "I'll assemble the army. Tomorrow we'll set out for--" "DADDY!" "What?" "We need Miss Lina, not an army." "Ah, yes. Lina, wonderful girl, that. Just keep her from casting any spells here." "I'll try, Daddy. But I need you to do something." "What's that, princess?" "I want to hold a cooking contest. Send the messengers out to spread the world across the land for the best chefs to come to Seyruun for a cooking competition, with prizes for the best. Invite people to come out and be taste-testers and judges." "Shouldn't we find Lina instead of doing this?" "Daddy, I know Miss Lina and her stomach. As soon as she hears about this, wild Mazoku couldn't keep her away. But, it needs to be a real competition, with real food and real chefs. Otherwise, Miss Lina might get angry." Amelia sweatdropped. "And we don't want to get Miss Lina angry." "She destroyed half of Seyruun while in a good mood, I don't want to know what she'll do if she's in a bad one," Philionel agreed, and sighed, nodding. "I'll write up the announcement in a while, and send out the messengers in the morning. What should the prize be?" "I'll leave that up to you, Daddy. But the competition should begin in two week's time. Not so long that it would be forever, but not so soon that it would risk being over before she hears about it and can get here." Amelia narrowed her eyes, studying the floor. "One other thing..." "Yes, princess?" Amelia hesitated, appearing torn, then finally shook her head. "Nothing, Daddy. I thought I had something else, but..." She shrugged her thin shoulders. There was something different to her demeanor, something sadder, but Val couldn't quite pin down what. Philionel studied her as if trying to decide whether to buy her excuses, then nodded. As he opened the door, he paused. "So you're not getting married?" "Not anytime soon, Daddy." Amelia smiled, but there was an off-note in her tone somewhere. "Hmm." Philionel nodded once and left. Val couldn't decide if the King was pleased, or disappointed. Amelia stood, looking more tired than she had only a few minutes prior. "I'll call for a maid to prepare some chambers here in the castle for you to stay at in the meantime, if you'd like, or you can stay with Jillas and Gravos?" She looked to the two servants, who both nodded eagerly. "Either way would be fine." He watched her, then started to get to his feet. "Do you want me to step out?" "No, that's okay. This place is more like a small house," she said, gesturing vaguely. "I'm just going to change. You can stay, please stay. Your son should have a chance to get to know you." Val nodded, watching her. "Are you all right?" Amelia paused, then managed a small smile, nodding. "It's just... it was already a very long day, even before you showed up." "Then turn in if you need to. Don't worry about me. Any questions I have, I'm sure Jillas and Gravos can field for the time being, and the nurse can help with Von," Val replied. "We've got at least two weeks; we can talk more later." Amelia nodded. "I think I'll do that, then. Thank you." Val watched her disappear past a set of doors, wondering for a moment longer what she had been about to say to her father. When the door latched shut, he put it out of his mind and turned back toward Von. The young Dragon peeked out from around the nurse, studying him. "More shiny?" "I don't have any more right now," Val replied, shifting position to lay on his side, propped up on his elbow. "Oh..." Von's ears drooped slightly for a moment, then perked again. "You Daddy?" A faint smile tugged at his lips. "Yes," Val replied. It was getting harder to stay where he was, and not scoop up the small Dragon in a tight hug. "Oh." Von digested the information, then bobbed his head in a short nod. He held up the barrette again. "Shiny!" "Why do I get the feeling that was your first word?" he asked, amused. "Actually, Lord Valgaav, it was 'food'. But 'shiny' was his second," Jillas said. "That would've been my next guess." Val didn't take his eyes off Von. "That was your mother's, you know." "What?" Von chirped, tearing his gaze from the barrette. "That. The shiny. It belonged to your mother." "Ooooo..." he purred, looking at it again. "Filia-mama!" "We've been telling him about her," Jillas explained. "Miss Amelia felt bad when he first started calling her mother instead, so we corrected him." "I'm sure Filia would appreciate it," Val said softly, trying to will away the stinging sensation in his eyes. "We've got to get her safe..." "We will, boss," Gravos said. "We'll find a way, don't we always?" "I suppose we do..." Val fell silent, just watching Von play with the barrette for a bit, until the young Dragon started yawning sleepily. "It's past his bedtime," the nurse said, stepping over. "Come along, Von, say good night." "Goo'night mis'er Jillas, mis'er Gravos," he said, and started to put the barrette in his mouth, then paused. "Goo'night, Daddy." Val's breath caught in his lungs, and he swallowed hard. "Good night, Von," he said softly. The young Dragon trilled, a sleepy but happy sound, and followed the nurse out to his bedroom, the barrette clutched firmly in his jaws.

to be continued...
Chapter Three