God of the Abyss (14 page)

My father finally stirred and after a few moments,
opened his eyes and looked at me. He smiled for a second before memories
flickered across his eyes. I had grown a lot since I left, but I figured his
slow reaction had more to do with his poor health. “Mordon. Why are you here?”

“Five years and that’s how you greet your son?” I
asked. Somewhere in the moment I saw him with my eyes shifted, I forgave him.
He was cruel to me my entire life, but he was my father and five years was a
long time to hold a grudge.

On the other hand, the woman trying to wiggle out of
my grip needed to be taught manners.

I helped my father off of the bed and by the time we
made it to the stairs, he was walking on his own, albeit with an obvious limp.
I let Emiko go only after she gave up trying to get out of my grip. Luckily, I
knew exactly how to get back to the throne room, since the dragoness was no
help; she spent the entire time whining about me letting her pet go.

There are four ways to shut her up. Pick one and
do it,
Rojan grouched. I ignored him, because if I looked at her wet, pink
lips again I would pick one. Even her teeth were pretty.

“How did you end up in this situation?” I asked my
father.

“Kaori-mor asked me to help when several of her
dragons were poisoned. She sent me to several clutches and I questioned them,
but I found nothing. I guess she got frustrated and imprisoned me.”

We had just arrived at the throne room when I scented
the sudden increase in Emiko’s adrenaline. Rojan took control before I could
even turn around and with lightning speed, I had her pinned against the wall,
her left hand immobilized across her back and her right hand against the stone.
I squeezed her arm until she dropped the knife, then flipped her around so that
I could growl to her face. There was no telling whether it was me or Rojan in
control.

Really, really bad idea.
Even with her arms
restrained, she struggled hard enough that I had to pin her with my body, which
put my face really close to hers. My own adrenaline was pumping and I was
breathing her scent in. Her foul attitude and selfishness was clear to my dragon
senses, but her exterior scent was actually really nice. And she was warm; her
body radiated heat.

If she could just keep her mouth shut, maybe I could
get myself together.

With a great deal of self-control, I let her go and
turned around before heading for the door. My father followed me out to the
ship that was waiting for us. Instead of heading back to the kingdom, I
directed the ship home. It meant spending the entire day with my father, but at
least I was sure I wouldn’t end up trapped as king.

*          *          *

After eating some preserved meat product for lunch, I
stood next to him, looking out over the water. He had washed the dirt off of
himself and the clothes he wore, but nobody had predicted that the king would
need clothes. Although he hadn’t cut his black, shoulder-length hair and he
wore it loose, it was clean and combed. He was noticeably malnourished and
favored his right leg.

It was silent for hours between us as I waited for
him to criticize me or yell at me for something. I was so prepared for him to
ridicule me that it came as a shock to me when he finally did speak.

“You have grown taller.”

I hesitated. “Yes.”

“You look like Rojan,” he said. I shrugged, since it
was true. “Are you happy with your life now?”

“I’m very happy with my life,” I said, smiling a
little. Rojan muttered about a cave, but I ignored him. “I have a little place
on Shomodii and some really great friends. My best friend has two boys that I
spend a lot of time with.”

“Are you going to have any children of your own? Do
you have a woman?”

“No. Shomodii really isn’t the best place to find a
wife.” I watched him out the corner of my eye, waiting for his reaction.
“Dragons are immortal, so I have plenty of time,” I said.

He gasped and swallowed a couple of times. “Have you
been to see the king of Shomodii? I have not spoken with him in ten years, but
I know he has twin daughters about your age. The girls are brilliant with
magic, especially elemental magic, like fire.”

I made a rude sound of disbelief and my father raised
his hand to smack me. I closed my eyes; he always took my self-defense as
defiance. The dungeons were dark and cold and after spending many nights in
them for defending myself against my father, it was my first instinct to take
the beating. Having spent his life yielding a sword, his strength was nothing
to laugh about.

After a moment, when his hand did not strike, I
opened my eyes. He had his head hung in shame and his hands lowered. My father
showing regret was new to me.

“I am sorry,” he said. “A son should never fear his
father.”

“You’ve changed a lot since I left. Are
you
happy?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I have no family left and my kingdom
thinks I am ignorant.” He looked at me. “However, I went to an orphanage a few
months ago, right before Kaori-mor contacted me. I had been giving them money
for better food and teachers, though I only went in to sign some papers. This
little boy knocked on the door and came in. He was five and looked just like
you, except his eyes were both purple. He was skinny like you were, too. His
parents had given him up because they couldn’t afford him. He had heard I was
the one who was giving money to the orphanage and wrote me a letter, thanking
me. All I could think about was that if I hadn’t charged so many taxes, his
parents could have kept him. Then right before he left, I realized there are
two more parents out there besides myself who made a horrible mistake.” He
looked away from me.

“You were always so stubborn, so set in your ways,” I
said. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but the one thing you did raise me
to be is honest. If anything frightened you or threatened your rule, even if it
were just in your mind, you turned your blade on it. You ran the kingdom with
methods outdated and you expected me to rule it the same way. When I didn’t do
things how you wanted them done, you beat me.”

“I thought I was making you stronger.”

“You were, I guess, at least in one respect. You made
it very easy for me to leave. You made enemies all over the world with your
suspicions and lack of mercy. I was constantly thwarting assassinations,
curses, and traps placed on you by those who were betrayed by you. Everyone who
wasn’t in your kingdom was your enemy, and plenty of your own citizens as
well.”

My father was quiet, making him appear even more
malnourished than he was. “I know that even your best friend, the person you
knew as long as your family, could turn on you.”

“You never told me Sujike-mor was your friend. It
wasn’t you he betrayed. He was a dragon hunter, which was horrible, but he
didn’t kill my mother,” I said.

“How did you know about Sujike?” After I stared at
him for a moment, he went on. “He said he could save her and you. If he hadn’t,
I could have convinced her to take the physician’s treatment. She could have
lived.”

I would never have been born, but he was almost
correct; she might possibly have lived. “I’m sorry your best friend didn’t do
what you thought was best. I’m sure he tried, but I cannot defend him, for he
is the reason Rojan’s mate and children are dead. That is not a reason to treat
everyone on Duran, as well as your son, as a traitor.”

“I never treated you that way!” I could smell that he
was a little offended even while his expression showed nothing. “If Sujike
could betray me, anyone could.”

“Loyalty must be earned.”

“You know nothing about it. You are far too young. I
was friends with Sujike for more years than you have been alive. We were like
brothers. He was the first one to hold my daughter. I assume you found out
about her, too.”

I nodded and sighed. “You know nothing about me. I
may have only been friends with Dylan for seven years, but I trust him with my
life.” My father studied me doubtfully. “He has already nearly torn the
universe apart to save me. If he stood before me and stabbed me in the heart, I
would forgive him and know he was doing it for a good reason.”

“There is nothing I can say to that.”

“Because you have never known someone who would only
ever do what he thought was the right thing to do?”

“Because I have. Your mother was a very moral woman
and the best person I knew. I told her I would give anything for her, but the
only thing she ever asked of me… I failed. She wanted me to give you a good
life. I interpreted that as making you into a fine king. I wanted what I
thought was best for you. It was difficult for me because you always looked
more like Rojan than me. Every time you did something that I thought wasn’t
appropriate behavior for a prince, I felt like you were rebelling against me
because of him.”

I smirked. “I would have let myself be chained to the
throne if you had ever shown me one little hint of acceptance. I wanted to make
you proud, even more than I wanted to get away from the kingdom.”

“And then you would be miserable now and I would
still be in denial. I suppressed a part of you. I didn’t realize Rojan was a
part of
you
, I just thought I could keep him from becoming who you
were.”

“He saved my life. He
gave
me life, just like
you and my mother. Rojan isn’t a father to me or anything, but he’s there. I
can hear his thoughts and feel his emotions. And you really didn’t answer my
question.”

“I am happier than I used to be. I would be happier
if you would ever talk to me again.”

“I am talking to you now,” I said. He looked at me,
hopeful, and I specifically looked away. “I have a home where I’m happy, but
maybe a family visit once in a while wouldn’t hurt. I can visit Mokii.” I would
have offered to let him visit me, but with Dylan and the boys so close and
always over, there was no telling what he would see if he dropped in
unannounced. We were never going to have a relationship as comfortable as Dylan
and Edward, but I wouldn’t reject him as long as he didn’t try to ridicule me or
guilt me into being king.

“Why did you come after me?” he asked.

“I ran into some dragons who said you were asking
them about a plant they had.”

“A plant? Kaori-mor directed me to several dragon
clutches to ask them about a poison. Some of her dragons have been poisoned.
Even though she betrayed and imprisoned me, she was correct about that. I have
seen an adult dragon go from perfectly healthy to dead in five minutes, but
that was the most violent reaction.”

“How many have been poisoned?”

“Fifteen. Six were killed since I arrived.”

“How are they getting poisoned? Food? Water?”

“It alternates. Kaori-mor’s adviser was healthy and
fine until he took a sip of his water during dinner. He was dead five minutes
later and the physician was too afraid to touch him. It was a real nasty death,
very painful looking. I studied the water and found plant matter dissolved in
it. It wasn’t poison, but it acted like it on dragons. I tried to send the
water to the kingdom to be examined, but it disappeared. Under the oblivious
eye of three people, it was taken. Some others had it in their food or even
dropped after not eating or drinking anything.”

“Did you question anyone in Emiko’s kingdom?” I
asked. He gaped at me. “Sorry, Kaori-mor’s kingdom,” I amended. Using the queen’s
first name was too familiar for the amount of time I knew her, especially since
she had such a high title. Even though she was a dragon, she had a sago name,
so I had to use it appropriately.

“I questioned many guards and staff of the castle,
but ultimately found nothing.”

“How many of the dragons targeted were close to
Kaori-mor?”

“Almost every dragon poisoned was close to Kaori-mor,
though I cannot be certain that anyone in particular was targeted. Like I said,
someone would be talking to us and then just drop. Food and drink would be
served up to everyone and it would be in a certain item. It occurred to me that
it was maybe more of a scare tactic than an assassination attempt.”

“Could be. I saw a little sago child. Are there any
sago who live on the island, or was he visiting?”

“A few sago live there, only five or six at the
most.”

“Where does the food and drink come from?”

“There are farmers, but several hunters go to the
mainland and bring back various meats. After I thought to analyze the
contaminated water, I examined all food and water that I saw. I managed to
catch it many times, but the number affected never went down. It is possible
that I was poisoned with the plant myself, but it had no effect.”

“Have Mokomo examine you for unusual substances. I
don’t smell anything wrong with you, and I would know, but it never hurts to
get a medical eye. Why were there no guards with Kaori-mor? There were guards
at the door, but nobody guarding her in particular. In fact, the fortress was
nearly deserted.”

“I wondered that myself. I was in that dungeon for at
least a month. Before I was confined, the castle was full.”

“Maybe there were many more deaths. Keep asking
around, but stay away from her. Most likely, this is an attack on dragons and a
poison that only affects them, so you should be safe. Make sure you scan
everything you ingest just in case. Your highest priority is to find a sample
of the poison and get Mokomo to make an antidote.”

He stared at me. “Do you realize how easily you
deliver orders?”

“I learned a lot from Dylan. He talks more than he
needs to, but words of brilliance come flying out of his rambles.” Oddly
enough, few people have figured out that he talks so much for a reason; usually
either as a distraction or in order to get a reaction out of someone. I have
seen people blurt out their plans just to get Dylan to stop talking.