Morthia didn't know what to make of this.

"Wait, where are we going?" She asked. "Are we even allowed to pack some of our stuff." She wanted at least to bring some books along. They all had the empires' seal so they were not illegal. And the triplets might want to pack some stuffed animals. But the general shook his head.

"No time to waste. We are leaving, now." He said. She quickly grabbed the book that was laying on her bed. The soldier who entered her room first stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm. He started to drag her, and she knew better than to fight against him. The triplets followed, but shot inside their rooms to grab something. Andrea her dairy, Tina and MJ, one of their fast collection of stuffed animals.

"Wait, captain." She said when they entered the living room and she spotted the last picture of her mother. It was taken a few days before her death, with the inter family. The soldier who had dragged her off the stairs stopped. "That photo." She pointed at it. "Please, it is all we have left of her." The captain grabbed it and looked at it.

"One happy family." He whispered, before giving her the frame. "I understand why you want to keep it." She nodded and hold it tight against her chest, together with the book. After this small interruption, the soldier started to drag her again. This time he wouldn't stop until she was inside a space shuttle, this was the first time she had seen one from up close. She had seen them high in the sky, taking the dragon steel to the Dragonship. Wait a second, were they going towards the Dragonship? The general hadn't answered her question. So that was still in the realm of possibility, she didn't dare to ask the soldier who dragged her in here. And she did not see the captain who was so nice to her and her siblings inside the house. But he would be back, she hoped that he would be back. Tina and MJ were now clinging to her. Andrea was standing be herself, but she was still in an arm's reach. That was right then that she decided to be stronger, and not to show that she was afraid as well. She strengthened her back and raised her chin up. The soldier noticed the change inside her stance, and let go of her.

"Now you look just like her. The princess, I mean." He said. "Right before she bailed." She wanted to ask what he meant by that, but he turned away from her. The door of the shuttle closed and the whole thing started to move.

"Lets sit down." She said to her siblings, and they did.

"Where are we going?" Tina asked, with a small voice. There was no trace of the spoiled brat, from a couple of hours ago. The one that refused to clean out the dishwasher. But Morthia shook her head, she didn't know either. But she was afraid that her voice would betray her fear. She took her book and opened it on the page she was at. But the dragon knows that she was not able to read one page during this flight. Still, it calmed the siblings somewhat. A door opened, and the captain came in with some drinks.

"Space, can be a dry place. So you need to drink." He said, and he passed down the drinks.

"Thank you." Morthia said, and the siblings followed her example. She took a sip, of the water. It was simple water, and still it was welcome.

"Mister, where is our father?" Andrea asked. Her voice was rather soft and was almost was not audible, above the sound of the shuttle.

"Your father is on a different ship..." The captain said.

"This is Andrea, the others are Micheal Junior, better known as MJ and Tina." Morthia said. "And I am Morthia." She added. He nodded slowly, then repeated the names one by one while pointing at them. When he came to her name, he stopped for a second, smiled a huge grin.

"Morthia." He said. "I am Dryak, and my father is General Derock. Who is currently with your father."

"He is not mine father, he is their father. Not mine." Morthia said. "I do not know who my father is, I never met him." Dryak looked shocked.

"You said that you are twenty-seven. Your mother run away twenty-seven years ago, so it can be that she was already pregnant." Dryak said. Morthia shrugged, that was indeed a possibility. But that did not tell her who her father was. She did not know anything about the Dragonship, only that it was the largest ship in the fleet and that it was home of the Dragon King and the Dragonship court. Dryak looked at her. "You indeed look so much like her pictures. I did not know her personally, of course. I was not even born when she ran away. But I have seen pictures of her, she was quite beautiful." Morthia looked at the photo on her lap. She was indeed beautiful and so full of fire, even when she became sick. Refusing to give up until the very end, it had broken Morthia's heart to see her so weak and broken when she finally gave up the fight. "You are missing her." It was not a question, it was an observation. Morthia nodded.

"I was ten when she passed, they were five." Morthia pointed toward the triplets. "I have taken over, when she passed away. Cooking, cleaning and such. But I was never able to replace her." She sighed and pinked a tear out of the corner of her eye. "She was our mom." He nodded and took her hand.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"I am so sorry. I can tell it still hurts." He said, and now it was her time to nod. He knew how she felt, maybe his mother, or a close relative passed away too. But she was not going to ask him about it. She placed her head against the wall, and closed her eyes.

******

She didn't know how long she had slept, but he shook her awake, softly. He placed a finger on his lips and then pointed at the siblings who were fast asleep. It was an adorable sight to see, Tina and MJ were clutching their stuffed animals and Andrea was holding them both. Morthia wished that they had time to pack some more stuff, then she would have got Andrea a stuffed animal, just like the others. But that was wishful thinking and that never came true.

"Morthia, we are almost there. I need to warn you. People will stare at you, I do not need to explain why." His voice was barely louder than the sound of the engine, but she was still able to hear him.

"Is that because of my mother?" She asked, and he nodded. "Was she so important?" He sighed. "Sorry, my mother never told me and my siblings and I didn't go to school. I believe the reason behind that, is hidden in your answer." He nodded.

"That makes sense, I do believe that she ran away for a reason and now only Micheal knows why. But I am not allowed to speak to him, my father is afraid that he will cloud my mind." Drayk said, maybe his father also knew the reason why her mother ran. But chooses to ignore the truth. "All I know is that she ran, and I believe she was pregnant with you at the time. Which makes you not only her daughter, but also the daughter of prince Carlos, the Dragon King himself." He said. "And I do not doubt that my father has come to the same conclusion." She nodded, but she didn't dare to think about what this all meant. The mystery of her father might be solved in a short manner of time and she didn't know how to feel about that. Her father might be the Dragon King, but that would make her royalty. She sighed and looked at her siblings. They were also her mother's children, what will happen to them.

"Captain, promise me one thing. No matter what happens, make sure that my brother and sisters are safe. My mother asked my stepfather the same thing before she passed and I believe that if your theory is correct that she ran because I was in danger." She said and he nodded.

"I can only promise that I try." He said and she nodded. Knowing that he promised all that he could give her.

"Thank you." She said, and a tear ran over her cheek. His hand shot forward and pinked the tear away. "I am sorry about that. It is just..."

"You are scared and now that your siblings are a sleep, you are able to show it." He said and she gave him a thin smile. He saw right through her and he didn't even know her, so maybe she was not fooling anybody not even her siblings. She sighed, and looked him straight in his blue eyes.

"I am told that the Dragon guard is part of the Dragonship court, so if I am the daughter of prince Carlos, then I need to know all about the ins and outs. What to say and what not to say, how to act. Can you help me with that?" She asked and he wiggled with his head.

"I can, but there is a lot of ground to cover." He replied. She nodded, she expected that much.

"Then teach me the bare minimum, to start things off." She said and he started to tell her all she needed to know for now. How to act, what to say when spoken too. He even showed her how to stand and how to bow.

"If you are the daughter of the Dragon King, then you only need to bow to him. And for no one else." He pointed out, she sighed even the bare minimum was a lot. But she was willing to do her best, they can't ask more of her, can they. She was born and raised on a moon, and she knew the slur that was used to people that were, Moonlovers. In other words slaves, because they were slaves. Slaves that went into the mines to collect Dragonsteel and Dragonfire crystals for Dragonfire technology. They got paid the bare minimum and their houses were more like shacks on a piece of rock. "Morthia, do not worry about it." He brought her back to the here and now. He looked up. "Time to wake the little ones, we have arrived." He stood and walked toward Andrea. While she took care of Tina and MJ.

"We are here." She said. She motioned Andrea to come to her. "Now listen to me. I do not know what will happen when we get there, but promise me one thing. Be on your best behavior do not act like spoiled brats." They nodded and she sighed. Wrapping her arms around them for an embrace.

"But Morthia, if mommy was a princess. That would make us royalty too, right?" Tina asked. Morthia sighed.

"I wish that it was that simple, brat. But I am afraid that it is not that simple." Morthia replied. Tina nodded as she understand what Morthia tried to say, which is surprising because she didn't know herself. "Mom told use that we needed to brave. Do you all remember?" This was a lie, her mother didn't want the triplets to see her in such a state. But they nodded anyway. "Well let use be brave." Drayk gave her a sign that they had arrived and she stood up and took her sisters hands. MJ stood close behind her and she swallowed. The doors of the shuttle opened and they were faced with a large crowed. Some of them were in fancy clothing, others were wearing a dragon guard uniform. And all of them looked at her, she could see some of them whispering her mother's name. Drayk motioned her to move and she did, with her head held high and her siblings in toe. One man stood in the middle of the crowed and his face was the only face she knew. The Dragon King, prince Carlos and most likely her father. She stopped infront of him and bowed, like Drayk had showed her.

"My king." She said, and rose up. He looked at her and hummed.

"You look so much like your mother when she was younger." He said, soft and calmly. "How old are you, girl?"

"Twenty-seven, my king." She replied. He nodded and touched his unshaven chin, his brown eyes took her in for a second time. If he was her father then she had nothing from him.

"What is your name?" He asked, and she told him. "Morthia, this is not a name I would choose. But it was your mother's grandmother's name, so it make sense." He then looked at the triplets. "Let me guess, this is Micheals spawn?"

"They are indeed, my king." Drayk replied instead of her. "But they are also princess Brialea's children. The girl with the black hair is Tina, the boy is MJ and the girl with the red hair is Andrea." Prince Carlos nodded again.

"I see, well bring them to the palace and we will see what we will do with them there." He said and diseapered into nothing. Drayk leaned towards her.

"Prince Carlos barely leaves the palace, so we were talking to an hologram." He explained. She nodded, not surprised that it seemed so real.

"The things we can do with Dragonfire Technology."