Before I could fully catch my breath a loud thunderous pound shook the earth and nearly knocked me off my feet.
The ground slowly settled as a man rivaling Airsidh’s height walked out from one of the gardens at the side of the house to greet us. At first glance, I assumed it would just be another man like my father, but his words were soft and gave me a sense of ease somehow. “I see you arrived. It’s good to see you again, Air, Lu.” He readjusted his grip on the hammer, casually holding what must have been over a hundred pounds. “That means… This young lass here would be…” As he stepped forward I could practically feel the heat radiating off of him from whatever he had been doing just moments ago. The muscles in my body tightened like I was preparing for a fight, once again reminding me of how nervous I was around people I didn’t know. “You’re Siya, is that right?” He said slowly, even softer than before as he squatted down in front of me and looked into my eyes.
As I stared back my eyes focused deeper than ever before, like I was looking directly into his soul. The only way I could explain what I saw was by saying it was… Somehow softer than the feeling I got from my mom, and altogether completely different than that of my father. They may have shared the same intimidating figure, but it seemed that was where the similarity ended.
After an awkward pause, he scratched his head. “Ah, sorry I guess I should have asked before shortening your name like that. I’m Mara’s dad, Aowdan.”
‘Fairy dust, this is where I’m supposed to talk now right? Wait, but what do I say? I’m Siya. No… He already said that…’ My brow slowly furrowed as I sped up my thinking. ‘What if he asks why we never met before? I can’t just tell him my family has been breaking every law in the kingdom because of his horrible stepson, can I? No, never mind any of that lets just start with… Hi?’ “H- '' I cleared my throat. “Hammer…” I muttered. Everyone froze, and I felt heat rise from my chest slowly filling my face from my chin to the top of my head until I could have sworn I heard my sweat sizzle into steam.
He pulled the massive weapon from his shoulder, slowly flipping it off and letting the head slam into the ground sending a jolt through the bones in my legs and leaving a soft dint in the dry earth. “It caught your eyes then did it? Sure, it’s simple enough, but the only thing that matters for a tool is how well it works. This one’s killed enough monsters to say it works well enough.” He smiled in a way that made him seem almost as embarrassed as I was, awkwardly flexing one of his arms.
“So You’re grandpa…” I muttered out loud before quickly covering my mouth, making sure I didn’t let anything else stupid spill out as my thoughts escaped through my tongue.
His smile softened as he raised a fist to my collar and pressed it against my heart. “That’s right. We’re family.” He said calmly before standing up again and turning to give Lu a hug. “Gramma is out hunting boar, so it might be good to try and settle in a bit while you can. She’s been excited ever since she got the letter from Mara saying when you would get here, and especially excited about meeting Siyasavide. So you all might be busy when she gets back.”
Stolen novel; please report.
I let out a small groan. “Erhm… Siya is fine please…” ‘Why am I talking like this… Can I really not even speak proper sentences?’ I took a deep breath as he helped us put our horses up in the stables, staying quiet as he and Lu began to chat. He seemed kind and softhearted… But, even though we were family he was a complete stranger. Until that moment I had no idea that it wasn’t the same for Lu. As much as we talked about our gramma, they never mentioned him.
“How are you feeling?” Airsidh asked.
I slowly looked up at him, only then realizing I had been holding a horsebrush still, not actually brushing Fritz for well over half a minute, blankly staring into space. ‘How am I feeling…’ “Like I’m starting to get tired of people having to ask…” I muttered, starting to brush her again as we talked. “I started thinking I was pretty tough after I killed that demon you know, at least mentally, like I could take anything in stride after that… But now, it’s been just three days since I used Dragon Sight and just two since we left home… And I’m tired… I was excited about finally making the cut and heading off with you guys but…” I let out a deep sigh as I put the brush down and gave Fritz a hug. “My heart is still beating so fast… Like I’m still embarrassed…” I groaned. ‘What am I even saying… It’s not like we’ve ever been the kind of family that has heart to hearts…’ “Just forget it… But… If you could stop teasing me for a while, I’d appreciate it…”
He folded his arms. “Sure, I can let you off the hook for a few hours. In the meantime, you should hurry up and get whatever things you want to bring inside the house from the carriage.
‘I meant like… The next couple of weeks…’ I sighed again, slowly walking out of the stall and heading over to the carriage, grabbing a trunk with my change of clothes, and quietly following behind everyone else as we got a short tour. The mansion was impressive, with servants tending to a massive garden, and knights, both on and off duty strolling here and there, each one careful to salute as we walked past. The atmosphere was completely different than back at home. At first, it awed me, but before long it started to feel stuffy and crowded.
It felt like every couple of seconds someone or another was constantly asking me something, offering to help, or introducing themselves. Not only were my grandparents there, but an uncle I had never seen, and two aunts I didn’t know existed, each one trying to fawn over me like I was their own long-lost child… They were… A bit rough I guess, and too touchy… Especially with Lu who was always ready to throw hands, they seemed to love teasing her. Still, they weren’t nearly as cold as I thought they might be. None of them wanted to test me to see how strong I was, or bothered to ask why they hadn’t seen me before. It almost all felt fake, and it certainly didn’t feel like I belonged.
As we sat around talking I only really had one thought… And I just couldn’t shake it… ‘If they knew… How would they treat me then?’ No matter how long we stayed there I couldn’t get the chills to go away, like I was surrounded by wolves again, stuck in another pit…
When our grandmother finally came back everyone got to work preparing the wild boars she caught and before I knew it we were all sitting down to eat, but my stomach was anything but ready to scarf down pounds of food. I only took as much as I felt like I could handle, and once again no one said anything. No one talked about my obvious difference in size or told me I needed to eat more. No one seemed to care. I had every reason to feel at ease and relax, to feel comfortable, but instead, I just felt out of place. The worst part was that I couldn’t even tell if it was me that was feeling that way, or the dragon's blood messing with me again…