Treasure Of Dragons, Royal Dragons Book 1 Chapter 116

Ria

Seeing me freaking out Drago said softly, “They are acknowledging the familial link between them. Brand’s dragon is greeting his grandfather and feeling their family connections. That’s what you are seeing. The other kids’ dragons recognize it as well and that’s why so many of them popped up. The thing is Brand is technically the oldest male, and right now he has been in protector mode. So, as the protector he recognized the strange dragon in their mists. So, when his dragon came to investigate, he was able to scent and feel the connection he shared with David. David is now the oldest male dragon in the family per his position. So, Brand’s dragon is acknowledging that and deferring to him, as well as cementing their family connection.”

I just absorbed all that Drago was saying and watched the dynamic unfolding in front of me. Hope was loving being surrounded by their dragons and started to laugh, and she was patting faces and having fun. They were both speaking to her and nuzzling her, so I just smiled at the bizarre crap that continued to unfold in my family.

“Okay, well, how about we all start back to the castle. Since we are all together we will walk as not all of you guys can fit on the ATVs. So, Brand, can you hold Hope and I will help some of the other younger ones if they need it?” I spoke to everyone.

“Actually how about the younger ones ride in the ATVs so their little legs don’t get tired, then we can bring up the rear with the older ones. You can take Hope and ride back with the younger kids so you can help get them settled with Isobel and Monica.” Brand suggested.

As he said their names they were there holding younger kids and smiling at me. I hugged them both, clinging a bit longer to Isobel. I thought that was a good idea.

“Okay Brand, that is a great idea, does everyone else agree with that?” My mates all nodded, so I took Hope and helped some of the smaller ones get fastened into the ATVs, then I got settled and secured, then we were off, and I could see the other group walking towards the castle behind me. 

Drago

I walked close to Brand, “Son, I want you to know how incredibly proud we all are of you. You knew what you needed to do and you didn’t hesitate to take care of your family. You stepped up so beautifully when you were needed. That shows how much of a strong man you have become. I hope that with all that you have learned, especially in the last year, that you will take that knowledge and be better than we were. There was a huge amount of things that have come to light with this recent trip. I think you are old enough to be included in some of it. So, David is your grandfather as your dragon already surmised. Ria recognized him, and we have learned of so many years of tretury and things that have been going on we never in a million years would have thought. So, there’s a lot we still need to work through as your parents, including your mom and grandfather. Once we get a better handle on things, we will let you know what we can. Know that anything we keep from you is about the details you don’t really need to know, and has nothing to do with our trust and belief in your ability. It’s just us being your dads and your mom and still wanting to help guard you from some things.”

Brand looked at me critically, “I will work with that. I’ll be honest, it is still somewhat hard to trust you, but I can see Mom is trying, and I can even acknowledge that you are as well. I’m not sure what else to tell you besides that. I will listen to what you have to tell me and help mom and the others as much as possible.”

I nodded to him, as I couldn’t really ask for more than that. His trust in the 4 of us had been severely damaged, and it might never completely recover, but I hoped over time we would be able to mend what we had damaged, like we were trying to do with his mother. ‘

A bunch of the kids were busy talking to us, and each other, and they were full of tales of what adventures they had. Apparently Brand and Drako had really wanted to make a game of it. So, they had devised contests between the kids about gathering wood, about learning to start fires, and about learning what plants were edible. Drako had said he’d grabbed a bunch of survival books from the library to help with all of that, as they didn’t know shit. I laughed at that. 

“Wow, I can’t even begin to tell you how impressed we are with all of that. I’m not sure if faced with an emergency where I had to be responsible for evacuating and keeping all of my younger siblings safe, I would have thought to grab survival books or books to help them survive out here in the woods. That was incredibly well done boys. Not to mention, thinking up games and contests to keep the adventure going and keep it fun, so that they never worried about why they were out here, or even worried that something was wrong.” Ash patted them on the back as he showered them with well-earned praise.

I was so incredibly proud of the men we had raised, because to me they were no longer boys really. They had proven themselves to be men, and men who went the extra mile to ensure the safety as well as the mental and emotional stability of those siblings at the same time. They had grabbed hold of what they needed to do and made us so incredibly proud. I know their mother has a huge amount to do with that. She’s always emphasised the family and taking care of each other. 

I saw David watching and absorbing everything as he followed at the back of the whole group. No doubt he was watching our backs, but he was also listening and learning about his grandkids. Now, once we get things more settled and discuss so much of what we need to. He can actually take the time to get to know all of them. So, now, we just had to do that hard part, talking about everything that needed to be hashed out.