Alpha Damon (Sienna) novel Chapter 92

The four of them quietly left the main street, after Darsan had convinced their father to buy some heart-shaped pastries filled with some sweet apple paste. The road leading to the Onyx Castle had a thin layer of snow on it, but was completely empty. The children happily raced together to the Castle, playing in the wide, empty area between the castle’s grounds and the village. As soon as they caught sight of the gates, a large, dark creature popped up its head.

“Krai!” Exclaimed the little girl, excited.

The black dragon jumped from over the gates, and the three children ran to the majestic creature. The Dragon was so large, one of his paws was as big as the children. Still, it laid in the snow, waiting for them with its nostrils exuding thick clouds of steam, its tail waving the snow around. Cessilia ran until she hit the huge snout with a big laughter, and Darsan, coming right after her, began climbing on top of the Dragon.

“You’re going to damage the flowers, Darsan!” Yelled Kassian with a frown.

Hearing her older brother’s sentence, Cessilia patted Krai’s snout, but walked back to take her dad’s hand, and they walked inside the Castle’s ground together. The large Dragon followed too, Darsan still playing on its back.

“Darsan!” Suddenly yelled a feminine voice. “I am not mending those clothes again, you little rascal! You’ve been warned!”

The woman who had just stepped out of the building was glaring at the large black dragon and the kid playing on its back, but her eyes softened as she went down on the trio.

“Auntie Nebbie!” Exclaimed Cessilia. “Look!”

“Oh, you got flowers, honey? They are so pretty!”

“Those are for you,” said Kassian, giving her a bouquet of purple and orange flowers.

Nebora took it, surprised, and smiled, brushing his hair gentle.

“Oh, thank you Kassian, they are really pretty. Did you pick them for me?”

“I picked too!” Proudly announced Cessilia.

“Of course you did sweetie, you are the prettiest flower of all!”

“Where is she?” Asked Kairen.

“She just went into the gardens, my Lord,” nodded Nebora with a smile. “I think she can barely get rest with all the little ones…”

“Darsan, come give the flowers!” Called Kassian.

The boy finally got down, but the bouquets were already a bit damaged. Still, he proudly gave them to his Auntie Nebora.

“This was for auntie Prunie, and this one for auntie Marian…”

“You guys bought this much? Looks like we don’t need husbands after all…”

“Prunie can marry me!” Exclaimed Darsan proudly.

“You’re a little too young for her young man, but I will tell her,” chuckled Nebora. “Now you all go and see your mother and give her those pretty flowers…”

She walked away carrying those for her colleagues, a smile on her lips. As soon as she disappeared back inside the building, the three children ran across the place. Darsan leading, they opened the Castle’s doors and crossed the main hall to get to the other side, where their mother’s gardens were.

This was the most beautiful area of the Castle. Despite the weather conditions, long, green trails of ivy were freely growing on the walls, and the floor was covered with fresh grass, free of any snow. The main reason was that the roof had been torn down, and made of several layers of sturdy glass. Hence, the whole room felt half-open, but was still much warmer than the outside, as the sun gently shone over it.

In those conditions, flowers were freely blooming all over, and the most organized area had plants, in little squares of soil, growing neatly into gorgeous green plants. In the middle of this improbable field, several little dragons were running around, following one woman and a little girl. As soon as the three siblings arrived, the dragons stopped their running around and turned their heads.

“Kian!” Kassian called first. Immediately, the bigger of the four dragons ran over, his long silver body shining.

After him, the three smaller dragons came too. One ran to Darsan, and the two began wrestling in the grass. The third dragon, with a long, snake-like body of a purple shade, gently came at Cessilia’s feet following her steps. The last one, by far the smallest, was sniffing the children and their father curiously, before it suddenly flapped its tiny wings to climb on Kairen’s shoulder. With it’s dark-grey body and small eyes, it looked like a statue on the War God’s shoulder.

“Mommy!” Exclaimed Cessilia, running to her mother first.

The woman turned around, with a bright smile. The little girl that was hanging on to her dress suddenly let go, and ran past Cessilia in the opposite direction, to grab Kassian’s cape.

“Hi, Kiera,” he said, carrying her. “Have you been a good girl with mommy?”

Meanwhile, Cessilia reached her mom at the same time as her Father did. Cassandra smiled, and crouched down to hug her daughter.

“Hello, my princess…” She said, giving a kiss on the brown curls. “Have you been good for your dad?”

“We got flowers for you, mommy…”

She shyly showed the bouquet, almost too big for her, and immediately, her mother smiled even more.

“Mommy, can we go and see the dragon egg?” Asked Cessilia, pulling on her skirt.

“Of course, baby, let’s go see it.”

“I hope it’s another little sister,” whispered Kassian, making his mom chuckle.

“We can’t predict, Kassian, you know that right?” Smiled Cassandra.

“But you said grandma was right every time! Can we go ask her?”

“We should get her some flowers, then. She’ll be happy to see you… Let’s go to the Diamond Palace when Darsan and the dragons come back. And then, we can all dine at the Imperial Palace tonight, your aunts will be happy to see you. Your baby cousin should be born soon, too.”

“A baby!” Exclaimed Kiera, excited.

The children ran to see the egg a bit further inside the garden, leaving their parents finally alone. Cassandra sighed, and leaned her head on her husband’s shoulder, while he wrapped his hands around her small but growing belly.

“You guys didn’t pick flowers for your mother or for the Empress…” she whispered with a smile.

“They both get dozens every year anyway…” grumbled her husband.

“Still, they are your family… Let’s go and visit them, today. Your mother must be lonely…”

“I’m lonely too. I want more time alone with you…”

Cassandra chuckled, and turned around to put a quick kiss on his lips.

“Then we can leave the children to play with Shareen and your mother in the Palace for the evening, and find somewhere to hide together… I’m sure we can find a place the little ones won’t follow. We should enjoy it before Missandra’s baby is born, I promised to help her afterwards.”

The War God nodded, although he also sighed lightly. Cassandra smiled, and leaned against him, hugging her husband a bit more before the children would come to interrupt them again. The truth was, they were both very happy with their family growing bigger and bigger…

Cassandra was just satisfied to have them all here, growing in peace and filling, once again the Dragon Empire with some of those magnificent creatures. She didn’t need more flowers, or any special attention. She had all the love she wanted right here, with her family…