6. FALLOUT

FALLOUT

“ S o, this is what the phrase means ‘you could cut the tension with a knife’,” Tilly whispered to Caden and Rose.

Caden bit his inner cheek to stop the bark of slightly hysterical laughter from boiling out of his mouth. Rose, with suspiciously tightly pressed lips, gently tapped Tilly’s leg before making a shushing sound. Caden was grateful to have Tilly between him and Rose so that they could both stop his sister from starting a world war at the dinner table between Valerius and his father. As it was, his father was doing his best to act as if there already was a cold war between them.

He risked looking up at Valerius who sat across the table from them. The Black Dragon King sat ramrod straight though, and stared off into the distance, doing his best to pretend that he was alone on some windy, snowy mountain top with no one to bother him, especially not some particularly pesky humans.

But he must have felt Caden looking at him, and his eyes flickered to him. Caden’s heartbeat sped up. It was ridiculous to feel such joy just for Valerius glancing at him. The faintest smile appeared on the Black Dragon King’s lips, and Caden felt his cheeks burn. How could he not think of that kiss last night at that moment? And when they would do it again? And what did it mean? Not to mention how his father managed to mess it all up?

Valerius held his gaze. His gray-white eyes burned with intensity, and his pupils expanded. Caden found himself swallowing.

You’re thinking of the kiss, Caden thought.

You were the one thinking of the kiss, Valerius responded.

Caden jolted slightly. They had communicated this way as Dragons before, but this was different. You’re thinking of the kiss now.

Valerius’ eyes narrowed. That you think only of kisses tells me what a child you are in this. Maybe your father is right that I am mad to be… He suddenly stopped the thought and pressed his plush lips together.

To be what? C’mon, you have to tell me now, Caden teased.

And he didn’t know if his heart couldn’t bear not to know. He was glad that Iolaire was sleeping at that moment, because when the White Dragon Spirit was awake, his feelings were even more intense.

Foolish boy. Valerius shook his head.

Silly king.

That had Valerius raising an eyebrow at him, which immediately had Caden grinning. Valerius finally cracked a smile, too.

I am a silly king for agreeing to us having dinner here. We should be back in High Reach, Valerius muttered. The longer we remain here, the greater chance reporters will notice.

Caden’s heart started beating harder, but this time not in pleasure. You have to stay! I mean… I’d feel safer if you stayed.

Confusion flowed over their connection. Caden, you would be coming with me. I am not leaving you.

Oh. Caden pinked this time again, and started playing with silverware.

We do need to talk, Valerius said gently. This incident shows that your family is not safe here.

So what are you suggesting? That we move my family into High Reach? Caden was joking, but then he saw the look on Valerius’ face, and realized that this was exactly what Valerius was suggesting. But if we moved into High Reach--with you--people would notice! I mean…

Yes, they would.

He could read no further thoughts from Valerius then. Maybe it was because his emotions suddenly jumped all over the place. They did need to talk. He needed to convince Valerius that…

What do I need to convince him of? Jasper Hawes and his cretins from Humans First didn’t set a bomb this time, but what about the next time? And there will be a next time. Jasper isn’t the type of guy to quit. But if my family were in High Reach, it would be much harder for him to reach them.

Guilt and confusion swirled in Caden’s chest. Was his, likely vain, attempt to keep a hold of his old life putting his family’s lives in danger? But he couldn’t imagine that his father would want to be in High Reach. All this talk about Caden needing his own territory would just increase if he were forced to live in the castle. Caden, himself, had mixed feelings about living in High Reach. On the one hand, it would be awesome to be nearer to Valerius. But, on the other hand, he’d be nearer to Valerius…

His gaze wandered over to Chione who sat beside the Black Dragon King. She was beaming at everyone as if this was the most pleasant of evenings, even though not a word had been spoken out loud, except for Tilly’s knife comment. Maybe he shouldn’t be surprised. She had to manage world leaders and Valerius all the time. This might very well seem like a perfectly lovely evening.

His mother was at her normal spot at the end of the table. She was coordinating bowls of vegetables that would be passed around to everyone. There were buttery green beans sprinkled with almond slivers, steaming potatoes, not to mention Rose’s tomatoes, which were sliced and laid out artistically on a large platter with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Her eyes kept flickering up to her husband, who stood at the opposite head of the table.

Their father was busy cutting–or rather like murdering –the roast. He kept stabbing the fork into the juicy meat, sending rivulets of pink juice spreading over the carving board rather like a lake of blood. He then sawed through the beef with an unnecessarily rough movement. His actions would only get more violent if he happened to glance at Valerius.

The moment that the Black Dragon King had emerged from the bathroom, the argument that he and his father had been about to have about territory and hugging the Black Dragon King had stopped. His father had slammed his lips shut as he met Valerius’ beetling brow. Caden wouldn’t have been surprised if his father had made a key locking motion with his fingers and then threw that key away. Evidently, his father didn’t want Valerius to hear their discussion about his alleged territory. Caden had winced and tried to act normally, inviting Valerius into the dining room and pulling his seat out for him. But, of course, that last act had truly nearly sent his father into the roof. As he saw it not as a kind act to a guest, but some kind of obeisance to a king.

“Would you like me to help you with that, Grant?" Their mother asked, gesturing to the poor roast that looked to be squirming away from the carving knife and long fork.

His father just glared at her for a moment, and then said tightly, “I am quite capable of cutting this roast.”

“It looks more like you’re trying to kill it again,” Caden said under his breath. When his father shot him a dirty look, and his mother a pleading one, he slid down in his chair and muttered, “I’m just saying.”

“Everything looks so delicious, Mrs. Bryce,” Rose said, surprisingly being the one to try to smooth things over.

Caden winced. This was supposed to be Rose’s first introduction to his family, and it was awful. He knew how worried she had been about coming here, and here they all were behaving like jerks. He sat upright and reached for one of the bowls of green beans.

“It does look great, Mom,” he said to her as he began to dish some of them for himself and some for Tilly.

“I can serve myself, Caden!” Tilly protested loudly, with a worried glance towards Rose.

“So you’re not going to eat off of my plate then? Because that’s what you do when I don’t serve you,” Caden said.

Tilly pinked, and sat up straighter in her chair as if to give herself more height. “I did that when I was a kid .” Again, she glanced over at Rose. “It’s been ages since I--”

“Three nights ago is ages now?” Caden laughed, but when his sister’s shoulders slumped a little, he winced as he realized she had been trying to look cool for Rose. “I mean--”

“Why are you not making him still do it?” Rose interrupted him, giving him a warning look.

“Oh, because it’s sort of… I used to think his food tasted better so I would eat off of his plate, but if he put the food on mine, it tasted just as good and… well, it was babyish.” Tilly shrugged.

“It’s not babyish at all.” Rose lifted her plate and handed it over to Caden. “I’d like some green beans, too. They look really tasty.”

Tilly immediately was all smiles again. Caden served both of them as the dishes went around the table.

That was kind, Valerius said.

Caden nearly responded out loud with, What was kind?

Rose.

Yeah, yeah, it was kind. She’s really good with Tilly, Caden said. I wanted tonight to be really comfortable for her. I can’t imagine this is comfortable for anyone.

She looks quite at ease. Finding out that people are people is probably helping her. Even the loving Bryces have an off day.

We’re having an off everything, Caden muttered.

That is why having the Shifters leave the home environment is--

No, absolutely not. Caden looked over at the Black Dragon King fiercely.

I know you will not let me tear you from them.

Damn straight! And, it’s awful that it happens at all! It’s part of the reason why Shifters and humans don’t get along, because we’re separated from one another. But then Caden looked over at his father who was glaring at Valerius with a carving knife in his hand. Then again, you wouldn’t have to deal with my father.

Valerius smiled at his father, which had his father pressing his lips together tightly.

And you wouldn’t have to either, Valerius pointed out.

True.Too true.

“This isn’t exactly the meal I had planned. Or, I should say, I thought it was gonna be a little less exciting,” his mother suddenly said to Rose. “But, this will be the first of many dinners you have with us so I get another chance to make it up to you at least.”

“It’s totally fine. I’m just glad that everyone is okay, and really this is lovely,” Rose assured her quickly, waving her hands in the air. “It’s been decades since I had a meal like this.” Everyone at the table went still at her words. She blinked and looked around, suddenly quite clearly feeling conspicuous. She quickly hurried out, “I mean, of course I eat with people. I have friends! It’s just that I haven’t eaten with a family, a human family… I’m making this worse, aren’t I?”

She asked this last bit of him. He was too busy boggling the idea that she hadn’t had a family meal in decades . It sounded so sad. Luckily, his quick-thinking sister quickly broke in.

“It’s okay. It’s sort of cool we’re the first human family that you’ve eaten with in a while. That means that you’ve chosen to eat with us. That we’re special,” Tilly said as she reached over and put a hand on Rose’s shoulder.

“You’re not alone, Rose,” Chione remarked. “It has been some time since I have eaten a meal with a human family.”

“Don't Shifters form familial groups in their clans?” his mother asked.

“Some types of Shifters do, to be sure,” Chione explained. “But then there are others, like my own kind, where we are so rare that we exist mostly on our own.”

“Like the Dragon Shifters?” Tilly asked, wide-eyed.

“I prefer to eat alone,” Valerius said simply.

That had Tilly giggling uncertainly.

“You liked eating with me the other night!” Caden protested. “That meat we had on the grill in your rooms was--”

“You were in his room?” his father asked sharply.

Caden’s mouth opened and shut without anything coming out.

“Yes, Caden has been in my rooms several times,” Valerius stated, which had Caden wondering if the Black Dragon King was egging for a fight. “What of it? We need places where we can be private and comfortable. Though once I teach Caden and Iolaire to fly long distances, we will likely head to my far northern palace in the mountain tops.”

“Iolaire?” His mother looked over at him.

“That’s the White Dragon Spirit’s name,” he explained quickly. “But you can’t tell anybody, Mom.”

“I--I know,” she assured him, but looked rather crestfallen. He didn’t think she would want to brag about knowing the White Dragon Shifter’s name, but more that she would look for meaning in it among the Faith.

“Taking Caden to your winter palace--”

“You mean the one in Nightvale?” Caden had only read about the winter palace of the Black Dragon King.

“Caden! He’s trying to isolate you! He’s not--

“Let me open that wine and pour some in everyone’s glasses!” His mother cried.

His mother then dashed to the sideboard, grabbed the uncorked bottle of wine, and quickly brought it over the table. She poured wine into everyone’s glasses except for Tilly’s. Except really, his little sister probably could use some alcohol, too.

“I want to understand your intentions towards my son,” his father growled.

“Dad! He’s not--”

“You hugged in the kitchen. Not a friend hug. Don’t look at me that way, Ellen! You saw it too!” Their father waved the knife at her.

“Grant, I don’t think now is the time for that discussion,” their mother pleaded.

“How about never for that discussion?” Caden snapped.

“We’re your parents! And we need to know what’s going on with--with him .” Another sharp point of the knife, but this time at Valerius.

“Are you talking to me as my dad or my lawyer, because I’m not really sure where the line is anymore?” Caden snapped.

His gaze swung from one parent to the other. His father couldn’t quite meet it. His mother sighed.

His father’s shoulders slumped. “I just want you to be able to be home and safe --”

“You’re sending everyone mixed signals, Mr. Bryce. On the one hand, you seem to want me to have nothing to do with your son at all. You want him to have his own territory. You want him to stay away from me. You want to have a law set out how Dragons should relate to another,” Valerius said after taking a long swallow of wine. That made Caden think that maybe the wine was a bad idea. “On the other hand, you want to make sure that Caden can stay here in my territory. You are terrified that I will kick him out.”

“I want you to keep your distance, and let Caden do what he wants without your influence,” his father said simply. “Not too close and not too far. I want my son to have a choice about where he lives and what he does and –”

“Do you?” Valerius interrupted.

Everyone’s eyes were acting like they were watching a ping-pong match. Back and forth between his father and their king.

“Yes, of course!” The fork and carving knife clattered to the cutting board.

Chione reached over and put a hand on Valerius’ arm. “I think what King Valerius means is that Caden has been very clear that he has no desire for territory, yet we know that you and your firm have been putting together legal arguments for him to have one. You have even started working on a claim before the courts.”

Caden jumped up from his seat. “Dad! Please tell me that you haven’t filed anything on my behalf!”

His father’s eyes skittered over to him and away. “No, you are the client and I cannot ethically do such a thing. But I am paving the way for when we decide what’s best, including legal action, to assure that you will be legally protected.”

“I’m legally protected now, Dad! I’m staying here! Valerius is cool with that! So you can stop running around with your lawyer friends, planning my life while I keep telling you what I want and you ignore it!” Caden swallowed as he realized he had been shouting at the end there.

Rose tugged him down into his seat once more. He went and drained his own wine glass.

“Caden, I understand your frustration, but you have such a good heart,” his father began.

“And that matters because?”

“Because you don’t see the ugly side of people,” his father answered.

“There’s nothing ugly about Valerius… that I don’t know,” he put the last part in quickly. “He’s got a temper. He’s rude. He’s autocratic. He’s out of touch.” When he saw Valerius’ raised eyebrow and Chione biting back a smile, he quickly added, “But he’s also brave, kind, generous and good to me! To us!” He gestured to his own family. “Think how it would be if we were in Illarion’s kingdom.”

“Just because things are not as bad here, doesn’t mean they couldn’t be. The law is there to keep the powerful in check and the weak safe,” his father said, and Caden heard his own determination to make things right for everyone in his voice. His anger drained away. His father’s anger did not as he turned to Valerius once more. “So I have problems trusting someone who interferes in that process. Like when the Chief Justice comes to High Reach.”

Valerius took another large swallow of wine. “Justice St. John is a good friend of mine. He comes to discuss many things, including the ninth Dragon Shifter, because he understands--unlike some very capable yet idealistic lawyers--that the law must bend when unique situations arise.”

His father’s knuckles went white around the fork and knife again. “That’s not how the law works! You’re perverting the course of justice if you are discussing this matter with the Chief Justice!”

“But, Dad, they’re friends and there’s no case! It would be weird if they weren’t talking about me!” Caden cried.

“Perverting the course of justice, am I? Where do you think all those precious laws come from? After the war I could have simply abolished all of them and never brought a single one back,” Valerius said, his gray-white eyes riveted upon his father.

“The laws are there to protect everyone, and to control everyone, too. Including you, King Valerius. You are not above the law,” his father said, shaking slightly.

“Things have escalated rather quickly,” their mother said as she came over and took the fork and knife from her husband and began to expertly cut the roast and put the pieces on everyone’s plates. She gestured with her head for her husband to sit down. “We’re scared, King Valerius. We want what is best for our son. We want to make sure that nothing happens that curtails his freedom, his rights, or his happiness. It’s not as if he became a Shifter type that has a clan that he could go to and learn from and be supported by. All the Dragon Shifters are alone, and none of you seem to work together very well.”

Caden was impressed by how his mother had taken charge of the conversation. He was also impressed that she managed to slice the roast thinly, just as he liked it and made sure that she put the biggest amounts on his, Valerius’ and Rose’s plates.

“I understand that you want to try and preserve as much of Caden’s life--his former life--as you can,” Valerius said, his voice now totally different. It had none of the hard sharpness in it. No more anger or suppressed arrogance. He looked thoughtful and worried. “I know that this might be difficult to believe, but I am concerned about those things, too. I want him to have as normal an existence as possible.”

“That is good to hear, King Valerius,” his mother said.

His eyes flickered up to Caden, and for a moment, Caden saw the truth within them. He really did want that. But it was just as equally obvious that he was worried that it couldn’t last.

“Jasper Hawes went to your son’s workplace today, because he suspects that Caden is the White Dragon Shifter,” Valerius said quietly. “He told Caden that there were bombs in your home in the hopes that Caden would shift outside the back of the shop where Jasper had people waiting to videotape it. He would then have tried to use this information to blackmail Caden to do whatever Humans First wanted.”

Caden’s chest went tight as he realized that this was what exactly would have happened, but for Valerius coming to the rescue.

But Jasper still knows it's me. He doesn’t have proof. Yet. But he will. In time.

“Don’t be mad at me for saving this, Caden, but your secret identity is already blown. Maybe it’s not up on social media yet, but the people who matter already know,” it was Rose who said this, which had Caden blinking at her. She turned towards him. “I’m not sure exactly how King Valerius got Marban on his side, probably giving him that fancy new job title, but the truth is, that anyone who learns who you are will have some kind of power over you and everyone who cares for you. Once your identity is revealed that power goes away.”

Caden looked down. “So I should… should come clean?”

“I don’t know,” Rose said. “Well, okay, I do know. I think you should so that you can manage the fallout, instead of someone else doing it for you. But I understand why you want to hang onto this.” She smiled at his parents, who smiled back. His dad and mom held hands. “The core of your life wasn’t shattered by becoming the White Dragon Shifter. You still have your same loving family, and your friends. Even your job. Everything is the same, except nothing is.”

Caden swallowed sharply, and suddenly was shoving food into his mouth like he was afraid he’d never get another meal. It was anxiety eating, which he was sure Tilly would normally have teased him about. He felt Valerius’ eyes on him, and he knew that the Black Dragon King realized what he was doing, and felt badly for him.

“You’re not ready for that reveal yet, Caden, we know this,” Chione said softly. “And we’re going to try to do all that we can to give you the time and space you need to figure this out, Caden.”

But at what cost? That’s what she is not saying.

“There will be questions about tonight.” Valerius looked grim. He tented his fingers together and rested them under his chin. “Beyond what the reporters will wonder, Jasper Hawes is still out there, and so are the members of Humans First. They could be some of your neighbors. Some of your colleagues. They could be anyone. There is no nightshine to show who they are.”

“So what is the solution?” his father asked.

“Revealing Caden’s identity in the way he wants it revealed, to control the fallout as Rose so aptly put it would normally be my suggestion.” Valerius tapped his fingers against his chin. “But there are other factors.”

The mate thing? Caden guessed.

Yes, exactly.

“What other factors?” his father asked sharply.

Caden put his face in his hands. He could not ask Valerius to lie. It was one thing not to mention this to his family. But to lie about it was a wholly different matter. Yet he could only imagine the fallout from this revelation.

“Caden? Honey?” his mother called.

“Does it have anything to do with the other Dragon Shifters coming here?” Tilly asked.

“They want to protect their territory, Tilly,” their father said. “They--”

“No, no, that’s not really why they’re coming.” Caden lifted his face from his hands. He looked at Valerius. He couldn’t look at anyone else when he said this. “They’re coming to… to… to court me.”