XLII

Family Trip

It takes a total of 24 hours of flying to get across the Kingdom of Red Blaze to the coast, where we can fly across the Great Ice Sea, due to its sea filled with icebergs between the two Kingdoms. For the first day, we are going to try the river outside of Salak. Camp in the forest, and keep patrol constantly for the night. To Salak would be three hours, and the nearby river is another two. It's only five hours but we'll make it up tomorrow. It was noon and we decided to finally leave the castle, and it took Jaejin telling us to hurry our asses up. Ambrus' face was the highlight of my day. It was like he wasn't expecting my mate to give him an order. The town is called Póli Aeráki in Notian, my mother's language, which translates to Breeze Town. They sure are original and not totally on the nose, being totally sarcastic by the way. My parents made sure to contact trusted families to stay with, or sleep Tonight, the family we will stay with is the Xiphias'. They are a fisher family now, they used to sit on the Court of Air, but since the court was no longer needed, they resided here peacefully.

"Astraea Kardos, as I live and breathe," A man with a round belly, he's bald, and has a salt n' pepper beard. He speaks Notian, my mother's language, I can barely understand it with his thick accent, "How is it that your beauty hasn't dulled with age?" His mate, I'm assuming, flanks his side. She wraps her arm around his, a smile that reaches her eyes. She has dark hair, a pixie cut, and green eyes I can see from where I am standing.

"Aphion obviously created Astraea in her image, Calix." His wife chirps right next to him and my mother smiles, at the mention of the comparison of being crafted by the Queen of our Gods. Calix Xiphias, father of the family, and lead fisherman in this quiet town. I happened to be right next to Nova when she vetted all of the families we would be staying with. Well, half assed since I didn't care to learn all of their names other than their last names and occupations.

"Calix and Lycoris Xiphias, the one family I desperately wanted in our merged Court. The one and only family to truly have my back in Turquesa Costa." She winks and she hugs them both which they gladly return. They shake my father's hand as I stand next to Nova on her right while Orion stands on her left.

"Our children, Orion, Nova, and Pluto." Lucijan presents us to my mother's friends, and they smile at the both of us.

"Your boys look much like their mother, King Lucijan. Your daughter reminds me of a mix of her grandparents, Elena's dirty blonde locks," My mother's mother, "Sena's cheekbones," My father's mother, "Lucas's green eyes," My mother's father, "And strangely, Vayk's ears." My father's father. We all laugh at that as Lycoris looks at us intently, then Jaejin comes to my right side. Both of their mouth's straighten into a tight line and I see that wall of judgment go over their dark eyes.

"Jaejin Cha, my mate." I tell them and Astraea gives them a curt nod before speaking.

"Jaejin Cha asked for my return when he came to age, while also asking for a treaty for his bond gift and Jaejin here, was the one to keep me sane all these years. If only I knew I was talking to the little boy who would grow up to become my son's mate. If you ask me, Jaejin Cha and Pluto deserve each other in the best way possible. Our past is our past, we can't change that, but his actions as Prince shows me that the hate was always taught, not in our blood. I am glad, Jaejin is the one to keep my son safe." My mother proclaims and Jaejin gives her a smile which she returns.

"Well, you must be hungry. Let's eat."

Six hours of flight might seem like it's not a lot, but my ass hurts so gods damn much. As I slide down Kígyó, and land awkwardly on my feet, I rub my bottom from the tight knots I can feel. That's going to cramp later. After that awkward dinner with the Xiphias family, tension seemed to cool down after a bit. The next few families over the next course of days, are nice to see my parents, nice when they see their children, but the moment they see Jaejin is when that kindness fails. In order, after the Xiphias family we dealt with the: Kovacs, a blacksmith family in a small metal forging town. The Voros, pyromatic historians from a scholar city with the best schooling in the Kingdom. Finally, tonight we stay with the Almassy family, they own an orchard of fruit trees. It's absolutely beautiful to be underneath those trees and even pick some of the freshest fruit. The sweet aroma of the vibrant fruits is like going to the farmer's market with my mother as a child again. They have apples, plums, cherries, and peaches for the most part. They are known to be the sweetest here in Red Blaze. The cherries were always my favorite to get during this time of year, the early beginning of summer.

"I've only heard of them. I know our fruits don't taste as amazing as this." Jaejin spoke up next to me and I turned to look at him. I was always amazed by how beautiful his skin got during the summer. His skin becomes almost golden like in the summer, he tanned so beautifully. He wasn't gold just yet, but his skin was starting to darken from his light skin he had during the colder months. He stares down at my mouth and it makes me lick my lips.

"It's something about the soil here in Red Blaze. It's too soggy in Black Soul and humid for the fruits to thrive. If it was less humid, then maybe the trees could thrive but it's so neat, the Black Dragons like changed the weather-" Jaejin cuts me off and kisses my mouth, passionately, and a soft sigh leaves me.

"How is it that it makes me so hard when you start your rambles? Especially your educated rambles." He grins against my mouth and I can't help the smile that leaves me either.

"Hey Plu- Oh shit, I'm sorry, we can just come back another time." I turn to see my older brother, trying to shy away from the way Jaejin holds me against his chest. I untangle myself from him and Jaejin grumbles underneath his breath.

"What is it, Orion?" I ask him, still smiling as Jaejin wraps his arms around me from behind, still holding onto me.

"Nova wants to go over the Court again, she's having some issues with the pictures and how to tell them apart. She also needs to go over the blueprints before we cross the sea tomorrow." Orion tells me and I deeply sigh, nodding. I follow Orion to the greenhouse that holds more fruits and some vegetables. Through the glass door with black trim, we walk into the gigantic greenhouse. It's large enough to hold multiple trees and other food.

"It's about time." Nova grins at me and I roll my eyes at her, Jaejin follows close behind me. She has the blueprints spread out, along with headshots of the Elders, and some handwritten notes underneath their pictures. We go through the motions again, Jaejin walks her through the Black Castle and the rooms we will mostly be in tomorrow, the meeting rooms, the dining room. Jaejin and I would most likely show the Kingdom off to my family. As much as Red Blaze is where I am from, and how much I want it to be my home; it never will be. That's Nova and Orion's home, but not mine. I grew up in the humid and swampy land of Black Soul. Much as I want Red Blaze to be my home like it once was, but it never could be. Home was.. Jaejin. As cheesy and vomit worthy it sounded, it was true. He was the comfort of home when I lost control of the fire in my veins for the first time, he was the privacy of our home when I laid in his arms bare after our first time together, and the amount of belonging I had felt with him was just the answer of that; Jaejin Cha was my home. Nova snaps her fingers in front of my face and I snap out of my trance, looking up at her.

"Silver for your thoughts?" Orion asks me, he looks worried and so does Jae. I roll my eyes at them both and just look back to the documents on the table.

"Nothing to worry about overbearing males, now, I want to know his weakness." Nova answers for me and is pointing at Chanyeol Park. My lips pull in a tight line, and a grimace falls to Jaejin.

"His weakness is Jaejin. He'll want to stay in power even after Minjun's reign is over, if anything, this treaty will have Chanyeol kissing Jae's ass." I speak up and Jaejin grabs my hand. A silent promise.

"He won't after I come to power. I know how those Elders feel about the Kardos and Kallis family but my mate is right, Chanyeol will be glued to my side. He'll most likely try to influence me and talk to me about his position in the Court once my father's reign is over," Jaejin muses and then he points to Illsung, "Illsung can be a slimy and overbearing jackass but he's loyal to the good of the Kingdom along with Eclia. He's a good advisor for my father, if my father bothered to listen to him. I know he'll talk to Pluto, and try to gauge the reason we are here. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to corner him alone. Nova, I want one of your higher ranking warriors with Pluto when I am not with him. He, after all, is the Prince Consort to the Black Soul Kingdom."

"Nobody will hurt him, Jaejin. I won't let them." Nova tells him with a smile on her face, and grabs my other hand, squeezing it gently.

"I think we all need to head to bed here soon, we have to glide over the sea tomorrow."

In the morning, we help with the morning chores due to our stay. They feed us breakfast and my father makes sure to tell the family to keep up the good work that they do for the Kingdom, his Kingdom. The family was nice enough to Jaejin and I, although I could see that they didn't trust Jaejin all that much. Not that Jaejin or I held it against them. We tend to our dragons, we make sure everything is packed tight, and that everybody is ready for the glide across the sea. We won't be able to stop it all, not even for my father's pea sized bladder. Jaejin is the one to lead the flock since he's already made the trip plenty of times. This will be my first time gliding over it, the last time I was on an airplane. It's hard to believe that was 6 months ago. It's June and I don't know how it already is. The end of April was the Eclia Meeting, and May has been a rollercoaster. The glide across the sea took three hours, nothing but endless water. Endless blue water that resembles the Kardos eyes that have been passed from generation to generation. Or the yellow feline eyes that follow while tapping into Red Dragon magic.

"We'll be landing there, where the lighthouse is." Jaejin yells at me while riding Seung, a few hundred yards right next to me. He's gliding alongside while Kígyó keeps an eye on the water in front of us. I give the command to dive down and Jaejin does the same, the flock behind us does it as well. When we land on the sand of the cape town, I am one of the first ones to step into the black sand, and I bend down to grab a handful. I watch it glide through my fingertips, the black sand reminds me of home, it reminds me of Sanseong, and reminds me of my childhood.

"We will stay with a family here in this cape town, it will take us most of the day to get to Sanseong tomorrow. The Soo family will take care of us, it's this way." Jaejin tells us and we start walking along the black sand. A group of Royalty along with its help, along with the mix of dragons. Hopefully the town doesn't come to the beach often or is just clueless.

"Cloaking spell, isn't it?" My father speaks up and Jaejin smiles widely, his eyes a yellow feline color. Tapping into Seung's magic.

"You didn't think the tracking dragons couldn't cloak themselves did ya?" He asks him, his eyes still that neon yellow color. We walk a mile up the sand when we find the cave. The cave is huge, huge enough to hide dragons, and deep enough inside to hide the house. There's a mansion inside the cave, behind the waterfall that hides said cave. We go under the waterfall, finding stables, and a mansion. The home has at least 7 bedrooms, I can tell from the front of the house that it is made of white marble. We place our dragons into the stables, and then find the Soo family standing on their porch. The porch is a wrap around, and pillars of marble seem to hold the house up. The house is made out of white marble with gold streaks going through it. The Soo family looks just like everybody else here in Black Soul. Round faces, high set cheekbones, small noses, and small mouths. Both of them with black hair, except Mr. Soo. Mr. Soo's hair is now a salt and pepper, due to his age I am guessing.

"This is King Lucijan Kardos, his wife Queen Astraea Kallis-Kardos, their Crown Prince Orion, Princess Nova, and lastly, Prince Pluto Kardos III." Jaejin introduces us, and it's back into the language that is spoken all over the Kingdom; Zraeg.

"It is a pleasure, I am Mr. Hyunjin Soo, and this is my wife, Mrs. Haejin Soo. Our home is your home for the night, you must be hungry." Mr. Soo speaks in broken Eaqish, it's such an old and forgotten language, I am surprised he knows it. Eaqish was so complicated and hard to learn, it was a miracle I understood it. Eaqish was a language back when our Fae rulers were the Kings, and when the revolution was. It died down when we all learned Draconic or had access to learn other Kingdom's languages. Eaqish used to be called English, but like I said, nobody has spoken it since when my kind were called Mutts. My family looks confused so sadly I am the one who has to apologize to Mr. Soo, letting him know that he doesn't need to speak a different language. That I can translate Zraeg into Embery. He seems grateful for that. I am too. I barely passed my Eaqish class when it was a class I was forced to take for my history certificate. Dinner is quick, and a variety of food. It's mostly dishes from Black Soul. It's rice, a spicy beef soup, bean sprouts, spicy fermented cabbage, a cucumber salad, lettuce leaves, and the main dish: Grilled Short Ribs. We eat all of it, Nova and Orion sharing the last short rib. It makes me smile, that my family appreciates the food that I grew up on. Now it's nothing compared to the new year dumplings that I love, but it's one of my favorites.

"Why is this so damn good? I don't blame Pluto for not wanting to leave sooner." Orion smiles as he stuffs his face with more of the spicy fermented cabbage. Everybody laughs at him and it makes a smile spread across my mouth.

"Just wait till you get to Sanseong." Jaejin tells him and Orion's eyes seem to brighten in excitement. After we cleared the table, my mother and Jaejin helped Mrs. Soo with cleaning the dishes. Orion and I fed the dragons, while Nova and Lucijan did a border search. They did a perimeter safety search, making sure we wouldn't have any issues in the morning or during the night when we were the most vulnerable. The night sky is here before I know it, the sky is so clear and the stars are proof of that.

"We'll be sleeping out here tonight, I am guessing?" I ask Jae and he nods as I watch him lay down blankets on the floor. Thanks to the coast and being behind a waterfall, it's not cold at all. I still change into some pajamas but I can lay comfortably without a blanket on top of me. I lay down and place my head on the pillow that Jaejin lays down for me. I fold my hands on top of my chest as I look up at the stars. Jaejin lays down next to me, and pulls me into his arms. He strokes his hand against my back and kisses my forehead.

"Everything is going to be different tomorrow." He states, and he almost sounds breathless.

"It is. Starting tomorrow, we are gonna have to watch our back more than normal." I tell him and he sighs. I lay my hand on his chest, and my head on his shoulder.

"Tomorrow, I'm not Prince Jaejin just visiting-"

"Tomorrow, you're Crown Prince Jaejin Cha, heir to the Black Soul Kingdom."