His illigimate heir

18 months later:

Calliope

I thought I had prepared myself for the shame and fear I would endure at this precise moment.

I was very wrong.

It hits me with a force so strong that I almost regrett my decision to return to my home country. I have often heard that love is blind and fully capable of transforming even the wise into fools. Apparently, I am no exception. Love so deep and

profound that it has the power to overwhelm and bring me to tears at the most unexpected moments has driven me here.

Well, love and my father’s carriage.

In spite of my conviction to the path I am traveling upon, I am quite surprised that I am finding it so blasted difficult to hold my head high and meet the gaze of the Dragon prince of Orchard Grove. With his black hair and sharp features, he looks nothing at all like his half brother, Zac Dragan. Also being in the presence of dragon royalty is always unsettling to us humans.

While Draco is the youngest of the three brothers, he wears the mantle of responsibility on his shoulders and wears it well, as though it is a second skin. He understands the influence of his title and gives the impression he isn’t one with whom a person should mess. Within his dazzling green eyes, I see evidence of a calculating mind while he studies me as though he has just pinned me to a board for bugs and, after careful scrutiny, determined me to be little more than a maggot.

Obviously, he doubts the truth of the incredible tale which my father has just told everyone.

I am the first to look away, in the pretense of admiring my surroundings. We are in the front parlor of Prince Draco’s country estate, Orchard Grove Manor. The room, almost as large as my father's house, has more than one sitting area. White, yellow, and orange dominated the fabrics, giving the room a cheerfulness that would have welcomed me and made me smile if I wasn’t here under different circumstances.

I imagine that on the coldest day of winter one Can find warmth within these walls. I am presently sitting on a sofa nearest to the massive fireplace. Still, the heat from the writhing flames fails to ease the chill in my bones that had settled in while my father and I traveled here. A chill that had intensified as the Prince raked his gaze over me.

“Well?” My father bellows, standing behind me as though he can no longer stomach the sight of my face.

I jump slightly, but Draco’s steady gaze never leaves me or falters. I suspect he would have been as courageous on the battlefield as his brother. Zac Dragan had arrived in Krimoa as a captain, but his daring exploits during battle had seen him rise with surprising swiftness to the rank of dragon major. “Your boy got my girl with a baby. You’d damned well better do right by her.”

The baby mentioned is presently having his cheek stroked by Draco’s mother. The princess looks up at her son. “He very much reminds me of Zac at this age."

“All babies look the same, Mother,” Draco points out.

“Not to a mother,” She just says.

The dragon princess’ formidable gaze comes to rest on the new mother, and I fight not to wither beneath it. I can’t imagine possessing the confidence that these people have, but I am a mere human. I had been forced to pull up my own courage for this encounter. I had known it wouldn't be pleasant, but I also knew my only hope for happiness resides here. So I will stand my ground until the final bastion has fallen.

“Or to a grandmother, I suppose,” The princess adds.

My original plan had been to simply leave the child here, within his dragon relatives’ safekeeping, but in the end, I will not be able to give him up. It is astonishing how much I have come to love the baby in the three months since his birth. I would do anything at all to protect him, to remain with him. Sell what remains of my soul to the devil … or the dragons … if need be.

“What did you name him?" The Princess asks.

I smile softly. “Zane.”

“A strong name,” She says, looking at the boy.

I nod. These are good people, even if they are dragons. I shouldn’t have brought my father into the matter. I should have come here first, only I hadn’t known where to begin to find this family, and I couldn't very well live on the streets while I asked around.

After all I have seen and suffered during my months serving as a nurse, I had thought my father would be as grateful to have me home as I was to have arrived. I know him well enough, though, to suspect he would not look upon the new life I brought with me as something to be cherished, regardless of how it had come about. My father had not watched as hundreds of men and dragons died. He is a Small country landlord, and by arriving on his doorstep with a baby in my arms, but no husband I have brought shame to him and his household.

But I do not regret what I have done. I can’t. I won’t.

“Your father mentioned that you met Zac during the time he served in the Krimoan war," The princess says, but her voice also holds a question. Krimoa is far away, not a place to which a young woman should travel.

“Yes, Your Grace. I was serving as a nurse in Scaturi.” I have discovered that few people truly understand the geography of the far away country. Although the princess may have been an exception. In a corner of the room stands a globe, the portion of the world that has caused so much turmoil and heartache clearly in view. I can’t help but wonder if the princess has pressed her hand there in an attempt to feel closer to her son, to somehow bridge the endless miles that separated them. “Many of the soldiers were brought there to be tended”.

“Admirable. Then you were one of Lady Sparrow's ladies?" She asks.

Lady Sparrow. To the nurses, the doctors, and the patients, she had simply been Lady S. “Yes, ma'am.”

“The newspapers paint a rather gruesome portrait of the war. I do not know how anyone could remain there with the deprivations, the cold, and illness. They say more men die of disease than battle." She says softly.

I nod, forcing a timid smile. “Zane is the only good thing to come out of the war as far as I’m concerned."

The princess’ brown eyes softens. Zac had not fully inherited his eyes from his mother. His were a rich, dark hazel, maybe his father had green eyes to create the mix. I remember the concern I had seen reflected in them just before he had taken me into his arms. So tenderly. After what I had endured at the hands of three ruffians, I had thought I would be unable to suffer the touch of a man, but he had proved me wrong.

How I long for those powerful arms at this moment. But I will never again know their strength, and will never again feel the firm muscles beneath my fingers. He had been killed in September. Because of the wonder of the telegraph, the names of the fallen were known quickly and reported in the newspapers. I am surprised the princess isn't wearing mourning clothes, but instead wears a dress of deep purple.

“Well?” My father bellows again. “I want to know what you're going to do for my girl.”

“I suppose you're looking for some sort of monetary restitution,” Draco says.

My father huffs. “That would be a start. But she’s ruined. No decent man will have her now. She went to do good work and he took advantage.”

“Father!” I groan.

He glares at me. “Shut up, girl. The last thing I expected is for you to come home with some bastard."

“Don't call Zane that." I would fight to the death to protect Zane. How can my father not see beyond the child's illegitimacy to what he means to me? In a world devoid of joy, he is the only bright spot. “Please, Your Grace, I want only to stay with Zane. I could serve as his nurse, his nanny. I would require very little."

“That will not do at all," My father says. “The shame that has been brought to my household … I demand this be made right. You, sir, Your Grace, you should step in where your brother didn’t."

Draco’s mouth twitches, and he looks as though he might burst into laughter. It is the first sign he has given that he might not be as blasted serious as I have assumed. “Are you suggesting I marry your daughter, sir?"

“I am indeed," My father huffs again.

I shake my head, “Father, no!”

“She needs a husband,” He continues as though I hadn't objected. “I’m washing my hands of her. "

Madness is surrounding me. I do not know how to stop it. “Your Grace, this is not why I brought Zane to you. You are his family. I expect nothing.”

“Miss Dawns, do you swear that the child to whom you gave birth is my brother’s son?” Draco asks, a kindness in his voice that had been lacking before, as though he is beginning to understand that regardless of the immoral position in which I find myself, I am placing the child first and that my father is only adding to the difficulties of my situation.

I am grateful that the print of his hand is no longer visible on my face. He had slapped me for my foolishness, then slapped me for my sins.

“I swear to you, Your Grace, by all that is holy, that Zane is Zac’s son,” I say calmly.

“I do not doubt it, " The princess says softly, her opinion obviously carrying a great deal of weight with the prince.

Draco nods slowly, and then in long strides, he crosses the room and opens the door. “Find my brother and inform him that I need to have a word."

I am on my feet before Draco has finished shutting the door. Dizziness assails me. My heart is pounding with such force that I am certain they can all hear it. My throat knotts up and it is all I can do to force out the words. “He’s here? He can’t be. He’s dead.”