The group, minus Burr who had gone home with his family, returned to the palace as Kayla suggested, requesting to see the king they were advised the king was busy with a diplomat from Arcvien at this time so they would need to either wait or come back later. The group waited in one of the waiting chambers.
The girls all chatted about various subjects while Alex sat there staring off into the distance deep in thought over something. Eventually Rose asked Alex what he was so deep in thought about. Coming back to himself Alex looked at the girls and couldn't make up his mind whether to tell them or not. Vale seeing the uncertainty in his eyes assured him that he can tell them anything and each of them would be accepting of it.
Alex took a deep breath and began to explain. He first asked if they remembered his dragon bonding ceremony. Anna and Lily vividly remembered that day not just because Alex became a demi dragon on that day but also the excruciating pain he went through as his body restructured itself. Alex nodded, since that day he had assumed it was just a freak accident caused by bonding two dragons at once. Something however had been nagging at him, the fact that Anna and Lily had felt no drain on their life force as far as they can tell their life span hadn't been reduced like it should have. Again Anna and Lily nodded.
Alex then posed the question what if the reason it happened wasn't due to a freak accident but because there was something special about his blood, as far as he knew his dragon tamer blood was awakened from birth which is how Mira had recognized him as a dragon tamer, that in itself is unusual as bloodlines and mana are both something that awaken at the age of twelve. Add in the fact that he awakened his mana at age six and something was seriously off with his body.
He is, for all intents and purposes, a ridiculous existence in this world. At the age of 18 he was probably one of the most powerful people to live in this age. He diverged off topic briefly coughed and got back on track.
If his blood was the catalyst for his transformation into a demi dragon it may be the case that if he bonded the girls in way he was bonded by giving them a drop of his blood essence it may trigger the same transformation in them, turning them into demi dragons as well. Worst case scenario he had sacrificed some of his life span to bond them and used a bit of blood essence which would replenish over time anyway.
He had been hesitant to say anything as he didn't want to create false hope, the fact that he now had a life span that far exceeded everyone except the dragon sisters was something that had been weighing on his mind.
Rose, Kayla and Vale were unsure what to think, this was indeed a very important subject and not one to be rushed in to especially considering that they could inadvertently impact Alex's life span if things didn't go well. Alex asked for thoughts and opinions on the matter.
All of the girls were worried about the possibility of him losing life span and leaving Anna and Lily by themselves. The dragon sisters then brought up a point, seeing Alex was also now a demi dragon and bonded to them, there is a very good chance that should he bond someone and lose life due to that then their bond will kick in and balance out the life between all the parties. They stressed that this was only a theory as nothing like this had ever been done before.
Alex just sat there and only made small interjections as he didn't want to influence them this was a very important decision for them, he honestly didn't mind sharing his life force with them he originally would have outlived Kayla and Rose due to his elven heritage, and Vale, Anna and Lily would have outlived him. Now there was a chance they could all live together for a very long time he really wanted to take it.
The girls turned to Alex asking his opinion on the matter, he told them truthfully he wanted to take the risk, that he didn't want to lose any of them if he didn't have to even though he knew he was being unfair to Lily and Anna.
The dragon sisters upon hearing his words got up and hugged him, they told him that he never need feel that way they had long since made the decision to be with him no matter what came, he just hugged them back feeling grateful for the love of these women. In the end all three of them chose to undergo the bonding, even after Alex told them about the excruciating pain it caused, Kayla joked they could use it as practice for then they had kids. That triggered another discussion about their ability to have children, Alex was pretty certain that they would maintain their racial fertility rates, so once they stopped taking that potion Lily brewed up to keep them safe, they should all be able to bear children. The only thing he wasn't sure of was if they would be demi dragons or normal members of their own racial type.
They discussed the details further, seeing there was never going to be an opportune time for three new demi dragons to just start walking around, it would be best to do this here in the palace where they could get Melliandra to help protect the girls while they were stuck in their demi dragon forms learning the trigger to be able to turn back into their normal forms. Word would get out one way or another so there was no point trying to be super secretive about things.
In the end the sent a message to Melliandra to come see them at the palace when she had some time as they had something important to discuss with her.
Having talked about everything they possibly could in regards to becoming demi dragons it was now well past lunch and the king was still with the diplomat, opting not to wait any longer they decided to head out and get some food. Kayla led the way to a restaurant that Petra had recommended to them. The group entered the restaurant and asked for a table large enough to seat six. The maître d' politely asked them to wait while they prepared a table for them, Alex just nodded his assent.
As they waited a couple of groups of people passed through and were immediately taken to be seated, Alex began to frown, then he noticed with the next group the maître d' received a small pouch. Alex sighed of course, he had been so used to being known in Valent and the Elven Kingdom that he never really had to bribe his way to a table. He got up and told the girls he would be right back and approached the maître d'. Excuse me while I'm sure your staff have been working their asses of to prepare a table for the past fifteen minutes how much would it take to grease the wheels so to speak. His polite tone was accompanied by a look that told the maître d' imminent violence would ensue if he messed Alex around. Seeing the look as well as the small fireball that had appeared in Alex's hand he quoted a number, Alex passed him a pouch and waved the girls over.
Kayla asked what that was all about, Vale being more familiar with these types of situation told her that Alex had essentially bribed the maître d' to get them a table otherwise they could have been waiting a long time. Vale explained it was pretty common in high end establishments.
Alex chuckled and mentioned he wasn't used to being an unknown, given how well known he was in Valent and the Elven Kingdom when he went to a high class place they recognized him and sorted out a seat for him right away. He always tipped well but given he basically just paid the tip upfront they had better damn well be amazing to get any more money out of him tip wise.
They sat at their table which was off to the side, they looked at the menu and chatted about what to order the waiter eventually turned up after short wait and they placed their order.
While they were waiting on the food, Alex told the girls about his plan to make a bit of money, while there was still a couple of million left as they hadn't been living the highlife, and ended up not having to pay for accommodation which saved a heap. The idea was similar to how he made his money in Valent by betting on himself to win during the games, he wanted the girls to help by giving them the money and have them place smaller bets rather than him placing one big obvious one. He didn't want to have an encounter with whatever syndicate handled the underworld around here.
There food arrived in good order and they all tucked in, it was good. After enjoying the meal they headed back to the palace, when they arrived one the guards, called out to them, "Lord Alex!" the guard waved at them and approached, Alex rolled his eyes at the use of the word Lord. The guard arrived in front of them. He told them that they had been looking all over for them, the king was urgently requesting their presence in the audience chamber apparently the envoy from Arcvien was making demands that impacted Alex's group.
Frowning Alex and the girls hurried to the audience chamber wondering what on earth was going on. Arriving at the chamber the guard opened the door and announced them. They walked in to see the King sitting on his throne a frustrated look on his face, in front of him was a dignified older gentleman standing there with his escorts. The man turned as they entered, Rose went pale and grabbed onto Alex and uttered a word, "Father".