I looked at My father and he looked at me, we were both in shock at this point. Rant brought his hand to his chin and thought for a moment, "You must be little Dragonkin that always followed Illiana." He spoke in a moment of realization and the wide hat brim bounced. "You knew all this and you never told me, Father?" I was so upset by now that Cassa had reached up and placed her hand on my cheek to comfort me.
"I never wanted that life for you, Son." Rant just hung his head in shame. He held the truth of my mother in a misguided attempt to keep me safe. "Well too bad. I was going to find out about it eventually. If not for that tunnel collapsing into the Goblin tunnels and meeting Cassa that night in my room, i never would have known about anything." I held her close and kissed her ear right in full view of my father and he gasped at my action. My face was turned to the left, as was Cassas', so he could plainly see the matching earrings we wore.
"Why is your ear pierced and why does it match that Goblins?" Rant frowned at me but Alzi got up and walked around the table to stand behind us. "Father. I wish this could have went better. We will be leaving again soon, but your actions from now on will dictate whether we ever come back." I looked directly at him and spoke in an even, and very adult, tone so he would understand. Rant just hung his head again after looking at me, "I'm sorry, My Son. You are right Alzi. Illiana would have approved all this from the start."
Alzi relaxed a little and the little plume of smoke had vanished while Cassa relaxed in my embrace. "I forgive you, Father." I nudged Cassa when i said that and she agreed, "I forgive you too." Alzi was the only hold out since he never did much care for my father apparently. "I wont forgive you, Rant. But you can at least act like your ok with Ered taking Cassa for his own." Dead silence after Alzi spoke.
Cassa was the first one to speak after a good few moments, "I love my mate, Ered. He loves me too." she pointed to my earring then lightly flipped hers, indicating a bond was made that binded us together. Rant slowly got up from the bench and stepped into the larder area. "I love you too, Cassa" She smile up at me and quickly kissed my lips before Rant came back.
He had a bottle in his hand and a few cups. "Your mother found this before you were born. We were going to drink it after you came into this world to celebrate." He pulled the cork and poured a small amount in each glass then offered the bottle to Alzi since we only had three glasses. Alzi 'politely' declined with a little sneer at the mans gesture and went back to the other side of table to sit.
Rant slid two glasses over, one for me and one for Cassa then he raised his towards us, "Ered, my Son. Congratulations on finding your inheritance." I took a glass as did Cassa and we all drank the liquid. We coughed a little at the burn but it went down surprisingly smooth. Rant poured a little more in each of the glasses and raised his glass again, "Congratulations to you, Ered, and to your lady, Cassa." He nodded when he said her name and we all drank in surprise. This time though, Alzi reached across the table and grabbed the bottle to have a sip with us.
It wasn't long before we all began to feel a little more relaxed and we could speak more casually to each other. "Yes. Me and Cassa are mates. It happened after our first battle with the undead and the necromancer in Grassbournes town crypt. We celebrated a little too much that night." I laughed and hugged Cassa who refused to leave my lap. She had shifted around so now she was leaned back against my arm and her feet were propped up on the edge of the table.
Father had to take another long drink form the bottle this time when he saw me and Cassa staring into each others eyes and her hand up on my cheek. "Son. I can plainly see that you are happy and that is all me and your mother hoped for." He stood up and slightly bowed towards us, "Cassa, I welcome you into our little family. Daughter." Then he more fell back down rather then set down on the bench again.
"I think i should lie down for a little bit. I bid you all a good night." He rose from the bench and lightly staggered down the hall to his room and closed the door. "Rant was always close minded about the other races of the world." Alzi finished the bottle then belched out a puff of black smoke that swirled around me and Cassa. We laughed at him, seeing him a little tipsy for the first time. I stood up, holding Cassa in my arms and walked to my room. After i laid her down and kissed her lips i told her i would be right back then left my room.
I had told Alzi he could sleep in my fathers rocking chair if he wanted and he happily fell over in it and just nodded as his hat fell off to the ground, eyes fluttering shut. I got a extra blanket from the back of the Larders' storage area and covered him up. I was very pleasantly surprised when i returned to my room seeing my love laying naked in my bed, half covered, with huge smile on her face so i stepped inside and closed the door...