Chapter 3737: Common Ground (Part 2) "You’re not going to accept, right?" Friya asked. "You have a deal." Nalrond offered his clawed hand to the Horseman, and when she shook it, he did everything he could to squash it like a bug. "Good." Dawn returned the grip a split second later, releasing it only when the Agni tapped out. "Are you insane? Why?" Friya asked in disbelief. "Because Meln already tried to kill your mother, Friya." Nalrond replied. "Because he hates Jirni and won’t hesitate to kill you or Quylla just to get to Lith. Meln is crazy and a threat to your family. My family. "I hate Dawn for what she did to my village, but I’ll be damned if I let my pride get in the way of protecting you all. I don’t want you to end up like me, Friya. You are my present, and I don’t want to lose everything we could build together in the future because I’m stuck in the past. "You heard Dawn. She *was* my enemy. Night, instead, *is* my enemy, yours, and Dawn’s. Until we get rid of Meln, the enemy of my enemy is my friend." "Are you sure about this?" Friya looked at Acala and Dawn. "What if the spars reopen your old wounds and trigger your trauma?" "It’s a risk I’m willing to take if it means avoiding new wounds and the trauma of losing my new family." Nalrond replied. *** Meanwhile, a few meters away. "Are you feeling better, Val? We missed you a lot." Leria offered him her finger, and the baby boy grabbed it. "Yes. Sorry." Valeron looked in her eyes, trying to understand if she knew the truth about his origins. "Wah! Wah!" Elysia hugged him, confirming Leria’s words. "What do you think Nalrond and Dawn are discussing?" Aran rushed to change the topic. The War of the Griffons was recent history to him, and Lith had given the children an age-appropriate explanation of why he had adopted the baby before bringing Valeron home. "Nothing." Solus dismissed the question with a sweep of her hand. "You know how mages are. They are quick to anger whenever they don’t agree on something." There was no way to put Nalrond’s story in terms that wouldn’t traumatize the children, so his past with Dawn was hidden behind a generic past conflict. "I hope they can get along." Kelia knew the truth, but only because of her bond with Dusk. "Dawn is... complicated, but she’s not that bad once you get to know her." "She’s not as pretty as she likes to think, but she’s a good teacher." Aran nodded. "Shut up, Aran. What if she hears you?" Leria rebuked him. "Pick a few flowers for her and remember that as long as she helps us with our constructs, she’s the prettiest lady in the house." "I resent that." Solus grunted. "That’s mean and opportunistic." "Sorry, Auntie. Necessity and all that." Aran shrugged and ran back to Dawn as soon as Friya and Nalrond walked away. "Don’t worry about Dawn, I’ll keep an eye on her." Kelia kissed the babies. "You just relax and have fun." "Thanks, Kelia." Lith nodded and resumed walking. Valeron was quieter than usual, and few of Elysia’s attempts to get him to fly around with her succeeded. The park was still the same. The sun still shone bright over the Mansion, and the sweet smell of the many flower beds wafted through the air, yet everything felt different to him. What until a few days ago had been his house now looked more like a gilded cage meant to protect Valeron from the enemies of his parents and the truth about his past. The baby boy was still unaware of his mother’s crimes, but he knew something about her was off. Even after Thrud’s death, some people hated her so much that they wanted to kill him in revenge. Whenever someone talked about Thrud to him, they always omitted something and refused to elaborate, no matter how many times Valeron asked. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮 He could have understood such behavior from Lith since he had killed Valeron’s parents, but not from Protheus, Ufyl, and the others. Even though the Divine Beasts weren’t his family by blood, they were by heart. They were supposed to share his anger and outrage toward Lith, but instead they felt deep shame for whatever they had done and had willingly entrusted Valeron to the Tiamat. The baby boy’s feelings for Lith had been messy since the day of the attack, but after talking with the Divine Beasts, they had become a dull, grey blob of confusion. Valeron knew how Lith felt about him. He had seen the Tiamat fight tooth and nail for him, even when Valeron called him the meanest names he knew via the mind link. Even the pain from learning of his parents’ death couldn’t erase the months of happiness with Lith and all the care the baby boy had received from him. Valeron had spent more time with his adoptive father than with his real one, making his feelings, good and bad, stronger by the day. At the end of the stroll, Lith brought the floating stroller inside the Mansion and pointed at a corridor. "Do you want to go back to Grandma Elina and Grandpa Raaz?" He asked. "No. You." Valeron shook his head and pointed in the direction of the master bedroom. Lith exchanged a brief look with Solus and Kamila, who shrugged in reply. Once inside the room, Valeron waited to be unstrapped from the stroller and pointed at the bed. "Wah! Wah!" Elysia happily tackled him, thinking he wanted to play like old times. "No now, Ely. Please." Valeron’s sad expression stopped the baby girl in her tracks. She sat right next to him, holding his hand. "Lith?" The baby boy asked. "Yes, Valeron?" "Explain." The baby boy extended his small hand and covered it in scales. "Explain again. Please." "Are you sure?" Lith asked. "There’s nothing I can add to what you already know. I can’t tell you everything, but I didn’t lie to you." "I know." Valeron nodded. "Explain again. Please." The first time Valeron had spoken those words, his voice had been firm and laden with resolve, making them sound like an order. Now it was so full of doubt and sadness that it sounded like a desperate plea. "Okay." Lith held the boy’s hand and started to tell him the story of his adoption again. Valeron had seen those events multiple times and from multiple points of view during his previous empathic connections with Lith, Kamila, Solus, Leegaain, Protheus, and Thrud’s Divine Beasts. He also knew how things started and how they were going to end, so instead of focusing on trying to understand how his life had turned into such a mess, he focused on the journey. He ignored the circumstances of how Lith and Jormun met and followed how those interactions played out. The Tiamat and the Emerald Dragon started from an awkward relationship where they couldn’t even understand each other, but there was no ill will between them. By the time they spoke the same language, Jormun had already joined Thrud and was helping her. Lith didn’t want to kill Jormun, and Jormun had no interest in fighting Lith, but one couldn’t win without the other losing something important.