Ungrateful Brat

The next morning Blake was meditating in one of the palace courtyards as his magic aura was almost touching his skin, and the pressure of compressing his magic can be seen as the ground beneath him was caved in a few inches and there were numerous cracks all over. He had been going at it from sunrise and now the palace was starting to get alive and he felt someone approaching him.

Irene was walking towards Blake as she had felt a huge spike of magic coming from this courtyard, most mages wouldn't have noticed it because although the spike was huge it seemed to blend in to the magic in the air and wouldn't raise much attention, but her magic sense was able to pick up the unfamiliar magic and decided to investigate.

Now as she was looking at Blake she was amazed at how he could control his magic to cover his body like he was doing, because even though she had great control herself, to be able to make it cover so close to the skin was incredible. The pressure must be unbearable, everyone knows that trying to do what he was currently doing was next to impossible. Experienced and old wizards might be able to make a small dome around them but to make it look almost like a second skin was simply unheard of. The difficulty of the task evident from the sweat covering his bare upper body and the crater and cracks on the ground he was currently sitting on.

Blake was aware of Irene observing him and decided to stop his meditation for today. Opening his eyes he looked at Irene and as their eyes met, she suddenly found herself being embarrassed as she realised she was actually looking at a half naked man her age. She'd never seen anyone other than her grandfather half naked.

Seeing her blushing face Blake chuckled and asked what she was doing here. Hearing his words, Irene composed herself and answered his question,"I felt a spike in an unfamiliar magic and decided to come and see what it was. What you did with your magic was amazing, where did you learn that?".

Blake chuckled and said,"Well grandpa did, he said that although he had created the technique he was too late to reap greatest amount of benefit. I am actually quite ahead of him already."

Irene could hear the slight smugness in his voice when he said those words but couldn't fault him as this was an amazing achievement, maybe he could teach her too, but that will be for later. Right now getting breakfast and meeting her grandfather who she hadn't seen in years was more important. "I would like to discuss the technique with you later, but right now having a meal and meeting grandfather is more important", she said to which Blake nodded and they went inside the castle.

After a quick bath Blake was escorted by a maid into a large dining hall where all the women and children were already seated and eating what could only be called a feast. He could see the amazement of the women as this was probably the first time in their lives to see such amount of food and the children were having the time of their lives as they ate to their hearts content.He kinda already guessed that Irene would be eating with them, as he saw her looking at the kids with a smile as she ate. Seeing the merry atmosphere Blake had a smile on his face as he approached the dining table and was noticed by the current diners, he waved at them and sat beside Irene as he helped himself to the food as well.

The meal was rather silent besides the occasional conversation between the adults and the children's shouts and laughter. After the meal, Blake told the women where they were going and asked them to help whoever it was that will come to help pick the mansion that was to be their home. They assured him anything was fine but he insisted that they pick a large one with a wide territory as he was planning on staying with them while he was here and also for the children to have plenty of space to play.

After he was sure they would follow his advice he and Irene left the palace and were now at the Gates of the capital readying for their journey to the Dark Vale forest to their 'grandpa's' house.

He decided to just sprint there as that would be faster than a horse or carriage. Irene would be following him using flight magic, she often used this spell to fly around the capital to clear her head or simply to enjoy herself. With a nod to each other Blake sprinted off and was quickly followed by Irene, all that people saw was two quick blurs as they left wind and dust in their wake.

Blake was impressed by Irene's ability to follow him at this speed and could clearly that this wasn't her full speed. Blake didn't know how fast he could go at full power because he hadn't tried it due to the potential damage to the surroundings he would cause. Even without magic, his physical speed was much faster than a bullet and with Irene keeping up they arrived at the outskirts of the forest in less than 3 hours. His journey towards the capital had taken so long because of the women and children and also because he had wanted to enjoy the scenery of this world. After arriving at the outskirts they walked at a leisure pace as Blake explained what Grandpa Ed had been upto for the last 3 years. "He's probably rocking on that chair of his right now, lazy bum that he is. If he's asleep we could be jump scare him and maybe give him a heart attack, that old bastard", Blake was mostly muttering the last part to himself as Irene had a wry smile and simply shook her head. As they were walking towards the house they saw Grandpa Ed leaning on his chair with a book on his face and snoring away.

Seeing his defenseless position Blake had a mischievous grin as he quietly made his way towards him and after standing right next to him took a deep breath and shouted,"WAKE UP OLD MAN SOMEONE'S HERE TO SEE YOU!!!". The voice was so loud it echoed through the forest and the nearby birds resting on the trees flew away frightened by the sound.

Ed almost jumped out of his chair as he was startled awake, looking around frantically and when he saw Blake with a victorious smirk he couldn't help but shout, "YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!! SCARING AN OLD MAN LIKE THAT!! YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK", coming close to his face he poked at his chest.

Before they could argue more a soft feminine voice stopped them from bickering further, "Granpa", Ed froze and then slowly turned towards the voice and saw a beautiful lady standing there with misty eyes and one hand covering her mouth.

After a moment of staring at each other, Blake nudged his grandpa who came out of his state and them held out his hands in a gesture to welcome her into a hug, Irene seeing his actions immediately ran and jumped into his arms.

She was sobbing into his shoulders and could make coherent words because of her overwhelming emotions. After a while of sobbing and Ed whispering comforting words and rubbing her back like he used to do when she was little, they separated and before Ed could speak, was slapped so hard he flew a few meters and hit a nearby tree.

Blake was startled by this turn of events and was too shocked to do anything and simply watched as the events unfold.

Irene had an angry expression as she made her way towards Ed, "8 years, 8 years! You left me a letter and didn't even mention where you were. And didn't even asked wether i wanted to come with you or not. Do you have any idea how devastated i was when you left, the loneliness i endured and you couldn't even send i fucking letter to let me know how you were!! Are you that stupid!!", Irene was practically screaming her words as her magic flared as she approached the now recovering Ed.

Ed was surprised by the strength of the slap and just when he got up the devil in his granddaughter's skin was coming towards him with a devil face manifesting behind her, "N-N-Now now Irene dear, lets talk this out, n-n-no need to resort to violence. I admit your grandpa was stupid in his decision, but i really missed you too and i even sent my no good grandson to come and let you visit right", Ed was really scared of his granddaughter and didn't really want to endure whatever it was she was about to do but his words fell on deaf ears as loud cries for mercy and sounds of tortured screams rang out across the forest.

After Irene had vented her frustrations and anger, the three of them were sitting inside the house as a beaten up and black eyed Ed was nursing his wounds with a still angry looking Irene sat across him and an amused Blake sitting at the side trying to hold his laughter. He didn't want to laugh out and potentially earn the beating he saw before. He was surprised by Irene temper and choice of words but wouldn't be bringing it up until she calms down a bit. 'Note to self, don't piss off the future queen of dragons'.

Still nursing his wounds Ed sighed and said,"I am truly sorry my little princess, but i simply couldn't take you with me. You know what would have happened if i did. And i simply was too much of a coward to tell you face to face because i couldn't bear to see your face when i left. Forgive this old man for his foolishness", his shoulders sagging as he begged for her forgiveness.

Seeing his sadness Irene's expression softened and now that her temper was gone she was a little embarrassed and realised she might have gone a bit too far. "I forgive you grandpa, but you should have at least sent me a letter to let me know you were okay. You had me worried for 8 years you know", she said and Ed had a sad smile as he said,"I know dear, but there wasn't anyway of contacting you here. And i wasn't in the right mind to think of anything else for a few years as i had to sort through my own demons", Ed had a self depreciating smile on his face.

Seeing his expression Irene went over and hugged him again and soon a conversation began between the two of them catching up on lost time. Blake simply had a small smile and didn't interrupt them as they deserved their reunion after so long.

It was almost sundown when the conversation died down a bit and Blake decided to cook dinner. After a happy dinner, they sat in the living room as they discussed the recent plot of Rustmore and the king's decision regarding the matter.

Ed had a serious look as he spoke, "I never did trusted those bastards. They are probably prepping for war for a long time, even if my stupid son males haste i doubt he could catch them by surprise so a full on war is most possible outcome", his years of being a general shone through as he quickly assessed the situation.

"Isn't there another way to resolve this, can't you convince father to seek out an alternative", Irene was distressed. She hadn't seen much violence was a bit naive still, and her caring nature just couldn't accept the loss of life that will occur if a war was to break out.

Blake sighed at her gentle nature and naivety, "Even if you don't go to war, they will probably still invade or resort to even more despicable means. You have to remember Irene, they don't care for their people and simply want power. They are monsters in human skin, they aren't even human to be able to do the things they did. You have to consider the long term and reprocussion's of your actions and decisions as the future queen of the kingdom. Not everything can be achieved peacefully. Sometimes force and violence are the only way", Blake adviced as Irene still wasn't the ruler and her mindset was still not fit to rule. 'Maybe this war will bring out the true dragon queen', he thought.

Hearing Blake's words Irene became silent and was thinking of his words. Indeed her thinking was a little childish but she must couldn't near to see such violence and unnecessary death to her soldiers or the enemy. But she knew that Blake had a point and just from her visit of Rung in the dungeon proved how despicable they were.

Before they could argue more Ed intervened, "Maybe we should postpone such talk tomorrow, lets rest for the night its getting late", he said and it was true as it had become late at night.

Nodding their heads, Irene was offered Blake's room as he insisted he would sleep on the couch and they bid their goodbyes.