Chapter Thirty Two

"Mom, I'm finished with my work," I said as I slithered into her office and quickly stopped in front of her desk, "can I go to the water playground?"

Mom didn't even look up from her paperwork as she said, "I apologize, sweetie, but I have a lot of work to finish before we leave. I don't think I can take you."

"I can go by myself," I said expectantly.

She looked at me with a stoic expression and said, "The last time you went somewhere alone, you spent a quarter of the kingdoms yearly distribution amount on gifts. Why the hell would I let you go anywhere on your own?"

"That was weeks ago!" I said as I frowned. "I knew nothing about the equivalence of money then."

"Bullshit," she said as she folded her arms, "even if it weren't, you are the prophesied child. There's no way you can roam around the city alone."

"I can disguise myself."

She smirked. "Honey, there's no way of disguising those wings. They're too recognizable."

"Ugh! Being beautiful sucks!" I said as I grabbed my head and looked up at the ceiling.

She laughed. "Get out of here, you vain little drakkon! Go harass your cousins and let me get back to work!"

I groaned and turned around. "They're too mean! I'll just go play in the garden all alone, like the lonely loner I am. No freedom. No joy. Only sadness as my friend," I said as I slowly slithered to the door.

"Yes,yes. You're such a poor, tortured soul. Now get out of here."

I couldn't help but giggle at her lack of reaction. "Bye, Mommy! I wubba wubba you!"

I quickly slipped out of her office and shut the door behind me before a familiar, annoying voice asked, "What the heck is wubba wubba?"

I couldn't help but frown as I turned around and looked at Marlow. "Bro, are you stalking me?"

He smirked. "I saw you coming this way and knew you were coming to harass auntie at work. Why do you keep trying to go outside of the grounds? Have you still not recognized your status?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You mean as crown prince?"

He rolled his eyes. "That's a pointless title."

"Really? Then why were you all fighting so vehemently for it if it is worthless?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Stupid pretty boy! The title wasn't worthless until you got it!"

"Ah, I see. You're trying to pretend that you don't care about the title while attempting to belittle me. Hm. Interesting," I said as I rubbed my chin and looked up to the ceiling, "however, I'm afraid that there's a flaw in your sarcasm."

He frowned. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Your insults are basic but decent enough. However, in order for them to work, a person must care about what you think about them. I don't. So they are flawed insults at their core."

His expression turned stoic. "Only you would give a dissertation on the use of sarcasm and insults in your comeback. Can you not think of anything witty to say?"

I shrugged. "I don't need to come back with a witty comment. Your very existence is clearly a joke."

I heard several people chuckle from one of the corners that turned down a different hallway as he huffed and slapped the floor with his tail. "You! That's why you are stuck on the palace grounds while we get to go out! Baby!"

I couldn't help but frown as he turned and slithered around the corner where the giggling came from. Out of all of the sarcasm that he had spewed, that last comment actually stung a bit. My family did treat me as if I were a baby. I couldn't go out of the palace gates and when I did, either my mom or aunt Moriah would carry me in their tails. If that wasn't enough, the commoners seemed to be uncomfortable with having me around. I understood that I was their supposed "savior", but I just wanted to get to know them and make friends with the other kids.

That was a new feeling in and of itself. I had always felt awkward around people because I didn't have any interest in them. I didn't understand that at the time, but now I understood the reason. It was because they were not my kind. I felt no instinctual bond or connection to the other kids because they were neither Naga nor drakkon. They weren't even high beings. They were human and, although there was nothing wrong with being of a different species, I felt no instinctual connection to them like I did with everyone in Nagaria and Draconia. For the first time in my life, I wanted to play with and get to know each and every person I met. I cared about them and wanted to care for them. Great papa had explained to me that what I was feeling was my Godhead. It was the intrinsic nature of a god to love their people. However, too much of anything can lead to negative results. So, as a god, I needed to learn how to control my urges and not overdo it. Take this moment for example, if I had full control of my powers, I could easily slip into a shadow and leave the grounds without being detected. However, that would be using my manna to break my mother's command for me to stay inside palace gates but would also break Nagarian law about a man or child having to be accompanied by a female when leaving their residence.

Even gods had rules. Not that they had to abide by them. However, most abided to basic standards and protocols. One of such rules were respecting the boundaries and territory of fellow gods. For instance, great papa could easily enter the neighboring kingdom to punish someone who had committed a crime in our kingdom. However if he just entered and punished a member of the high elven without going through the standard process of bringing the matter to their goddess, it would be seen as disrespectful. So, even though they literally have the power of life and death in their fingers, they tow the line between order and chaos.

I went to the garden located in the southeast corner of the grounds, near the pond. The spot was my favorite place because beautiful flowers were planted along the path leading to a gazebo that overlooked the pond. No one was around, so I took a seat under the gazebo and began to try to work on my manna manipulation.

It had been several weeks since I started working on manipulation of my manna and, although I could get my drakkon manna to form a small orb in my palm, I had yet to master levitation much less manipulating it into any useful shape. I couldn't even maintain an orb for more than five seconds before it popped and dissipated into mist. After several tries, I was so frustrated that I just gave up. I closed my eyes and let out a defeated sigh before resting my head in my hands and looking out over the pond.

"Having trouble?"

My heart thumped and I sat up straight at the sound of the voice. "Eh?" I said as I spun around and looked at princess Makayla, who was walking up the step into the gazebo. My eyes lit up as happiness caused me to jump up and rush over to her. "Khailie!"

The corner of her mouth twitched. "Must you call me that while I'm in this form?"

I couldn't help but giggle. "My apologies, Kay-Kay."

"That's better. Now, why is my adorable little buddy so sad?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I'm worried. I might not pass the enrollment test for elite class."

She frowned. "What?"

"I can't manipulate my manna. I can only form a small orb with my drakkon manna and I can't even get my Naga manna to form that much! I feel like I'm letting everyone down."

"Wait. Are you trying to separate your manna already?"

I frowned. "What do you mean? I've been learning how to use them individually."

Makayla closed her eyes and slapped her hand over her face. "EJ,oh my gosh! No wonder you are having trouble!"

I was confused. "Huh?"

She sighed and dropped her hand. "You are learning wrong. I mean, learning how to separate your different streams of manna is, like, level four manna manipulation. You are have to start with manipulating them together. After all, your manna has just been reactivated and integrated into one."

"So, I have been doing it wrong this whole time?"

"It's not wrong, per say. It's just not right for us rare bloods. Of course, you are the first rare blood of your kind so no one would know that."

I closed my eyes and groaned. "So, I have to start over?"

"Nah. You just have to stop separating your manna. Here. I'll teach you." She came behind me and put her arm out in front of us. "Place your hand in mine, palm up, and close your eyes."

I raised an eyebrow. The action seemed a little intimate but I wasn't going to complain about having a beautiful princess aiding me. "Alright," I said as I placed my hand in her palm and closed my eyes.

"Okay. Now, I'm going to use my manna to teach your manna how to move. This may tingle a little but try to stay still and keep relaxed."

I couldn't help myself from teasing her. "Please. Be gentle, princess. It's my first time."

She huffed and slapped the back of my head playfully. "Shut up and close your eyes!"

I chuckled and relaxed as much as I could. "Okay. Ready."

Suddenly a gentle hand pressed on my belly, causing a warm tingling sensation to rise up from within my core. I felt both of my beasts stir as she slowly began to press different points on my torso and upper body. The tingling sensation intensified and I had to press my lips together in order to stop myself from groaning in discomfort. However, I soon realized that whatever she was doing was working. Just like during meditation, I felt both streams of my manna beginning to circulate through my body at a fast rate.

"Now, form a manna orb in your palm."

I nodded silently and imagined an orb forming in my hand before I opened my eyes and began to manipulate my manna. Unlike before, it took me no time at all to form an orb about the size of a crystal ball in my palm. My heart leapt. "It worked!" I said excitedly as I stared at the black orb swirling with deep red lines.

" Yes. Now, don't break concentration. Imagine it levitating just above your palm."

I focused and the orb slowly began to float up from my palm.

"What's going on here?" Mom's voice called from the direction of the path.

Makayla quickly stepped away from me as I looked at my mom, grandparents, and king Lucius. "Look, mom! Kay-Kay taught me how to manipulate my manna!"

"Mn. That's wonderful, honey, however," mom said as she looked at Makayla and raised an eyebrow, "did you have to feel my baby up to teach him?"

"I...I was helping his manna circulate through his meridians!" Makayla said nervously.

King Lucius closed his eyes and sighed. "Sweetie!"

"It's not what it looks like! I swear!"

Papa Malcom covered his mouth and snickered. Grandma raised an eyebrow. "So you realize that it looked inappropriate?"

I looked at Makayla who was blushing and felt a little sad that she was getting scolded. "G-G, nothing inappropriate was going on. The princess is my friend and just wanted to help me. She has no interest in me other than friendship."

Grandma raised an eyebrow before she folded her arms and looked at Makayla. "So, you haven't told him about the proposal yet?"

"I," Makayla said before she scratched her head and looked down, "I got sidetracked."

"So, you forgot?" King Lucius asked.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Two peas in a pod."

I frowned. "What proposal are you talking about? Do you need something from the kingdom?"

Makayla smiled awkwardly. "It's not that kind of proposal."

"Huh? Then, what,"

"It's a marriage proposal, sweetie," mom said, "princess Makayla wishes to make you her husband."

"Eh? EH?!!"

My manna orb shook before dissolving into mist and zipping back into my body. Papa Malcom couldn't hold in his laughter. "Ahahaha!"

I looked around at everyone, looking for anything to show me that this was some kind of a joke. "Wait! You... are you serious?"

"Well, yeah," Makayla said as she smiled shyly, "Queen Melyndah said that I could ask for anything."

My eyes widened. "So, you ask for me?! Kay-Kay!"

Papa laughed harder. Grandma smacked his shoulder. "Stop laughing at your grandson!" She looked at me and smiled sweetly. "Why don't we all go to my office and discuss this properly?"