Ring around the rosy

Ash 1917

Everything fascinates me. No amount of reading could have prepared me for the modern world. I felt like I was a hatchling again.

My favorite thing so far is my brother's automobile. It wasn't as fast as a dragon, but I wanted to know everything about it. How it was put together, what made it run without magic, and by all the dragon gods, I wished he'd let me try to drive it.

"Maybe when you get used to the world a little more, little brother," Darius chuckles. "Not just yet."

My older brother had kept his promise and was waiting for me when I got off the boat. The last time I'd seen Darius, he'd been taller than me, and I'd still been a boy. Now I was at least two feet taller and saw how much he looked like Halona.

Did Darius know the truth? I was afraid to ask him.

"You live in one of these buildings?" I ask, looking out the window at San Francisco. Even the names humans give their cities intrigue me. Why did they exist that way? What did they mean?

"No," Darius smirks at me. "You'll see where we live, Ash. Don't worry."

We. I hadn't expected that. I'd thought Darius would help me learn the ropes and send me on my way, but he'd told me I had a home with him and his family.

I had eight nieces and nephews. The oldest was eighty, and Darius's youngest was only four years old.

Would they be alright with me? They'd grown up in this world, and I hadn't. That meant my brother's children knew more about the world than I did. Would they be willing to help me learn?

"Why did you choose this place?" I ask after a while.

"You don't like it?" Darius smiles knowingly.

"It's beautiful, warm," I grin. "But, you could have gone further south."

"I could," he agrees. "And I have. We've traveled all over the world, but we like San Francisco. As you said, it's warm, but we're near the ocean. And... well, we're not far from father's territory."

That makes me scowl. Why would Darius want to be anywhere near father's lands?

Seeing the confusion in my expression, my older brother taps the wheel thoughtfully before speaking again.

"There's a lot we should discuss," He finally tells me. "About... things that happened and our family."

"You mean the fact Halona is our mother?" I shoot at him. For his credit, Darius doesn't try to look surprised or pretend he doesn't know. "Or the fact father's the son of the dragon king?"

"I'm assuming you didn't find that out because you sat down with our parents, and they revealed everything," Darius glances at me more seriously.

"You could say that," I scowl, remembering what I'd overheard. "How did you find out?"

"I walked in on the three of them when I was twenty. It isn't easy to play that off as something else." Darius laughs. "Father tried, though."

"And you're alright with it?" I can't help feeling shocked at how casually Darius speaks of it. With no resentment in his voice towards a dragon who disowned him.

"The question I have to ask you is how much do you know," he counters. "Because if you don't know everything, then you're not going to understand."

"Is that why father disowned you? Because you knew their secret?"

Darius doesn't answer me for a moment, and when he does, there's no humor in his voice.

"No, Ashari," He mumbles. "That's not why he did that."

Darius wasn't ready to talk about whatever happened between my father and brother. Not here at least, and I wondered what the truth of everything was.

"Does anyone else know?" I go back to the original subject. "Out of our siblings?"

"Boreas, Zephyrus, Eurus, and Notus. They all know."

In the past, I used to think it was funny that my parents had named their oldest sons after the winds of ancient mythology, but as an adult and knowing what I now know, I wonder if it was them or Halona.

"They never said anything," I mumble.

"And they never will," Darius confirms flatly. "Ashari, I promise I'll explain everything I know, and I can't promise that it will make things better, but it'll be the truth at least."

"Does that mean, are we all full siblings, or are we somehow half?"

Darius chuckles at my question, shaking his head.

"As I said, wait until I have a chance to explain everything. Then things will make more sense. Otherwise, I think your mind will destroy itself."

"I overheard them fighting," I recount what happened at my father's cave. "They were fighting about me, and Shakka wanted me for something."

"I'm not surprised," Darius sighs. "That won't change out here, Ashari, but I believe what you do with your life is up to you. If you chose to work for our... grandfather, you have every right to do that."

"Do you know what he wants from me?" I'm afraid to ask the question but too curious not to know the answer.

"I heard a rumor," Darius turns down the paved road, and the buildings start to change. It seems grander, the architecture more elegant and sophisticated.

"What?"

"One of the Divines saw potential in you," Darius sighs at me. "I heard that Shakka might want you to join the Ikumb'ah."

My entire body tingles at the word. I prayed that my brother wasn't toying with me. The Ikumb'ah were the elite soldiers of the Royal army. All the greatest warriors had come from there.

It wasn't like the blood legion or the Divines, where you had to be a child of the King. Instead, the Ikumb'ah believed in earning your rank.

It was the most anyone could aspire to because it didn't matter about your race as long as you were worthy.

Nerva had once called them Shakka's war hounds, and I agreed with him. I'd met several during service, and they were the most focused warriors. They lived for battle, trained the best soldiers, and all had the ranks of general, colonel, and majors.

They were the best in my mind, and it's what I'd had my sights set on since I was a hatchling.

"It's just a rumor," Darius warns me.

"I understand that," I glanced out the window. "I wouldn't know whether I want to go."

That makes my brother laugh.

"You're a horrible liar," He accuses. "We've all known that's what you wanted since you first saw General Hans when you were still in mal'es arms."

"But you don't think I should go," I mumble, still not looking at him.

"I can't tell you what to do, Ash."

"What's your opinion?" I insist, curious about what he thinks.

"If I'm being honest with you?" Darius's jaw clenches. "I would tell you not to go. I don't know how you feel about the King or how the courts run things. Whether Nerva ever let you listen in on any political discussions or not. If it were me, I wouldn't go."

"Why?" I keep pushing him, and I know I shouldn't.

"That, little brother is something you'll have to decide on your own," Darius insists. "It's not something anyone can explain until you've lived it, and you haven't yet."

Darius stops in front of a large manor with tall green plants all around it, except for the gates that stand before us. Two guards open them and give curt bows to my brother as we drive in.

"It's not the fortress," My brother smirks at the way I'm looking at it. "But it's comfortable inside and not as cold."

"I wasn't judging," I realize what he must think. "I was marveling at the architecture."

"Well, I'm glad you like it," he chuckles. "Because this is your home for as long as you want."