Supreme Magus novel Chapter 2163

"Of course I will tell Valeron the truth!" Thud yelled, waking up the baby and making him cry.

Yet instead of calming her down, the wailing made her angrier as memories from her past flashed in front of her eyes. Images from another time, when little boys cried, people screamed, and the world around her burned.

"Maybe my father was a monster, but so were those who created the slave collars in the Empire and the Royals who allowed the same tragedy that happened to Balkor to befall countless youths whose only crime was to be talented.

"Yet none of them ended up like him. None of them got their name turned into a swear word. I still remember the day when Tyris stormed the palace. I remember my mother dragging me away to save my life while I cried my father's name.

"I was barely a woman, forced to witness my house being set ablaze while the rest of my family was butchered in front of my eyes. They sacrificed their lives just to buy us the time to escape.

"Without them, my mother and I would have ended up on the gallows right beside my father. We would have been tortured for days just to sate the bloodthirst of the very people who until a day before worshipped us.

"If I were to accept your offer, history would remember me only as a madwoman and my mother and my fallen relatives would have lost their lives for nothing. I owe them more than that, just like I owe my son the true freedom that only power can give him.

"Your deal would make Valeron but a wanderer who has to keep his head down and his name hidden. If I win this war, instead, he'll have everything that was taken away from me and become a better person than my father or I will ever be!

"If I win this war, I'll do everything you just suggested, but I'll be remembered as a Queen dispensing gifts to her subjects instead of a criminal begging for redemption. I won't stand for my child to be persecuted just for who he is like it happened to me.

"Like it happened to Verhen. After everything he did for the Kingdom, he was chased away from his home. How can you ask me to entrust Valeron's happiness to people like that? He needs his mother and I can't be with him if I'm locked away."

"So be it." Leegaain whispered a few words in Dragontongue in the baby's ear and Valeron fell asleep again. "Yet my offer still stands. If you ever change your mind, Jormun knows how to contact me.

"Beware, though. If you lose this war, I won't come to your rescue. If you surrender while you still have the upper hand means that you are truly willing to change. If you do it only once everything is lost, it would just be a way to escape from the consequences of your actions."

The Father of all Dragons handed the small Bahamut to his mother, making sure that she perceived the weight of his life and measured it against her self-serving ambitions.

Then, he Warped away, holding on to the hope that the day when his lost sons Lith and Jormun collided would never come.

***

Griffon Kingdom, Rekar mountain range

After eating dinner, Lith was ready to go back to the Royal Palace, but Kamila asked him to spend the night inside the replica of their dream house that Solus had shaped the tower into.