Page 55 of Accidentally a Dragon Daddy

“I know you didn’t say it,” I said, smiling sadly across the gulf between us. A gulf that was shrinking the longer we spoke. I couldn’t pretend otherwise. “But that’s what you think. I admit, seeing you like that, is unsettling. But I can hear it in your voice, I can see it on your face. You have been trained to kill, yes. You’re good at it, yes. But you are not a murderer. A killer, perhaps, we can’t escape that. But you don’t wantonly strike out. From what you’ve said, it’s always those who deserve it. Who have hurt others.”

He nodded. “Never without reason. Only those who I would define as ‘bad’. That was a hard rule. Never children.”

“You see,” I said. “That right there is something you can teach your child.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, eyes staring at me, trying to hope.

“Principles,” I said. “You have yours. You stood by them. You made sure others knew them. That takes strength of character. Something else you can teach them. Your skills are … impressive. They must have taken you a long time to learn.”

He nodded slowly.

“Discipline,” I pointed out. “Another thing to teach them. Did you ever make plans for your missions?”

“Almost always.”

“Intelligence. Diligence. Thoroughness. Awareness of one’s surroundings and how to use them to their advantage. Map reading, perhaps. Rope tying?”

He nodded.

“Wilderness survival?”

“Of course.”

“You see, Damon,” I said. “You have plenty you’ll be able to teach your child. You just didn’t know it.”

His lungs swelled, puffing his chest out, as he absorbed everything I was saying. Some of his confidence returned, a surefire sign he was willing to accept my words.

“Adaptability, too,” I pointed out. “Just now, you’ve changed your worldview and about yourself no less.”

“Maybe,” he said a little tightly. “I’m trying. I want to be a good father.”

“I’m getting to know you,” I said. “And I think you will be. It’s okay to be scared about it, though. I think every first time parent is terrified at the possibility they might screw up. So, they try really hard to not make the screw-ups of those that came before them.”

“They do?”

I nodded. “And in the end, they make all new screw-ups. Or so I’ve been told,” I added, surprising myself with a little smile.

“So, you don’t hate me?”

I sighed. “No,” I said, truth flowing through me. “No, I don’t. I was scared. And you still look, um—”

“I’m covered in drying blood,” he said wryly. “I look like some sort of monster, I’m sure. I guess I can’t blame you for wanting to stay away.”

“Yeah,” I said awkwardly. “Is there a river or stream or something nearby?”

“This way,” he said, gesturing vaguely off to the left. “Five minutes or so. Faster to fly, but …”

“Five-minute walk it is,” I said quickly.

“Thank you,” he said as we fell in step together.

“For what?”

“Forgiving me.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Elanya

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