Pest sat in the corner of the room—what was left of him. And as everyone within awaited the dragon's decree, in a sense, the stillness encompassed all.

Fanli'd come to detest the sound of thunder that proceeded a dragon's spiral descent. These dragons were the only creatures she ever knew to be fully dressed after a transformation—a fact that made her curious.

If not for Pest's silent ogre frame sulking in a corner, she might have cared more.

Wen was still reeling. More than once, she'd asked them to send Fanli home, but they couldn't now—not with what Pest had become.

So instead, Fanli, much like Pest, stayed out of the way.

The knock at the door was gentler this time. The princess opened it. Instead of three dragons with Solair taking the lead, Mace and the second male dragon marched in.

"Nothing's changed, Jaffo. And she's in a temper. We've come for justice."

The two dragons walked in and closed the door behind them.

Before their arrival, Wen's father had taken up root on a chair at the table. In the last two days, whenever at rest, he'd stare at the aged wood, long in thought.

Mace sat opposite him, now in the center. On his right, the second dragon sat.

After letting out a slow sigh, Wyrn sat up.

His blue eyes met Mace's gray. "Nothing has changed," Mace attested, "despite him no longer being a fairy. Now she takes to the skies in a rage. It will only escalate before she starts to burn villages."

"She's no longer cursed—"

"But the slight is unanswered. Therefore, I demand justice."

The grit in Wyrn's voice made him unrecognizable. "And if I refuse?"

Stunned, Mace blinked at him. Though Wyrn's solid expression never faltered, Mace went through a myriad of grimaces, half smiles, and chuckles before settling on bravado.

"Do you think this a jest? She won't even respond to me. Deal now and we can stop this before she's too wild to tame." Mace's voice held some authority. "You called upon the dragons to make the weapon mortal. We provided it. It'd be a fool to slight one dragon much less. Why request our help if you'd intended to incur the wrath of the dragons?"

"Because I can slaughter a hundred dragons!" The sudden bass of Wyrn's voice left the house humming. His breathing took time to calm. He sounded human again when he explained, "You know what I possess and so do your people. And yet, none dared to come here for it. Had you morons ever asked yourselves why? Do you know who I am?"

Eyes wide, Mace stared him down. It was a slow progression from surprise to realization then terror.

His jaw worked but he didn't dare move a muscle.

"I fear nothing from the dragons. I fear nothing from anyone. And you come into my home, see a small little human hunchback and think you can step on me?" Two fists slammed down on the table as he rose to his feet. "Then step on me. Take one step and see how fast I rip you in two."

Mace was the first to lower his gaze, head bowed. "No one—I.... Forgive us. I hadn't known. Believe that I hadn't known. But if you are who you say, then you of all people know that we cannot leave with a dragon royal slighted." He risked picking his head up. "It is literally your law."

Wyrn didn't defrost from his tense posture.

After letting out a sigh, Mace bowed again and stood. "We will convene outside and await your calm. But we will not leave until we have this addressed. Stop this now before you have a rampaging dragon princess on your hands that you must pluck from the sky, which is an act of war."

It was a thing of wonder to see powerful dragons subjugate themselves and beg for permission to be dismissed. Fanli's mouth hung open.

Wen's father remained standing and didn't move until his wife ran her hands along his shoulders. When he sat, Fanli saw them differently.

Ogres knew the Jaffo leader to be no human. He was no troll, ogre, and certainly no dragon. But whatever he was, spoke of power and it was power they felt safely protected under. Even the ogre's natural enemy, dragons and griffins, dared not hunt and feed freely on this land due to the fact.

For the first time since Fanli'd known this family, she felt more afraid than comforted.

Wen and Ved remained standing, their backs against the wall.

But it was the princess who asked her husband, "What do we do? What did he mean it's your law?"

"It's my law," Wyrn muttered. "It was the first law I enacted. A slight to any royal could not go unpunished. But it was just my excuse to do as I pleased." There was a gravel in his voice as he confessed, "But it's something I cannot undo. If he'd done this to anyone else but a dragon princess...."

His wife's voice softened. "But they'll kill him."

"If he's lucky." Wyrn's worry betrayed him. "Ogres go into a lament; this is something similar. If she does start to bring fire to the town, there's no reasoning with her after that—only slaying and that comes with other consequences. This is still fixable now."

A grueling silence followed, broken by Wen who said, "Then what about my idea? It's one wish each, and it will fix everything." No one answered her and she thrust a hand in Pest's direction. "Look at him! Look what Fan's done to him. That place is our only choice."

Ved held her shoulder. "We can bring him to The Living Goddess."

"She's a fairy," Wen countered. "And if she does change him back, it's only to offer him up again. Or are you that blind?"

He lowered his hand. "I just want you to calm down and think straight."

Wen brushed him off and marched to the table. She took Mace's previous seat opposite her father.

Her voice was gentler when she said, "This will help everyone, Father. Why can't you see that? Before, I had my own reasons but now, now...." She looked at Pest in the distance then set her sights back on the broken man sitting before her. "Now we have little choice. If we set off now, we can get there by midday."

But rather than answer her, he looked up at his wife. She wore a grim frown when she nodded.

The low sigh to follow came from Wyrn who said, "You should sit down for this, too."

He meant Ved. The man in question eased off the wall and joined his sister. He was far more cautious.

Wen waited. Finally, her patience ran out. "You don't have to get the dragons involved. Just give them the weapon or whatever it is they want and we go on our own."

"It's not a whatever," her father countered, meeting her gaze. "It's a who."

Ved found interest in the table. Wen looked between her parents.

"What?" was all she could manage.

The princess tried to answer but her husband held her hand still on his shoulder.

"It was my choice. I should tell them." Wyrn needed a moment before he faced his children. "I see the shame whenever you walk with me. The hunchback for a father."

All color drained from Wen's face. Her parted lips took time to close. Fanli waited for her to deny it, but Wen couldn't.

"And I don't remember when it started," Wyrn said. "But I do remember when you began asking about that mountain. Because it would always follow you staring at me. Ashamed."

"I'm not ashamed," Wen whispered. She didn't seem entirely sure. Finally, she confessed, "Your true form, whatever it is, is so powerful that even dragons fear it. But then...as human, you gain no respect. How is that fair? I just want people to treat you better—strangers to treat you better. So, you're right. I want to go to that mountain to wish for a cure for your back. But what daughter wouldn't?"

"One who isn't my daughter," Wyrn contested. At her silence, he looked at his son next. "Only one of you is my blood."

No one would have guessed with how both Wen and Ved, who didn't always share many similarities in appearance, both wore the same shock. In this instance, they looked like twins.

"Only one," Wyrn explained, "and I don't know which one. And I don't care." He looked back at his wife who stood with her head hung. "I don't know if even your mother knows."

"So one is yours," Ved said, picking his head up, "then what's the other one?"

Wyrn hesitated then said, "An efreet. A creature of fire. One forged as a weapon which I stumbled upon. And raised as my own. The same one who burned Pest's home. One of you who burned Pest's home."

When Wen's lips parted that time, Wyrn took interest in the table once more.

"I thought I knew once or twice. I took a few guesses." When he met eyes with his daughter, he said, "But maybe your shame for me comes from that."

"I'm not ashamed of you," she insisted. "I'm not. I just want you to be safe. As human, you are still mortal."

"Should you go to that mountain and wish on a father who doesn't exist, you'd have risked your life for nothing."

Wen's breath hitched. She needed a moment to breathe out, chest puffed, "And if he does? If it's you?"

Wyrn warned, "I'm happy the way I am now. It keeps me grounded; it keeps me humble and I found love this way. Should you give me unlimited power even in human form, you might not like what I become. Leave it."

Ved countered, "And what about Pest?"

At first hesitant, Wyrn shook his head. "Pest made his choice. Yes, he was driven by fairy urges, but he made his choice. Then, and now with using ogre treasure. And I won't ask either of you to risk it. And I won't give my blessing to go die on his behalf. And if either of you defy me and leave this house, know that you might never set foot in it again for the end of time. And even I cannot fix that."

Wen trembled in her anger and upset. "So that's it? Abri stays like that? Forever? Nobody's even allowed to make a wish on his behalf? He could undo his fairy curse with one wish and a dragon can undo her current plight with another. Everyone can be happy." One tear fell but she staved off the others. "And you'd still say none of us are allowed to do that on his behalf?"

"I'll do it on his behalf."

Those words sucked all life from the room. Fanli looked around to find the source, horrified when she realized she'd been the one to volunteer.