Anaxiunara: Book II (Child of the Dragon)

By David DeRosa

A war in the past where powerful human wizards fought for control of their race had drawn the attention of other more powerful races. Only Jo Lee Validad stands, now, between those greater powers and the total annihilation of his race.
When he disappears so completely that even his lover, Anaxiunara, cannot find him, the rulers of the human realms are threatened by those who would oppose the rule of the commoner, Jo Lee.
The most powerful wizards could not hide Jo Lee from Anaxiunara. And with him gone the old war is certain to be rekindled.
The story continues in this, Book Two of the Anaxiunara Saga. One Brief Eternity just wasn’t enough.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David DeRosa
• Release date: Aug 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798988763307

David DeRosa

About the authorStorytelling has always been among my favorite pastimes. Movies, Stage plays, songs and fairytales; I love 'em all. To be wrapped in the pages of a fantasy adventure is inarguably among the greatest mind trips one can take, and all that's needed is a good book and a light to read by.Fiction has a special attraction as the mind sees and feels and lives with the characters through all of their passions and exploits. How can one truly ride on the wings of a dragon except in a fairytale? How better to travel through space and time than in the comfort of an overstuffed chair?Fantasy, of course, is my personal favorite. The only things that are real are the only things that really matter; how people think, how we feel, how we cope when life spirals out of our control. We have heroes to inspire, villains to hate, and breathtaking scenes that can only be imagined.It isn't the stories so much as the characters that involve me. By learning about them I might learn something of myself. That's what great storytelling really is; exploring foreign ideas and strange beliefs in the safety of familiar surroundings. And, the best stories will force us to think. That's a good thing when so often reality discourages it.

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Anaxiunara

Child of the Dragon

By David DeRosa

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 David DeRosa

Cover image designed and created by Shannon MacDonald. Copyright © 2022 Shannon MacDonald

Author’s note

In 2008 when I published Anaxiunara (an-axe-ee-oo-na-ra) Mother of Dragons I did not expect to write a sequel. The original publication was discontinued. I later republished it with some modifications. This story is based on that second edition Anaxiunara (One Brief Eternity). It can be found at the links below.

To all of you who bought my first published book, I am eternally grateful. I’m confident the changes here will not interfere with your enjoying this new adventure. It is, after all, a fantasy.

If you’re not familiar with the first book, this story will stand on its own. However, I hope it makes you curious enough to go back and read ‘One Brief Eternity’. It’s where this story began, when the Great One, Anaxiunara came to the world. I’d hate for you to miss her introduction. ;-)

Thanks again to all of you who have supported this effort with your purchase. You can find my other books at:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/boodahdave

https://bookmarketingglobalnetwork.com/global-authors-directory/david-derosas-books/

https://www.amazon.com/stores/David-DeRosa/author/B00735J70Y?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Anaxiunara

Child of the Dragon

Prologue

Travels on the Wind

Out of the Storm

Trying Patience

Turbulent Realms

Trust Issues

Then and Now

The Journey East

Every Great Plan

Where and When

When to Follow Where

Love and Fidelity

Forward into the Past

Lost Connections

Broken Promises

The Avatar

In the Moment

What Future Passed

Remembering the Past

Reunions

Forging Memories

Troubled Times

Epilogue

Prologue

She stands motionless, silhouetted by the deep purples, the fiery reds and blazing oranges of the setting sun.

She stares into the magnificent view unmoved by its beauty. Grief stricken, her face is streaked with tears that will not stop. In the many thousands of ages a dragon can live she might never have known heartache. But she stands now a woman, human, his love and his mate. Here in this form she has learned of the frailty, but also the strength of the human heart. In his loving embrace she has experienced those fleeting moments of fulfillment, that exquisite bonding of two souls as one. This is why she has taken this form, to know the magic of love, to understand its depth.

This pain, however, was not in her reckoning. How can so fragile a being survive such a thing? And yet her friend and lover, her chosen one, had survived this and worse. He went on to know and share with her his great joy for living, his depth of caring and his unbridled love. In this world he was her man. And now he is gone.

In all her life a dragon might never know what friendship is, companionship, simple human compassion. This one had been curious. She had not thought it a weakness, that her curiosity could lead to such bitter suffering.

She stands now in light of the setting sun on the balcony of the house he built. His home on a cliff overlooks the lake that harbors his ship. The ship called Swordfish once carried the captain and his crew of brave adventurers across the open sea to the Mainland Realms. She remembers in an instant every detail of those adventures as a member of his crew, the guardian of his children and the realization of her goal; that one brief eternity when she had won his heart.

How can she have known the power of this magic, this thing called love? How can she have understood the risk of entrusting her most intimate feelings to a being that would ultimately cease? Still more curious, how can a being so delicate as a human have strength enough to endure what she cannot, the passing of one so loved?

NO! She cries, and leaps from the balcony taking her natural physical form, that of the mighty mother of dragons. Her pleated wings unfurl, biting into the sky, every powerful beat driving her out away from this world into the icy comfort of space. Perhaps there… but no… Even the darkness between worlds is no relief from the bitter sadness, the emptiness that fills her. It is a sullen quiet rage with no direction.

She drifts without reference to time and space, grasping at the nothingness and finding no comfort. The absence around her reflects the absence within. Aloneness that once was her security is now a great thorn in her very existence.

Anaxiunara has forgotten how to be a dragon.

***

We called her Anna. She had come to this world to raise her brood. What she found, one might suppose, she did not entirely expect.

Anaxiunara was immensely intelligent and a most pragmatic being. She was, by her nature, a solitary creature. Our human interactions were to her quite curious.

She could assume any life form and study it as one of them. After some years of observation she decided to learn from us what it is to love. It is important to understand, the depth of her intellect is such that the simplest of her insights might take a lifetime for one of us to fathom. But love was quite beyond her ken.

She described it as a frighteningly powerful magic. For you to properly gage what that means to her, I will tell you that before she came this world the Great One had seen countless worlds beyond our own without ever having reason to fear. The notion of anything frighteningly powerful was to her a thing unknown. This was a great curiosity that she simply could not resist.

We learn to understand in terms of opposites; dark and light, fat and thin, forward and back. Some say the opposite of love is hate. I believe it is fear. Love is courageous. In the midst of it we are blinded to our fears. We think ourselves invincible. Anaxiunara came to this world invincible. She was, to my mind, pure love and she didn’t even know it. The Great One had to learn fear in order to realize this. Since nothing here is remotely able to threaten her, she learned to fear for others; myself, my siblings and, of course, our father.

Jo Lee Validad was the man she chose to love above all others because, she said, He thinks like a dragon.

Jo Lee was chosen also, by a race of ancient wizards to represent human kind to their Council of Elders. The elf council’s concern toward us is that as a people we are discovering powers that threaten our world, for it is their world, too. With their knowledge of magic the Elf Council could in fact exterminate all of humankind, were it deemed necessary to preserve their home. They are not, however, the greatest danger to us. Sadly, we remain our own worst enemy. But there is more to that story, and the story I wish to tell is only part of it.

We fear the loss of loved ones. We fear that they may suffer what we cannot prevent. We cannot truly know love without that we have an opposite to compare, and that is fear. As the universe is filled with irony, we each must learn that love also is how we ease our fears.

This is a story of love and magic, the ways of humankind and how a creature of the stars could help us better understand ourselves.

It’s a story of passions and prejudice, how a man may choose between what is right and what is easy. How so easily we are ruled by love of truth or fear of consequence. That choice is always before us.

Lords of Creation guide us all, I pray.

Chapter One

Travels on the Wind

If ya wanna learn to sail the Dragonfly ya gotta know the ups an’ downs of the wind. Perched on a cliff overlooking the lake where their home was built, two brothers prepared to launch themselves in a pair of homemade hang-gliders. Willam, the younger of the two, was a trim, well muscled thirteen with curly brown hair that just covered his ears. Just watch me an’ do what I do.

I’m not an idiot! Liam, the taller one, was broad shouldered with a slim waist and sharply cut musculature that made him appear slightly more mature than his fifteen years. Straight blond hair neatly tied in a ponytail hung to the middle of his back. I’ve seen you do this before. How hard can it be?

With that Willam faced the wind and jumped, floating gracefully out over the water.

Not to be out done by his little brother, Liam closed his eyes, held his breath and jumped. He’d forgotten to face the wind. His glider immediately dipped and fell to the left.

Time is a funny thing. To Liam it all happened in slow motion. Every painful bump and scrape was an eternity of suffering and knowing for certain that his life would soon be tragically ended. He circled, out of control and scraped the cliff just below where he had jumped. The glider then spiraled out away from the cliff. In his panic, Liam pushed the nose of it up until it stalled. The wind took him backwards into the cliff again where he crashed and continued to plummet toward the water and a small sailboat moored beneath him. Never completely losing hope, at the same time feeling the excruciating prolonged agony of knowing this was his demise, he somehow managed to avoid a larger boat tied at the dock near the foot of the cliff. He fell directly into the rigging of the smaller boat. Strapped into the glider’s harness, in a frenzied tangle of flailing arms and dangling feet, he took the little craft over onto its side. Liam was trapped underwater with the boat capsized and the glider on top of him.

Time is a funny thing. For Willam it seemed to go much more quickly than his brother’s reckoning.

Sailing gently on the wind above, Willam laughed until tears filled his eyes. He was laughing so hard at his brother’s misadventure that he didn’t notice the time Liam remained underwater. It wasn’t until Anna appeared on the dock that he realized Liam had been under too long.

Willam, where is your brother? Anna was a beautiful slender woman with sparkling golden eyes and silvery shoulder-length hair that seemed to glow with a pale lavender aura. She appeared both young and sophisticated beyond her apparent age. She was, in fact, impossibly ancient. I feel he may be in danger, she said with a hint of concern. Even now his mind is in turmoil. She could sense such things. Cannot you two occasionally find something without life threatening peril to amuse you?

Now panicked by the realization of the time his brother had been under, Willam pulled a cord that released him from the harness of his glider. He hit the water next to the capsized dingy and dove for his brother. Liam was tangled in the harness that held him to the kite and couldn’t get free. Willam pulled a knife from a holster on his belt and went after the harness. In moments his brother was free and swimming frantically toward the surface.

You Idiot! hollered Willam as his head broke the surface of the lake. You could’ve drowned! Ya fool! Keeping a safe distance as his brother climbed, coughing and sputtering, onto the hull of the capsized dingy, I told ya to watch me an’ do what I did! You could’ve been drowned an’ Dad would’ve killed me for not saving you?!

Never mind your father! Anna shouted from the shore. You two might not live long enough to endure his wrath!

Whoa! She’s really pissed, said Liam. He was finally beginning to breathe easily.

Yeah, Willam agreed. She never hollers He swam over to the little boat and began to examine the damage both to his brother and the glider Liam had crashed. You got a nice gash in your leg.

Liam shrugged. Yeah, I shoulda been paying more attention to you, he admitted. It’ll heal. What about this mess? He waved his hand at the debris surrounding them.

It’s nothin’ we can’t fix, said Willam. Let’s drag it back to the dock.

Anna stood quietly and watched the whole time it took the boys to swim the wreckage back. She knew better than to offer her help with magic. They would prefer to clean up their own mess. She respected that. Too often she had seen humans with a tendency toward laziness. These boys weren’t like that.

As I was saying, Anna continued as though no time at all had passed since the last words she spoke. Your father’s anger should be the least of your worries. If you die, you’re dead! Why is this not the primary concern with you two?!

Ah, c’mon, Anna, said Willam. What’s the fun of being safe all the time?

No worries, Anna, Liam said. It’s barely a scratch. He pointed to the cut on his leg.

Anna raised an eyebrow examining the injury. I was speaking of the near brush you just had with drowning. As I understand it, she told him sarcastically, you cannot breathe under water in that form. And, as yet you demonstrate no predilection toward taking the form of a water breather.

It’s no use pointing out the obvious, Anna. Willam shook his head in mocking sorrow. He jus’ doesn’t see it. He was looking to get a rise out of his brother. It worked. OUCH! he shouted as Liam landed a brutal punch to his arm.

How’s that for obvious? asked Liam. You shoulda seen that coming.

You shoulda seen how I launched off the cliff, Willam answered, still rubbing his arm. No reason to be mad. You’re alive, aren’t ya?… because of me.

Well, said Anna. It seems you’re both going to live for the time being. Perhaps it will be safe enough to leave you alone to look after each other. Your father is meeting the rulers of the Mainland Realms and asked me to be with him.

Liam giggled at that. Yeah, those guys are always trouble. The last time he met with them some idiot tried to burn down the building they were in. Dad jus’ likes to know he has an easy way out.

That is only partly true, said Anna. She was present at that particular incident and was able to put out the fire before any real damage occurred. Your father can take care of himself. It’s the Sovereigns he wants me to protect. Her magic was infinitely more powerful than the strongest human wizards, and her knowledge of magic was vast beyond measure. There is much resistance to the idea of your father being the supreme ruler of the Realms, and the sovereign rulers who support him are in danger because of this.

So, what then? asked Willam. We get to stay left behind while you guys go off an’ have another adventure without us? The disappointment in his voice was obvious. How come we can’t go with you?

Anna smiled, knowing that her answer would please them both. You and Liam are to sail the Dragonfly to the mainland with your sister.

The Dragonfly was a sailing ship with magical wings that allowed it to soar on the wind, gliding on the currents like an ocean of air. The wings were invisible so as not to obstruct the sailors’ vision. The piloting of the craft required certain knowledge of aerodynamics and a feel for surfing the rolling tumbles of wind in the sky. Willam had taken to it naturally while Liam was somewhat less competent. Thus the lesson of the hang-glider for Liam, if he wished to pilot the Dragonfly.

This is great! Liam jumped and spun in the air with excitement. I can practice flying all the way to the mainland!

Willam frowned, shaking his head with doubt. I’m not leaving you alone at the helm, he declared. Look what happened the last time you tried to fly. He pointed to the wreckage of the hang glider his brother had just crashed.

That’s only ‘cause it’s the first time I tried, Liam protested.

You’re likely to fly us right into the sea, Willam giggled. An’ we’ll all need water wings to survive it. He laughed. Maybe that’s what we should call you, from now on, water wings! He ducked away, expecting a slap or a punch from his brother. None came.

Liam just frowned with embarrassment. It was not typical of him to let a comment like that go without retaliation.

Your father wanted me to specify that Ginny would be in charge, said Anna.

Why does she hafta be in charge?! Willam complained. I know how to sail that thing. I helped you guys build it, didn’t I?

You did, Anna confirmed. And your help was invaluable. Still, your sister will be in charge because as you reckon the passing of time, she has seen more of it. She, therefore, has more experience living and knows more about how to stay alive. I believe your recent experience is evidence of that.

The boys knew that Anna had somehow manipulated time in order to educate their sister, but it was still difficult for them to understand. Their sister Ginny had lived for more than a decade while for them only moments had passed between her being their little sister and her being their older sister. You should respect what she knows, said Anna, and take advantage by allowing that her advice is often useful and wise. She may yet teach you how to survive your own misadventures.

You mean, letting her be the boss, said Liam. She’s not a terrible boss, he admitted begrudgingly. Still would be nice if the old man could just trust us for a change.

Yeah, Willam agreed. It’s not like we need her to baby-sit us.

Ginny chose then to magically appear next to Anna.

Willam jumped at the sight of her. Holy Mother of Pearls, Ginny! he cried. Do ya hafta invaporate outta nowhere so gods awful close that ya scare a kid half out of his wits!?

Invaporate? she asked, giggling. Is that even a word? Anyway, I’m sorry, Willam. I forgot how much you hate that. Tall and slim, she was every inch the beauty that was her natural mother. Ginny’s dark hair was long and free, floating on the gentle breeze. Her physical age was somewhere in her early twenties. She couldn’t be more precise than that if asked. The time she’d spent with Anna studying the ways and uses of magic had not been precisely measured. It was all very confusing to everyone except her teacher and her.

Who cares it’s not a word! said Willam belligerently. Point is we don’t need a babysitter! An’ you don’t need to be doin’ that tele-popping in our midst without warning a guy b’fore you’re standing next to ‘im. He frowned.

Would you two just quit your complaining?! she admonished. I’m smarter than the both of you. You need me to keep you from ruining your own lives and shortening everyone else’s. She tried, but couldn’t keep from grinning. Her stern act evaporated in her own laughter. She threw her arms across both their shoulders and swung herself between them with her feet in the air. They were easily strong enough to lift her slender frame. C’mon brothers! she told them. It’ll be fun, just us and the open sky. Don’t look so disappointed.

Awe Ginny, we didn’t mean anything by it. Liam grinned sheepishly. The boys both knew that most of what she said was true. Despite their obvious abilities they could use her help. We’ll be happy to bring you along. His lips parted in the most charming smile he could muster, certain that she would allow him to pretend that it was his idea. It was one of the things he loved about his sister. She never made him feel like she was bossing him around even when she was.

Yeah, Ginny, Willam agreed. You know we can’t say no to you. Besides, I need you to help me keep Ol’ Water Wings here from crashing us into the ocean. He laughed as Liam struggled to get at him with Ginny between them.

I’m gonna learn how to fly that thing, even if it kills you! He told Willam.

And it jus’ might, is what I’m thinkin’, Willam replied as he skipped backwards to avoid his brother’s attack, all the while keeping Ginny between them.

So, we have a plan, said Ginny. You keep the Dragonfly flying, she told Liam. You keep him from crashing, she said to Willam. And with a smug grin and her arms out stretched, she told them both, and I’ll keep you two from killing each other.

Anna just rolled her eyes at the three of them, certain there were some aspects of being human that simply were not supposed to make sense.

***

The Dragonfly rose on fluttering wings to float above the clouds.

Jo Lee and Anna would be with Ginny and her brothers for the first couple days of their journey. Jo Lee wanted to be certain that his children would handle the arrangement without too much worry. He had insisted that Liam needed encouragement in the way of piloting the ship. He knew Willam would be just a bit too insensitive about it, given his reaction to the glider incident. His constantly referring to Liam as Water Wings was more painful to his older brother than Willam seemed to notice.

Liam had been sitting inactive just staring out into the clouds for far too long. He was avoiding the helm and his brother’s sharp wit. It would become a problem, his father knew, if something wasn’t done.

Take the wheel, Willam, Jo Lee instructed. I need a break. I think your brother has a good idea. I’m going forward to admire the view with him for a bit. He stepped away from the wheel and smiled at his youngest son.

Aye, Cap’n. Willam grinned and stepped up to take control of the Dragonfly. Steady as she goes.

The ship was built like any ship of comparable size. She was seventy feet from bow to stern, with a twenty-two foot beam. A center cockpit was twelve feet by ten, lined with benches on the sides and companionways at either end. It was a good place to gather and enjoy the open air. A separate wheelhouse stood on a raised afterdeck and was sheltered by a clear crystalline material that was harder than glass and half the weight. Anna had made it with magic and said that there was very little in this world that could break it. The forward deck was open around the main mast and clear of rigging when the wings were deployed. When she sailed as a conventional sea vessel the wings were straight up and joined at the masts like the folded wings of a butterfly. The wings became the main and mizzen sails of a staysail ketch; a two masted rig with a forward sail rigged from bowsprit to the main mast and a smaller mizzen just forward of the rudder post. She was as fast as their old ship, the Swordfish, and only half her size. She was rigged to sail with a crew of only two or three. A competent sailor could, if need be, manage single-handed.

Jo Lee made his way up to the bow where his eldest son was sitting. You have the look of a troubled man, said Jo Lee as he leaned on the rail to gaze out at the open sky ahead of them. I know what’s bothering you, son. But let’s hear it from your mouth. He eased himself down and sat on the deck next to Liam, their feet dangling over the side.

I don’t know how to sail this thing, Dad! It’s not like the Swordfish, he complained. The Swordfish was a twin masted schooner, one of the fastest in all the islands known as the Ring. It had been their home for almost a year when they’d first sailed to the Mainland Realms. I can feel the wind when we’re on the water. I can sail the Swordfish, and this boat, too, when it’s not up here! But when we’re in the air… He blew out a frustrated breath and shook his head dejectedly. I can’t manage the ups an’ downs of this flying thing the way you guys can! Is there something wrong with me? The boy’s concern was palpable.

Jo Lee chuckled. No son. There’s nothing wrong with you. His easy way of laughing it off helped Liam to believe him. You just need to get a feel for the different shapes the wind can take. The air up here is free to move in every different direction. Ya know how the wind looks on the water, right? Liam acknowledged with a nod. zYou can see the shape of it by the way the water moves beneath it. So turn that sideways in your mind and look at this cloud over here. He pointed out off the port bow. D’ya see how the movement of the air shapes it? It’s kind of like a wave, only air not water.

I can see all that, said Liam despondently. I just don’t get how the wings are s’posed to ride on it. Willam says it’s like surfing. You hafta feel it. But what if I can’t? He turned his eyes to his father begging for a clue to better understand, a clue he feared might not exist.

Jo Lee sighed, wondering what he might say to ease that fear. Just as he was about to speak a butterfly drifted by, high above the islands they passed on their way out to sea. Jo Lee was suddenly inspired.

Did ya ever watch a butterfly soar? I mean really watch the back and forth, the drift and fluttering, the weaving in and out of the moving air. He smiled as his son followed the butterfly’s progress. They were all traveling in the same direction and the delicate creature was doing a fair job of keeping up. Ya know, we were gonna name this ship Butterfly. That raised an eyebrow on his son’s face. It was your sister’s idea. The wings of it are the same as a giant butterfly, after all, two in front and two in back. Willam thought Dragonfly was more appropriate to a vessel owned by the Overlord. Jo Lee shuddered visibly. Gods! I hate being called that. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. My point is that the boat handles more like a butterfly than a dragonfly. He pointed at the tiny creature floating next to them. D’ya see how it soars and glides more than flapping and fluttering? The wings angle and slice through the air. It only flutters to quickly change its course or come to a landing. Otherwise it mostly just dips and rises, using its weight and the shape of the wind to carry it. He shrugged as though the whole thing were just that simple. Think of it as constantly falling. To gain speed it falls quickly. To gain altitude it slices into the rolling air, still falling, but the air rises faster than the butterfly falls.

Suddenly a spark of understanding lit Liam’ face. So it is like surfing…sort of. But I still hafta learn how to feel it. His shoulders fell back into a slump.

All it takes is practice, Jo Lee said encouragingly. It didn’t take you long to get your balance on a surfboard, as I recall. He grinned at the memory. It only seemed like forever to you. And, of course, your mother and I worried the whole time, that you were gonna break your neck or drown in the surf. But we couldn’t show you that or stop you from trying. He raised his eyebrows and asked, D’you remember how long it took you to teach your brother how to stand on the board?

Liam laughed out loud at that. Yeah, I do. He kept trying to stand too forward. He wouldn’t just put his feet where I told him.

He finally got it, though, said Jo Lee. And so will you. You just need to find that balance.

The butterfly that had been keeping pace with them fluttered to a landing on the deck next to Liam. As he watched, it suddenly turned into his sister, Ginny. Also, don’t let him bully you like he’s been, she told Liam without preamble.

Shocked to stillness by her sudden appearance and trying not to let it show in his expression, Liam took a bit too long to process what she said. He frowned and asked, Bullying?! Whadda ya mean bullying me? It’s not like that! he protested. Nobody bullies me. He’s jus’…

Calling you ‘Water Wings’ and laughing about how you wrecked the dingy?! she asked pointedly. D’ya think nobody noticed that ya didn’t just hit ‘im like you always do?! She then hauled off and punched him in the arm.

Ouch! Liam held his arm where she’d hit him. That’s a fair solid punch you’ve got there, Sis. I’m thinkin’ there might be a bruise involved. He frowned at her as he rubbed the pain away.

He’s yer brother. Ya nit wit! You two fight in a very particular and endearing way, she explained. When that goes afoul, the rest of us notice. He prob’ly thinks you don’t like him anymore.

I doubt that, said Liam, rolling his eyes at the notion. But I might, if he keeps it up.

Might what? Ginny asked innocently.

I might not like him! said Liam forcefully.

So, go tell him that! She answered. You’ve been avoiding him all day.

As Liam got up and stormed back to confront his brother, Jo Lee leaned over to his daughter and asked, What? Was I being too subtle?

Ginny shrugged. He just needs a bit of a push, she said with a sly little half grin.

***

Listen here! Jo Lee stepped between the two brothers to keep them from going after each other, again. There’s a portal in my backyard that connects me with the far continent and the Elf Council. It can get me to the Isle of Ruins, and likely a half a dozen other places I haven’t yet discovered. I don’t need a sailing ship that travels on the wind. I can get where I need to go without it. Jo Lee stared into three blinking sets of eyes as his children waited silently for him to continue. The Dragonfly belongs to all of you, he said. "All of you! That’s why I want you to sail it together.

Willam, you know the workings of the thing. Help your brother when he needs it. And leave him alone when he doesn’t! The weight of his focused stare seemed to shrink his youngest son just a little. And I’ll hear no more of your name calling. Is that understood?

Yes Sir, Willam said meekly.

It all started shortly after Ginny’s advice to Liam, and continued to build until Jo Lee finally had to step in. Liam!

Yes Sir.

Stop beating on your brother!

Yes Sir.

You’re a head taller and almost two years older. You’ve nothing to prove by it. And there’s enough trouble in the world without that you make it for the people who love you. Jo Lee took a breath and rubbed his face. He wore an expression of tired impatience. Besides, he won’t always be smaller than you and there are plenty of ways other than fighting that he could retaliate! You’d be smarter, I should think, to have him on your side when real trouble finds you. And it will! He said with emphasis. I’ll have no more of this from either of you! Is that clear?

Yes Sir, the brothers chorused.

Fine, said Jo Lee with obvious relief. Now, Willam, why don’t you take a break from the helm and go fix yourself something to eat. Liam, you’re at the wheel.

But Dad, Willam complained, I’ll get seasick with him steering. How’s a guy s’posed to keep anything in his stomach with him..? The cold stare his father gave him was enough to silence his complaint. He bowed his head in obedience and wandered off toward the galley.

Ginny had been quietly watching her father lecture the boys. She thought now to escape. She turned to follow Willam, hoping to avoid the lecture he had for her.

Oh, Daughter, me love, said Jo Lee, cradling her in with his arm around her.

Yes Father?

Next time, maybe we might just go with subtle, he suggested.

Yes Father.

And, Ginny, he continued. His voice still carried a note of foreboding.

Yes Father?

The butterfly thing…? Inspirational, he said with a wink. Thanks for that.

Yes Father. The barest hint of a smile brushed her lips. Subtle isn’t easy for me, she admitted. But, I’ll work on it.

Very well, he said, releasing her. Go practice on Willam. If you can teach him the meaning of the word it might just sink in for the both of you.

Yes Father.

***

Down in the galley Willam sat gazing out through a porthole as the islands far below drifted past his view. The table where he sat was big enough for ten to sit comfortably, twelve if you didn’t mind cozy.

It was the largest room on the ship, designed to accommodate the political meetings Jo Lee would inevitably wish to hold in the comforts of his own space. It was also the room used for preparing and serving their meals as a family. Along the bulkhead opposite the table was a counter equipped with a gimbaled stove and a sink. Utensils were hung in easy reach or stowed in cabinets above the counter. It was the main living space with room enough to move around, even when the table was full.

It was easily apparent who was at the helm as the room rolled and yawed in the shifting currents of wind. Ginny stumbled on her way to take a seat at the table facing Willam.

Dad tells me ta fix something to eat! Willam complained, How’s a guy s’posed ta keep lunch in his belly with all that going on?! I ask ya!

Ginny just grinned. How many hours did you spend with Anna learning how to fly this thing?

That’s my point exactly! He declared. He was always busy doing something else. He shoulda been with us practicing. He knew we’d hafta fly this ship eventually.

You loved the time you had alone with Anna. Don’t say you didn’t! Ginny looked severely at him. It balanced the time she spent with him practicing his swordplay. Anyway, she always figured you’d be able to teach him when the time came. She even told you so.

So, now I s’pose the time has come, he admitted sullenly. But, I can’t not make fun of him. It’s… Well, it’s what he would do, isn’t it? What’s wrong with picking on him just a little?

What you call ‘just a little’ is a relative thing, little brother. In this case it’s a lot more for him than it is for you. It makes him miserable. And time takes longer when you’re miserable. So, maybe he’s suffering your jokes longer than you’re enjoying them. Di’ ja ever think of that?

I guess he could be, he finally conceded. And, I’m not yer little brother!

Ok, she smiled her little half grin. The resemblance she had to their natural mother, especially when she smiled, helped ease the feeling that he somehow got left behind in the growing up part of being a kid. As far as we’re concerned you’re still my big brother. So start acting like it! She told him.

Can’t I jus’ be yer brother? He asked plaintively. This whole big, little thing is…it’s unnatural, is what! I jus’ can’t wrap my thinking all the way around it.

Ginny was about to respond when another slide and yaw rocked their stomachs as the ship lurched under Liam’s handling.

I see what you mean about keeping your lunch down, brother. Maybe we should put off eating for a while.

Only ‘til he gets the hang of this thing, said Willam, rolling his eyes. "We’ll prob’ly be able to eat next week or