Chapter 159: The Unfolding Truth XXXIX

Third Person POV

Helen shifted slightly on the edge of the mattress, the loose fabric of her dress rustling against the coarse wool blankets.

Her fingers stopped their nervous twitching for a single second as a sudden, sharp thought pierced through her heavy exhaustion.

She looked up, her wide eyes locking onto the woman who was still standing near the flickering hearth.

"I forgot to say something," Helen said, her voice cutting through the heavy quiet of the room.

Sonita turned her head, her gaze shifting away from the stone fireplace.

The orange light from the dying embers caught the sharp lines of her face, highlighting the deep exhaustion etched around her eyes.

On the small wooden table between them, the heavy, leather-bound volume titled Aegis sat exactly where she had left it, its worn corners peeling slightly in the dry heat.

Sonita’s eyebrows pulled tightly together, a deep groove forming between them.

"What could you possibly have forgotten to tell me, Helen?"

Helen’s hands immediately found each other again, her fingers twisting and pulling at her knuckles as she looked down at her lap.

She swallowed hard, staring at her bare toes against the scuffed floorboards before forcing herself to meet Sonita’s expectant gaze.

"Before I came here to find you," Helen started, her voice dropping into a quiet, hesitant murmur, "we actually went to see the Dragon King."

Sonita’s entire face hardened.

The slight softness that had started to settle into her posture vanished in an instant, her shoulders turning completely rigid under her dark tunic.

"Why on earth would you ever choose to go to the Dragon King?"

"We needed real help," Helen said, the words spilling out of her mouth in a hurried, panicked rush as she tried to defend her choice.

"We needed someone who could actually protect our baby from what was coming. He was the very first person Kai and I thought of. The first incredibly powerful person who could..."

"You are actively trying to keep your child hidden from the world," Sonita cut her off, letting out a loud, frustrated exhale that rattled through her teeth.

She rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers, shaking her head in pure disbelief.

"Why are you constantly drawing massive, dangerous connections directly to her? Every single powerful person you choose to connect to your daughter is just another loose thread that an enemy can pull to track her down."

Helen’s shoulders instantly slumped inward, her whole body shrinking back toward the headboard of the bed.

"I was not thinking straight at all," she whispered, her voice sounding incredibly small and defeated. "I was terrified. I was completely panicked."

"Never make life-altering decisions when you are not in your right mind," Sonita said, her tone sharp and entirely unyielding.

She took a step toward the bed, gesturing firmly with both of her hands to emphasize her point.

"Never do it. Not when you are scared out of your wits. Not when you are running on pure panic. Every single thing ends up turning out horrible when you let your fear make the choices for you."

She dropped her hands to her sides, her voice losing some of its aggressive volume but none of its weight.

"Just look at the choice you made back then. Look at exactly where it has brought you today."

Helen kept her mouth shut. She dropped her gaze back to the floor, unable to argue against the raw truth of Sonita’s words.

The fire popped in the hearth, a tiny shower of sparks bouncing against the iron grate before dying out on the stone hearth.

Sonita let out a heavy, tired sigh, her shoulders dropping as she leaned her hip against the edge of the wooden table.

"So, what did he actually say to you? What did the Dragon King give you for the child?"

Helen hesitated, her teeth digging into her lower lip as she felt a fresh wave of anxiety wash over her.

"He... he placed a powerful magic seal on a heavy pendant. He told us it would keep her safe. He said that he would instantly feel it in his own chest if she was ever in true danger, and that he would come running across the lands to find her."

Sonita pressed three fingers hard against the center of her forehead, closing her dark eyes tightly.

"Of course he did," she muttered under her breath, her voice dripping with dry irritation. "Because nothing can ever be simple with him."

She dropped her hand away from her face, her eyes snapping open to look at Helen with a completely flat, deadpan expression.

"So, in a single afternoon, you basically betrothed your infant daughter to a Dragon King."

Helen winced, her head ducking slightly as if she were trying to avoid a physical blow.

"I... yes. When you say it out loud like that, I suppose I kind of did."

Sonita stared at her in absolute silence for three long seconds.

Then, without warning, a sharp bark of laughter escaped her throat.

It was not a happy or cheerful sound at all; it was the kind of ragged, cynical laugh that tore out of a person when a situation became so utterly ridiculous that laughing was the only alternative to screaming.

"And let me guess," Sonita said, shaking her head back and forth as she paced in a small circle on the floorboards. "He used an ancient bond that cannot be broken by normal means. He told you that if you ever tried to shatter the magic, you would end up severely hurting your own daughter."

Helen gave a slow, miserable nod. "Yes. That is exactly what he said."

Sonita stopped pacing, her blue eyes narrowing as she began to think through the problem, her mind working behind her sharp gaze.

"Then the only logical way to completely remove him from this equation is to disconnect the physical thing that connects him to your baby."

Helen’s brow furrowed, her lips parting in confusion.

"What do you mean by that? Disconnect it? How can I possibly do that without breaking the spell? He explicitly told me that if I broke the bond..."

"I did not say we were going to break the magical bond," Sonita cut her off again, her voice sharp and authoritative.

"I said we are going to disconnect the physical anchor that allows his magic to reach your daughter."

She reached out and pointed a straight finger directly at Helen’s bare neck, indicating the empty space where the collarbone met.

"The pendant itself. You need to make sure it is completely taken off her."

Helen blinked rapidly, trying to follow Sonita’s train of thought.

"The magic only works when the metal is touching her bare skin," Sonita explained, leaning forward over the table to look into Helen’s eyes.

"When it is resting against her neck, he can feel her life force. He senses her movements. He can find her location anywhere in the world. But the second that pendant is not on her neck, he will feel absolutely nothing through the bond."

She lowered her voice, her tone turning incredibly serious.

"And if that man feels absolutely nothing through the connection for a long enough time... he will eventually assume that she no longer exists on this earth. Do you understand how that works?"

Helen swallowed past the dryness in her throat, processing the information slowly.

"Is it really that simple?"

"Yes," Sonita said with a firm nod. "It is exactly that simple."

"But what if he..."

"Stop constantly saying what if," Sonita interrupted, waving a hand through the air to dismiss the anxiety.

"Just remove the pendant from her body. It only has power when it is wrapped around her neck. Take it off. Throw it deep into a river if you want to. But do not ever put it back on your daughter’s neck if you truly do not want the Dragon King to track her down."

Helen fell silent for a long moment, her eyes drifting toward the window where the sky was beginning to turn a deep, dark grey.

"I cannot just throw it away," she said softly, her voice carrying a deep tinge of maternal worry.

"What if she desperately needs real help in the future? What if the day comes when the Dragon King is the only person who can actually save her life?"

Sonita tilted her head to the side, her expression shifting as she actually considered the argument.

She stayed quiet for a moment, her fingers beginning to tap a slow, rhythmic pattern against the smooth wood of the table.

"You are right," Sonita finally admitted, her voice slowing down as she adjusted her strategy.

"He might actually be useful to her one day."

She stopped her tapping, her hand coming to rest flat on the table as she made a final decision.

"Change of plan. Do not throw the metal pendant away. Keep it near her. Put it directly into her personal belongings. Hide it at the bottom of her clothes bag. Tuck it into the box with her childhood things. But under no circumstances do you ever fasten it around her neck. Do you understand me, Helen?"

Helen nodded her head firmly.

"Do not put it on her neck when I send her away."