"Well, you're a bit later than I expected, but I can see why." Jett paced around the adolescent banescale as Elladan watched nervously. "What did you say her name was?"
"Raithyra," Elladan murmured, very aware of the way the child was looking around for Luci. He had snuck her out of The Siren's Call in the dead of night. It made him feel like a coward, but he had no other choice. Luci would stop him if she knew what he was doing with her daughter, and even now, he felt the wracking guilt. Things were going well with Luci. He felt they had formed a special connection during their time in the tunnels, and this felt like a betrayal, but Jett had hired him, and he was honor-bound to serve him as long as he required his services.
"She'll do nicely. The Night of the Nocturne is fast approaching," Jett grinned, eyes gleaming in anticipation. "Oh, speaking of which, I hope you don't mind, but we needed to get our numbers up for the approaching attack. Congratulations on becoming a father, Scoril told me Edna's nest hatched this morning. Of course, ours is not far behind."
"You what?!" Elladan struggled to keep his temper as he pieced together what his king was telling him. "But you told me you needed my elemental signature for identification purposes!"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Jett shrugged. "Besides, you signed it over in your contract. It was mine to choose what to do with."
"This is unethical," Elladan growled, recognizing the terminology from his conversations with Luci.
"What? And stealing an incredibly valuable ancient warrior isn't?" Jett's mouth opened in mock surprise. "Get used to it, bud. This is what you signed up for. Now, I suggest stopping in to meet your family while you can. I still want you to find that vault. We'll need it if we fail to use the crown during Night of the Nocturne."
]
"I don't know how you do this," Edna sighed, watching her two children run circles around her and Scoril. "I can barely manage with two. I'm not cut out for this."
Edna couldn't deny that she was frustrated. She didn't know how to be a mother. She had never even had a mother, not that she knew about. And to make matters worse, neither of her daughters had shown any of the elemental capabilities that she held, and Jett had lost interest in the whole operation.
"It will all be better when Elladan gets home," Scoril reminded her. "Then you won't be the only parent around. Besides, I'm more than happy to take them, you don't have to stick around."
Edna snorted and looked away. She didn't know how to explain that she felt an obligation to her daughters to be there, after her parents weren't, but she felt completely useless at connecting with them.
"Edna?" The ridgeback looked up at the sound of her name to see Elladan striding in, staring in utter shock at the two ridgeback hatchlings playing in the dust of the training tent.
"Ell!" Edna exclaimed, getting to her feet and rushing over to give her friend a hug. "It's so good to see you!"
Elladan did not hug back, and Edna stepped away awkwardly.
"Those are-" The other ridgeback had not taken his eyes off of the hatchlings.
"Yes," Edna confirmed, mouth dry. "The blue one is Fallstar and the purple is Friehalt."
Elladan just nodded.
"Do you want me to introduce them to you?" Edna asked, hopefully.
"No," Her heart sank at his response. "I wasn't a part in creating these children. They are not mine." He looked up to meet Edna's gaze for the first time. "We are co-workers, nothing more. Those hatchlings are nothing more to me than any other dragon I train and fight alongside."
Edna felt her heart breaking. It wasn't as if she expected them to be a couple. She had never seen Elladan that way. But he had been her friend, and now even that had changed. "What happened, while you were gone? When did your heart grow so cold?!"
Elladan left her without an answer. As Edna watched his retreating back, she did her best to hold her posture, though she knew all of the pretending in the world wouldn't stop Scoril from picking up on how much this hurt her.
Luci was waiting for him when he returned to the tavern.
"Where is Raithyra," the wildclaw asked evenly, meeting Elladan's eyes with the same quiet fury as she had at the Thunderforge.
"I- um-" Elladan had never been at such a loss for words. Try as he might, he hadn't come up with a valid excuse.
"Don't bother trying to explain if you aren't going to tell the truth," Luci snarled. "I've lost children before. Don't patronize me by pretending you're doing it for 'my own good.'"
"Luce, it's not like that-" Elladan tried to explain, but he trailed off, what could he say?
"You know, I thought there was something between us, but I guess you were just using me too, just like you used Raithyra. Just like you used Gillian, and Evika. They are furious at you, you know. They don't even want to talk to you. But I had to see your face just one more time, just to be sure."
"Luci, I'm sorry, my contract-" Elladan began but she cut him off.
"Don't you 'my contract' me like I don't know about contracts," Luci snarled. "You promised to help me break mine with the Thunderforge. Can we not to the same for whatever binds you?"
"It's not that easy-" Elladan began.
"No, don't try to justify it. That just makes it worse," Luci shook her head. "You know, I really like you. But now I see you're just the same as my other mates. Don't show your face to me again, or I'll ri[ it off. I'm done being toyed with."
"But- I love you," Elladan whispered, trying to piece together all the emotions from this whirlwind of a day.
"Oh yeah? It doesn't feel like it. You don't betray someone you love, and you certainly don't sell off their children!" Luci spat. "I'm done with you." And the wildclaw turned to leave, leaving Elladan alone in the tavern.
The rideback glanced around the warm room, the firelight crackling low with the lateness of night. What was he thinking? He didn't belong here. Not while he worked for the Black Market. This was everything the Black Market worked against.
He knew he had to make a choice, but he couldn't make this choice today. Not with all this swirling emotions. He needed a level head.
Swallowing the pain of Luci's rejection, he turned to return to the Black Market.
Hey, so it's been a little while. I've been meaning to write more for ages, but this week was surprisingly busy (in a good way for the most part), and I got sick so any free moment I had I was in too much of a fog to write clearly. But, it's here now! Hopefully I can write a bit more frequently in the coming weeks, but if I can't, I'm going to try not to be too bothered because real life is important too.
Also, Elladan's arc is going way differently than I was expecting it too! Gosh, Luci really threw a wrench in things, but it actually still works really well with his theme song? Probably even better than if Luci hadn't been in the picture and he and Edna were an actual thing?
Edna and Elladan's firstborn son is up for grabs. If anyone wants him, you have until he's grown up to claim him.
Also, last call for Webb and Seaberry's Daughter. You have until 23:59 FR time tonight to claim her
