Book 2: Chapter 55 (2/2)

Vur scratched his head. “I’m not sure actually,” he said. “But she’s not a dragon. She’s an elf. Mostly.”

E stared at Vur. “Out of curiosity,” he asked. “What is Stella to you?”

“She’s—”

“He’s my dad!” Stella said, her voice cutting through Vur’s. “He gave birth to me with the flower in his chest.” She nodded and patted Vur’s head. “Isn’t that right?”

“But you planted it there,” Vur said.

“No, no, no,” Stella said, shaking her head. “That was my past self. It doesn’t count.”

Vur turned his gaze back onto E. “She’s not my daughter, but—”

“Wow! Rude! I’m going to cry,” Stella said and puffed her cheeks out.

“I do have a son,” Vur finished.

E chewed on his lower lip. “Is he a dragon?”

“No, he’s a boar,” Vur said. A wrinkle formed on his brow as Stella pouted and plucked one of his hairs.

“A boar,” E said, his expression neutral. “Then your wife’s—”

“A demon,” Vur said with a nod.

E sighed. “I don’t know if you’re serious or not,” he said. “But I suppose that doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“Dragons never lie,” Vur said. “And you might meet my wife, so you should know in advance—she has horns; if you look at her strangely, I’ll punt you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” E said. He glanced at the fairy throwing a tantrum on Vur’s head. “You said you wanted to see the fire elementals, right? I can take you to their main headquarters—benefits of being king, well, ex-king. Why do you want to see them?”

Stella stopped rolling around and sat up. “I need a sun.”

“I thought fairies only had daughters?” E asked.

“A sun, not a son! Dummy,” Stella said and stuck her tongue out. She crossed her arms, wrinkled her nose, and looked away.

E raised an eyebrow. “…You mean a boar?”

“I’m going to curse you,” Stella said.

“I think I’ll keep my mouth shut about relationships until I see your family tree,” E said to Vur.

Vur nodded. “It’s only a sprout right now, but it’ll grow in time.”

E scratched his head. Are we talking about the same thing? “I don’t know what to think anymore.”