We Fight Dragons (Volume 1, Chapter 14) 'Bloodlines'
One evening several days later, Jam and his parents were getting ready for dinner.
‘Is there anyone here who hasn’t eaten with us before?’ Dad asked again.
‘No,’ said Mum. ‘But I bet we can all think of someone who we wish was here.’
Jam wasn’t sure exactly who she meant, but he could think of a few people.
‘Okay, and is everyone here true? Jam, can you go first?’
Jam groaned, looking at the lamb chops cooling on his plate. His hunger starting was to get a grip on him. ‘Well, for starters I wish we could just eat sometimes!’
Dad didn’t let him dodge the question. ‘That’s understandable, but I reckon that’s your belly talking. What else?’
‘Well…’ Jam tried to weasel-word his answer, ‘While we were at Break today I squirted my water bottle in the air… and it accidentally hit Emily.’
Dad frowned.
‘Okay, I got her on purpose. Sorry. But she was going off about the city again.’
‘Don’t tell me you're in a hurry to go back there?’ asked Mum, concerned.
‘Oh, no way! But she’s making out like it’s something it’s not. She’s not quite lying, she’s… stretching the truth. Too far.’
‘Well put,’ said Dad. ‘Exaggeration is not the same as lying, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be misused. Was Emily misusing exaggeration? What was she talking about? ’
‘Um… nothing important. I can’t even remember, so guess it was a silly thing for me to do.’
Mum cleared her throat. ‘I’ll go next. I sent a box of strawberries to Mels, even though I know we are supposed to limit our correspondence with the city. I included a ‘Thank You’ card from all of us.’
‘We’ll just have to trust her judgement,’ said Dad. ‘Because I don’t think we can stop her from saying or doing what she wants. Does that remind you of anyone else we know?’ Dad directed the question towards Jam.
Jam blushed. He had done things he wasn’t supposed to. But then again, so had Mum by sending a gift to Mels. Maybe, he wondered, there were reasons and times when it was okay to break certain rules?
‘Well, compared to you two, I feel like a bloody saint!’ Dad taunted them. ‘However, just like how I took too long to tell Jam about being a Knight, I think I’m overdue explaining to him how the bloodlines work. But it’s a long explanation, so let’s eat while I talk.’
Over lamb chops, mint sauce, and peas Jam listened while Dad explained the meaning behind the vision that Jam had that night at the Dragon-stone, particularly about the curse that the god of darkness had put on the Knights and Maidens.
Because of that curse, Knights and Maidens always and only ever birthed sons. Which meant that they could never give birth to Maidens. But the gift to the Maidens did not simply vanish, it had to go somewhere, so it sought out women who deserved it. They could be born anywhere in the world, and sometimes it might take a Knight and Maiden years to find each other, but they would be drawn together by the divine spark they shared.
A Knight can sense when the Maiden they love needs them. This was how Dad and Jam knew that Mum was in danger at the orchard.
A Maiden can heal any Knight they love from almost any wound. In legends, if a Knight was fatally injured but was tended to by a Maiden, then they would be ready to battle again the next day. That gift is what saved Jam’s life, and healed his broken hand.
Knights can learn to sense, defeat, and even magic, such as breaking the spells that Dragons use to enslave their minions, or performing the Banishment ritual.
Maidens can develop the ability to sense Dragons and the minions they have shared their powers with, eventually being able to see Dragons for what they really are. This was how Rollo’s mum knew that there were minions of a Dragon in the town.’
The explanation helped Jam to make sense of what was happening.
One part of the bloodlines that continued to annoy him was that he was still not allowed to tell Zach that he was also a Knight. Apparently, revealing the bloodline was a decision that both the father and the mother had to agree on, and Zach’s parents felt that he was still growing and had a lot to learn from the humility of being a normal person. So Jam had to keep it the secret. At least a little while longer.
‘What about my other friends? Could they be Knights? Like Rollo. Like Tobes. I’m pretty sure their dads are Knights.’
‘Well, maybe some will become Knights,’ said Dad. ‘Yes, some of their fathers are Knights, but for the same reasons I’ve already given you, you must keep it a secret until their parents explain it to them.’
This satisfied Jam, despite being a lot to digest. ‘Can I take my plate and wash up now? I’m supposed to meet the others after dinner, down by the creek.’
After Jam had cleaned up and left, his parents continued talking. Eventually, David raised a topic that had been weighing on both their minds.
‘There’s one thing that concerns me. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does. No Knight of his age is strong enough to counter Dragon magic. Most are not strong enough until they reached adulthood. But our son helped those people at the station who were clearly under a spell. I’d glad that he did, but I’m concerned by what it means.’
‘Same here,’ said Freya, holding David’s hand. ‘In fact, it frightens me. I wonder if it is because of what happened after we got married, before Jam was born?’
David nodded thoughtfully and moved so he and Freya could sit together, forehead’s touching, as they breathed together. ‘It’s a worry. But we’ll work it out. He will work it out, because he has to. That’s part of the deal.’
.