“Don’t worry, Lith. Your secret is safe with us.” Raaz said. “You’re hot, you know?”
“Dad, eww!” Even with his mouth still covered by the scales, Lith’s voice managed to express all the awkwardness those words inspired and made Kamila laugh heartily.
“Not like that! I mean that I’m sweating here.” Raaz turned beet red from the heat and embarrassment as Elina joined Kamila in her laughter.
Seeing that scene wiped all the doubts that were riddling Rena’s mind.
‘My parents are definitely too human to be an evil overlord in disguise. I shouldn’t have let fear get the best of me.’ She thought while turning to look at her husband in the eyes.
“I’m sorry, dear, but this is my family. I can’t abandon them nor can I ask you to carry this burden if you don’t feel up to it. If you don’t want to have anything to do with us, I’ll gladly consent to annul our marriage.
“Yet I have to ask you to keep all you heard tonight a secret. If not for the trust that my brother showed you, at least do it for our children. If this story goes out, they’ll suffer for it as well.”
Senton was still so shocked that he could barely make sense of the sounds coming from Rena’s mouth. The word “annulment”, however, cleared his head better than a frozen shower and the part about their children made his heart skip several beats.
“Rena, I am but a country bumpkin who can barely understand half of what has been said tonight, let alone make sense of what your brother just did. The only thing I know for sure is that I can’t imagine my life without you anymore.
“I would rather die than let you go or let even the King lay a finger on you or on our children.” Lith terrified Senton from the first day they met, the revelation of him being a hybrid had barely tipped the scale.
Yet Senton had kept courting Rena for the same reason he now wholeheartedly accepted his scaly brother-in-law. Because his greatest fear wasn’t facing a monster, but spending the rest of his life without the woman he loved.
Not to mention that after Lith had saved their baby, Senton wouldn’t care even if Lith turned out to be an otherworldly demon. The couple stood up merrily and joined the group hug, letting Tista sigh in relief.
She had waited that long not because she was uncertain about what to do, but because she didn’t want anyone to feel the pressure of being the last and accept Lith only to not be left out of the family.
“What a night.” She said while becoming a part of the loving crowd.
Selia held Protector’s hand tight, sobbing in silence. That scene gave her hope. Hope that she could get back to her old life with her old friends. Hope that her children wouldn’t be forced to spend their whole lives in hiding, with only magical beasts as their companions.
After a while, Lith reverted to his human form and released the hug, prompting everyone to get back to their seats.
“I thank you for your words and your love. It means the world to me.” One of the biggest hurdles in Lith’s life was gone. Until that night, he could only hope his family would accept him, whereas now he was sure of it.
“Put on your clothes, please.” Senton said. Now the fear was gone, but his pride was still hurt big time.
The Skinwalker armor covered Lith again while Tista, Selia, and Kamila giggled like little girls. Solus was doing the same, but telepathically.
“As I was saying, I know I’m asking a lot from you, but there’s still something you should know. Remember when I told you that Faluel thinks that something in my blood Awakened? I meant that. I’m an Awakened.” Lith made a dramatic pause, waiting for their reactions.
“We’re all awake, son.” Raaz scratched his chin. “You get to sleep and then awake. Unless you’re dead. Or undead.” Everyone laughed at the joke except the Awakened in the room, who facepalmed together at Lith’s blunder.
‘Fuck me sideways!’ Solus did her best Lith impression while he was still too embarrassed by the literal dad joke to even think. ‘I forgot that normal people have no idea what an Awakened is and that the word that defines those like me is generic on purpose.’
‘Thanks, captain smartass.’ Lith explained to his family what being an Awakened meant.
He told them how it granted strength, silent magic, and even longevity. Then he gave them a practical example by conjuring a powerful storm between his hands without chanting.
He looked at his relative faces and their reaction shocked him. Mostly because they had none.
“Oh, you mean that? I’ve known for years, but I’m glad you finally decided to share it with us.” Elina said.
“Indeed.” Raaz yawned. All those emotions had made him sleepy. “I’m glad you are finally opening up to your old man, son. I hope that from now on you will not feel the need to keep so many secrets from us.”
“It’s not a big deal. Even my father can fuel the furnace without chanting.” Senton had no idea how true and fake magic worked. Like most people in Lutia, he only used chore magic.
“I’ll explain it to you later, darling.” Rena chuckled, finding his naivety incredibly cute.
“You what?” Kamila was the only one reacting to the revelation with amazement. Her mind was reliving all the times she had seen Lith fight and now many of her questions finally had an answer.
“You should have told her, sweetie. Now Kamila is upset.” Elina caressed Kamila’s head with motherly affection. Whether those two ended up marrying or not, to Elina she would always be part of their family.
“How did you find out?” Lith asked.
“Well, I started to have my doubts back when you found a way to treat Tista like not even Nana could. I’ve witnessed Nana using a lot of spells during our check-ups, but none of her them took that long to be cast.
“At first, I thought you were a genius, but then you started to give us all those baths that made us beautiful and made us swore secrecy. I knew little about magic so I couldn’t connect the dots, but everything made sense once you started the academy.” Elina said.
“Yeah. If before meeting your friends and Professors, we thought your abilities were something only talented mages could do. Once we got to see more mages in action, we understood that you were different and why you wanted to keep it a secret.” Raaz nodded.
“How stupid do you think we are?” Rena laughed. “Even when you helped Faluel treating my babies, Quylla was the only one chanting. I was scared, not blind and deaf.”
“Hey, I’m not stupid, but when he told me I was shocked!” Tista felt rather annoyed by their casual attitude about the big secret she shared with her little brother.
“Of course you were, silly.” Rena pinched Tista’s cheek fondly. “You never questioned his abilities. You worshipped Lith so much that you wouldn’t flinch even if he turned the day into night.
“Discovering that he wasn’t actually a god but just a human with a secret must have been terrible for you.”
