Silence.

The queen slapped her hand over Ali’s mouth before the girl could ruin what they had just fixed.

"He had just finished eating a whole sea food buffet and who knows what else." Grandpa Corven quickly blurted. "We all smelled something catty in the air when he blew that smoke." He looked around the table expectantly, "Right?"

Naturally, everyone that was part of the family nodded, even those that had not been present at the meeting. The funny thing was: not even grandpa Corven had been there. But, it wasn’t as if anyone was going to dig deep for the identity of the dragon beast man she had met.

The queen called one of her guards over and whispered an instruction to him.

There after, the royal guards and Principal Adams went around asking those who were recording or taking pictures to stop. It was a royal order, one that could not be disobeyed.

After that little hiccup, lunch moved along smoothly. Only Sienna noticed that grandpa Corven had slipped away. She took advantage of the moment to slip away, heading to the quiet corridor near the bathroom. The noise of the dining hall folded, replaced by the drip of water and the faint hum of lanterns hanging above.

As soon as her grandfather came out of the men’s room, Sienna blocked his path. She hesitated, then spoke softly, "Grandfather, I must apologize."

He raised a brow. "For what? Ali’s loose lips, Eli’s smirk or one of the many things that have happened today. None of it is your fault. Children talk a lot and often spill secrets. It is in their nature. As long as it’s innocent, all is good. But, you are going to have to watch what you say around that little girl from now on. Her memory is sharper than a knife."

Sienna nodded. "I agree. But, I am not apologizing for any of that. I want to apologize for what she said. Me--calling my father a bastard and all the other bad things I have said about him." She raised her hand. "Before you say anything, I cannot promise that I won’t continue to use such language. To me. To Soren. To my mother, he was a bad man. An irresponsible one who left us holding a grenade that will explode at any moment. But, I have heard the sadness in your voice when you talk about him. Even if he was a bad man, he was still your son."

Her grandfather’s eyes widened. He was not expecting such sincerity from her, given the grudge she had against Paris. He had once overheard her asking Elias if he knew where her father was buried because she wanted to dig up his corpse and flog it.

For a moment, the stern old man whose face seemed to be carved in stone softened. His face crumpled. "Oh child, do you think I don’t know his faults?" His voice trembled. "He was reckless, stubborn, blinded by reckless ideas. But he was my boy. My blood."

Sienna’s throat tightened. "I should not have spoken so harshly, especially around my children."

Suddenly, her grandfather pulled her into a hug. His arms were strong, trembling, and his beard scratched against her hair.

She froze. He had never hugged her before. She had never seen him hugging anyone before. Except for Ali on two occasions.

Then she felt it, his shoulder shaking, his chest heaving. He was crying!

Her eyes widened. "Grandfather...."

Tears streaked down the old man’s face. "I didn’t lose him once, to death. I lost him many times. Whenever I hear the bitterness in your voice, I wonder where I went wrong. What I could have done to correct his course. How I should have been there for you and Soren. I feel guilty about you the most. You were human and fragile, suffering from poverty and scorn. You should have been raised by my side, in the family. You should have been pampered."

He didn’t say it, but he was thinking that maybe then, she would have been less ruthless.

Sienna’s heart twisted. She clung to him, whispering, "I am sorry. Truly."

The sound of laughter came from somewhere in the corridor. She wanted to push him away, because she thought he would be embarrassed to be seen crying like this. Like a baby. But he held on to her firmly, weeping openly. His grief was raw, his love undeniable.

Her breath caught. She had no idea what else to say, so she patted his back. "There, there. Everything will be okay."

Elias’s voice crept from behind them. "So, even the old man with the deepest secrets cries..."

Grandpa Corven let go of Sienna. He rushed back into the bathroom, avoiding Elias’s eyes.

Sienna looked at her husband, raising her brows. "Did you have to say that? For once, he was letting go and grieving openly. I think he has earned it."

He leaned against the wall. "I just sent away three lion guards that were coming over to spy on you. I figured you two were talking about Paris because we ran into one of his old friends. In case you have not noticed, Wesley, the teacher with big teeth is already missing. Liman informed me a minute ago that he was escorted onto a flying ship belonging to the royal family."

Sienna raised his brows. "Don’t tell me he was involved in the same mess as Paris."

Elias shrugged. "I don’t know anything because I didn’t get the opportunity to talk to him. I am thinking the queen took Ali from you deliberately in order to keep us tethered to her side and facilitate the snatch. If big teeth was not part of the mess, then he was being recruited by Paris. Think about it. The rebel movement infiltrated schools through teachers and Wesley is a teacher. When he was talking about Paris’s ideas, he seemed to be in awe. If the idiot had not been recruited already then he was on the brink."

Sienna clenched her jaw. "Now I am worried about putting Soren in this academy. What if he is approached the way I have been approached?" She looked at her husband intensely. "We need to do another investigation into the academy and ensure that we are not sitting on a rebel gold mine."

Elias’s heart pounded. He hoped her fears were just that: fears. If there was any truth to them, he would cleanse the academy before the royals decided to step in. Or Fox god forbid, they decided that another noble fox family was more suited to leadership of the fox tribe.