It doesn't end well...

11- The Smallest Coffins Are The Heaviest (1)

DAPHNE

"Faster!! Faster!!" Kaida shrieks excitedly as I crawl on the soil like a horse. Yes, the soil. What can I say? She brings out the inner child in me. She steadies herself on my back while I crawl as fast as I can. Before I know it, Kaida hops off my back.

"D!!" I hear her shout as she runs behind me. Goodness, that child! I chuckle softly, she literally jumped out my back to meet Dagon.

"Why didn't you come to my room last night? You know I can't sleep when I don't see you" she blabbers on.

"Forgive me, princess. It shall never happen again" he murmurs charmingly. As if. I scoff and he throws daggers at me with his eyes. I hold back a chuckle.

"I forgive you, always"

I smile. She is literally the sweetest child ever.

"I get to meet the whole trio, I guess I'm lucky" Alma's voice chirps in. This time, I see she isn't alone. She has a little boy with her. This must be her son, Elijah. He looks ten or eleven.

"Uncle Dagon, you promised to play with me" Elijah mutters, grabbing Dagon's arm. Seems like he's popular with the children.

"Of course, Eli." Dagon crouches to his height and ruffles his hair earning him a laugh from the boy.

"And this time Kaida won't play with us because she's a girl" Eli teases her and runs. Kaida follows after him, ready to smack him. The three of us laugh. That's my girl.

"I'll make sure they don't start fighting for real" Dagon leaves.

"The children love teasing each other" Alma mutters, laughing softly. I chuckle.

"Well...I owe you a thank you, Daphne. So, thank you"

I look at her in surprise.

"What for?"

"I saw you in the cell...rather I heard your heartbeat. That's why I left in a hurry and took Nikola. I wanted you to free Dagon. Nikola wouldn't dare defy his father and he wouldn't have let me free Dagon if I tried but you did and I'm grateful"

Oh...she saw me. Guess, I wasn't so sleek after all.

"It's nothing. He saved my life as well"

"I knew I'd like you the minute you stood up to everyone of us in the dining room especially when you spoke up to Dagon. After freeing him as you did, you've proved me right"

"Oh, my goodness I honestly feel bad about that night. I was rude and I'm sorry" I spill. I feel I was rude.

"It's okay, really" she smiles. "I was a rebel...once until I met Nikola"

Nikola. He left his brother because he couldn't defy his father. And Alma cares a lot about Dagon, even in the cell she was giving major mum vibes. I'm pushed to ask further questions and I don't resist the urge.

"Why do you care so much about Dagon?" I question.

"Seeing as you'll be here a while, I might as just tell you the whole story" She sits on a bench and I join her.

"The King never wanted to marry Helena but his parents forced him to. He lived apart from her but after his father was murdered by a werewolf and his mother lost to suicide, he automatically became the ruler and had the responsibility of producing an heir. They had Nikola, it was a long time, about fifty years-but you know vampires start ageing extremely slowly at the age of twenty-five- I married Nikola and we were happy."

It means she married Nikola even before Dagon was born. It means now Nikola must be pushing sixty but he still looks like he's in his twenties. That's a perk to being a vampire.

"Helena is a deceitful woman, she always tried to poison Nikola's mind against his father and cause conflict. She was merciless, reckless, and impulsive. Somehow, she trapped the King and had Dagon. The King blatantly rejected the pregnancy and sent her away. She had Dagon and raised him herself until he was sixteen. Nikola and I used to check up on him and see how he was doing. Nikola managed to convince the King to accept Dagon. Helena returned alongside Dagon but she had already filled his head with these thoughts...she made him like her in a way. Impulsive and destructive. And when she was killed by a werewolf, Dagon lost the only parent that loved him. The King made matters worse by burning her body instead of giving her a proper funeral. Dagon spiraled out of control, killing, murdering, destroying everything...all traits his mother taught him." She pauses. I release a breath. Just one small mistake ruined everything. If my grandmother wasn't murdered, the King might have not hated Helena and would have never rejected Dagon.

"The King had Dagon daggered when he spiraled to control him but only I can see how desperately he tries to please his father and seek acceptance. He's so lonely and broken. Before I had Elijah, I took care of Dagon while he was a teenager. I took him hunting, I put up with his mood swings. He's like a son to me"

The King daggered him before? I nod, I understand her. I can't imagine what he went through, what he's still going through. I daresay the King is the reason Dagon is like this. I'm glad I saved him. If I hadn't, after hearing this story, the guilt would have eaten me alive. It's not his fault his mother was wicked. His father saw him as a mistake, as unwanted, a problem and that's exactly what he sees himself as. In the same way, my parents saw me as a problem and got me a therapist. At least we have that in common.

As strong as Dagon is, he's still a slave to irresponsible parenting.

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