Family Problems
Really happy, Scarlet and the King enter back into the communications room, high fiving each other along the way. With wide smiles, they sit down on the couch where the face of a furious looking queen barely able to suppress her emotions awaits them.
“You seem quite happy with yourselves.”
Looking as if she just got the wind knocked out of her sails, Scarlet answers, “That’s…Because you two had a good discussion, right? She looked really happy when she left.”
“Oh we had a good and detailed discussion, allright. Carlo?”
A bit meekly the king answers, “Y-yes my love?”
“When did you intend to tell me that you nearly killed our child upon first meeting her?”
“I- My love you’ve got to understand it was just a huge mistake-”
“A mistake? Ahahahaha…”
“My love?”
Transforming into her draconic form, the queen now a giant elegant yet intimidating blood red dragon, stomps on the ground, “ROAR! You call almost killing our daughter a mistake!? I thought I married a knight, not a mindless brute!”
“Well…You see with her appearance the way it is I thought she was an informant from Tera Flora that knows where our child might be…”
“So, you attack the one person who you think is potentially the only one that knows about our child without thought!? Are you retarded, Carlo!?”
“I…Well, I was on edge with Scarlet being gone for so long so I-”
“So you just indiscriminately attack any person you don’t recognize like a wild beast!?”
“I-I guess…”
“Do you two idiots want to know the first thing Rose did when she came in here!? She went on her knees, started crying and pleaded for me to protect her from you, Carlo.”
“What!? I…I didn’t know it was that bad! I need to apologize to her, right now.”
“If you step outside this room before our conversation is over I will divorce you Carlo. That’s a promise.”
This threat completely stops him in his step as he sits down again with a frustrated look on his face, “But shouldn’t I go and console our daughter right now?”
“Your daughter absolutely despises you right now, Carlo! Why can’t you get that behind your thick scales!?”
“But I…I thought we already left that behind us. I thought we were bonding. Right Scarlet?”
“Yeah, I thought so too…”
“Do you two call brainwashing her into losing her fear of you bonding now!? What a creative term! I’ll tell the tortures to do some ‘bonding’ in the future too!”
Scarlet, a little flustered, answers, “But we didn’t brainwash her! We just used the opportunity when Rose was losing her intelligence and was less on guard to show her papa isn’t a threat!”
“Do you even listen to yourself talk!? ROAR! That’s immensely exploitative! If you had induced that state with drugs to get that opportunity you’d rightly be seen as a criminal!”
The king interjects, “We just did it for her own good, my love.”
“Don’t you dare call me ‘My love’ right now. You’re on extremely thin ice right now Carlo, extremely thin! Also, please do enlighten me how forcing yourself on her without giving her any way out is for her own good!? You even forbade her from walking. From walking!? Are you crazy!?”
“The smothering was because she said she feared death every day and the only time she didn’t fear it was when she wanted it! I thought if I hugged her and showed her I’d never let her go she’d start to feel safe.”
“Unbelievable…Act your age, Carlo! At nine centuries old you behave like you’re barely one! Never letting someone go is a metaphor! All you did was make things worse by forcing yourself on her when she already disliked you! And what about that ridiculous idea of banning her from walking!?”
“It’s not ridiculous! Even if she’s cursed and looks like an adult she’s still just a hatchling!”
Going into his bag he pulls out Rose’s molt, “Look at this, Ruby! That’s her molt. Look at those little feet! How can walking around in that huge cursed body be healthy for her!?”
Taking a long look at the molt the Queen seems to calm down a bit and transforms back into her polymorphed form.
Sitting down on her throne she lets out a huge sigh and says, “Fine. I can understand your concern on that issue but you have already given up all goodwill for the next hundred years with your previous actions. There is no way she will trust you enough to believe you on this matter now. I don’t even know if she will ever trust you or see you as her father because of what you did…I hate to say this Carlo but you might have genuinely made it so Rose will never want to be the daughter of either of us. I was barely able to do some damage control with her by making it clear that I value her over you. If the only way she will come home is by divorcing you, I will.”
“I…I understand.”
“Don’t say that, mama! You two love each other! Don’t divorce over a mistake like this!”
“We aren’t divorcing yet. But if it’s the only way, I’ll take it. I’m sure your father would do the same.”
“She’s right, Scarlet. I would do the same. I understand exactly what she means.”
“But- But- This was all just a huge mistake…” Scarlet says before starting to cry.
Putting her into his arms the King says, “Some mistakes are so big you can’t take them back again. That’s just how it is sometimes…”
“But that’s now how it was supposed to be! I wanted Rose to come home with us. To be happy with us!”
“I know…I’m sorry my dear.”
—----------------------------------------------
After some time, papa and manya leave the room. They look depressed.
Papa then kneels on the ground and says, “I’m so sorry my dear. For everything. I’ll give you the space you need now but I will always be available for you if you need or want anything.”
With tears in her eyes Scarlet walks over to me and holds my hands, “I’m also sorry, Rose. I didn’t realize how bad what I did was…I hope…Someday, you can forgive me.”
“Do you…Do you promise not to do something like this again?”
“Of course!”
“Then of course I’ll forgive you.” I say while giving Scarlet a hug.
Looking at papa on the ground I say to him next, “You can stand up now. It’s not like I hate you, I just don’t want to have anything to do with you.”
“I…I understand.”