Lilia took one look at the baby princess and had to coo. Melanie was beyond adorable, and once she got used to being around Silver, the two had hit it off. He suspected it had something to do with the sheer number of animals that tended to come to Silver on any given day. He had yet to meet a young child that wasn't fascinated by animals.

Seeing Malleus react to having a child to care for was even more adorable in his opinion.

The little girl was a near spitting image of Raverne at that age, which was more than a little suspicious. While there were strong hints of Malleus and Maleficia (and to a lesser extent Meleanor), the traits he recognized most were Raverne's. Malleus had always taken after his mother more than his sire, so the fact his newly adopted daughter took after Raverne was very unusual.

"So...where exactly did you find her?" asked Lilia, trying to remain cheerful.

"She found me," said Malleus. "For whatever reason, she had wards around her that brought her close to the castle."

"Have you ever performed any inheritance tests? She may be yours now, but there is no telling what sort of surprises her bloodline would have," said Lilia.

Malleus looked thoughtful.

"She was able to turn into a dragon before the ritual was completed, and her magic was quickly attuned to that of the Draconia line. Grandmother did remark that the adoption took suspiciously well."

"You should really get that checked out," said Lilia.

Malleus made an affirming noise, as he was rather curious which bloodline his daughter came from, and it would be nice to get any surprises out of the way now rather than later.

As it turned out, Maleficia was very interested in that answer as well. She already had the royal potion masters brewing a detailed inheritance potion, so they could find out once and for all who or what bloodline Melanie came from. Lilia had offered to let Melanie stay the night while they reviewed the results, mostly for her own safety.

Sebek was visiting as well, so at least Melanie would have two new people to talk to. He took one look at Malleus and had become star struck, which amused Baul and Lilia to no end.

They had already drawn some blood from Melanie for the potion. Malleus felt discomforted leaving Melanie alone, but knew it was necessary. She was fine. He trusted Lilia with his own life, and knew the former general would protect her with his own. Did not make the separation any easier.

Maleficia merely chuckled. Malleus had never been apart from his daughter since finding her three years ago.

"It never gets easier," said Maleficia. "However it is necessary."

Malleus acknowledged the wisdom of his grandmother's words. Did not mean he had to like it.

Maleficia poured the potion onto the parchment and let it soak for seven minutes, before pouring Melanie's blood in as well.

It was when the potion began to read out Melanie's maternal bloodline that the parchment became a confusing read. Namely thanks to the adoption ritual.

"Why does it read me as uncle and father?" asked Malleus, deeply confused.

Was the potion brewed incorrectly?

Maleficia however was staring at the maternal grandfather hard.

"Grandmother?"

"Malleus...what do you know of your father's death?"

"Grandmother?" asked Malleus confused.

Maleficia pointed out the name on Melanie's maternal grandfather. There, in bright red ink indicating that the person was still alive, was the name of Malleus' sire.

The way the adoption ritual had reacted to Melanie made perfect sense, if she was already tied to the land in some way. If anything, all Malleus had done was reclaim one of their own in a more obvious way.

On the plus side, Melanie's claim as princess had just been validated in a way that no one could dispute. After all, she was family.

Melanie came back from her sleepover with good cheer, and hugged her grandmother tightly.

"Have fun, my hatchling?" she asked with a maternal smile.

Listening to the five-year-old's babbling, Maleficia scooped the hatchling up. Melanie was a good child, and had taken to the royal lessons well. Then again, she was very much a daddy's girl.

Malleus was considerably happier as well, having a hatchling to spoil and raise.

Seeing her doing her best to keep up with her father's longer stride was just as adorable as it was seeing it for the first time. At least now they knew what her actual birthday was, as the potion had included birth and death dates.

~*~*~*~*

Melanie was having a lot of fun. She had become immediate best friends with Sebek and Silver, who were just as happy to have a new child their own age to play with...even if it was a girl.

Today was the first time they would be going to a local lake to swim. Maleficia had given Melanie a very conservative swimming suit.

Melanie, having never gone swimming in her human form, jumped in the lake without a second thought in her dragon form.

Silver and Sebek found an odd piece of cloth and brought it to Lilia and Malleus for inspection.

Lilia, being an utter troll, decided to tell them about Selkies. The look of panic on their face was priceless.

Fortunately, Melanie came out of the lake in her dragon form, as Maleficia had drilled it into her that walking around nude was not considered "appropriate royal behavior" after one memorable month when she was three. The royal staff found it adorable as hell, and the Queen had found it amusing seeing her maids attempt to corral the rambunctious princess long enough to get her dressed.

There were many, many pictures.

Malleus however had a thoughtful look on his face when the children settled in for the night.

"Something on your mind?" asked Lilia.

"Melanie is almost of an age to be betrothed. However there are no acceptable candidates among the noble families at the moment. And none have stepped forward to offer such."

Lilia had been part of the royal retinue a long time. Malleus' own parents had been betrothed for a good twenty years before marrying...admittedly because Meleanor had been with egg and they didn't want an heir born out of wedlock.

"You're thinking of Silver or Sebek as a potential husband."

It was a good match, and they were perfectly acceptable partners for the princess. As the (adopted) son and grandson of two long serving and trusted generals, it didn't matter if they had noble blood or not. A marriage between them could just as easily be seen as a reward for their families for years of loyal service.

"Why not let Melanie decide?" suggested Lilia. "It's not like there's an urgency like in your mother's case, and she's not due to inherit the throne. Besides, humans age faster than faeries. Her feelings could change later."

Malleus acknowledged the point.

"A loose contract based on which one Melanie prefers best as a potential husband?"

"You'd have to iron out the details with Baul of course, but I'm sure he'd be thrilled."

Thrilled was an understatement. Baul knew what it meant to be offered this sort of honor, but had made it clear he would not attempt to influence the princess in any way towards Sebek.

For one thing, such actions would almost certainly sour any relationship Sebek could have with Melanie and by extension her father.

The Queen was rather pleased when she heard of her grandson's decision regarding Melanie's future.

"They are fine choices for her future husband...however you do realize this could lead to her picking both of them, correct?" asked Maleficia amused.

Malleus blinked.

"Both?"

"Fortunately, there are no rules against it. It's just unusual," she commented. And she had the distinct feeling it would end up happening, after seeing how the children interacted.

Melanie did not favor one over the other, and the three were as thick as thieves whenever they played together.

So long as his daughter was happy, Malleus did not particularly care. He just wanted to be sure his hatchling ended up with someone who was actually worthy of the honor. Besides, it was far better for her to be paired with a human partner over a fae, if only so neither side outlived the other too much. He didn't want her to experience such heartache.

~*~~*~

Lilia had never been to this enclave personally, but his years of experience traveling the world allowed him to blend in almost seamlessly among the mages. Malleus was deeply curious about the circumstances behind why his daughter had traveled so far from the lands of her birth.

Melanie loved her father and great-grandmother, so she had never really asked about her parents. She just knew she was loved and that was enough.

However the Queen wanted to know why Raverne had never returned to his family. She also wanted to be sure of no...surprises...coming from Melanie's former home.

At least they had something to go on, which was Melanie's original name.

Lilia kept his head down, and didn't have to look far for information. Apparently "Melody Potter" was quite famous. A little too famous, as it turned out.

When he returned to Briar Valley, he headed straight for the vacation palace of the Draconia family. Since humans were not allowed in Castle Blackthorn, Malleus had taken up residence the outer palace so that Melanie could spend more time with her betrothed and others.

Lilia had mostly made that suggestion because of his banishment, and the fact the elders had made it clear he would never be welcomed back.

He was quite taken aback by the sheer uproar upon his return. Silver had been left in Baul's care, so that he could continue his training alongside Sebek.

He had only been gone a scant month, so he was quite confused as to why the entire palace was up in arms.

"What happened?"

Baul had an angry, but darkly satisfied expression on his face.

"The same elders behind your banishment apparently took offense to how 'disrespectful' the princess was towards them, and attempted to banish her from Castle Blackthorn on the grounds that a 'mere human' had no right to be there. Unfortunately for them, the wards disagreed. Vehemently."

Lilia blinked.

"They did what."

"Oh it gets better," said Baul with grim satisfaction. "It got out by accident the real reason why you've never returned to the castle, and the Queen was absolutely furious. The council has been replaced entirely, and your banishment has been overturned by royal decree. Malleus looked ready to roast the idiots himself when he found out the full story."

"How did it come out?"

"One of them made a rather poorly timed comment of how Princess Melanie had even less place in the castle than the 'banished bat', which lead the queen asking clarification over what he meant. Considering you were the one to ultimately hatch Lord Malleus' egg in the first place, she's beyond angry that her grandson was left to languish for so long because you were not permitted in the castle long enough to incubate his egg."

Considering how close they had come to losing their only heir, Lilia could imagine how pissed off the Queen was over the matter. Especially since the only reason Lilia had left Meleanor's side in the first place was due to a direct order from the Princess to deliver her egg to the castle in the first place!

"Where is the Princess now?"

"Being spoiled by her father of course. Silver and Sebek are with her," said Baul.

Lilia walked into the royal banquet hall to find Melanie playing a rather amusing game of "princess and dragons". Malleus was in his dragon form giving the occasional puff of smoke at the trio. Silver and Sebek were at Melanie's right and left side with their practice swords, while Melanie did her best to cast her spells. Like any true royal, she had learned how to cast magic without a wand first.

Lilia didn't bother to hide his grin seeing the children coordinating their efforts to 'take down' the dragon, with the Princess being their leader. It was beyond cute seeing Malleus play with them and spend time with his daughter, and to see the boys learn how to act as her future knights and potential husband's. Lilia would have left them to it, except Silver had spotted him and perked up with joy.

So he sat down his large purchase of books, and grinned. He picked up another wooden sword (which was spelled to weigh as much as a real one) and joined the dragon.

"It seems the dark general has returned to the dragon's side. We shall have to deal with him as well," declared Melanie.

Lilia snickered, but held his mock sword and made a 'come at me' gesture. The children didn't hesitate, though they knew they stood no chance against either of them. It was good training though.