Gayle was a little surprised with Dawn's changed behavior towards him but he only smiled. If she was doing this in retaliation to Pia's demeanor towards Sedora, then he welcomed it.

"Father, would you like to eat this?" asked Dawn, holding a bowl of lentil soup.

​​

"Yes," he replied and let her serve it to him.

Immediately Daryn held his soup bowl up. "Some for me too!"

"Sure," she said and served him too.

How could Pia be left behind? Even she served Sedora with lamb chops. Then without waiting for her to finish, she piled her plate with more food mindlessly. After some time Sedora just said, "Don't!" in an agitated voice and Pia gulped.

The dinner went on rather noisily with Pia doing most of the talk. She swooned over Sedora as if there was no other person in the dining room and Sedora loved all the attention she was getting. It was in the end when they sat down on the sofas and settled for wine when Dawn finally tried to strike a meaningful conversation with Sedora.

"Mother, what is your business in South America?" she enquired casually as she sipped wine from her glass, a luxury she had very rarely these days because of Daryn's insistence.

Everyone in the room became deathly quiet as if Dawn had dropped some atom bomb of questions.

Sedora's expressions became stiff. She swirled her wine and ignored Dawn's question.

"I hear that you keep going to Amazon jungles. Is there something, which requires your full time attention?" Dawn insisted in the most casual way. Yes, she wanted to know what Sedora did in those jungles. She sipped more as she continued to look at her from under her thick eyelashes.

"It's none of your business," Sedora hissed. "You should be least bothered about what I do in Amazon jungles and see that your baby survives this pregnancy."

Daryn hissed. Gayle's expressions turned as if he was about to strike her. The atmosphere of the room turned hostile.

Pia and Caleb became quiet and gave warning looks to Dawn to back off.

However, Dawn chuckled. "There's no power in this world that is going to harm my child, but thank you for your concern." Savoring the flavor of the Napa Valley red wine, Dawn asked again, "So what is your business in Amazon jungles? Is it something that has to be kept secret from the family?"

Anger blazed off Sedora's face and tension radiated from her body. Her black irises flickered a golden yellow; it didn't go unnoticed by Dawn. The black curly hair began to rise behind her.

"Neotide!" Sedora said through her clenched teeth. "Keep within limits. Don't you ask me that question ever again."

Something about her flustered Dawn. She kept her cool in front of her and took a deep breath in.

Fearing for her life, Daryn interrupted the conversation. "Dawn, it is time to take your medicines honey. Let's go back to the room. You need to rest."

She smiled at Daryn for his endeavor to keep her safe but curiosity killed Dawn. She had to know what Sedora did in the Amazon jungles. That was a place where no one wanted to visit, and this woman had business there. There was something very odd about her. Metallic smell mixed with tar and burnt wood emanated from her and she wondered if she was the only one who smelled it on her. She stared at Sedora while sipping the rest of the wine slowly. Then she kept the glass on the side table and walked back to her bedroom with Daryn.

Back in the room, Daryn told her, "Don't ask my mother about her profession ever again Dawn." He slipped a nightgown on her. "She is very secretive about it and even father doesn't ask. I suspect that he knows, but he had mentioned a long time back that he wasn't interested in what she did." He covered her with a warm blanket and said, "Sometimes I pity him…"

When Daryn slid next to her after changing into his night pajamas, she buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around him. He kissed the crown of her head and said, "Honey, I just want this pregnancy to be as smooth as possible, and Sedora… She is bad news. So let her be and let her leave. I don't like her vibes around this place. Why do I feel that this house is just one of her abodes where she comes to check in just to make sure that things are going according to her…"

"Don't worry darling," Dawn said in a soft voice. "I am going to stay down. It's not worth any tension." She missed her brother. Both he and Neal had gone back to the cottage in the afternoon. Maybe this was a way Neal kept Cole out of trouble.

He kissed her again. "And thanks for forgiving my father. He truly likes you."

She smiled against his chest and closed her eyes.

'What is it Dawn?' asked Quetz, waking up from his slumber. 'It is night and I need to sleep. I came across this stupid tree, the fruit of which makes me trippy, but I love it. Hick!"

'What does the fruit look like?' she asked with irritation. Why were the boys around her so uncontrollable?

'It is a green, bulbous kind with thorns on all the sides. When I squash it in my jaws, the liquid gets splashed on my tongue and I feel so wonderful after that. I slept like a baby after it for the entire day.'

Dawn gritted her teeth. Her dragon was eating some kind of a poisonous plant or some drug. 'You will burn every of those trees from the Ensmoire forest," she commanded him.

Quetz got up with a jolt. 'No!'

'Yes, and that's my order!' She had to act as his rider often.

'Dawn?' he pleaded.

'No.'

She changed the topic, ' I need information about Sedora.' She went on to explain to him about her visits to Amazon jungles. 'Why does she go there and what is so important that keeps her from coming to her house?'

'Is it important?' asked Quetz.

'No…'

'Then we should let it pass.'

'No, I want to know.'

'I don't want you to get into any trouble.'

'I won't. You find out about it.'

'I can only try but it is not safe. That jungle is filled with crazy magic and taboo interiors and not to mention various portals to different parallel planes.'

'Oh! That's mighty interesting. Then I will go with you but let's postpone it for now. I want you to be safe.'

'We will see,' he said and flew away. He had to burn those trees. They had begun to grow in Ensmoire only a few weeks back. It was odd because they kind of sprouted and spread very quickly. At first it felt like the forest became infected, but today when for the first time he ate its fruit, Quetz fell into heaven. And now… he burnt the first one with his fire… sadly.

Next day Dawn avoided coming in front of Sedora. She got dressed and left with Daryn for the office. However, right from the time she woke up till she left, she heard Pia happily talking to Sedora telling her about her plans of ultrasound. "Mother, I will get my first ultrasound done today."

"It is too early for that Pia. Shouldn't you wait for four weeks more?" asked Sedora.

"Oh no! My doctor wants me to come today."