With the magic spreading small saplings sprung out of the carpet, which started growing tall. It was as if nature exploded out of her and transformed the world around her and she had challenged the man's boldness to destroy nature. When she opened her eyes, she could see everything that was never there before. She saw magic. She saw tendrils of magic flowing from her. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she felt the pain of nature. By the time she came back to her senses, she was in Brantley's arms.

"Bianca," he called her, his voice loaded with worry and concern.

​​

Bianca blinked to see what had happened. Her mind and body felt so much more powerful that she couldn't believe it. She was drenched with sweat and swallowed the saliva down her throat. Brantley had curled one arm tightly around her waist while the other one was grasping her shoulders. He had pressed her against his chest. So much energy was drained from her that she felt cold and shivered.

"What just happened to me?" she rasped, when she thought she could speak. "How did this all happen?"

Brantley scooped her up and made her sit on the sofa. Once he dragged cushions under her to prop her up, he lifted her legs and placed them up on his lap. He continuously rubbed her feet.

He was so worried looking at her that Bianca sympathized with him. Then she looked at her father and asked, "What is going on Daddy?"

Daryn took a chair and sat right next to her because he knew that Brantley would not leave her side now on the sofa. Dawn gave him a cloth and he wiped her sweat. He stroked her hair and said, "You always had that magic in you Bia, but both me and your mother decided to restrain that magic in you because we live amongst humans. When you kids were small, you were barely able to control your magic. There were too many instances that couldn't be overlooked. For the first few years, we struggled with both of you and tried to not let you go out of the Silver Mansion. But as you grew, it was difficult for us to contain your magic. We had to put you in the schools. What do you think would have happened if both of you would have accidently used your magic on the humans? You would have been outcast immediately, and termed as freaks. No one would have given you admission in his or her schools. After all, who would have wanted their children to be affected by magic? Now the main part here is that a treaty was signed between humans and the Lore creatures. According to the treaty we cannot use our magic in the human realm. There are serious repercussions of doing that."

Daryn remembered how he had reported Kar'den to the council for sending winged demons to his home to attack Dawn to kill her and the kids by using their magic. He shuddered thinking that. But as soon as he reported Kar'den, the council members banned him and his people from entering the human realm. That incident was a strong warning to all the Lore creatures.

"What repercussions?" Bianca asked, fear crawling on her skin.

The kids knew that they were the creatures of the Lore. They had been to Ulfric with their parents many times and had seen dwarves on two occasions.

"Humans ban the Lore creatures from entering their realm if they find them using their magic. Not only that other Lore creatures also impose economic and trade bans. It is a very harsh punishment, one which none of us can afford."

Darius walked to sit next to his father. He now understood the kind of responsibility his father was facing. And he had been so calm all the time. He realized how much his parents protected the two of them not only from the Lore punishments, but also from their own magic. He took his father's hand in his and just… sat there.

Daryn smiled. "We wanted you guys to have a normal education with the human kids, and so we decided to contain your magic until the two of you were old enough to understand the responsibilities that come with it."

"But you could have mentioned about it?" said Bianca with an exasperated expression, finally finding her voice.

"Like I said Bia, I didn't want to take any chance. We wanted you to be as normal as possible. Very few humans know about werewolves, isn't it? We have closely protected our communities from human intervention. You already know the code of conduct. It is necessary to prevent harm to the humans and to us," said Daryn. He remembered how much of a target he was to humans who wanted to experiment on him because he was the only werewolves who could take a silver bullet.

Dawn knew what he was thinking. She came to him and pressed her face on his head. "I love you baby," she whispered.

Daryn turned and kissed her. "I love you too," he smiled and patted her hand.

"So why have you removed my necklace today?" asked Bianca. "And why aren't you removing Darius's necklace?" Then she looked at Brantley who was looking like he was keeping a close watch on her. "And how do you know him?" She was feeling better with her father's explanations but once again she had a thousand questions.

Daryn was about to open his mouth to give her the answer, when suddenly Bianca said, "Daddy wait!" Before he formed opinions about him, she had to tell it to him.

Daryn frowned.

"Come hear," she beckoned him with her index finger. "I have to say something in your ear. It is very private."

Daryn leaned over to her and she pressed her mouth to his ear. She whispered in a voice that was like a tendril of soft wave, "Daddy, did you see anything in the garden?"

At first he arched his eyebrow and then Daryn burst out laughing.

"What is it?" asked Dawn, totally amused at the joke the two were sharing. Even with their heightened sense of hearing they couldn't listen to what Bianca said.

Bianca blushed and Daryn didn't know what to do with her. He beckoned her and whispered, "Maybe I did."

Bianca's eyes became wide. Her blush deepened. Did her parents see them kissing wildly in the garden? She bit her lip, looked at an amused Brantley, and then lowered her head. Brantley removed his hands from her legs and she didn't like it.

"So why have you taken my medallion out?" she asked again in order to change the topic.

"I have removed your necklace because we can't delay it anymore, and as for Darius," he looked at Darius, "this boy is still coping with shifting. Every damn emotion makes him shift. If I remove that medallion from him, I can't even imagine what kind of emotions he is going to face." He looked back at Bianca. "I fear for him Bia." He curled his hand below her chin. "But you—you are much stronger. Also you haven't yet shifted, and I don't know why. At the same time, I feel that you will shift, maybe just later. Maybe you haven't come across that trigger point which would force you to shift."

Darius interjected softly, "Thanks Daddy. I will let you know when to remove the medallion." He was so thankful to his father.

"I will know when you are ready Darius," said Daryn with a wink.