Just then Draven appeared among them. He had just returned from his talk with Morpheus. He walked towards them as everyone bowed towards the King. Draven looked at his mate with the same flat gaze which then moved to Aureus. "Aureus, there is someone you need to meet first before visiting your clan."
Aurus nodded. "Anyone related to my mother?"
"He is your uncle, your mother's older brother. You must have many things to talk about."
Aureus could not deny it. He could not wait to know more about his mother but was also curious to see other family members. Maybe his grandparents? Though it was strange and awkward, he wondered how they would react upon seeing him.
"When can I meet him?"
"He will be here soon," Draven said as he raised his head up to look at the sky. He knew Morpheus would not just sit idly after he got to know about the existence of his nephew. and must be hiding in the sky, watching them until he received a sign that he could come down..
Aureus looked up as well as he spotted someone of his kind flying behind the clouds. It was barely a small dot, but given his sharp eyesight, he found it. The winged man landed next to Aureus, his gray eyes unable to pull away from the young man the entire time. Morpheus had even seemingly forgotten the existence of Draven and the rest the moment his sight caught the form of the golden Divine Eagle from the sky. When he saw Draven and the young eagle turn in his direction, Morpheus' body moved on its own and sped towards the palace wall as if he was racing against the wind.
'Myra's son…'
The young eagle was beautiful in a neutral way, his facial features a strong resemblance to his sister's. It was not simply the color of his hair and eyes—it could be seen in the shape of his eyes, the tall nose, even that exquisite balance of sharpness and softness in his expression. Though Aureus was a handsome and well-built young man, he was on the leaner side, having strongly inherited the delicate features of his mother. At first glance, one would even think he was a younger Myra in masculine form.
On the other hand, Aureus felt a strange sense of familiarity despite seeing the gray eagle for the first time. He was obviously a stranger, but he felt as if this man was someone he could depend on.
'He doesn't look like Mother…'
Though Aureus was merely a child when he lost his mother, he could still vividly remember her face. Morpheus and Myra were siblings, but Morpheus strongly inherited the valiant and muscular appearance of their father, the former Chief of Shapeshifters, while Myra had a softer, sunny look that resembled their mother.
Aside from the faint similarities in the shape of their mouth and eyes, the siblings look nothing alike.
'But that lopsided smile, Mother used to smile like that whenever she saw me coming back from playing…'
The resonance in their blood was undeniable. Not to mention, the warm though complex gaze the gray eagle had for him helped Aureus feel less nervous.
"I will leave you two to talk," Draven said as he looked at Ember. "Shall we?"
Ember nodded, and together with her servants, they followed Draven as they walked away from the two shapeshifters. Even Erlos gave a small bow in their direction before following his master's departure.
Morpheus and Aureus were left on their own. Both didn't know how to initiate their talk.
The older eagle almost laughed at how silly they were acting. He deliberately let out a cough. "Would you like to go somewhere, kiddo?" Morpheus asked.
Aureus was conflicted over what to say first—whether he should act filial and polite, acknowledging their relationship without a fuss, or a bit more cautious and sensible since his uncle was still basically a stranger. Unknown to him, his tense shoulders relaxed when he saw how casual the other man was speaking to him.
'Family…my family…'
"Follow me then," Morpheus said as he opened his large wings once again to fly and Aureus followed his pace.
Meanwhile, upon the sound of wings flapping, Ember and others could not help but turn around and witnessed the two shapeshifters flying away. They could not blink upon the sight of the glorious pair of wings covered in golden feathers, each of them seemingly reflecting sunlight. It was blindingly beautiful, to the point it even overshadowed Morpheus' majestic ash gray wings.
Once the Divine Eagles left, the group led by Draven resumed walking. He spoke up after a while. "He is Morpheus' nephew, the son of his sister, Myra."
Ember nodded. "Morph had told me about her before. He misses her a lot." After a while, she added, "I am glad that he got to meet his nephew but… his sister didn't come back with her son?"
"There is some issue. I hope we will solve it soon," Draven answered to which Ember simply nodded again. Though she was curious, she didn't ask what kind of issue it was. If it was something that Draven could say, he would have told her right away.
As they neared the garden near his study, Draven remembered something. "There are some important things going on, and I might work outside the palace until it's resolved. If you wish to see me, you can tell Erlos."
Seeing his mate look down, her hands fidgeting on her sleeves, he asked, "Is there anything you want to talk about?"
Ember sure had something to talk about. Earlier, Yula convinced her to talk with Draven about the issue of having children.
'Should I raise it to him now?'
She turned her head to look at the man who was walking next to her. He didn't look affected despite her being in her fertile days. He was behaving normally.
Either he was truly not affected or he was good at controlling himself.
'So he will be busy?'
Ember felt how nice it was to talk with him without their desires clouding their senses and could not help but raise the corners of her lips into a small smile. It was the first time he informed her about his day's plan, and it was like an ordinary working husband informing his stay-at-home wife about his job.
Draven felt her warm gaze on him and turned to look at her with a puzzled gaze. Their eyes met and Ember blushed.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" Draven asked again, momentarily wondering what made his mate react that way.
Ember shook her head in fluster. She didn't want to ruin this pleasant mood. They could always talk later about whether or not Draven wanted children, and at the back of her mind, she could not help but feel they might argue over it because she didn't want one.