Silence was the only shield Rio had at that moment. He could do nothing, react in no way. The woman who was called the strongest dragon in the world knew his true identity, the Ice Dragon. This truth was a threat heavier even than the deadly shadow of the Starman. Rio's heart pounded with fear, but his face was as still as stone.
Valentina, with a mysterious smile lingering at the corner of her lips, said as she carefully ran the scissors over the bloody bandages:
"When William first sent me a letter and said his son was the Ice Dragon, I was ready to fly across half the world to reach the Sun Tribe. I didn't care how beautiful or valuable the boy was. I just wanted to kill you.."
Her words echoed in the room like a cold dagger. Rio, with eyes widened in fear, didn't dare even blink.
Valentina suddenly stood up, took the scissors, and walked toward the fireplace. She held the tip of the scissors in the fire to heat it, and as the orange light of the flames danced on her face, she continued:
"But then I changed my mind. I don't know why? Maybe the pity I felt for William, or maybe my own curiosity about a legend that had taken on the color of reality."
She turned back to Rio, the heated scissors gleaming in her hand. She cut the last bandage with a swift motion, and Rio's fresh wound was revealed in the fireplace's light, bloody and raw. Rio still stared at her, as if looking away for a moment would let death swallow him. Valentina soaked a cloth in alcohol and began cleaning the wound, continuing:
"In any case, I let you live. And I read the letters William sent me over these six years. About your behavior, about everything you did, William kept me informed."
She shrugged her shoulders and, with a tone that seemed to enjoy the conversation, said:
"I don't know, maybe your father was afraid I'd come for you one day. That's why he wanted to familiarize me with you as much as possible. He wanted to make me understand that, even if you're the Ice Dragon, Rio Calimore is a boy beyond an Ice Dragon. He's a kid who knows the meaning of love and cares about everyone except himself."
Valentina poured the alcohol directly onto Rio's fresh wound. The sound of burning skin in contact with the alcohol echoed in the room, but Rio didn't even blink. The pain of the wound was nothing compared to the fear that had swallowed his being. His eyes, like two dark pits, were locked on Valentina. Valentina, seeing his silence, smiled, but her smile was cold and mysterious.
"You know, if I'm to be honest with you, I've completely given up on killing you. But I hope you'll tell me why one of the most powerful beings in the world wanted to kill you a few days ago? And for that, he was even willing to destroy an empire!"
Rio, with a voice that seemed dragged from the depths of his throat, whispered:
"I don't know."
Valentina stared at him for a moment, her turquoise eyes searching Rio's soul like a blade.
Moments later, she began re-bandaging Rio's wound, with precise, ruthless, but calm movements.
When she finished, she stood up, gathered her supplies, and as she walked toward the door, smirked and said:
"Six years?"
She opened the door and continued: "William was right. There's something about you."
With Valentina's exit, silence filled the room again like a heavy shadow. But moments later, the door opened quietly, and Nadia entered. She closed the door behind her and looked at Rio. Her eyes fell on Rio's severed wrist, then locked onto his tired and depressed eyes. With a voice full of anger and sarcasm, she said:
"A few more days when the storm calms down we'll move. Ester Bay is completely frozen now. We can cross the sea and reach the mainland and the human empire."
Rio staring into Nadia's angry and cold eyes, said in a hoarse and broken voice:
"She knows."
Nadia shook her head and said: "What?"
Rio lowered his head, his gaze falling on his severed wrist. With a voice that seemed to come from the depths of endless pain, he said:
"Valentina knows I'm the Ice Dragon."
Nadia's face suddenly paled, her eyes widening in shock. With a trembling voice, she said:
"What? How?"
Rio shook his head and continued:
"Father has been sending her letters since the moment I was born. She knows everything about me. She spoke as if Father had asked her permission for me to live. I'm alive because she allowed it."
Nadia, still in shock, turned her head around, as if searching for an answer in the stone walls. Then she let out a deep sigh and said:
"All this time, Father made us keep this secret, but he himself easily told others? What's wrong with him?"
Rio, still with his head down, whispered:
"Do you think she's really the great Valentina?"
Nadia paused for a moment, her eyes falling on the fireplace, its light casting trembling shadows on the wall. In a soft voice, she said:
"I don't know. She seems too ordinary. But if I've learned anything, it's that you can't tell much about a person from their appearance."
Nadia stared at Rio for another moment, then walked toward the exit door. She opened the door but, before leaving, without looking at Rio, said in a soft and cold voice:
"I'm not asking you anything for now because we don't have time. But if something has happened to Father or Adrina, anything, anything at all, I'll bring a hundred times, a thousand times, a million times worse upon you."
With that, she slammed the door behind her. The sound of the door closing echoed in the room like thunder. Rio put his hands on his face, lay back on the bed, and stared at the stone ceiling. His heart trembled under the weight of anger, fear, and sorrow. As the fireplace's light danced on his pale face, he whispered:
"Family?"