by LJ Andrews
Chapter 15
The willow was peaceful. No matter how disruptive the surrounding world became, I could always count on the willow. If mages were so dishonored, so cut off from our people, why then would they leave us with such a blessed gift?
I couldn’t shake the mounting discomfort Eisha had wittingly placed in my mind over Teagan’s markings. Grinding my teeth and descending in a flurry of frustration, I struggled to find my decision.
Eisha was convinced Teagan could not be an honorable mage because the jade color didn’t exist. At least not anymore. I thought of my parents. Had the High Priest and Priestess been their mages? If the jade line betrayed us, which of them had been the traitor? Or had they both turned on us?
An ache in the pit of my stomach bloomed as I thought too long on the idea. I hated the very concept of Teagan being sinister enough to fool me in such a way. Though I had known Teagan for a matter of weeks, Eisha had been a part of my life since my birth. Her fear and disdain for the mages was genuine.
Rippling along the grass was a trickle of energy. The warmth of it wrapped around my body, holding me close as though the willow’s clearing knew I needed reassurance.
I smiled gently and crawled closer to the base of the tree trunk, then rested my open palm across the smooth bark. The peace was all-encompassing. Grinning up at the sunbeams spreading through the broken boughs and crumbling leaves, I could almost hear the word trust bouncing on the wind.
When the earth spoke to me, it settled in my mind and heart. The willow had an unusual way of speaking. I could feel the words surge my blood with new warmth every time.
I opened the mage history and skimmed the entries, all written by hand, until I found a particular entry that caught my eye.
Mage armor: bequeathed through honor and loyalty to the sacred wyvern race. The growth of armor recites the tale of the mage’s devotion. Armor of a mage declares status and dignity amongst the priesthood.
On the page was drawn another figure of a cloaked man. Though in this image the mage was without his hood, and I could make out the markings of the wyvern along his neck and even his face. A second body was placed next to the first, and the cloak was replaced by armor of the most unusual sort. The helmet curled around the face and the limbs and middle were covered, as if the armor were simply a part of the mage’s skin.
If Teagan were a mage, then the marks were armor. I shook my head, unable to grasp it all in my own mind, and read on.
Coupling: an unbreakable bond and vow of the mage with wyvern. Ceremonial coupling is arranged between a wyvern and mage by the council of mage priests and elders of wyvern.
Fated coupling: a bond with no prejudice between pairs. Selection occurs unbeknownst to the councils, though should not be disregarded. The gods of destiny supply a fated bond to hold fast through the eternities. Broken through betrayal and treason alone.
I reread the passage at least five times. The idea of a mage bonding with a wyvern fascinated and thrilled me to the very core. All my life, I’d believed the powers of the earth belonged only to the wyvern race and had never understood the death of mage magic. Magis districts were the namesakes of mages, but I’d thought little of them.
But they were the other oldest power. Once tending the elements alongside us.
I did not remember the mage with my parents and for the slightest moment I shared painful sympathy for Eisha. She’d been through the thick of the fighting, she’d lost her mate—though we rarely spoke of Gregor. I knew him to be one of the fiercest warriors of our time. If a mage played a part in his death, it wasn’t likely Eisha would ever accept the fate that our people should rejoin with our former defenders.
My thoughts drifted to Teagan and the marks along his arms. I still understood little, but they meant something—they were supposed to protect him like the image of armor in the book and it relieved a piece of me. I couldn’t explain my need for him, an unquenchable thing only satisfied if he was near. I scanned the page of the book again. It was almost as though we were . . .
Fated bond.
The willow’s voice sent a shiver down my spine, and I nodded. “That’s what I was just thinking.”
I brushed my fingers over the symbol on the book.
The sun curled across the sky, deepening into a reddish orb as it prepared to bid farewell to the day. I hadn’t realized how long I’d been away.
I ought to return home to check on Eisha—she’d been so upset. But instead, I turned through the thick trees toward Wyvern Reform. There was so much I had to tell Teagan, so much I needed to learn from him. If he was dangerous, I was confident I would sense it. If he was not—well, then, I hoped the churning excitement of my insides would keep swimming every time I saw Teagan Ward.
***
I was careful of who would be allowed to see me enter the house. As my magic burst through the rooms and hallways of the house, each time someone became blinded to my presence a little bit of light went dark.
Konrad was difficult, he’d been blocking me for years. Manipulating a fellow royal was hard enough, but when he actively resisted it was nearly impossible.
When I stepped near the front porch, I was overwhelmed with a pressure blocking my attempts to find Sapphire’s energy. I cursed his name for making it harder to find Teagan.
Rounding the house, I looked to Teagan’s gabled window. The trellis was nothing for me to climb, and the higher from the ground I was, the happier I seemed to be. Perhaps it reminded me of flying.
His light was on, which was surprising since he was banned to the scratchy cot in the front room. I scaled the house carefully, peering around the window in case . . .
I groaned. Sapphire stood in the room, speaking to Teagan.
It was quite possible Konrad would sense my presence—he had such a talent with energies—but I couldn’t resist pressing my ear against the wooden siding so I could hear. Wyvern didn’t have the best hearing of all the creatures, but it was superior to humans, and a thin wall couldn’t keep out the tone of Sapphire’s boom.
“Are you telling me you don’t want your room back?” Sapphire asked.
“Not at all, sir,” Teagan said with a notable bite. “I’m wondering why I’ve earned the room back. I thought it was lost for a month.”
“Because I feel you’ve shown a great deal of remorse, Teagan,” Sapphire said.
I covered my mouth, stifling a laugh. Though Teagan couldn’t sense the same things as me, I was bombarded by Konrad’s guilt. He knew Teagan was innocent, and it didn’t suit my fellow royal’s temperament to punish an innocent.
“We reward positive behavior here,” Sapphire finished.
“Is that the truth?”
Tread carefully, Teagan, I thought.
“Why would you think anything different?” Sapphire challenged.
“I don’t know, sir. You tell me.”
Sapphire was quiet, but I embraced the wave of concerned energy filtering around the man. Konrad was worried—about Teagan or himself, I couldn’t quite gauge.
“I’m going to let you sleep,” Sapphire finally said. “If you opt not to keep the room, fine. Goodnight, Teagan. I’ll leave the cot out if you determine you’d rather sleep downstairs because I must have ulterior motives.”
I listened for Sapphire to leave the room, feeling his strength tromp down the hallway toward the stairs. When he was gone, I quickly wrapped my energy around Teagan’s room, convincing anyone the door should remain closed at all costs. Easier to do without Konrad nearby.
I worried my bottom lip, and slid the window open without a sound. Teagan wore black clothes that hugged the corded muscle of his body. When I touched his arm, he nearly fell off his feet.
“Jade!” he breathed in a husky whisper. “What are you doing here? I thought I was meeting you.”
“I was already out, figured I would save you a trip.”
“You want to stay here?”
“Why not? Sapphire won’t be coming back soon,” I said, mentally checking to f
eel my own power blocking the door and window. I hated to admit it, but I might be testing Teagan. Did he want to take me away from the aid of Sapphire should I need help? Would he insist we leave?
Teagan didn’t. With a shrug, he motioned for me to step into the room.
Eisha was wrong.
Whatever it was about Teagan, whether it was some bond of fate or that I was simply drawn to his attractive face, it grew harder to breathe—in a good way. Teagan followed close behind me, leaving the window open. Good, I needed to feel the night breeze.
“Well, this is about all I’ve got to my name.” He eyed me cautiously, defenses up.
All gods, I could only guess what he thought. Telepathy was how we spoke in our true dragon forms, but how I wished I could use it now to read his thoughts. Did he think I was insane, still. Did he want me here?
He’d been coming to meet me—that meant something, didn’t it?
“I’m not sure what more we need.” I sat on the corner of the cheap mattress. Teagan hesitated, and in the end, he opted to pull the wooden chair from the desk and sat in front of me. I tilted my head to meet his eye. “How are you doing after what I told you?”
My breath hitched when he studied his hands. “Honestly, part of me is convinced either I’m insane, or you are.”
Not exactly what I’d wanted to hear, but his hands covered mine. His eyes were like blue fire. Little by little, his grip left my hands and rested on my thighs.
Never mind, now I couldn’t breathe.
My blood naturally sat a constant boil, but in this moment, it froze within me like electric ice.
His voice was soft and intoxicating when he spoke again. “But when I see you, I can’t help but feel like I need to be next to you—that I need to be there for you. Are you all right? I . . . don’t know how to explain this, but when you weren’t at school I had a bad feeling. Like you weren’t okay. Jade, I was sick all afternoon because of it. Not just feeling sick—I got sick. I think that’s half the reason why Sapphire let me back in my room.”
Swallowing hard, I moved my face slightly closer toward his. His scent was all my favorite smells had combined in one perfect woodsy aroma. Infatuation, or the connection between us?
I really didn’t care. “I have a confession. Sapphire didn’t give you your room back because you were sick. He feels badly, and I think he wants to keep an eye on you.”
Teagan furrowed his brow. “Keep an eye on me? What am I going to do?” Teagan’s voice fell into a soft whisper. “If he is who you said, what would I be able to do? He can eat me, right?”
The laugh was louder than I’d intended. Teagan grinned but instantly checked his door.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m imagining how you must think of us in our true forms. You’re thinking towering, skyscraper, flesh-eating lizards, right?”
Teagan flushed. “Well, fairy tale dragons were usually the fire-breathing bad guys.”
“Yes, well, there have been several wyvern wars, and one of them involved uneducated, ridiculous humans centuries ago. Those fairy tales are slander in the purest form.”
“Okay, it sounds like no knight-slaying-dragon stories for you.” Teagan curled his fingertips around mine.
“Not unless it’s the dragon who is victorious,” I insisted. “Sapphire won’t eat you—he can’t shift anyway. The forest supplies our food, so we don’t eat people who look like our human forms. Not even imps.”
Teagan laughed and I thought I might do anything to draw out the sound again.
“Like all magis, dragons come in different shapes and sizes. Some of us are large and bulky like those slanderous tales, others are petite and small. It might surprise you the dragon clans were typically quite gentle. Powerful, of course.”
“Of course,” Teagan said, a light in his eyes.
“But we try to be compassionate to all energies. Though, we are sometimes . . . overprotective.” My smiled faded, but I traced the lines of his palms. “When we age and allow ourselves to pass, and we return our energy to the forests, or deserts, or oceans. Wherever the wyvern calls home, really.”
“Allow yourself to pass?”
I nodded, knowing it would be a strange concept. “Unless we are killed, wyvern can live for thousands of years if we choose. Most opt to pass before then, and their energy peacefully fades and the body dies. It is a conscious choice, of course.”
“This is all so—I don’t know—I want to say insane, but it doesn’t feel insane. I knew dragons existed, but to me, they’ve been dead forever.”
I scooted off the edge of the bed slightly, my thumb absorbing the shocking surge passing between our hands.
He used a knuckle to tilt my chin. “So are you all right?”
His eyes searched for something in mine. I shook my head. “I spoke with Eisha and she didn’t take it well.”
“What happened?” he asked, moving from the chair to my side on the edge of his bed.
I recited everything, explained how Eisha didn’t trust him—what good was it to leave out the truth? Teagan’s face fell, and he leaned forward on his knees when I finished. I took out the old book from my back pocket and tapped the corner against Teagan’s arm.
“What’s this?” he asked, voice rough.
“This is the book. The one of the mage.”
“Jade, I’m not . . . I’m not this mage thing,” he said, though still took the book from my hands. “I don’t have powers. I’m not a warrior.”
“I admit, I didn’t know much of the mage until today. I certainly didn’t know they were the wards of my people. But if it’s true, Teagan, it would explain why the others are so wary of those marks on your arms. And whether we want to admit it or not, the idea that you descend from mage explains a lot of empty holes. You sense things, you stopped a zomok, the willow speaks the same energy I feel inside you. Your power is dormant. Perhaps, like me, someone blocked your magic.”
Teagan thumbed through the book for several minutes. I stayed quiet, allowing him to read and enjoying the way the muscles in his jaw and neck pulsed.
“So,” he said after some time. He was studying the image of the mage armor. “Ms. Drake—or Eisha—believes it’s impossible for one of these mages to connect with you?”
“Someone of my bloodline.” I was fully aware I hadn’t explained the status of royals. How would he react if he knew what I was meant to be?
“The one who protects that . . . jade stone? Why is your bloodline different that you wouldn’t have a defender or mage?”
I studied the simple lamp on his desk, my heart leaping to my throat. “Eisha told me a mage for me would come from the highest mage bloodline, which ended with the High Priestess. The highest mage blood used to defend the highest wyvern blood. Just like any royal family, there are those who are the ones who will ascend the throne.”
“What are you saying?”
“My mother was in line to be the next queen of elemental wyvern, Teagan. You know my parents were killed.”
Teagan’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you saying you’re . . . the queen?”
My pulse pounded in my skull. “I like to say I’m a queen in training. I wasn’t set to rise to the throne for centuries. I’m the youngest queen in our history, which is why we’ve been protected for so long. So I may learn and grow and allow the elders to guide our people for now.
“Things changed when we ran from our homes, when we came here. I’m not certain I will ever rule as my grandfather did before me. Before you came,” I continued, my voice shifting to a soft hush, and I took his hand again. “I found myself questioning my purpose more and more. I felt so weak, powerless even. What sort of queen could I be? But you bring me strength like I’ve never known. When Eisha told me of the mages, to me, it made sense. It explained my connection with you, how your power fueled me. Doesn’t it explain things to you?”
Teagan turned the book in his hands once before meeting my eyes. “In some ways, but I’m not supposed to have your color, right?�
�� He met my gaze sharply and with a new determination. “Jade, you don’t believe what she thinks, do you? That I’m fooling you somehow or trying to harm you? Because I would never, never harm you.”
My throat was dry when he spoke. He said the word with such passion, I shuddered, again foolishly wanting to bring myself even closer, though I resisted. “I trust you, Teagan.”
He shifted his body, his strong hand rested on the side of my face and sent me into a whirlwind of wyvern emotions. Maybe I’d been in human form too long because I’d seen this feeling so many times in movies I’d watched. The glazed eyes and floating sensation before a couple kissed. I wanted Teagan to kiss me—I’d never experienced one—but nowhere in the book did it say mage and wyvern united as lovers. Only companions—warriors with a common bond to protect the other. Not this. Not what I desired without shame.
“We’re going to figure this out,” he said.
His nose dipped close to mine, lips only inches away. I held my breath, waiting for that sweet moment—what would a kiss do to my energy? I couldn’t wait to find out as slowly, with an underlying thrill, Teagan moved ever closer.
From downstairs came a booming shout.
It wasn’t a cry of pain—no, it was a shout of war and battle. I heard those cries in my nightmares. My heart bludgeoned my rib cage. We jumped to our feet, my body tense.
Sapphire was undoubtedly under attack.
Chapter 16
Desperation fueled my steps, and I nearly tore the door from its hinges when we bounded out of Teagan’s room. The door had been locked. Sapphire never locked the doors. But between the two of us, the weak brass knob and hinges didn’t stand a chance. In the long hallway other students were banging on the doors, locked away from the scuffle downstairs.
Teagan swore loudly when we took to the stairs and there, sprawled out, was the body of the balding man Sapphire had hired two years earlier. His eyes were open, staring blankly at the ceiling, a gash along his throat.
“That’s Bart.” Teagan shot out his arm, blocking me from taking another step. I noticed for the first time how his shoulders were heaving, and small beads of sweat were already dripping over his forehead. The ancient markings on his arms had brightened, and the skin beneath the jade strokes was irritated and angry. “Stay here, Jade. Please.”