by AJ Sherwood
Cameron managed a strained smile. “Yeah. You can safely say that.”
“I’ve hot tea and brownies waiting inside. Some comfort food might make it easier to adjust your world view.”
“Even if it doesn’t, I turn down brownies exactly never.”
With a subterranean chuckle, Baldewin turned and led the way.
If the exterior of the castle wowed Cameron, the interior threatened to melt his eyes. It was so incredibly detailed—every molding, every tile. Just stepping into the connecting hallway that led inside was full of carved wood paneling, wooden floors laid out in a cross-square pattern with inlays, and breathtaking murals painted on the walls depicting people feasting, riding, picnicking. Of dragons flying and soaring through skies with billowing white clouds. He could spend a year in this hallway alone trying to see every detail of it.
Just how much time had it taken to really build this castle? He felt like Alric’s answers before were too vague. Wait, should he be calling him King Alric? His Majesty? Cameron had zero clue on how to address dragon royalty. Which hadn’t seemed an oversight until precisely now.
He had no chance to ask before he was led into a room where Baldewin had obviously set up in. It was, like everything else, filled with carved wooden panels on the bottom half of the walls, the top section with gold filigree over the white in ornate contrast. The very center of the room held a round table with a red velvet tablecloth, a two-tier tray of brownies set on little paper doilies, and a tea set of white porcelain with gold trim ready to serve.
Alric pulled a chair out for him, which Cameron took thankfully. He really needed to sit and process all of this. Baldewin took the last empty chair after Alric settled next to Cameron.
Alric sat and poured a cup of tea before asking, “Sugar, cream?”
“Two sugars, thanks.” Should a king be serving him? The expression on Baldewin’s face said no. But he wasn’t about to argue.
Alric handed him the tea with a slight smile before pouring his own. “Baldewin, to catch you up, we discussed a bit of mage lines and dragons on the way up here. Cameron is of the Noh Clan.”
“Oh!” Baldewin’s face lit up in understanding. “That makes so much more sense.”
“I thought it might. But the family did little to pass down their history, so for his sake, I will speak of the basics. I don’t want him further confused.” Alric stirred his tea with an idle motion, speaking to Cameron directly. “I told you of how mages like to bond with dragons, and why.”
Cameron nodded, showing he was following.
“There is much to tell you on that score, but I will give the gist for now. What I said before is only one reason. We dragons can only bond—or marry as you humans like to put it—with mages. We cannot bond with each other. We cannot have children with each other. When a dragon meets the person they are supposed to marry—a fated mate, if you will—we know it. It might take days or weeks or even months for that realization to come, but we are sure of it once it does. But we’re hardly chaste until the right person comes along, as frankly we never know at what time that will happen.”
Baldewin snorted, helping himself to a brownie. “Dieter was three hundred and twenty when he met Lisette, if that tells you anything.”
Cameron had no idea who those two people were but took the point. “God, could you imagine being celibate that long, waiting for your fated mate?” Cameron murmured, talking mostly to himself. He shivered and saw a matching look of discomfort on Baldewin’s face. “So you date until you find the right person? I mean, that’s pretty obvious to me. Humans do that too.”
“Precisely. But it doesn’t always end well.” Alric sighed. “Many, many years ago, before the Dragon War, there was a young mage by the name of Kaiser Jaeggi who fell in love with a dragon. The two were lovers, a casual affair, as the dragon knew Kaiser wasn’t his fated mate. Then, one day, the dragon found who he was looking for. Naturally, he broke off the affair.” Alric paused, licking his lips. He looked uncomfortable and maybe even sad. “Some don’t handle such breakups well—in this case, the mage handled it very poorly indeed. He went mad, beyond heartbroken that he wasn’t the dragon’s choice. He became unhinged and chose to curse the mage lines.”
This rang a distant bell. Cameron felt like he’d heard part of this story before. “Wait. Wait, you’re telling me the Dragon War started because a guy was jilted?”
Grimacing, Baldewin answered around a mouthful of brownie. “Basically. He secretly took up a collection of every bit of blood he could lay hands on, targeting the larger of the mage clans. Five hundred years later, we’re still not entirely sure how he did it, but he cursed the lines and killed most of the mages overnight. Only the smaller magical clans remained, the ones he hadn’t targeted.”
“There were hundreds of smaller clans, but the Twenty-Six—the major clans—were wiped out overnight. In the wake of that destruction, dragons lost mates as well. Not to mention friends and companions.” Alric’s eyes closed, dark and pained. “It was what sent us to war against Kaiser’s clan. We couldn’t let what he had done stand. We fought him viciously and lost even more, as the dragons without their mages battled magic without protections. The war was brutal, horrifying, and at the end, the decimation was almost complete.”
Baldewin gave Alric a sad nod, a man who knew precisely what the other felt. “We lost whole clans of dragons, too. The smaller mage clans who survived the fallout went into hiding, fearing Kaiser might still be alive. Or that his surviving clan might go after them for revenge. We dragons have been searching for any members of the magical clans for centuries and haven’t had a speck of luck.”
“Until you.” Alric smiled at Cameron and it was like the sun peeking out from behind cloudy skies. “You’re the first mage we’ve seen in five hundred years, Cameron Park. And I cannot express how joyous we are to find you.”
Alric hated indecision. But when he looked at Cameron’s wide-eyed, dazed expression—the young man clearly felt completely overwhelmed—Alric hesitated.
Was it all too much? Should he slow down? Maybe pause and tackle the rest of this information another day? It could be enough to know the real story behind what happened to dragons and his own people. That was more than enough for anyone to digest.
Ravi appearing in his dragon form had certainly helped clear away those lingering questions about whether dragons still existed.
And while Cameron might not be fond of his chosen profession, it was obvious he had a scientific, logical mind. He needed hard, irrefutable proof that dragons lived.
While he didn’t seem to be struggling with the dragon part of things, it appeared the idea of mages and Cameron’s own place in this world wasn’t clicking yet. When those final puzzle pieces fell into place in Cameron’s mind, Alric wasn’t sure if he should expect excitement or horror. He prayed for the former but wouldn’t count on it.
Picking up a spoon, he once again stirred his untouched tea. He glanced over at Cameron’s teacup to find it still full, and his brownie sat untouched on the plate. If Ravi had just waited, he might have been able to fill Cameron with chocolate, making him more malleable.
Right now, Cameron was listening to Baldewin talk about how few of the Fire Clan still existed. Not words he trusted himself to say without a heavy dose of bitterness. The shrinking of his people was thanks to his own failings. If his father was still alive, he would have found a way to locate the missing mages much more quickly. He would have kept the pervasive feeling of hopelessness at bay.
But after five hundred years, Alric struggled with feeling as if he were still racing to catch up with where he should be. Always a step behind, and his people were the ones who paid the price for all his inadequacies.
Today, that was all going to change.
Cameron was here now, and he even had a sister. They’d located two mages. If he could speak to Cameron’s grandmother, then she might be able to remember other people who could be linked to the Noh Clan. At long last, they ha
d a thread to follow, and it could save them all.
It all started with Cameron. He had to understand his importance to them all.
“I just…I can’t believe this,” Cameron whispered in shock. “Has the Fire Clan always been in this area?” Thrusting his fingers through his hair, he tightly gripped his lovely silken locks and pulled. “I don’t remember reading that in my dragon studies class in high school. Damn that final’s phenomena. I swear I’ve forgotten ninety percent of what I learned in class.”
Baldewin chuckled, and a part of Alric wanted to send his old childhood friend away. Having Cameron all to himself yesterday had been an exciting dream Alric wasn’t ready to give up. That was unrealistic, though. He couldn’t monopolize him and shouldn’t try. Alric knew in his bones that Cameron was a mate to one of the Fire Clan. Quite possibly Ravi, considering their similar playfulness and his clan’s history of matching with the Wind Dragon Clan.
Or maybe Gunter. The royal researcher had a logical mind just like Cameron. A good leader would be sending for Gunter right this second so they could meet and learn more about each other.
“Hoheit?”
Alric’s head snapped up, and he straightened to find both Baldewin and Cameron watching him with questioning looks.
“Is everything well?” Baldewin asked, his eyes dipping to Alric’s hand.
Alric glanced down to find he’d bent the spoon he’d been holding nearly in half. Embarrassing. Forcing what was likely an unconvincing smile on his lips, Alric surreptitiously straightened the spoon again. “Forgive me. I was lost in thought for a moment. You were saying?”
“Baldewin was saying that Ravi is the only member of the Wind Clan living among the Fire Clan. That he was adopted at the end of the war. Is that normal?”
Alric shook his head. “Before the war, no. But the Dragon War and all its devastating consequences changed many things for us.” The fire in Alric’s chest was banked under the weight of loss that came with speaking about the war. “The various dragon clans didn’t always get along.”
Baldewin snorted. “The Fire and Ice Clans have never been too keen on each other.”
A small smile tilted up one corner of Alric’s mouth. “Still aren’t.” He looked over at Cameron and shrugged his right shoulder. “We don’t actively war…not anymore, but our clans have never been great friends. We’ve been accused of being impulsive hotheads.”
Cameron snickered as Alric had hoped. “I really can’t imagine anyone calling you impulsive. You seem to be very organized and have everything planned out.” Cameron narrowed his eyes, his smile growing. “I bet you even plan out what you’re going to wear for the entire week.”
Alric’s mouth fell open, and the room exploded with Baldewin’s laughter. His dear old friend rocked back in the chair, tears glistening in his eyes as he laughed. Even Cameron chuckled as he settled against the cushions of his chair, seeming to relax for the first time since arriving at the castle.
“I’m not quite that bad,” Alric said stiffly.
Baldewin wiped at the corner of his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “But I think you would be if we left you to your own devices for too long.”
Cameron made a low, tsking noise. “That sounds very un-Fire dragony.”
Alric wished they were alone so he could show Cameron how very impulsive he could be, but they were getting away from their topic and Alric had to be careful. There was no proof Cameron was his mate. He couldn’t stake a claim and muddle things when Cameron could so easily belong to one of his people. No one would cross him because he was the king, but nothing could make Alric deny one of his people the happiness of finding their mate, even if it meant giving up Cameron’s smiles.
“We were talking about mixing of the clans, I believe,” Alric said a little stiffly, putting them back on track. “Yes, it was rare, but more common now. With our numbers so greatly reduced, we had to band together for our own protection. There are two main clans now—the Fire Clan here in Europe and the Ice Clan in Brazil. We have Ravi of the Wind Clan, and it’s my understanding that the Ice Clan has also taken in a few dragons not of their clan.”
“That’s it?” Cameron demanded in horror.
“There’s the Lost Clan,” Baldewin added, and Alric couldn’t stop the scoffing noise that jumped from his throat.
“That’s more legend now than fact,” Alric muttered.
Baldewin frowned. “Some would say the same about the lost mage clans.” He made a small motion of his hand, waving it toward the seated mage right in front of him. Alric sighed and had to reluctantly agree his friend had a point.
“What? What’s the Lost Clan?”
“After the war, a group of dragons from a number of different clans banded together and flew far from here. They said they wanted to get as far from the memory of this tragedy as they possibly could. But that also meant moving away from their home territory as well as known locations for mages. It’s been centuries since we’ve heard from any of them, and there’s no proof that they even exist any longer.”
Alric stared at his now cold tea, images of that blood-drenched day flashing through his head. They had all been tired, bloody, and heartbroken at the end of the fight. They’d all suffered great losses and knew more losses were on the horizon with the absolute decimation of the mage clans. A part of Alric had wanted to fly off with them that day. To his great shame, he had to admit to himself that it wasn’t solely his duty that kept him in Europe with his clan. The inability to fly had kept him just as grounded.
“The Lost Clan contains members of all the dragon clans. Or at least, it did when it was formed,” Alric forced himself to continue.
“You…you remember it, don’t you? You were there.” Cameron’s tone was a sweet mix of compassion, horror, and awe. He reached across the table and placed his hand over Alric’s left in a gesture of empathy, but Alric could not stop his flinch at Cameron touching his scarred hand. Cameron immediately withdrew his hand and Alric cursed himself. Cameron hadn’t caused any pain, but those scars were an embarrassment. A constant reminder of his weakness and shortcomings as a leader and a dragon.
“Yes, I fought in the war. So did Baldewin. We were young dragons.”
Baldewin flashed him a small smile. “We’re still considered young dragons by some.”
“But we weren’t the only ones to survive,” Alric said gently, looking directly at Cameron.
The young man fidgeted in his chair, his eyes darting from Baldewin to Alric. “What?”
“Your clan obviously survived as well. You said yourself that your grandmother linked you to the Noh Clan. You’re a mage, Cameron.”
Cameron laughed, high-pitched and wobbly. He stood suddenly, rubbing his hands on his pants as if his palms were suddenly sweaty. “Yeah, no. That’s…I mean…in the car here, I told you that I’ve never done any magic. I can’t feel any magic. And my grandmother—don’t get me wrong, I love my grandmother—but she’s crazy. She’s told my sister and me insane stories all our lives.” He sat down in his chair again, his butt seeming to just barely catch the edge. Leaning forward, he stared intensely at Alric. “Take my parents, for example. There is absolutely nothing magical about my parents. They are as normal and boring as they come. And both of them are horrible cooks. Part of magic is putting things together for spells, right? If they could do magic, shouldn’t they naturally be good at cooking?”
“I don’t think it works that way,” Baldewin said with laughter lurking in his voice.
“Cameron, I know this is a lot to take in all at once, but it’s the truth,” Alric said gently. He wanted to reach across and take Cameron’s hand, but the man was so jumpy, he was afraid he’d jerk away from him. “You are a mage. I think your sister is a mage too. Your family could be the key to saving not only your clan, but mine as well.”
“Whoa!” Cameron leapt to his feet, but this time he was moving away from the table. In fact, he was backpedaling away from both Alric and Baldewin, holding his ha
nds up as if he was suddenly afraid of them attacking him. Not that such a thing was even remotely possible. Right now, Cameron was the most precious thing in all his kingdom. Every dragon in Alric’s command would lay down their life to keep Cameron safe.
“Cam—”
“No!” Cameron interrupted Alric, his expression suddenly fierce. “This is-this is insane. You’re all very convincing. The-the dragon in the courtyard was really fucking convincing. But me a mage? That’s just bullshit. I’m not magical. My sister is not magical. My family isn’t magical, and it’s certainly not going to save dragons.”
“Cameron, you told me yourself that mechanical engineering isn’t a match for you. It doesn’t feel as if it fits who you are, but you have a gifted, analytical mind. I know you will be brilliant at crafting spells with just a little training.”
Cameron loudly snorted at him. “Yeah, my chosen profession isn’t a great fit, but that doesn’t mean I’m a mage. It means I should have done something else like coding or…or chemical engineering, I don’t know!” He threw his hands up in the air and paced away from Alric. As he did so, the scent of his magic grew stronger, sharper. Alric couldn’t see it, but he could certainly smell Cameron’s power flare.
The very power he denied having. Frustration and fear swirled in Alric’s chest. How to convince him? In that moment, Alric’s dragon lifted its head, drawn to the presence of a new mage. It scented curiously, interested. Alric paid it no heed, as his dragon could pay attention if it liked, but his focus was on the upset mage in front of him. “Please, Cameron. Just breathe deeply and calm yourself. Think this through. It’s not as scary as it might seem.”
“Not as scary?” Cameron scoffed, swinging back around suddenly to face him. “No, of course not. You’re only trying to tell me that everything I’ve known about myself and my family is wrong. Oh, and wait! I’m supposed to be the key to saving mages and dragons. Both people who have been extinct from the earth for FIVE HUNDRED YEARS!”