by AJ Sherwood
Sometimes Cameron honestly forgot Gunter had been in the war, too. The man didn’t look a day over thirty. “What kind of spells are you talking about?”
“Reflective spells, certainly. To repel attacks, but also knock-backs, shields that absorbed the damage.”
“Yeah?” Cameron turned that over in his head for a moment. Maybe it was because he’d played too many video games in his life, but that sounded suspiciously like some of the action skills in RPG games. And (probably, again, because of too many video games) it gave Cameron an idea. “Were there any spells that cancelled magic?”
Gunter turned his head and regarded him for a moment, blinking as if this question didn’t compute. He often looked at Cameron that way, for some reason. “Cancelled magic?”
“Sure. Say they trap us with a spell, or they’ve got a binding spell on us, is there any way to cancel that? Odds are if they ambush us, that’s what they’ll try. That’s what they did the first time I was almost kidnapped, at least. They were trying to throw binding spells and acid spells. Mostly they missed, but if those are used, I want a way to cancel the spell.”
“Ah. I like your idea. I think there’s a way to break a spell?” Gunter frowned a little before he got up, going over to a huge tome that looked like a dictionary. He pulled it free from the shelf with a grunt of effort before hauling it back. “I always underestimate how thick this book is. This, my friend, is a list of all known spells.”
Cameron eyed the book with wide eyes. “You’re telling me that even with a list like that, we still have missing magical knowledge?”
“A great deal of it. Think of it this way. If you were to list every single invention from the beginning of time until now, how long do you think that list would be?”
Oh. Well, put into that kind of context… “And is that just a list?”
“No, it also tells how the spells and potions are made. Ingredients, power levels, variations, sometimes a brief history too. Hence the thickness.” Gunter set it on the table with a grunt. “I think it’s possible to choose something that will allow you to quickly mix up a spell or potion, break free of whatever spell is holding you. Or possibly undo the damage of an attack before it can make things any worse.”
“Is this something that can be simple enough that I can carry the elements around? Like, something that will fit in a messenger bag so I can easily have it on hand at all times?”
“That’s the goal.”
That sounded promising. Cameron would rather not be just a sitting duck if something happened. But his mind was still thinking in gamer’s logic. “Can I work up something that’s kind of like an AOE effect?”
Gunter was back to staring at him blankly.
Yeah, okay, that hadn’t been clear. “I mean, instead of cancelling one spell, can I create an area around me that cancels everything? Like an AOE circle in a game, where the effect is within a certain radius of the caster.”
“Ahhh. Now I understand you. Ja, ja, this sounds possible. In fact, even better. I’m not sure if we can make it portable enough to carry, but I’m up for the challenge.” Gunter looked it too. In fact, he looked almost giddy with the idea of cooking up new magic.
It was part of the reason why he and Cameron got along so well. Any lab experiment was always more fun with a buddy. Cameron might be a little giddy himself.
“We’ll need to factor in Alric’s power when we figure up the power levels,” Gunter muttered to himself as he started flipping through pages.
“Sorry?” Cameron tensed a little, surprised to hear that. Surely the story hadn’t gotten around the castle already about how he and Alric were connected.
“When you bond properly, you’ll be drawing on his power more heavily then you are now,” Gunter explained, still flipping through pages with intense concentration, as if he knew what he was looking for and it had to be in here somewhere. “So we need to keep it in mind while experimenting.”
Oh. Um. It was a foregone conclusion that he and Alric would bond and become mates? Uh….Cameron wasn’t so sure of that.
And he had no ready response to Gunter’s assumption. None at all.
Alric tried not to glance at the clock for the hundredth time, but failed miserably. Just like all the other times he’d fought it.
17:36.
Less than a half an hour.
He’d gotten a text from Cameron after he left Gunter’s dungeon that he was planning to grab dinner at 18:00 sharp and he would very much like it if a certain king could happen through the dining hall at the same time so they could enjoy dinner together.
And then a leisurely dessert in Alric’s chambers.
It was the perfect end to a somewhat long day. The only things keeping him in his office were some reports that he needed to look over and a possible email from Rodrigo. It was just now lunchtime in Rio and the king of the Ice Dragons would have completed his morning meetings with his advisors at this point. Alric wanted to be sure Rodrigo didn’t have any further questions for him before he shut down the ruler side of his brain for the evening. He wanted to be able to give Cameron his full attention.
A knock on his door had Alric swallowing back an irritated sigh. Dieter had already escaped for the evening. He had a standing dinner date with his lovely mate at 17:00, which meant the old dragon snuck away from his office at 16:30 everyday so that he could freshen up for his sweet Lisette.
Maybe he should have dipped off to his own chambers already to do the same for Cameron.
But now it was too late.
“Enter,” Alric called out, forcing away any sounds of irritation.
Baldewin’s smirking face appeared in the doorway and Alric nearly rolled his eyes. “Long day, Hoheit?”
“There have been longer, but I will admit that I am eager for this one to be over,” Alric replied. He sunk a little lower into his chair, relaxing as Baldewin shut the door behind him. When it was just him and Baldewin in the room, it was a little easier to shed his royal mantle and just be himself. They’d grown up as close friends, gotten into endless amounts of trouble together. While Dieter was good about reminding him of his place and responsibilities, Baldewin was a constant reminder that he was more than the crown he wore.
Which brought up the question: what was Cameron in that world? The bridge between them?
“Did you get the day’s final security report and my suggested rotation?” Baldewin inquired.
He strolled farther into the room, but bypassed the desk in favor of the large sofa that sat perpendicular to Alric. This had been a common arrangement between them for more than a couple of decades. At the end of the day, Baldewin would wander in with the excuse of some bit of work nonsense and then proceed to flop down on Alric’s couch. They talked, usually about a lot of nothing, and then wander down to the dining hall for a late dinner.
Alric glanced down to see the email appear within his inbox. “Is there a problem with the castle’s servers again?”
“No,” Baldewin paused, stopping mid-sit. “Why?”
“Because you nearly beat the email and it’s at least a three-minute walk from your office to mine,” Alric teased.
“Ja, ja,” Baldewin muttered and flopped down on the couch, propping his booted feet up on the arm while folding his hands on his stomach. He could imagine Dieter frowning at his friend, but Alric couldn’t deny that their friendship had managed to survive Alric’s ascension to the throne. He needed this bit of normalcy in his day.
Though, Cameron had never really treated him as royalty. Only as the man he’d first met at the Dragon Festival.
“So...I heard an interesting bit of gossip this afternoon.”
Alric froze. No one would dare speak about his little afternoon rendezvous with Cameron in his office. The meeting with Dieter afterward had been difficult enough, though his advisor would never do something so horrible as to actually hint that he knew exactly what had been happening behind the closed door. Dieter wouldn’t spread gossip, but had someone else b
een walking by his office and heard him?
“I thought you didn’t listen to gossip,” Alric replied, trying to keep his voice calm and maybe even a little bored.
“I don’t, but this was about a certain mage and a certain king.”
Alric placed his right hand on the surface of the desk and pushed to his feet, eyes narrowing on his old friend, who looked as if he was about to bust open if he didn’t share what malicious little tidbit he heard.
“I’ll not tolerate anyone in the castle spreading malicious gossip about Cameron,” Alric growled. His dragon stirred, demanding Alric hunt down the person who was speaking about his mage. Maybe his dragon would have this person for dinner and still spend the evening licking Cameron. Yes, that sounded much better.
Baldewin snickered as he held up one finger. “First, everyone adores Cameron. No one is going to say one mean thing about that man.” Baldewin added a second finger. “And two, the gossip is that your powers have started showing up in Cameron’s spells. Care to comment, Eure Majestät?” His friend’s expression became positively smug.
Groaning at himself, Alric instantly deflated as he walked around the desk. His dragon grumbled and settled back down, content to ignore Baldewin again. He walked over to one of the chairs positioned near the couch and dropped into it.
“I’m sure some people are making more of it than there needs to be. Cameron has grown comfortable with me. If he needs my powers to work his spells, then I am happy to lend it,” Alric said with a wave of his right hand.
Baldewin rolled onto his side face Alric, his smirk still firmly in place. “Really? I pray you’re just lying to yourself, because we both know after all these years, you can’t lie to me.”
“What do you think I’m lying about?”
Baldewin scoffed and dropped onto his back again. “He’s your mate!”
“We are not bonded,” Alric said sharply, nearly coming out of his chair again.
“I never said you were bonded. I said he is your mate. MATE, Alric.”
“Baldewin—”
His old friend made another noise in the back of his throat. “You have never used the word gefreogen to describe him, but we’ve all known it since the moment he first stepped into the castle. Everyone can see it in the way you look at him. Even old Sandor can see it, and that dragon is mostly blind in both eyes.”
Gefreogen was an old term dragons used to refer to the mage they were courting in hopes of that person being their mate. It was different from the more casual terms they used to describe those they might be casually sleeping with while acknowledging that they were not and would never be mates.
Alric hadn’t allowed himself to think of Cameron as his gefreogen, even after the mage suggested they try dating. For humans, dating was a very casual affair with most of the couples going their separate ways after months or even years. Most of the time, a dragon didn’t part from his gefreogen. They just went on to be bonded.
He was too afraid to hope that Cameron might be his mate. His forever.
“Alric?” Baldewin’s voice jerked him out of his swirling thoughts. Alric blinked and looked up at his friend to find his expression had turned to one of concern. “You do see it, right? He is your mate. Your fated mate.”
Alric gave a quick little shake of his head. “Cameron hasn’t indicated—”
“I’m not talking about Cameron. I’m talking about you. What you’re feeling. Cameron is human with a head full of human ideas about dating and not moving too quickly. He probably hasn’t even stopped to listen to his heart. I’m asking if you’ve listened to your heart? Or even your dragon? What does your dragon think of Cameron?”
That wasn’t hard to know. His usually reserved and grumpy dragon had been incredibly vocal about Cameron from almost the first second of meeting the mage. And in the past few weeks, he was growing even louder. Mine. Mine. Mine.
A low rumble like distant thunder rolled through Alric’s chest as his dragon made happy noises as he thought of Cameron and his beautiful smile. His shining, excited eyes behind adorable glasses. His enthusiasm and willingness to help anyone and everyone he met. His exuberance for life. His compassion and concern for Alric.
Mine. Mate. Mine.
“He’s mine,” Alric said softly. “He’s my mate. I’d slaughter every threat to his life. I’d die to protect him, to make him happy. He…he’s my everything.” Alric pressed his right hand to his rapidly pounding heart and lifted his eyes to Baldewin. “He’s my mate. My everything.”
Baldewin’s face broke into a wide grin. “Thought so.”
Alric crashed back down almost as quickly as he rose up, his stomach twisting into sickening knots while his heart lurched in his chest.
“Oh Scheiße!” Alric swore on a pained gasp. “He’s my mate. What if he doesn’t want to be bonded to me? What if he doesn’t believe I’m his mate? What if—” Alric rested his elbow on his knee and shoved his fingers through his hair as he struggled to take in a breath. He’d faced blood-thirsty mages in battle, angry dragons, and even his enraged father, and none of it had ever terrified him the same way he felt at the thought of losing Cameron.
The couch groaned as Baldewin shifted and his friend was suddenly kneeling in front of him, a hand on his shoulder. “Breathe, Alric. When has a mage ever not fallen for his fated mate? Never.”
“But—”
“Never. And Cameron is already over the moon for you. As easily as we can see your feelings for Cameron, we can just as easily see his for you. Everyone in Burkhard Castle has been whistling and skipping. It’s like living in one of the romantic comedy movies Gunter swears he doesn’t religiously watch when he’s feeling down. We are ecstatic that our king has finally found his mate. And we are thrilled that his mate is so worthy of him.”
Some of the tightness in Alric’s chest eased, making it easier for him to draw a breath. “You really think he will want me?”
Baldewin snorted. “According to Ravi, he already wants you plenty.”
Alric barked out a harsh laugh and shoved his friend away. “As a mate, you idiot!”
“Yes, Alric. I have no doubt that one day Cameron will demand you officially bond with him. His mind might not know it yet, but I’m sure his heart has already figured out you are his mate.”
Alric leaned back in his chair and just let those words sink into his skin. Mate. Cameron was his mate. After so many years, he finally had found his mate. They would spend the rest of their days together. With any luck, they would have a child—No! children—together. The world needed many dragon-shaped Camerons running around.
And Alric would give himself over to making sure that his mate had everything his heart desired. Cameron would always know that he was loved and cherished. They would have a long life together and—
“Verdammt!” Alric jerked upright and looked down at his watch. 17:59.
“What’s wrong?” Baldewin jumped to his feet, looking as if he was ready to launch himself into battle for his king.
“You’ve made me late! I’m meeting Cameron for dinner.” Alric shoved out of his chair and jogged across his office, ignoring the deep echo of Baldewin’s laugh.
“You can blame me if he’s angry with you.”
“Of course I’m blaming you!” Alric shouted back as he jerked the door open. He hurried down the corridor toward the dining hall, but there was a smile on his lips. He was meeting his mate for dinner. It didn’t matter if it took Cameron another month or twenty years to figure out they were mates. Alric would happily wait for him. Cameron was his and always would be.
Cameron breathed a little easier as they pulled through the castle gates and headed toward the city. The presence of Dieter behind the wheel didn’t exactly relax him, but just getting outside the castle and putting some distance between himself and Alric lifted some of the weight from his chest.
Not that he wanted to be away from Alric.
Shit, maybe that was the problem. With every day that passed, Cameron s
pent more and more time with the dragon. It had to be obvious that he was falling for Alric and falling fast. No wonder people assumed. They didn’t seem to realize just how much that assumption alarmed Cameron. It wasn’t that he didn’t want it—he just had no idea if he was ready for it. Choosing Alric meant turning his life completely upside down, and that was a rather hefty decision to make.
Gunter’s words had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Or in this case, Cameron’s last nerve. Because if even Gunter, who was admittedly very out of touch with castle gossip, had picked up on it? Then Cameron might be screwed.
As the feet turned into yards with the looming threat of becoming miles between them, Cameron felt his skin growing too tight and itchy. A part of him already wanted to turn around and find Alric. He was like a freaking drug addict going too long without his next fix.
This was stupid.
He didn’t need someone like he needed air. This wasn’t his first relationship. No, there hadn’t been a lot of others in his past. Okay, maybe only three and they hadn’t lasted long, but dating had never been like this.
With his other boyfriends, his day didn’t automatically get better when he saw their smile. He didn’t endlessly think about them and wonder what they were doing. He didn’t worry about whether they were taking too much on and needed a distraction. He didn’t plot ways to “randomly” run into his boyfriend.
Oh my god! Was he a stalker or a boyfriend?
“Cameron, take a deep breath.”
Dieter’s calm voice pierced the spiraling thoughts, and Cameron could now hear the ragged panting was actually coming from him.
A high-pitched laugh escaped him, and he shoved a hand through his hair. “I’m good, I’m just freaking myself out a little.”
“What do you mean?”
“I just realized I’ve literally never acted like this with a previous boyfriend. That I’m making life altering decisions for Alric without a second thought when I really should be thinking about it. Oh, and I would never have upended my entire life for any other guy I’ve dated. And it’s kind of alarming, to be honest.” He frowned as the thought hit that maybe he shouldn’t be confessing all of this to Dieter. And wait, now that he thought about it…. “Why are you driving me, anyway?”