CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Caleen watched the crowd mingling in the palace hall and wished he was anywhere but here.
He used to be good at this. He'd found pleasure in meeting people from all over the kingdom, making connections, even if he knew that at the end of the day, most of the people here had some kind of agenda. After all, handling people's needs and wishes was a big part of being their king—a part that he'd looked forward to the most.
But now, as he stood with Naveen near the portrait wall, he felt uncomfortable, as if his clothes were too tight, caging him in. Maybe it was because he was away from Taveris and he was still unused to that, after everything. He wasn't clinging to him so much anymore, but it was still…hard.
Or maybe it was because it was his first public appearance outside of the Academy since the royal council's ruling. He'd definitely caught some stares since he'd gotten here, and some people were unable to mask their feelings on the matter.
"I don't know how you do it," Naveen said.
"Practice. I've been handling public appearances like this for years, after all."
Naveen huffed.
"It's more than that and you know it. But have it your way." He glanced at something behind Caleen and his eyes widened slightly. "Incoming."
Caleen steeled himself and turned to see a man with long gray hair and a long beard with several beads braided in, dressed in long purple robes with very short sleeves and a purple cape that largely covered his exposed arms, which, Caleen knew, were covered in tattoos of dragon scales.
A representative from the Dracon House was a rare sight at the royal events, but they always made a lasting impression. Caleen had never expected this particular representative to come here, though.
"Prince Heir, Prince Naveen." The man offered them a slow nod when he reached them. "Greetings from me and Elder Brother Naryell. My name is Garyan and I come from the Dracon House in the far west."
"Greetings, Brother Garyan, to you and yours." Caleen answered with his own nod and saw Naveen do the same. "Welcome to the royal palace."
"Thank you. If I may, I would ask to speak to Your Highness on an urgent matter in private, as I am afraid it is not suitable to be shared in public."
Caleen hoped he managed to hide his surprise. The dragons from what was now known as the Dracon House community had settled in Kameeya, a secluded part of Teranea, decades ago. They were famously reserved and largely kept to themselves, so even a visit like this was outside of the norm. For one of them to ask for a private conversation with a member of the royal family—something that was usually scheduled in advance and had to follow proper protocol—was rather forward.
"There is a reason for my impertinence, I assure you," Garyan said next. "I have news about Master Oriyan's fate."
Caleen tensed, his heart speeding up at the mention of the name alone. Finally, he might get some answers. He was tempted to demand them right away, but he needed to do it right.
"I require only that my brother joins us," Caleen said, voice not betraying anything. "As he is familiar with the matter we are to discuss."
If Garyan wanted to protest, he didn't show it.
"Of course, Your Highness. Whatever you think is best."
Caleen glanced at Naveen, who nodded. There were guards all over the place, so they didn't need any additional security.
"Follow me, then."
As he made his way out of the hall and into the side corridor where one of the meeting offices was located, Caleen wished Taveris was here. For a moment, he considered halting the proceedings and sending for him, but he dismissed the idea right away. It would appear weak, demanding more and more people present, and it could possibly make Garyan withdraw.
They entered the office, closed the door, and took their seats.
"I have to say, you got my attention," Caleen told Garyan. "Now, I would like to hear that news."
Garyan looked him straight in the eyes. "Master Oriyan is dead."
Caleen heard Naveen's sharp inhale next to him and clenched his jaw. Hook. If the man was dead, they'd lost their lead. They might never know what had really happened, and why.
"I'm afraid that it is only a part of the information I bring," Garyan continued. "The rest is…more complicated."
"Complicated how?" Caleen was beginning to really regret not sending for Taveris after all. Several royal guards had seen them walk in here and there was one just outside the door, but Caleen wondered now if it was enough.
"There's someone else involved, someone whom Elder Brother Naryell and several others from the Dracon House have lost their trust in, I am afraid." Garyan paused. "Master Dorrat is not the person we thought he was, and we regret offering him assistance when he requested it, since we ended up pulled into a sinister plot we'd had no wish to take a part in."
Caleen got up, with Naveen and Garyan following suit. Garyan took a step back, though, offering more space instead of attacking, which gave Caleen pause.
"You are about to make accusations against my trusted advisor," he said. His voice held strong and he managed to keep still, but the fire ignited inside him and he might not be able to hold it back for long. "Think twice before you do so."
"I assure you, Your Highness, we deliberated carefully about this, but the murder of Master Oriyan was the last grain of sand for us. We could not stay quiet about it."
"Murder?" Naveen cut in, echoing Caleen's thoughts.
"Master Dorrat has killed him. And not in self-defense."
Caleen was about to snap at the man in front of him, when a noise from outside caught his attention. A moment later, the door flew open.
Garyan moved to stand between Caleen and the door, shielding him, but Caleen barely noticed it because his eyes landed on Taveris, with Soryan and the guard at the door right behind.
The relief that hit Caleen was almost overwhelming.
Taveris took in the scene and his eyes narrowed. "What is going on here?"
Garyan lifted his open hands and stepped aside.
"I meant no disrespect. I reacted on instinct at the sound of commotion at the door."
Caleen had to give it to the man that his instinct was to protect him, not harm him, but that didn't erase his earlier words.
"Leave us," he said to the guard behind Soryan, who nodded and stepped out, closing the door.
Taveris crossed the room to stand at Caleen's side. "Are you okay?"
"I am unharmed," Caleen offered before tilting his head towards Garyan. "But I received some news that I find hard to believe."
Taveris straightened. "What news?"
"Master Oriyan is dead. And Brother Garyan from the Dracon House has just made some serious accusations against Master Dorrat right before you came in."
Caleen expected his bonded to protest, to show anger similar to his. But when he met Taveris's gaze, he saw sorrow, instead.
"What, what is it?" he whispered, the feeling of dread making his chest hollow.
"I will tell you later, but—" Taveris put his hand on Caleen's neck, which was improper in public and more than they had ever done outside of the safety of the Academy. "I think we should hear him out."
Any thought of manners flew right out of Caleen's head, because that was… That was…
Taveris looked like it pained him to say it and it should, it should, because it couldn't be true. Master Dorrat deserved their loyalty, he was Caleen's advisor, and most importantly, he had been like a father to—
It wouldn't be the first time you've lost faith in a father figure, though, would it?
Caleen pulled out from Taveris's grip and faced the wall, shielding himself from anyone's eyes.
He felt trapped, unable to make a decision. Even listening to Garyan seemed like a betrayal, but wasn't it his duty to hear everyone out?
After all, it was Master Dorrat himself who told him that he was never going to be a good king, if he only listened to people who agreed with him.
Caleen took a deep breath and turned back towards the rest of the room. Everyone stayed silent, waiting for him to make up his mind.
"Fine, then," he finally said, meeting Garyan's steady gaze and gesturing for him to take his seat back. "Let's hear what you wanted to say."
Garyan nodded but waited until everyone was settled. Taveris took a chair next to Caleen, while Soryan sat down on the settee with Naveen.
"I shall start from the beginning, as I think it gives more context to the events that followed. As you know, our community is secluded, and we keep largely to ourselves. Receiving correspondence from the Academy, especially a letter delivered by designated messengers and not the post, has taken us by surprise, but we never suspected any ill will."
"When was it?" Soryan asked, and when Garyan answered him, he nodded. "Aderys went on that mission," he told Caleen. "He mentioned it in passing, but I know it came from Master Dorrat himself."
"I have it with me, if you want to see it later on," Garyan said. "In it, Master Dorrat asked after a sanctuary for an aging dragon, tired of his duties to the Academy and beyond, ready to retire in seclusion. He didn't name anyone in that message, but Elder Brother Naryell assumed he meant himself. We figured he just didn't want to announce stepping down as your advisor as the situation was…frail."
Master Dorrat had never once mentioned to him anything about stepping down or retiring. But then again, Caleen hadn't been in his right mind in the last few months.
"Did you know anything about this?" he asked Soryan, who had been probably the closest to Master Dorrat after him.
"No, he never mentioned it to me." Soryan frowned. "He seemed more on edge, but I just assumed it was because of—everything else."
"As I said, nothing was explicitly stated in that first letter. Elder Brother Naryell extended an open-ended invitation, and we didn't hear anything back. Then, Master Oriyan arrived at the Dracon House, claiming to be the dragon Master Dorrat wrote to us about. Maybe we should have realized right away that his timing was suspicious, given the return of the future Prince Consort," he said, glancing at Taveris, "but we thought nothing of it. Master Oriyan claimed to have left the Academy a day earlier and acted surprised when the news reached Kameeya. But then, a few days later, Master Dorrat arrived, in search of Master Oriyan. We heard him out and realized we'd opened our doors to a dragon who was now the enemy of the crown, which, I assure you, we would have never done knowingly. We offer a place for the wounded and tired, those who no longer fit in the society at large, but we would never have defied the royal family like this."
Caleen nodded. The Dracon House community had never made waves, never gotten into Teranea's political debates. They were reserved, but also kept their members in check and were known to have their own honor code.
"I have no reason to doubt you made an honest mistake," he said. "But I still cannot see how Master Dorrat became the villain of your story."
Garyan tilted his head.
"Certainly. Given the plausible accusations, we decided to take precautions and restrain Master Oriyan in a cell until we could figure out our next step in this potentially volatile political situation. We weren't dragging our feet," he added quickly. "It was less than a day that it was decided that our representative needed to seek you out independently of Master Dorrat, because of our role in all this. We believe there is honor in admitting to one's mistakes openly and clearly. We refused to release Master Oriyan into Master Dorrat's custody yesterday afternoon. Three hours later, he was dead."
"A perfect way to make sure a man stays quiet," Taveris murmured by his side, making Caleen's hard-won control starting to fry at the edges.
But Garyan wasn't done.
"Exactly," he said with another nod towards Taveris. "Master Dorrat managed to get inside the dungeon unnoticed, but he did not know we had additional security measures. There is a witness to his confrontation with Master Oriyan, where it was revealed they had been working together before. We didn't manage to intervene before Master Dorrat attacked Master Oriyan, but he was caught right after and is currently in our custody."
Caleen was holding his hands together hard enough to hurt, but it at least helped him to sound steady when he spoke up.
"So what you are telling us here is that you have made a mistake by cooperating with a man who had been our main suspect in a plot against my companion, but you have knowingly arrested a man who had been my trusted advisor for the last four years and who had never given me any reason to doubt him. Do I understand you correctly?"
Before Garyan could answer, Taveris cut in.
"I need a moment with you now," he said, squeezing his arm.
Caleen turned to him in disbelief, but Taveris sounded troubled and serious. He would have never asked, if it wasn't important.
"Very well," Caleen heard himself say. "If you'll excuse us for a moment," he told the rest of the room without catching anyone's gaze and headed towards the adjoining file room.
It was too small for more than one person to move comfortably between the bookshelves, but he couldn't imagine going out there onto the hall in search for more comfortable place right now.
"What is it?" he asked Taveris quietly.
His bonded put his hands on both sides of Caleen's neck and looked him in the eyes.
Then, he hesitated, which sent Caleen's heart racing with fear. Taveris didn't believe it, did he? Hearing Garyan out was one thing, but this was completely different.
"Please, just tell me."
Taveris closed his eyes for a second before opening them again.
"I was practicing with Soryan when I was hit by a memory," he whispered. "I remembered what happened that day. I was walking through the entrance hall, wanting to get back to you, when Master Oriyan approached me. But he wasn't the only one there."
Caleen's whole body tensed.
"No."
"I was attacked from behind and I tried to fight, but he… He used a move I've never seen before. Not until today."
Caleen was shaking his head now. No. No way. No.
"Master Dorrat used it on Soryan recently."
"He could've showed it to other people as well," Caleen protested.
"And there was this smell, too. I couldn't remember it at first, but I do now. The cleaning wax he uses."
The one Master Dorrat had famously made himself and never shared with anyone.
Caleen started to tremble.
"I'm sorry," Taveris whispered. "I really am."
But Caleen could barely hear him.
He thought of Master Dorrat right after Taveris was gone, of the way the man had supported him and stood by him. He had offered more than Caleen would have ever expected from his usually closed-off advisor. He had been there every step of the way and seemed to understand Caleen's loss better than anyone else.
No, no, no. The word kept repeating as the scenes ran through his head, all of them evidence that it couldn't be true.
But were they, really? What exactly did they prove?
Other than Caleen's naivety, perhaps.
He remembered other things now, too. All those times Master Dorrat had argued with Taveris, all those times he had been somewhere else right before something happened. All those times he'd spoken against reaching out to the dragon council in recent months, right up until the moment he left for the last time.
Hook, he had stood there with Caleen, with Taveris's unconscious body between them, and he—
Taveris leaned closer to press their foreheads together, but Caleen couldn't. He just couldn't. He would break in Taveris's embrace, he would crumble like a sand sculpture lashed by the wind.
He stepped away and pulled his arms against his stomach as he stared the shelves, tightening his fingers over his elbows to stop them from shaking.
The words of protest were there, clogging his throat, but he couldn't open his mouth out of fear that something else was going to come out. He didn't want to cry anymore, he didn't want to scream. He just… He wanted it all to end. How much could one person take?
"I wish it wasn't true," Taveris whispered. He was there, right behind Caleen, but didn't reach out to touch him again. "I'm so sorry."
Caleen swallowed hard. Taveris might have never liked Master Dorrat, but he knew how much the man meant to Caleen. He would never enjoy or belittle Caleen's pain.
Unlike Master Dorrat, apparently, the voice at the back of his head told him quietly, but only as far as an earthquake could be quiet. The earth still trembled under his feet.
"Why?" Caleen whispered, barely audible even to his own ears. His throat tightened as he swallowed down everything else.
"I don't know."
Caleen uncurled his fingers from his elbows and slowly turned back to his bonded, who caught his hand in a tight grip and moved closer.
"I don't know," Taveris repeated. "I'm sorry."
Caleen leaned forward until he rested his forehead against Taveris's and closed his eyes, sighing when he felt his bonded's fingers in his hair.
For all that Taveris was back now, Caleen had lost him back then. He'd thought his bonded, the man he loved and intended to marry, was gone forever. And for what?
For what?