Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
VANDER
“Iremember this town. The Firefolk had a festival every year. Right? It was here, wasn’t it?” Faraday flies low over Kunrith, one of the many villages with the DragonLands.
Everything is falling apart and overgrown. The main road is dotted with trees and brambles, and the homes along the village square have long since crumbled into piles of brick and rotted wood. Just seeing it like this sends knives of guilt and grief through my heart.
“Stop!” Larellin smacks my talon. “Stop blaming yourself.”
“I know, my treasure. I know, but—”
“No ‘buts’. I’m not having it. I refuse to let you wallow in this anymore. You did nothing wrong. And if anyone says different—anyone including you—I will fight them. I will go head to head with you, DragonKin. Understand?”
Gods, how did I win a mate as fierce as Larellin?
How did I ever deserve such a boon? I’ve pondered this many times over the past few days and come to the only decision that makes any sense to me—my mother chose her.
From her place with the eternal, my mother somehow knew this feisty little mortal would be my match.
I feel it in my heart, the resonance of the truth like a steady, pleasing musical note.
“I understand, my treasure.” I ride the wind lower, passing over a few more ruined villages and farms, the lands growing wild and untamed.
“This is going to be a lot of work,” Faraday sighs. “So much has gone to dust.”
“The remaining DragonKin will return, and with them, we will rebuild.” Rivon is a dark smudge to my right, his shadows cloaking him despite the bright sun. “The Firefolk, too. And all the others who used to live and work alongside us. We will be a kingdom again.”
A kingdom. A word that gives me a multitude of mixed emotions. I’m the eldest of the Golden Dragon line, but I’ve long believed I’m far too unworthy to ever claim the DragonKin crown. Not after what happened. Not after the curse. And now? I don’t know.
“I’d look amazing in a crown,” Larellin teases.
“Now who’s reading whose thoughts?”
She stretches out along my hide, her warm body soft against my rough skin. Even feeling her like this heats my blood, makes me think of the hours of pleasure I’ve already had between her thighs, and the lifetime of pleasure that awaits me there.
When I catch the first glimpse of the Palace of the Sky, an ache seizes my heart.
Strong enough to kill a mortal, the pain is sharp but thankfully fleeting.
Replaced with nostalgia, with a thousand happy memories of times spent in its golden spires and the gardens that are now overgrown with flowers and vines.
“Wow.” Larellin leans forward, awe filtering down the bond to me. “I’ve never … How … This castle is bigger than my entire village.”
The palace has three sections, each topped with its own twisting golden spire.
The center is the tallest, several hundred feet high.
The structure is sweeping, constructed of white godsbone.
“We lived in the western tower. Those are the royal chambers. The center tower was for the peoples of the DragonLands—courts, feast halls, sporting areas, guest rooms, and several ceremonial rooms. The eastern tower housed the great library, classrooms, the alchemist labs, the many forges, and all the magical elements and storerooms. It was a university open to all who would learn and respect the ways of the DragonKin.”
“A university?” Larellin tries to hide her puzzlement. “I mean, of course, yes. A university.”
“Are there no universities in the mortal realm?”
“Maybe, but not for the likes of me.”
I snort. “Everything here is for you, Larellin. Anything you desire. If you want to learn alchemy or magic, the history of the DragonKin, the history of Oblivion—it’s all here.” I float lower, the palace looming huge below us, sun reflecting off the familiar spires.
“How does the palace still look so … nice?”
“It’s constructed of godsbone. Stronger than obsidian and imbued with magic. I don’t know for certain, but I assume it has fended off the ravages of time for the most part. It—” A pall falls over me. “—it looks exactly as it did the last time I saw it.”
“Hey.” Her tone is gentle. “We’re here together. You and me. Your brothers. You don’t have to do any of this alone. All right?”
“So, the center part is where I live, right?” Faraday drops beside me, floating on the same current of wind. “It might not be big enough, but I figure—”
“Dibs.” Fyan floats at my other side.
Rivon appears beside Faraday, his wings absorbing the sun.
“You can’t call dibs when I was already talking about living there. The big one is for me. You can have one of the small ones,” Faraday chides.
“The westernmost spire contains the royal household,” Rivon says patiently. “That is where—”
“Yeah, but Vander’s the king. That means he lives there. I want—”
“The western spire has over one-hundred bedrooms,” Rivon cuts in. “That is where we will reside.”
“Hear that?” Fyan asks Faraday. “You’ll reside in the western tower with the rest of us, oh high and mighty silver dragon.”
“Maybe you’ll reside in the garbage heap,” Faraday quips.
Fyan snarls. “Maybe I’ll bite off a piece of your wing and—”
“Brothers.” I know they’re on edge. We all are.
“Ooohh, are your brothers fighting?” Larellin asks. “I can tell when you go quiet with me you’re talking to them, and when you feel sort of pissy it’s because of them too. Actually, when you’re angry or laughing, most of the time it’s because of them.”
“It’s always them,” I agree.
“Fine.” Faraday grunts. “If I’d known you wanted so badly to keep me close, I would’ve said we could room together.”
“Not a chance. You snore.”
“I do not!” Faraday bellows.
“Land in the main courtyard. Keep your ears and eyes open. As far as we know, the DragonLands are empty. But we can’t know the true extent of the curse. There could be things lurking.”
They go quiet, following my instructions and scanning the area. Blessed silence. Their bickering is usually amusing, but not when my nerves are shredded and I’m carrying the most precious cargo in my talons.
“Is that real gold?” Larellin asks as we approach the spires.
“Of course.” I lower myself slowly, checking the ground for threats before daring to deposit Larellin on the godsbone courtyard. Nothing moves except the weeds and vines growing along the stone walls.
“He says, ‘Of course,’” she grumbles. “Like it’s no big deal that there are three mountains of pure gold just sitting on top of these enormous palaces.”
“I’ll get more for you, my treasure. As much as you want.” I land gently and release Larellin from my hold.
She stands and stretches.
I catch her sweet honeysuckle scent and inhale deeply. Reaching out, she strokes my snout, her tiny fingernails tickling along my hide as she tries to scratch me like I’m just a wolven whelp.
My brothers land, the wind from their wings blowing Larellin’s hair back, the sun shining on her beautiful face.
We stand for a while, simply listening and watching. Brin sprints towards the palace, his nose in the air.
“It looks even bigger from down here.” Larellin stares up at the middle spire. “It’s impossible.” She shakes her head.
Brin trots back to us. “Nothing. I don’t smell a single thing except a herd of moondeer that passed through late last night. Nothing else.”
I steel myself as best I can. This is going to be hard. But maybe it’ll also be healing. For all of us. “It’s time.”
I nuzzle Larellin, then step back and take my human form.
“You never told me what happens to your clothes when you do that.” Larellin stares at me as I shake out my smaller wings. “Or where your wings go. Sometimes they’re there. Sometimes they’re not.”
“They’re always there.” I shrug. “Dragon magic. Same with the clothes. They’re in the ether.”
“What’s the ether?”
Brin gawks at her. “They really don’t teach you mortals anything, do they?”
“Why would a mortal need to know about mysterious disappearing clothes or wings?” She throws up her hands.
Brin considers her words. “Okay, fair point. But now that we have access to the DragonKin library, you and I are going to have a renaissance. Learning for all. Especially the two of us.” He rubs his palms together.
“A rena-what?” she asks.
“Never mind.” Brin waves her question away with a hairy hand. “Later. Time for all that later.”
I stare up at my old home, at the familiar runs along the wide archway that leads into the heart of the Palace of the Sky. Dragons dance along the stonework, their golden scales shining in the bright day.
“Hey.” Larellin takes my hand. “Show me. Show me everything.” She smiles up at me.
Gods, how does she know exactly what I need? I lean down and kiss her, my tongue slipping between her sweet lips as I cup the nape of her neck. Just tasting her soothes me, gives me a sense of peace where anxiety lived only seconds before.
She lets out a slight moan when I angle her head for better access, my tongue slipping against hers with wicked intent.
Brin clears his throat.
Larellin smiles against my lips then laughs.
I turn and glare at the wolven.
“I really want to see the library.” He shrugs.
I drop one more kiss on Larellin’s lips, then turn back to the Palace of the Sky. My birthright. My home. And the future of all DragonKin.
With my brothers at my back and Larellin at my side, there’s nothing I can’t do. No memory or guilt that can hold me down. There is only forward, only upward, only potential. I tell myself that with every step I take toward the ruins of my old life, and Larellin gives me the strength to believe it.
A pall falls over me as we traverse the palace grounds. Ghosts seem to flit all around, memories of my childhood here. Friends, relatives, DragonKin from every clan—they filled these halls with noise. Life. Now, the space is quiet. Tomblike. A shadow of the bustling, thriving kingdom it once was.