Chapter 32
THANE
K atana stayed in the bedroom while Thane wandered down the hall to get breakfast and bring it back. He found himself smiling as he descended the stairs and rounded a corner. A pair of guards nodded to him as he passed, and he grinned at them. It had been a while since his mood felt so… light.
He remembered this place well enough to know that the dining room was on the main floor and breakfast would probably already be out in a buffet. It wasn’t until he heard hushed voices and Piper’s name among them that he slowed his pace.
It was rude to eavesdrop, but he still hovered a few steps from the cracked doorway.
“We do not mix races, Ronan. You cannot marry this elf girl. I forbid it.” It was the dragon king’s voice, Ronan’s father.
Thane glanced back to make sure no one was around. This was not something he’d anticipated. He thought Piper’s relationship with Ronan would be an asset, a potential line for an alliance, but knowing the Drakonans from Ryvengaard, he should have realized.
“I love her.”
“What do you know of love?” King Drake snapped.
“You care for nothing but yourself. You don’t do anything I ask.
You brought shame upon our family for years acting like a buffoon in the local taverns.
You went against my wishes to fight with the elves, thinking only of yourself.
You could have brought that curse back here to our people. ”
“I’m not convinced the curse can affect any race but elves. And I will be the reason we get to go back to our home realm, if we do this right. Thane is the god of war.”
“It’s a myth! Nothing but a legend,” King Drake bemoaned. “You live in a dream world, Ronan. There is no other realm. I don’t even believe in the gods. Thane is nothing more than a mage. A powerful one but a mage nonetheless.”
“You smelled it in his blood!”
“What I smelled was magic in him and Layala. I went along with this belief they are descendants of the gods because the people believe in the gods. I let them have their faith, but it is a story to give people hope.”
“I know Ryvengaard is real, and so is Runevale. Piper has been there.”
“Ryvengaard? Runevale? This elf girl has poisoned your mind. These places don’t exist! She is a seductress trying to gain our favor for an alliance with the elves and their plight.”
“Ryvengaard is our homeworld of the legend you speak so poorly of.”
“Ronan, you’ve been fooled. They are using your dreams and aspirations as leverage. You should know better.”
“It is real, and we will go there, and when we do, I will bring Piper as my wife.”
“No, you will end your relationship with her. She is not one of us. What would your children be? We are Drakonan dragons from a long line of the strongest and fiercest. Our mates are chosen for the future of our family name.”
“Father.”
“I will not allow it!” he boomed. “You’ve already ruined three betrothals in the last two hundred years. It is a disgrace on the Drakonan name. You will marry Sensa, as I arranged for you five years ago, and you will not purposefully break her heart like you did the others.”
“You know I don’t follow orders well, father.”
“You will do it or so help me, boy.”
“You’ll deny me the throne? I’m the second-born son, father, and your firstborn already has two sons of his own. I’ll never see it.”
“No, but I will make sure that this elf girl is no longer a problem.”
Silence fell a few beats and Ronan said, “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Don’t test me.”
Heavy footsteps from inside the room had Thane scrambling for somewhere to hide but in the long hall there were no alcoves or exits.
The door flew open and crashed into the wall.
Ronan stepped out and turned in Thane’s direction.
His crystal blue eyes widened and then he shut the door on his father.
“Thane. How much of that did you hear?”
“Enough.” Thane put his hands in his pockets.
Enough to know Piper was going to be heartbroken.
The bigger problem was Thane planned to use a promise of going back to their homeworld of Ryvengaard as his leverage to get them to fight.
King Drake didn’t even believe it was possible to leave Adalon.
Myth and legend he called it. But in all honesty, he didn’t blame the king.
There had been no sign of the gods or portals to other realms in over two thousand years.
It was going to be more difficult to convince Drake than he thought.
“He’s a stubborn old fool.” Ronan tilted his head as a gesture to move on. They started down the hallway, putting distance between them and the king.
“Your father is skeptical, and not to blame.”
“It is real, though, isn’t it?” Ronan hadn’t directly asked him before.
“It is.”
“You’ve seen it? You’ve seen it with your own eyes? It’s not a story that was passed down?”
“Before I was reborn as Thane, I lived there for a very long time. Both Ryvengaard and Runevale. I know the Drakonans from the other world. They own the treasury and are probably even more influential than the kings in Ryvengaard.”
He nodded and crossed his arms behind his back. “I don’t know how we can convince him.”
Thane lifted a shoulder. “I’ll just have to show him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can open a portal to Ryvengaard through the stones.”
“You’d do that without an agreement?”
“I would do it to show him it’s there and give him a taste of the world, but no one else goes.”
Ronan smiled. “Not even me? I’ve dreamed about this since I was old enough to read the tales, Thane.”
“You won’t go running off once you’re there, will you?”
“No, I don’t want to make enemies with the god of war, and I don’t plan to leave Piper behind, despite what my father said. What is it like?”
“Everything is bigger there. The trees, the boulders, the mountains. Even the birds and rodents. You will live longer there in your homeworld. There are other shifters like felines and wolves, but dragons rule.”
“No doubt,” he grinned.
Thane cleared his throat. “About Piper… I can’t pretend I didn’t hear him make a threat against her. She’s a commander in my army, as well as one of my closest friends.”
“He won’t touch her.”
“I’m not convinced of that. If you do marry Piper, it will have to wait until the war is over, and even then, your father isn’t going to change his mind about her. Are you willing to be disowned over her?”
Ronan’s usually playful expression turned into a frown.
“And have you thought of all the things your father said? They are legitimate concerns. What would your children be? Shifter or elf or something in between?” Dragons and other shifters usually didn’t mate outside their race.
He’d seen it a few times in Ryvengaard. The children usually did not have the ability to fully shift into dragon form, rather a half-shifter, only able to grow the dragon wings and talons, and scale up if they were lucky.
Which for Piper wouldn’t be an issue, but he could imagine Ronan being disappointed.
They were usually not accepted by either parent’s society and became outcasts.
At least that was what he’d witnessed in Ryvengaard.
He nudged Thane with his elbow. “I’m not thinking about children, Thane. We haven’t even become a mated pair yet.”
“I highly doubt you haven’t thought about it, Ronan. In fact, you can’t convince me you haven’t done extensive research. Even if you have everyone else fooled into thinking you’re the half-wit family disgrace, you’re not.”
Ronan raised a brow and smirked. “What makes you so sure?”
“You’re a student of history. You’re a reader. You were able to sniff out our god heritage right away, to name a few.”
“I’ve done my research on the topic and found a few instances. Our children would be carried in her womb, not hatched from an egg, be beautiful like the elves and be able to shift into half-beast form.”
“It would be one in a million that they’d be able to fully shift into dragons.”
“More like one in ten million.” They came to the end of the hall and paused before entering a grand foyer. “You think she should be with Fennan, don’t you?”
“I think she should be with whoever makes her happiest.” Although he’d love for his two good friends to end up together, he understood why Piper felt the way she did. Fennan took too long to notice her. “And someone who will protect her from anyone, even his own family.”
“ No one will touch her.”
With breakfast in both hands, Thane pushed through Katana’s broken door, his boots crunching over the wood splinters still on the floor.
Katana sat in front of the open window before a mirror, running a comb through her long blonde hair.
She hummed as she watched her reflection.
Her demeanor was such a stark contrast to the way she was the night before, it caught him off guard.
Wouldn’t there be sadness in her eyes, or a trace of the fear she felt?
But the sunbeams on her skin and hair made her light up.
Maybe the sun gave her strength to overcome it.
Maybe for her, the sun chased away any trace of gloom.
She caught his eye in the mirror, and with a smile, turned to face him.
He set her platter of fruits and nuts on the vanity top.
“You brought me breakfast? You are always so thoughtful.”
“I heard your stomach growling.”
She giggled. “Oh, right. It is such a strange thing for a body to do. I am still not used to it.”
A growling stomach was completely normal to him, but he’d been in this elven body for almost thirty years.
It was being immortal that would feel strange now.
Without asking, he took hold of her hand and flipped it over.
A little pink scar where she dragged the blade over her palm remained.
He ran his thumb over it and goosebumps rose along her arm.
“Thane?” she whispered.
He let her hand go. “Yes?”
“I think I keep dreaming about Atlanta because he is still looking for me. Even if Valeen did not tell him I am here.”
He nodded. “She said he might.”
“He will want me to go back with him. I know he will.”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
“I am,” she whispered. “I told you before I would speak to him if he came but… I am terrified.”
“I’ll be with you.”
“I do not want him to hurt you.”
“He won’t.”
“You do not know him like I do. When he sees you with me, even if we are not together , he will lose his temper. He is powerful—so powerful. The things I have seen him do are incredible. He can drown entire legions of soldiers in one fell swoop.”
As the god of the seas and a primordial, he expected nothing less.
Thane lowered into a crouch before her; he didn’t want to be looking down at her when he said this.
Her brows rose in curiosity, and she slid her hands over her knees.
“You know who else is powerful? You, Katana. You have the power of the sun. You can stand up to him, and I will be with you. You won’t face him alone.
” He took her hand, the one with the scar and held it. “I promise.”
She blew out a long, slow breath, curling her fingers around his, and gave a quick squeeze. “Thank you.”
“I have that meeting with the dragon king and queen. Would you like to join me?”
“I would love to. You might need my help convincing them, although you could always use your persuasion gift that comes with being a god.”
Not since his previous life as War had he used that gift.
Although, he knew the ability was there and he had considered that.
But nothing loses trust faster than taking someone’s will.
“That is temporary. It would take constant control, and I don’t want to do that.
It will make them hate me. No one likes being controlled like that. ”
“I rarely use my gift either. You do have a good heart, Thane, whether you believe it or not. You can do this.”