Chapter 22
Baldewin strolled into the War Room later that afternoon, and some of the anxiety that had been plaguing him finally started to unravel.
Tori’s meeting with Lisette and Alric had gone well, and he seemed to be gaining more self-confidence as time passed.
As he’d hoped, the clan was a wonderful fit for the new mage, and he was starting to bloom right before their eyes.
Of course, the mage was in safe hands with Lisette.
She had a firm but gentle touch. She’d be able to get to the root of Tori’s worries, properly assess his skills, and get him on the right path.
Baldewin knew in his soul that Tori was a great mage, he just needed the right teacher to show him the way.
Lisette would handle it all with no problems.
For now, all that would have to wait. The larger concern at present was the continued threat posed by the Jaeggi. It was clear after the attempts to grab Tori and the attack on Cassie that they were still incredibly dangerous and growing bolder.
The War Room hadn’t gotten much use in the last few centuries.
When he was younger, Alric had told him how his father had used this room to plan strategies against the Jaeggi during the war.
Baldewin hadn’t been present at the time, since he didn’t have an official place on the king’s council.
During the war, he’d only been the best friend and unofficial bodyguard of the prince.
Now as a royal retainer and head of the royal guards, Baldewin was present for all meetings of the king’s council.
The War Room was one of the few dour and grim rooms in the entire castle, which seemed fitting considering the types of meetings that were held there.
Ancient weapons hung on the walls, reminders of battles from long ago.
In the center of the room was a long, wooden table that shone brightly in the overhead light.
But as serious as the room was, Cameron’s presence seemed to change the air slightly. The young man’s ever-present smile and look of love at his mate lightened the mood a little. He sat on Alric’s right, forcing Dieter to move down a seat. Not that the old advisor minded one bit.
Dieter had bragged to Baldewin more than once that Cameron had an incredibly quick mind and was incredibly astute when it came to reading people.
Two very good traits, since Dieter was already training Cameron to act as a type of advisor to Alric.
Both Alric and Dieter subscribed to the theory that a king was only as good as the people who advised him.
Baldewin walked around the table to take his usual seat next to Dieter.
Across the table sat Gunter, the royal researcher, on Alric’s immediate left.
Ravi was next to Gunter, excitedly telling Cameron about some game he’d been playing the night before with some of the other dragons who served as guards.
“I’m sorry I’m tardy, Hoheit,” Baldewin said as he pulled his seat out.
“You’re not. We’re still waiting on Lisette,” Alric said easily.
Baldewin paused above his chair and looked down the table at his old friend. “Lisette is attending this meeting?” The head mage occasionally made an appearance, but not regularly.
“It would be best if she shares her thoughts in regards to the Jaeggi with everyone personally,” Dieter replied.
Lisette sailed into the room in a swirl of long skirts, wearing a determined look. Baldewin’s stomach dropped. The mage’s eyes immediately landed on Baldewin, and a bright smile broke across her face.
“Breathe, Baldewin. I left your sweet mage in one piece,” she teased, and Baldewin’s shoulders slumped in relief. “Last I saw, he was working with Ha Na, a smile on his lips.”
Baldewin nodded, not bothering to argue about the ‘your mage’ part.
He wanted Tori to be his mage, but it was more important that Tori felt comfortable at Burkhard and with the rest of the clan.
He needed to be comfortable and proud of his skills.
Finding a mate was not at the top of his priority list.
“Now that everyone is here, I think we should recap what has been happening recently so we’re all operating with the same information,” Alric began. The king quickly ran through the events in Helsinki and during their road trip, bringing Gunter and Ravi fully up to speed.
“Draining her?” Gunter gasped in horror.
“Mages attacked another mage and were draining her of her powers? That doesn’t make a bit of sense.
” The dragon shook his head, as if it was all too impossible to believe.
“Why would they even do such a thing? If they’re hungry for power, why choose a mage over a dragon?
Everyone knows our power is near limitless. ”
Cameron shuddered, his hand sliding across the table to wrap around Alric’s wrist. “Isn’t that just a lovely idea? The Jaeggi getting ahold of their own dragon.”
Lisette lifted her hand to claim the floor, silencing any additional chatter.
“Actually, I think I can shed a little light on the problem, at least based on what Tori was able to tell me from their encounter with the Jaeggi.” She paused and frowned at the table’s surface for a moment, as if gathering and organizing her thoughts.
“While Cameron has had direct encounters with the Jaeggi, Tori is the first experienced mage we know who has interacted with them. He grew up in a mage clan—for better or worse—and knows what magic should look like when it comes to another mage. He noticed in his interactions with the Jaeggi that something is off—or rather, broken—about their magic.”
“I thought you’d mentioned something about that as well, my love,” Dieter murmured.
Lisette smiled sweetly at her mate. “I’ve only seen a residue of their magic or when they were heavily cloaked. Tori got to see them as they naturally are, without the cloaking. The Jaeggi Clan—and I believe it’s the entire clan—has broken magic. It’s infected all of them on a genetic level.”
“How?” Gunter breathed, his tone thick with a macabre interest.
“I think it dates back to the Great War and the blood spell that was cast, killing the major mage clans. I suspect Kaiser Jaeggi cast an anti-spell. While the curse ultimately worked and killed the mages, I think it also reverberated backward and damaged the Jaeggi down to their magical core.”
“Tori noticed Cassie’s power flowing into a device,” Alric added. “It looks as if they are stealing power from mages.”
A shudder ran through Baldewin as he thought back on that fight, running in to find Tori desperately fighting back four mages with nothing more than sunlight at his disposal.
His heart had stopped for a moment, and then he’d heard only the raging roar of his dragon in his head, demanding that he protect, kill, destroy.
He honestly wasn’t sure how he’d managed to not shift.
No. Never again. The Jaeggi were not getting close to Tori or any of the Burkhard mages again. Any mage, if he could help it.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Dieter muttered softly. “The same clan who destroyed so many lives centuries ago is back, and it’s draining mages. They need to be uncovered and eliminated once and for all.”
“While I’m not a fan of taking out an entire clan, it’s clear from my captivity that they won’t be reasoned with,” Cameron said with a sigh. “I don’t think they’re going to leave us any other choice.”
Alric turned his hand and threaded his fingers through Cameron’s, giving his mate a tender look before turning a harder one on the other members of the council.
“Until we find a way to uncover where they are hiding, we will have to maintain our restrictions on travel for all mages. I also don’t want any dragon leaving the castle alone.
If they are tapping mages for power, I don’t want to consider what they might do if they get their hands on a dragon. ”
“Could they even drain a dragon’s power?” Ravi inquired. He shifted in his seat, resting both his forearms on the table. “A dragon has to be mated to a mage, or at least be willing to share their energy. They couldn’t just…take it, could they?”
Alric turned his gaze to Lisette, who drew in a deep breath and sadly shrugged one shoulder.
“In truth, I wouldn’t have thought it possible to drain a mage of their energy, but they are doing it. It may be safer right now to assume they could steal a dragon’s power. It’s not something I’d want to be surprised with.”
“Our home is protected,” Cameron declared, but his look of confidence quickly faded. “But what of Tori’s clan in Finland? Is it possible that the Jaeggi who discovered Tori know about the Taavi Clan to the north? They need to be warned.”
Baldewin cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “The situation with the Taavi Clan is not…ideal,” he hedged.
Ravi scratched his jaw and smirked. “I think you’re going to have to give more details than that.
I haven’t talked to Tori a lot, but I find it kind of hard to believe that the guy was kicked out for being this wild rebel who liked to push back against authority.
Are they going to give us a hard time because Tori belongs to the Burkhard Clan now? ”
“Not exactly.” Baldewin sorted through a couple of delicate ways of phrasing what Tori had told him, but in the end, he decided that blunt was probably best. “They’re a bunch of judgmental, homophobic, elitist assholes,” he snarled.
“They have been teaching each generation that male mages are useless because a dragon would never dare to mate with a male. All males are generally treated like shit. Their only worth is in their ability to produce more female mages. And if you’re a gay man… ”
“Fuck,” Ravi swore softly. “No wonder Tori got the hell out of there.”