Chapter 22 #2
Baldewin nodded. “They believe dragons betrayed mages, and the Jaeggi in particular. That we were the ones who started the war. They even told Tori that he’s horrible at magic when they’re the ones who are incapable.
It’s utter bullshit. Tori is amazing, and he’s clearly worth more than the entire clan put together. ”
A hand landed on Baldewin’s shoulder, and he looked over to find Lisette smiling at him with warm concern in her eyes. He realized that his fisted hands were trembling before him on the table. He’d gotten so lost in his anger over the things Tori had told him about his clan.
“Whoa, man. Baldewin, you’re smoking,” Ravi said in a stunned voice.
“Quite impressive. In all these centuries, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Baldewin lose his temper,” Gunter observed.
“It’s rare, but it happens. Though, this has got to be the first time in at least a century,” Alric lightly teased.
“Forgive me, Hoheit. That was unprofessional of me,” Baldewin murmured, bowing his head to the king.
Alric waved his right hand at his old friend, brushing off the apology. “You’ve grown close to Tori over the past several days. It’s understandable that you’re protective. If Cameron had come to me with such stories, I’m not sure their town would still be standing.”
“Awww, you’d defend my honor with a dragon firestorm,” Cameron cooed playfully. He leaned his head against Alric’s shoulder and exaggeratedly batted his eyelashes behind his glasses.
“At the very least,” Alric promised before kissing the tip of Cameron’s nose.
“Well, if they’re assholes like that, I vote to let the Jaeggi have them,” Ravi said, raising his hand up in the air.
Dieter sighed loudly and rubbed his eyes with one hand. “No, we can’t do that.”
“Are you sure? Sounds like they deserve it,” Ravi countered. “And I bet Baldewin would vote with me.”
“I’m with Ravi,” Lisette grumbled.
“Dearest!” Dieter gasped, dropping his hand to stare across the table at his mate.
Lisette folded her arms tightly over her chest and narrowed her gaze on Dieter. “Don’t you give me any ‘dearest.’ They’ve made their bed. Let them lie in it.”
“While they certainly haven’t given us any reason to protect them,” Gunter started slowly, “it does seem like they could be making a lot of poor decisions based on bad information. If we were to give them correct information, they may be willing to change. Their current opinion certainly isn’t endearing, but we are still left with one major dilemma: we desperately need mages.
Are we going to willingly walk away from an entire clan of mages and not even try speaking to them? ”
“There is also the matter of handing the Jaeggi a ready supply of magical batteries if they do discover the Taavi Clan,” Baldewin added. “While I have no love of the Taavi, I don’t want to give the Jaeggi more magical power.”
“Gunter and Baldewin are correct,” Alric said firmly.
“I have no desire to aid the Jaeggi, and the discrimination and homophobia that Tori suffered might not be indicative the entire clan. In addition, they may be willing to change with a little education. We need to at least try to speak to them. Make them aware of what truly happened in the war and the state of affairs now.”
“You’re going to need Tori for that,” Cameron interjected. “At least talk to him about how best to approach them.” The young mage frowned and shook his head. “I’d hate for him to need to return after he escaped what sounds like a hellish life.”
“Yes, we’ll schedule another meeting with Tori and get his input.
I would prefer him to be there for the meeting, but in no way would he be forced to return to his clan if he didn’t want to go.
The man has been through enough. I wouldn’t dare subject him to returning even for one hour if he didn’t want to. ”
“Thank you, Hoheit,” Baldewin said, some of the tension that tightly clasped his heart starting to ease.
If Baldewin had his way, Tori wouldn’t set foot anywhere near his old clan ever again.
His preference was for Tori to stay in the castle for a long time.
At least until the Jaeggi problem was taken care of.
“Very good. Baldewin and Ravi, please see that an official dispatch goes out to our entire clan explaining the increased restrictions on dragons leaving the castle alone. Mages must still be accompanied by at least two dragons outside the castle walls. I will reach out to Tori and set up a time to discuss how best to approach his clan,” Alric said, closing the meeting.
Baldewin nodded, anxious to find Tori and check on him. He wanted to know what Tori thought of Lisette and how he was adjusting to the castle. If he was spending time with Ha Na, there was no doubt in his mind that Tori had met quite a few other dragons and mages by now.
“Don’t forget about the other thing,” Cameron loudly whispered to his mate.