Chapter 63
KIEREN
I’m jolted by Evander’s voice in my head and Leopold’s voice in the room. “Mr. Alder.”
“Leo?” Raine pulls the sheet up around her.
“The portal is open,” Leopold says.
I’m out of bed in a flash and grab my trousers on the way out the door. “Stay here,” I shout over my shoulder. I don’t expect she will. Raine has too much curiosity to actually do as I tell her to.
My dragon rumbles against my skin. I told everyone in Crest Wing that we would keep the portal closed today, to keep things safe.
Our portal has been acting oddly. And our intel says that others have been too.
Elderglen and Rivulet both have said that their portals have been shooting extra power around.
I take the stairs two at a time. The curtains are pulled back. Roark comes down the hallway as I hit the bottom step. Evander’s standing staring at the open portal.
“No one’s come through?”
“Nothing,” Evander says.
“Could be malfunctioning?”
“Maybe.” I button my trousers as I hear Raine on the balcony. “Watch from there,” I say without turning around. I’ve heard many conversations my parents had, ones I wasn’t meant to hear, standing in the same spot.
“Okay.”
A tumble of sky-blue robes drops out of the blackness and thumps onto the tile, followed by a rush of my native language in a voice I know all too well. “Oh, for crying out loud, can’t I at least do one fucking thing right?”
“Aisling? How did you get here?” Evander says before I can move.
She’s struggling with her robes. Female dragons wear a lot of layers in the realm since their dragons can’t keep them warm all the time. The silk and wool flutter around her. It snaps me out of my trance.
“They let you out?”
“Yes, well, they kicked me out of the tower to come deliver a message to you.” She switches to English halfway through the sentence, straightening the braid on her head and then the sleeves of her dress under her robe. While I wait for a hug.
“Give me a hug, sister,” I say louder than I need to.
I’m sure Raine can hear me, but I’m not doing anything to hurt her, not even for a second.
I want the lightning to happen more than anything.
And females in my realm get jealous easily.
I’m not sure Raine would be the same, but it’s fantastic to see my sister—shocking, though.
My parents must have at least backed down enough to let her out of the tower.
Aisling hugs me but not with her normal vigor. Her hugs are usually tight enough to inflict pain. Her hands land on my shoulders. “It’s important, or they wouldn’t have let me go. They don’t trust anyone.”
“They locked you in the tower. I’m not sure they trust you,” Roark says.
“They’re just trying to control the lot of you.
Make you feel bad so you cave to their demands.
” Her blue eyes flash at me. I told her I think Raine is my thunder mate.
That soon my thunder can take over and I’ll get her back to the academy where she belongs.
“But this is important. Firested’s Thessari is closed. ”
“Barred. Why should we care? Their queen hasn’t been right for a decade.”
“No, not barred or caged. Collapsed. Intel came in this morning. They are claiming the lot of you did it in retaliation for two Firested shifters being in your village.”
“That’s not rational. Why would we take out a clan’s portal because two blokes were at a pub?” Evander says.
“But they haven’t attacked Crest Wing?” I ask.
“They haven’t attacked anywhere, not the academy, not Crest Wing.
There hasn’t even been a battle in a month.
Not a peep. Which is weird, right? Usually, they’re battling with us or Rivulet, sometimes even Elderglen.
But nothing. It’s like they’ve all been called home. ” Aisling raises her chin at me.
My brow furrows because it is weird. They’re always testing boundaries. Seeing what territory they can pick up that doesn’t belong to them.
“But wait, there’s more—and it’s not good, not at all. Mother and Father have announced the mating ball.” She shakes my shoulders.
“They’ve done what?” Roark growls.
“They’ve done it like they told you they would.
They’re tired of waiting. They say the lightning would have happened already and you need to pick a mate.
There are scrolls up all over the realm.
” Aisling fumbles with her innermost dress, pulling a parchment out of her pocket.
“See here.” She holds it out to me, and I begin to read it to myself.
Aisling snatches it back and reads it out loud. “With the failure of their last candidate, the thunder of Prince Kieren Alder will hold a mating ball on the apex of Baltine.”
Roark tears it from her hand. “That’s not six months from the ceremony.”
“You know the queen. Six months is a random amount of time. It has never, in the lore of old, taken longer than a fortnight.” Aisling moves her hand to her hips, mocking our mother.
Then she turns the parchment over. “I wrote down exactly what she said.
‘Tell your brother and his thunder they are done playing with human women. It is time to come home and pick a proper mate. War is coming, and we need to be prepared.”
“Fuck,” Evander says. His eyes flick over my head.
“Where is the beautiful, smart, kind, and loving Raine you speak so kindly of?” Aisling asks.