Chapter Ten #2
Like most, I could tell Katana was awed by Blaze, as he tended to have that effect on people with his substantial size, ebony hair, and cutting, quicksilver eyes.
Not just that, but dragons in particular, who could sense both an alpha dragon and wolf residing within him.
He made a striking, admirable counterpart to his mate, with her stark Scottish beauty, fiery red hair, and mesmerizing emerald-green eyes.
“It’s so good to finally meet you, Blaze.” Katana offered him a warm smile despite the horror we’d just witnessed. “I’ve heard so much about you.” She glanced from Marjorie back to him. “I can’t tell you how glad I am you two found each other again.”
Theirs was a long tale, after they had no choice but to go their separate ways across time, following their initial friendship as children in medieval Scotland, when Marjorie first embraced her dragon.
Fortunately, however, the gods brought them back together here in our homeland, allowing them what would surely be a long, happy life together after the prophecy was fulfilled.
“’Tis nice to meet you, as well, Katana.
” He returned her smile. “I, too, have heard much about you. Many thanks for being such a good friend to my mate over the years. It means more than you know.” He gestured at where they had been sitting.
“Please join us and break your fast as I sense you haven’t eaten yet, and tell us everything that’s happened.
” His knowing glance went back and forth between us.
“We can sense a lot, but not all, given much of your history is cloaked in dreams, ja?”
“Ja,” I confirmed, so we did, catching them up on everything we’d learned thus far as well as we could, considering so much of it was veiled within dreams. Slipping my hand in Katana’s, I looked from her back to them.
“I imagine more might come to us, but we’ve recalled enough to know how much we love one another and that there can be no doubt we’re fated mates. ”
“Seen clearly enough,” Marjorie agreed, offering Katana a knowing smile and a look of reassurance. “So, I’m truly glad you found each other.” She hesitated a moment before asking what I knew weighed on both her and Blaze’s minds. “Should I assume you know about Torsten’s darker side?”
“You should,” Katana replied, honest with them in a way I could not fault her. “And I love him just as much as this side.” She squeezed my hand. “I love all of him.”
While some might counter that since we hadn't known each other nearly long enough to feel so strongly, any dragon who had found their fated mate, via dreams or otherwise, knew better.
“Be that as it may,” Blaze said, giving me the sort of serious look that told me how troubled he was by what I’d shared about what we just witnessed in this very chamber, “I recommend doing your best to keep him suppressed until we understand what the darkness did to him.”
“Ja,” I agreed, revealing something that surprised him and Marjorie, but I sensed not Katana. “I was able to suppress him earlier without much difficulty, so I suspect I will be able to again.”
“That’s new,” Marjorie commented, arching a brow at me before looking at Katana. “And without your assistance?”
“Yes.” There seemed to be a faint flicker of sadness in Katana’s eyes when she glanced at me. “Whether you realize it or not, you are the stronger of your personalities.”
While I was tempted to counter with words of encouragement because that was the best scenario going forward, I knew that wasn’t what she wanted to hear right now, given her feelings for my other half. So, I merely squeezed her hand in acknowledgment and nodded once that I understood.
“’Tis good to hear,” Blaze replied in response to my kinder side being stronger and with good reason, considering I was the one he was close friends with, proud to be his second-in-command, where my darker half would much rather usurp him.
“Yet as you can imagine, there’s still much to worry about here,” Blaze went on, looking back and forth between us. “So, neither of you recalls what happened after the darkness went through Torsten and swamped Katana?”
“No,” Katana replied, as upset about it as I was. “Our dream seemed to end abruptly after that, yet...”
“Yet what?” Marjorie prompted when she seemed to struggle to find the right words.
“I don’t know,” Katana murmured, shaking her head.
“It just feels like something did happen after that.” She peered down at her hand as if she still held the crown before she clenched her fist and, surprisingly enough, blinked back tears.
“It feels like whatever happened meant letting go of the crown in the end, and the cost being great.”
“Great to the Realm?” Blaze wondered. “Or to you personally?”
“I have no idea,” she whispered, wiping away a tear before it had a chance to fall. “Only that the moment was impactful.”
“So it seems,” Marjorie said, her tone gentle now.
“It’s okay, Kat, we’ll just take this one day at a time and figure it out together.
” She looked at her with reassurance again.
“You’re here now, so I’d say that’s a good sign that we’re all heading in the right direction.
” She gestured at our surroundings and said something that caught me off guard but felt right. “The Keep has brought you home.”
It seemed Katana agreed when she nodded and managed a small, wobbly smile, warming my heart. “It has.” She looked at me. “I might have some things to wrap up in the future, but that sounds like how it should be if you—”
“Ja, I want you here,” I said gruffly, never so certain of anything. “Always. In this life and every life after.” Yet it was important I remain clear about what that meant. “Though it may not be as Liege but in service to another.”
“I couldn't care less what your role is,” she returned without hesitation, making me love her all the more. “As long as we’re together.”
Our eyes lingered on each other for a moment before she brushed away her last tear, squared her shoulders, and looked at Blaze and Marjorie. “First, though, we’ve got to make sure there is a home where we can be together.”
“On that we agree,” Blaze replied. “Which means ‘tis best we gather with the others and discuss everything you just shared.” His brow furrowed when he looked at me. “I’m curious, though. Where is Frey, given you said you two got separated and she intended to make her way back here?”
“’Twould depend on where the four of us ultimately ended up to begin with,” I replied, troubled she hadn’t made contact with Blaze yet. “We were under the impression when we were separated that she was returning to what we hoped was some part of the normal Realm or Keep.”
“Yet she’s not here,” Marjorie said, “nor can we feel her within our minds.”
“Nor I,” I murmured, having thought perhaps I couldn’t initially because we were so newly returned to this reality.
“Since she and Taro didn’t see some of the things we did, I don’t think we need to worry just yet,” Katana said gently, finding the strength to comfort me despite worrying about her friend, too, when she felt me growing more and more troubled by my sister’s absence.
“As you said, we don’t know where they ended up when they traveled back in time, but they were nowhere near Skarde, and only we ever saw him, so that's got to be a good thing.” I knew she was taking strength from her own words because she, we, had no choice.
“Not to mention, they’re both incredibly good fighters. ”
“Very true,” I admitted, latching onto any glimmer of hope I could despite the various counterarguments churning in my mind. My sister and I had been close since the moment I was born, so the idea of Skarde getting a hold of her more than sickened me.
“I think, for now, ‘tis best to have faith Frey and Taro can hold their own.” Blaze gave me a reassuring look as well. “If anyone can, ‘tis your sister and anybody she means to protect, and you know it.”
“And Taro is no different,” Marjorie added. “So, I'm sure they'll be fine.”
Understanding I had no choice at the moment but to set aside my worries and focus on the bigger issue at hand, I nodded, taking on the role Blaze needed to see as his second-in-command.
He might have a fated mate and queen now, but we were still a unified team, followed and respected by all, determined to protect the Realm at all costs.
“You are both right. Taro seems to be an excellent warrior and protector, and Frey would want us to focus on what matters most right now.”
“That’s right,” Blaze agreed, even though I saw a flicker of compassion in his eyes for my worries and his own, as he loved Frey too, before he became the leader we needed to see.
“To that end, we will eat, then gather the others later today to discuss what we think should come next, given the information you two have shared.”
And so, we did, but not before Katana saw something she claimed she’d been waiting her whole life to see.