Chapter 2
Romilly
“Mother, I promise to review the documents in the morning. I cannot take care of it tonight no matter how much you think I should.”
Romilly fought the sigh his body wanted to release. While he normally did as asked, he couldn’t bring himself to that night.
His dragon was restless. Desperately so.
It had started in the early afternoon. One minute he was fine, listening to one of the horde members argue about a new fountain they thought needed to be installed, and the next he was seconds away from a forced shift.
The pointless presentation meant to let the man feel heard droned on far too long. Romilly figured that was reason enough for the animal part of him to rise up.
But now, in the late evening hour, when he should have been long asleep to prepare for the day ahead, he couldn’t fight it anymore. He needed to shift. Needed to hunt.
He needed something.
And whatever it was didn’t lie in the castle walls.
His mother, the former Queen Mira Saint, eyed him with a curious gaze. She wasn’t one to step aside when she felt the need to speak her mind. She was also nosy as could be. There were no secrets between her and the family.
Some might call it a mother’s instinct. Romilly knew the truth.
The great-great grandmother on his mother’s paternal side was a witch. Though the magic was muted, the power his mother had manifested in particularly specific ways.
“You will be careful tonight. No letting loose in a manner that will reveal you. I want to see you at breakfast to discuss whatever is going on.” Her eyes flashed gold, the dragon in her demanding Romilly’s follow suit.
He bowed, both out of respect for his mother, but also to appease her nature. “Will do, mother. Please sleep well. Give father my best.”
She snorted at the suggestion. “That man is already deep in REM sleep. I’m surprised we can’t hear him snoring all the way out here.”
The pair shared a knowing smile. It was no secret the former king was more freight train in sound than human. How his mother managed to sleep in the same room with him still was beyond Romilly’s understanding.
Then again, they were fated mates. He’d deal with anything if he found his.
Years upon years of searching had left him without his person.
He'd held balls and searched the country, hoping to find the one Fate intended to be his.
Every event ended the same way, with him returning back home alone with no hope of bonding, of solidifying the next line of saints.
He wasn't even truly concerned about the heirs.
That was a discussion he and his mate needed to have more than anything, but he was rather lonely.
And that night was particularly heightened by how much his dragon wanted to be free.
He left the castle with haste, needing to get out of his clothes and into the sky.
San Noctis was protected by magic, the land shared with humans who didn't quite understand what was going on.
Some had been trusted through the years with information.
They were protectors, diverting any interest in the castle and the people within it.
Others were clueless, walking and experiencing a life with supernatural beings.
Shifters mostly, though there were vampires and Fae as well.
Once he cleared the entry of the castle, he stripped his clothes, leaving them next to a tree, and focused on the animal inside him.
He and his dragon were bonded, eternally linked in a way that made them two separate entities, yet still of one mind.
"Be free," he told it. And in a flash, his human skin and hair were gone.
He grew in size, his body coated in blue scales.
The shades varied depending on where they were on his body, but the azure of it was striking.
His tail and wings came next, and soon he was looking through the eye of his dragon.
The beast soared into the air without a care for anything or anyone.
He could hear the guards scrambling beneath him.
His mother would let them know soon enough what was going on.
It wasn't like him to be out this late, to be venturing in his form.
They would be worried, of course. Curious, more so.
But he had to figure out what was wrong.
As his dragon flew toward the human part of town, Romilly tried to piece together what it could be.
Was there a dragon in danger? He could connect to the other shifters in his horde, could sense them when they were in grave peril.
It's what made him a great king. But what he sensed wasn't that same sensation.
This felt as if he needed to track someone down, or something.
He sat back as the beast navigated through the forest. It wasn't long before he could feel the dragon trying to go lower. He worried for a moment because there was nothing but trees where he was headed. No opening or field.
And then he saw a small circular gap in the tree line. As he lowered down, he could feel his body already shifting back to human form, his dragon understanding he wouldn't fit in the space.
The minute his feet touched the ground, he could feel the dragon pulling him through the trees.
He noticed there were bags on the forest floor, a blanket spread out that looked like it had been thrown aside quickly.
He took off in the direction toward the tree line, only to come up short right at the edge.
A body, covered in blood and crumpled, lay there.
Romilly rushed forward. Was it a human? How had they wound up here? Who had attacked them? From the markings on the legs, he could see the attacker was a wolf. Probably one of the feral ones they'd been keeping an eye on.
Humans didn't typically venture out into the woods because they knew better. They'd spread word enough that there were creatures who didn't take kindly to others being in their territory.
Romilly wondered if the human was maybe new.
He turned to glance back at the bags. Was he simply traveling through San Noctis?
Was he homeless and living here? The questions tore through his mind, but Romilly couldn't take a moment to sort through them.
He was too busy trying to see if the human was still alive, still breathing.
He reached down to feel for a pulse, and the spark that shot between the human's body and his fingertips made him gasp.
"Mate," he whispered.
He took one second to feel elation. One single moment to feel utter joy that all he had been searching for was finally here.
Once that second was gone, he felt nothing but pure terror — absolute panic — because this little human, his mate, was wounded.
They weren't like shifters. They wouldn’t regenerate.
He needed to get his human home, and fast. But humans were sensitive and he couldn't very well just lift him and transform into his dragon all the same.
He sent out a call to his mother through their family bond.
"Mate. Help," he said. His siblings responded, each voice panicking as they woke from slumber to find that something was happening.
Romilly leaned down, smoothing away some of the blood so he could press a kiss to his mate's forehead. "Help is coming," he whispered. "I swear to it, you will make it through this."
The man groaned, and it was such a pained sound that both Romilly and his dragon whimpered.
"We're on our way," his mother said. "We have a Fae in tow. How bad?"
He allowed his eyes to trail over the human and sent the mental image to his mother, whose voice came back with urgency as she demanded everyone move faster.
Romilly kept his hands on his mate. He knew the touch would fortify him some.
At least it did with shifters. Not many mates were humans, and the few that were typically went off to live with them instead of staying with the horde.
Romilly wouldn’t have such a choice. As king, he would have to bring the human in to rule by his side.
He would have to convince others that he was safe, that he could be trusted.
That problem would come eventually. He just needed him to live first.
"Where did you come from, little one? And how can I convince you to stay?"
It wasn't long before his mother appeared in a flash of light. He blinked, looking over to her, but she simply shook her head and stepped to the side where a Fae came forward, rushing over to the body. Romilly's dragon growled, angry that someone else was touching him.
The Fae rolled his eyes. "I have to heal him, sir. Your Majesty," he quickly corrected. "I have to touch him to do so."
Romilly released his hold but stayed close, hovering in case he was needed. The Fae closed his eyes, his hands positioned with one on the human's heart and the other on his head. He chanted some ancient Fae words that Romilly didn't understand.
His mother came to stand behind him, her hands landing on his shoulders. "Your siblings wanted to come, but I told them to remain. I did not want you overwhelmed."
He reached up, placing a hand on top of hers. "Thank you, mother."
"Your father is currently distracting them. He woke up when you messaged through the bond."
Romilly normally would have laughed at such a thing. Had the circumstances been different, it would have amused him to no end to know that his father's snoring fits, which they had just been teasing him about, were pushed aside so quickly.
The Fae sucked in a deep breath, then pushed it out slowly.
Romilly watched closely as streaks of gold poured from the Fae's body into the human.
It moved over every inch of his body, mending wounds and clearing away blood.
When the man was fully visible, the Fae slumped, pulling his hands free and dropping back onto his heels.
"He will make it," the Fae said, "but he needs to be watched."
"Excellent. You will be rewarded for this service. You have saved the future king of our land."
The Fae's eyes widened. He had been around the dragons long enough to know what that meant, to know the importance of what he'd just done.
Romilly's mother held her hand out to the Fae, urging him to stand. "Come with us. You will be rewarded later. For now, I think you need rest as well. I will shift and carry us back while Romilly holds his mate. I do not think they wish to be parted."
Romilly grunted in acknowledgement. There was no chance in hell he was going to leave his mate's side.
Every meeting he had, every moment of time where he would need to be away, was going to get handed off.
One of his siblings could take care of it.
They all knew the laws and rules just as well as him.
They weren't the type of family to have one Alpha be in charge while the rest skated by.
No, everyone learned everything, because it was important to them that no one ever be the sole focus.
The work was distributed evenly, and should anything — Fate forbid — happen to one of them, another could step in their place easily.
Romilly and his mother made quick work of getting shifted and into the air.
Romilly's dragon held his mate as loosely as possible, not wanting to jostle him even though the Fae said he was healed.
It was too risky still. Humans were too fragile.
His mother had the Fae on her back. The young man held on for dear life, his eyes closed tight.
Romilly would have laughed any other time.
His mind was focused instead on how that Fae was going to be a very rich, very protected man.
When they landed back at the castle, Romilly didn't even stop to gather his clothing.
He simply strode through the castle doors with his mate in his arms. He made his way to his bedroom, navigating through the long halls and passing by his siblings, who stared at him slack-jawed.
It wasn't the nudity that shocked them. It was how possessive he was being.
And also because it was a human in their home.
His father simply smiled, then held his arms out for Romilly's mother when she came forward.
"Dion, take this Fae to a guest room. Make sure he is comfortable and has everything he needs for tonight. Tomorrow we will be celebrating him, for he has given us a great gift." A helper rushed over to do as his mother instructed.
The Fae bowed his head, which Romilly caught sight of as he glanced back quickly, but he forged ahead until he was at his door. Once inside, he locked it behind him and eased his mate down on the bed. With the man safe and in Romilly's space, he finally had the chance to breathe easy.
Well, as easy as he could with how much was still unknown. Would the human wake up? Would he be okay? Would he be accepting of Romilly's position and his shifter abilities? The questions were endless, and all Romilly had was time.
He went to grab one of the sturdy chairs in the corner, brought it to the side of the bed, and sat in it watching his mate. He didn't want to sleep in the bed with him lest he scare him when he awoke, but he also needed to be close should anything happen.
As he watched the human's chest rise and fall slowly, Romilly basked in the truth. He'd found his fated mate, his forever person. It was everything he had dreamed of, and yet more terrifying than all he'd ever faced.