Chapter 18
Sora sat comfortably in Gunter’s office (dungeon?
lair?), hands folded on the tabletop. The suspiciously scarred tabletop.
And really, it felt like a dungeon in here, as there wasn’t a window to be seen.
There were quite a few preservation charms on the bookshelves to help keep the books there from fading with time.
Gunter himself was swathed in a dark blue sweater, sleeves pushed up to the elbows, a tie holding his shoulder-length blond hair away from his face.
He had glasses perched on his nose (which made Sora twitch, because, really?
Glasses? When there were so many optical spells to fix eyesight issues?).
In front of him was a laptop, his fingers perched over the keys.
“Thank you for this, Sora. There’s too much about your clan that I don’t know.”
“It’s not a problem. Actually, it gives me a chance to apologize for my part in the little prank Ravi pulled on you. I am sorry. I hope it wasn’t too much trouble.”
Gunter lifted his eyes to Sora and sort of blinked at him in confusion for a moment. “Prank?”
“The shrink-wrap and the bubble wrap,” Sora reminded him.
“Oh! Yes, that nonsense.” Gunter waved a hand at him and chuckled softly. “It was nothing. They like to think I’m not aware that Hoheit has Ravi on a regular schedule of dragging me out of my library, but I’m no fool.”
He paused and gave a little shrug, sighing softly as if to himself.
“The truth is that my dragon enjoys the hunt and excitement.” Gunter suddenly narrowed his eyes at Sora. “But if you tell Ravi that, I swear I will deny it until my dying breath.”
Sora laughed, tossing his head back. “Never. I’d never ruin your fun or his.”
“But let’s get back to why you’ve been pulled into my lair. Can you tell me more about your clan as well as the make-up of the Sodalicium? How many magical families compose the Sodalicium? What are they?”
Sora expelled a slow breath and sank back in his chair, trying to organize his thoughts. He hadn’t attempted to list all the mage clans in a long time.
“Quite a few,” he murmured, trying to buy himself a few seconds.
“We have the Kedar from India, the Feroz from Persia, the Korstiaan from the Netherlands, the Zeleny, of course, the Panapoulos from Greece, the Manalo from the Philippines, the MacDougall from Scotland, the Aznar from Spain, and a few Xhosa family members from South Africa joined us during the migration. There aren’t many of them left; they don’t tend to marry, for some reason.
But I want to say there’s about two dozen of them. ”
Gunter looked wistful. “So many. We feared most mage clans had been lost.”
“We have stragglers from other mage clans who have joined us, but those are the major ones.” Sora didn’t like the idea that the clans hadn’t survived out in the real world.
He asked hopefully, “But you’ve seen magic from other families born in this generation, correct?
That’s where your new mages have come from. ”
“Yes and no. It’s sort of a mixed result.
” Gunter stopped typing to tick them off on a finger.
“The Noh family has the most so far—that’s Cameron and Cassie’s family line.
We have three from them at the moment, and we’re investigating their cousins in Korea.
North comes from the Aldridges, who were originally in England but are now found in the southern United States.
It’s the same clan Lisette comes from. Tori comes from the Taavi, formerly Taavetti, and they are in the northernmost part of Finland.
We don’t really deal with them for the most part.
They’re a sizeable enough clan at two hundred members but very toxic in culture. ”
Gunter looked uncomfortable, his gaze straying down to his keyboard.
“We’ve been able to draw only about five mages out of that clan, including Tori. Most have gone to the Valerii Dragon Clan in Brazil. While we’re desperate for mages…”
“There’s no reason to drag a potentially toxic element into your clan when you’re also dealing with the Jaeggi,” Sora finished gently.
He was empathetic to their plight. He was looking at a dragon who’d lived more than five centuries with little hope of finding his mate, and now an entire clan of mages was just a short distance away.
But no one wanted to deal with that kind of hatred and mistrust from someone who was supposed to love you.
The entire situation dismayed Sora. So few mages? In the entire world? “Even the Valerii haven’t found any mages?”
“Their seeking spells were very short-ranged. The Noh family has managed to give us back that lost information, so our seeking spells have improved drastically. But for the most part, we’ve been researching family trees and finding mages by blind luck.
” Gunter pointed to a binder sitting nearby.
“That’s the Aldridge line, right there, after they left England.
North’s grandfather gave it to me to help with the research.
But you can see why having mages pounding on our front door is so exciting for us. ”
“Yes, I can.” And it was heartbreaking that this situation was an improvement. Sora was ever so glad he’d won the argument with his mother and his clan was coming here.
“Talk to me about clan specialties,” Gunter urged, poised again to type.
Sora obliged, explaining one clan at a time. Gunter was an avid listener and took notes furiously. Really, he was at court-reporting speed, that was how quickly he typed. It brought up the topic of the Abe’s specialty, and it gave Sora a chance to ask a burning question.
“Is it alright if I offer my services here?”
Gunter blinked at him from behind his yellow-tinged glasses. “Of course! I’m not sure why you have to ask.”
“I don’t wish to impose or assume too much,” Sora explained.
The idea of pushing his ideas onto someone else when they were unwanted made him squirm.
It wasn’t polite to do that. “But I’ve seen several ailments in the clan, and I’d like to attend to them.
The aged dragon with the severe cataracts, for instance. ”
“Sandor? Yes, his eyes are growing progressively worse.” Gunter nodded in encouragement. “Please, do. Human medicine can’t help dragons very much. Our physiology makes it impossible.”
“Trust me, I’m well aware.” This was the more delicate question, and Sora tried to phrase it the right way. “I’ve heard hints that your king also has something ailing him?”
“If you’re talking about the injury he still suffers from, then yes.
And please, please do something to help him if you can.
” Gunter took off his glasses, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, his expression pained.
“Our mages do all they can, but they’re just treating his pain.
He has no strength in his left arm. He…he can’t fly. ”
The final bit was soft and slightly choked. These weren’t the words of a clanmate or a loyal subject, but of someone who ached for his beloved friend.
Sora winced. “I didn’t realize it was so severe. Was this from the war?”
“Yes. His father took the brunt of an attack meant for him—it’s how we lost our former king.
But Hoheit didn’t escape it unscathed. We were devastated then, and we’re pained by it now.
Please, examine him. Hoheit won’t think to ask at this stage; he’s resigned to it.
But surely an Abe can do something more than treat his pain. ”
Sora had no doubt of that and nodded sharply. “I will certainly try. If nothing else, removing the scar tissue that is likely building up will ease a significant amount of his pain and should give him some mobility back.”
Gunter practically beamed at him. “You can do that without surgery?”
“I should be able to do it with light surgery, I should say. It depends how deeply the damage goes. But I’ll offer my help to King Alric and see how he responds.” Sora glanced at the clock and frowned. “Apologies, but can we resume later? I’ve promised to meet Ravi for lunch.”
It seemed Gunter only then realized the hour himself, and he blinked at the clock as if wondering where the time had gone. “Oh! Oh, it is that time. Sure, go ahead. Later this afternoon?”
“Sure.” Sora was half out of his chair when he realized Gunter was looking at him a bit strangely. “Is something…?”
“Huh? Oh, no. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around it, is all. Ravi being courted.”
Now that, Sora couldn’t leave be. “Why?”
Gunter’s head canted one direction, then another, as if he sought the words to explain.
“It’s not that I don’t see him as an adult.
He’s five hundred and three years old, of course he is.
It’s just that he’s always been everyone’s kid brother.
We, as a clan, helped raise him. And he’s this jokester we don’t take seriously most of the time.
Seeing a serious man like you courting him is breaking my brain on some level. ”
How interesting. Sora could understand, in a way, how Gunter’s perception of Ravi colored his view of things. But he also felt a challenge in those words and couldn’t let it stand.
“It’s because of his spontaneity that I’m drawn to him.”
Gunter regarded him carefully. “Really. That’s why?”
“And he’s wickedly cute.” Sora winked and got a surprised smile out of Gunter.
“But, yes, I think that’s what initially caught my interest. I’m too much the straight-man.
It’s hard for me to be impulsive, as my nature doesn’t lend itself to that kind of behavior.
But I enjoy it in other people and admire those who can be true to their emotions. Ravi is the epitome of that.”
Snorting, Gunter agreed. “He’s definitely that. We’ve all said for years that Ravi needed someone responsible as a mate, otherwise the world might burn. So, in that sense, Sora, I’m glad that you’re the one courting him. But, you understand what will happen if you hurt him?”
Sora blinked in surprise. Oh. A shovel talk? Really? He’d never been on the receiving end of one. It was a novel experience.