Page 5 of Consort of the Dragon King

Auslin covered Kitsuki’s hand with his own. “Why are you always so understanding? You should be angry!”

“I came to terms with what happened long ago,” Kitsuki assured Auslin. “Fate was clearly responsible for what transpired, so you should not blame yourself for it guiding your actions.”

“I should have told you what time I came from,” Auslin regretfully bemoaned. Guilt ate away at him for always having insisted that he never reveal the specific time difference between them for fear of negatively altering the future timeline. “At least then you would have had some idea of when you might see me again.”

“All I needed to know was that it would be someday,” Kitsuki countered. “The promise of our reunion has always kept me going.”

“Kita—Kitsuki,” Auslin whispered, correcting himself in the middle to Kitsuki’s rightful name.

Kitsuki smiled faintly. “I suppose I should call you Auslin now.”

“I never lied to you.” Auslin desperately needed Kitsuki to understand that. “Vanra is my birth name, but I became Auslin when I joined the temple as a child. I was so afraid that if anyone in the past knew my name was Auslin, it might cause problems in the future.”

“I will gladly call you by any name, so long as I may call you mine,” Kitsuki replied, bringing Auslin’s hand up to his lips to kiss.

Auslin blushed at the sentiment and Kitsuki’s tender actions. “I want to be yours forever, provided you’ll have me after what I’ve done to you.”

“My desire to claim you as my bondmate has not waned over the centuries,” Kitsuki promised. He traced his claiming mark, sending a shudder through Auslin. “But it would be prudent to wait, as I am not the same man you once knew.”

“Kitaro, Kitsuki, I don’t care which,” Auslin insisted as he hugged Kitsuki. “I wantyou. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”

The shifter king wrapped his arm around Auslin to hold him close. “There has been no one else in my life since you left. My heart belongs only to you and always will.”

“Am I an awful person because it makes part of me thrilled to know that you’re still mine?” Auslin asked with a wan smile. “I never wanted you to live that kind of solitary life, let alone for so many centuries.”

“It has not been entirely solitary. Kisano is still at the castle and serves as a trusted advisor of mine. Kizoshi drops by from time to time. I should have known something was going to happen since she brought you up the last time I met with her a few weeks ago.”

Auslin had always known Kizoshi survived into his time, but he lit up in excitement. “How is Kisano?”

“He still prefers spending most of his time in his library. Some things will never change. Uncle Jaega, Fersen, and Tyrian are all around as well.”

“Can I see them?” Auslin requested. “I owe them all apologies, too.”

“They will be so grateful for your return that your apologies will be unnecessary,” Kitsuki assured him. “We may return to the castle in the morning to visit if you wish.”

Auslin smiled. “I’d really like that. Does that mean we can stay here tonight, just the two of us?”

“I would like nothing more.” Kitsuki indulged them in another kiss, which flustered Auslin.

When they parted, Auslin had so many questions he hardly knew where to start. “Whatever happened to Mitsuki? I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t remember the history between when Father went to the Beyond Realm and when you became king.”

“Father passed to the Beyond Realm a little over two hundred years after you went through Fate’s Gate,” Kitsuki explained. “Mitsuki took over and was sent to the Beyond Realm within a few months of his ruling, so I am not surprised you do not remember him, especially as I have been the king of Valzerna your entire life.”

“I assumed Mitsuki would have clung to his power and had a miserably long reign,” Auslin said in surprise.

“No, about four months into his rule, he became convinced I was trying to stage a coup against him despite my complete disinterest in ruling,” Kitsuki told Auslin. “He decided to kill me to prevent the nonexistent uprising. While I was asleep, he attacked me with a Divine weapon, which is how I lost my arm. Thankfully, Kizoshi arrived and forced him to withdraw.”

Auslin had always heard all kinds of rumors about how Kitsuki had lost his arm in a fierce battle, so he had never imagined it would be something as heinous as an underhanded attack by his older brother. “I’m sorry,” Auslin apologized, his heart hurting for what Kitsuki had been through in his absence.

“That is not your fault,” Kitsuki assured Auslin. “It was the rare time I was grateful that you were not there because Mitsuki undoubtedly would have tried to kill you as well, which is a burden I could not have lived with if it had happened.”

“It’s a good thing I wasn’t there only because I would have gladly purified him into the Beyond Realm, consequences be damned,” Auslin heatedly said, angry at the older shifter who had long since passed.

Kitsuki waved it away. “What is done is done. There is no use in wishing things could have been different.”

Auslin took Kitsuki’s hand in his, tracing the darkened pewter shifter markings. “I should have purified Mitsuki when I had the chance. Then that never would have happened.”

“Kizoshi sufficiently punished him for his transgressions as he died in war, which is her domain,” Kitsuki told Auslin. “Mitsuki’s death was a grisly one. She takes much pride in it.”

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