Page 6 of Trial By Fire

Our mate stifles a yawn, but tracks Maddox with a disapproving frown as he pulls out a chair from the table and sits Dravyn in a seat in front of her. I can see how tired she is, the first time you shift can be draining, and as much as I want to call it a night and carry her to bed, I know that she would never let me do that. Adrian sits down next to her, and before she could complain he scoops her out of her chair and puts her on his lap.

“What are you—”

“You are clearly tired, beautiful. I have a feeling this is going to be a long conversation, so you can rest in my arms, or I can take you back to our room. I’m not giving you a choice,” Adrian growls out, his head tilts to the side with his eyebrows raised in challenge as he cuts off her question and wraps his arms around her waist.

“What did I say about you not owning me, Adrian? I meant what I said earlier.” She cranes her head and looks up at him, their eyes lock in a silent argument. I can’t help the smile on my face as she relents and looks across the room at me before she sighs.

“I’m still upset, you know.” Cordelia folds her arms over her chest, and the pout on her lips has my heart racing. The urge to walk over and snatch her from Adrian is so strong I grab the chair forcefully and throw myself on the seat at the other end of the table. I’m not a jealous man, but I wish for a moment that I could take what the fuck I want here like my brother. I admire Adrian for that part of his personality, his anger at the world and the hand he’d been dealt helps feed that side of him. He is a grouchy asshole. Cordelia settles back on his lap comfortably, resting her head back on his shoulder, Adrian mumbles his approval. I want to be the one holding her in that way. Nope. I refuse to be jealous.

“Cordelia, Twyla is right. I will keep Dravyn cuffed for the time being. As a precaution, until I feel he’s given me enough reason to let him be free.” Maddox sits at the end head of the table and turns his attention to the man in question.

“Wait, where is Gale?” Cordelia asks looking toward the door as if he would magically appear.

“Probably somewhere sulking,” Adrian says as he pulls Cordelia closer, but she pushes forward on his lap and looks over at me to explain.

“Why?” she asks.

“Because I am not really excited about the idea of another mate, gorgeous. I don’t trust Dravyn, and I am more than happy to tell you exactly how I feel about it. I won’t hide my feelings. Honesty from now on, right?” Gale says as he walks in and makes his way around the room until he finds a spot against the wall and folds his arms in front of him, opting to stand. Cordelia looks at all of us for a minute, the golden reptilian eyes of her Dragon stare back at us as she chooses this moment to speak to us telepathically.

“I owe you an apology. I know I overreacted back there. I know that you didn’t intentionally mean to deceive me. None of us knew what would happen tonight, so I can’t be too upset about it now. Just no more withholding information. If we think it’s important, then we tell each other. That’s how we make this work. So, yes, honesty from here on out.”She smiles at all of us, even Dravyn, giving Adrian’s arm a little squeeze as she continues to speak to us.“I understand your concerns, Gale. Trust me, okay. Let’s listen to what Dravyn has to say, please,”she says quickly. Gale blows out a breath as if he had been waiting for her to reassure him. We all nod our heads in agreement, all four of us. I almost can’t believe how quickly she could ease our fears and concerns through the bond. Even Dravyn’s nervous energy seems to settle.

Twyla coughs and brings everyone back to the room as she smirks from beside Cordelia. King Maddox looks at us all knowingly. Both of them are well aware we were speaking in private, but they don’t seem bothered at all by it.

“Now that we are all here. Dravyn how—”

“I’m sorry, Maddox—I mean Grandad. Grandpa? Wait, Grandfather.” She pauses, her eyes turn to the upper left, lost in thought for a moment. “Okay, just give me time. I will get there, I promise.” Maddox beams at her, his smile wide as she struggles with what to call him. Twyla couldn’t hold back her laugh, which quickly turned into a yawn, followed by us all yawning.

“I want to jump right in and ask Dravyn how long he has been watching me?” Cordelia turns her attention back to Dravyn, who instantly sits up straighter as he begins to speak.

“I’ve been watching you for months now. It was the night after your birthday. The night you had your first dream. That was when the bond between us came roaring to life. I remember the half-eaten birthday cake sitting on the counter in your apartment the night the portal brought me directly to you. It was the object that stood out the most when I first arrived.” Dravyn shrugs, as if what he just revealed wasn’t a bomb dropped on us all. My mind is going haywire.

“How is it possible thatyouwere able to find her first? And taken straight to her place?” Adrian asks as he looks at me, as if I somehow had the answer. I clearly have no clue. We all turned back to Dravyn and wait for him to continue. Even King Maddox looks confused.

“To tell you that, I need to start from the beginning. Technically, I wasn’t destined to be Cordelia’s mate. I was made.” He holds his head high and shoulders back, keeping his eyes on Cordelia, watching her, as if waiting to see how she will react to this news when everyone else in the room erupts into verbal barrage. Adrian, Gale, and I start to speak, raising our voices at once as we all fight to be heard. Throwing out our own questions to Dravyn. Gale paces the room, arms propped on his head in frustration. The shock and disbelief from this revelation has me rise from my seat, and I join him. Adrian holds Cordelia tighter, his growl reverberating around the room. Yet, he stays silent, looking at Cordelia, and waits for her to speak. As if to him, all that matters is her questions and her approval. I can’t fault the man. I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same thing.

“Can we please allow him to speak! We are all shocked at this news, gentlemen, but this is not the time to cause an uproar, especially when there is clearly so much more to this story.” Maddox slams his hands on the table with a mighty boom, silencing all three of us. I eye my brothers, I can see they are as embarrassed by our outburst as I am, but when it comes to Cordelia, we all feel out of control.

“Dravyn, I have never heard of anything like this before. You can’t create a mate bond. They were destined to be with Cordelia the moment they were dipped in the Waters of Elysium,” King Maddox says, and Adrian nods in agreement.

“Being a child born in the Barren Lands wouldn’t have given you that opportunity,” Adrian says. Dravyn bristles, his eyes narrow, and his nostrils flare as he flexes his cuffed hands. Adrian is right, of course, but that topic is a sore point in Arcadia for good reason.

“Why wouldn’t he have had the same opportunity? What are the Waters of Elysium? I’m more confused now than I was the night Aunt Twyla told me I was a Dragon,” Cordelia huffs in frustration looking for anyone to explain.

“I think Dravyn’s right. We need to start from the beginning, and although I am King in Celestia, your mother and I were dear friends. I know that she struggled with the ancient laws of Arcadia, but she wanted to modernize her Realm. That’s why she sought to unite all the regions, because of the lack of equality for all Dragon kind.” Maddox stands from his chair, and paces slowly as he speaks. We all hang on to his every word.

“But we aren’t all equal,” Gale says from his perch against the wall. “The Barren Lands is the land of the banished. There is no magic there. They lost the privilege to hold magic in their veins for the crimes they committed. Why should a criminal get an equal say? Look at what the Black Barons have done to Arcadia!” He points his index finger to emphasize his point, before continuing, “I will be the first one to say that I didn’t agree with what the queen did. She would probably still be alive today if she hadn’t given the Black Barons’ a seat at the table. Cordelia would never have been lost to us if things had never changed.”

“Dravyn was born there. So, you believe that the children should suffer for the crimes of their parents. Innocent children. Don’t they deserve the same rights as everyone else? It shouldn’t matter where they were born.” Cordelia looks at Gale, studying him for a long moment, as if she is seeing him for the first time. Gale is the regent ofKaeluma, his region has been untouched by Arcadia’s current situation, and his views depict it. My brother can be a bit naïve in that way.

“Gorgeous, I didn’t mean—”

“Oh no, we are all a product of our environment, right? Therefore, Dravyn was born a criminal!” she yells. Adrian pulls her closer then rubs his hand up and down her arm to soothe her. Gale’s mouth hangs open in shock at the way she cut him off. I am not surprised by her reaction. I know that living on Earth is not easy for different races, and inequality is deeply ingrained in their society.

“So, Arcadia is no better than Earth then.” Cordelia sighs, her voice laced with disappointment as she looks up at Dravyn.

“Cordelia, all of the Realms have their faults. I try to be a fair and just King, but there are Druids out there who would tell you that I am heartless and cruel. They disagree with the laws I pass to protect them. Those decisions weigh heavily on me, but I do it for the good of Celestia.” King Maddox looks over at his daughter. Twyla avoids his gaze, and I wonder what that was about. She grabs Cordelia’s hand and gives it a squeeze, keeping her eyes locked on the table in front of her.

“Do you know I never Emerged? Every child that’s born in The Barren Lands is not given a chance to connect with their Dragon. Do you know what that feels like?” Dravyn finally speaks again, and he talks directly to Cordelia. “You need to know what you are walking into. Arcadia is broken in so many ways, Cordelia,” he states, looking around the room as if we would disagree with him. I know Arcadia is broken, and it’s been that way long before any of us were born. It will be up to us and our queen to fix it.

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