Page 158 of Heart of the High King
Rafe’s brows knitted together, and he let it go. Whatever the man’s issue was not any of Rafe’s business. “Your Highness, I was hoping I could ask you a few questions about one of your dragons? His name is Jeremiah, and he’s applied to Dra’Kaedan’s Coven. What can you tell me about him?”
King Wellsdraconis’s sigh was loud through the speaker of Rafe’s phone. “Your Highness, I prize honesty. That kid’s been a damn fool his entire life. His parents abandoned him as an infant. We don’t even know who they are, though there were some rumors about two dragons who cheated on their respective mates and wound up in a family way. I’d guess that’s the kind of baby that can’t be introduced around. Anyway, he was a weird kid. Had his head in the clouds half the time and as he got older took up painting. There’s no way to keep a roof over your head like that, but I never gave him permission to take up dragon training. I’ve got a perfectly good duke already in charge of that. I can’t say I know of anyone who genuinely likes the kid. If you could take him off our hands, we’d be grateful. Perhaps we could even build an alliance. Jeremiah made many fancy connections without involving me or my dukes.”
Rafe had read extensively on how sanctuaries worked and made sure he knew as much about the Council as possible. That knowledge came in handy as he wanted nothing to do with Court Wells, so he made a quick decision. “Your Highness, I’m afraid sanctuary records are sealed, so it would be impossible to make a formal announcement aligning High Court D’Vaire with Court Wells. Should our family approve Jeremiah’s application, it would have to be a clean break. It’s to protect our residents and allows Jeremiah to decide if he wishes to someday interact with whatever acquaintances he might have at Court Wells.”
“That’s a disappointment, Your Highness. You have any other questions? I’ve got a pretty full schedule and didn’t know you were calling today.”
“Your Highness, would you be willing to sign the form to separate Jeremiah from Court Wells to make him eligible for sanctuary?”
“I can sign it this minute if you like, Your Highness. I’m going to encourage Jeremiah to transfer somewhere else, should you folks not take him. He’s got no family here and no friends either. The boy’s a misfit, and so is that dragon of his.”
Rafe bit on his tongue for a second so he didn’t let out a string of curse words. “Thank you for your time, Your Highness, and your willingness to allow Jeremiah to seek happiness elsewhere. I don’t know yet if High Court D’Vaire is going to approve his application, but I can assure you that should he walk through our doors, we’ll celebrate the fact that he’s a misfit. Around here, we happen to like freaks.”
After hanging up, Rafe turned to Dra’Kaedan. “I didn’t think to ask if you wanted to question him.”
“Don’t worry, I learned everything I needed to know. You did a great job.”
“That guy’s a straight-up dick,” Mac stated.
“I happen to like a dick straight up,” Worth mused. “I believe he is, more correctly, an asshat.”
“So, I guess we vote on Monday?” Rafe asked.
“Yes, hopefully Aleksander will get off his ass by then,” Brogan retorted.
“Am I the only one pissed right now that Jeremiah never told anyone that he’s a damn misfit?” Dra’Kaedan demanded. “If I’d known he was doing all that volunteer work and killing himself to get these asshats to like him, I would’ve suggested he apply years ago when we first met him. There was no reason for him to wait for his dragon.”
“Any clue why he waited?” Mac asked.
Dra’Kaedan huffed. “Because he thought if he was a duke it would look better on his application. And that if he didn’t get approved here, he could at least find a court willing to take him on.”
“The process to transfer looks relatively straightforward,” Rafe commented.
“Yeah, Elf and Chrys keep improving it to lower the need for sanctuary. Nearly every king is willing to take on new members. There are few exceptions, and I know there’s an interview process to find the right fit, but Jeremiah’s so nice. I can’t imagine he’d find any problems,” Brogan responded.
“But he’s still a good candidate for us, right?” Rafe asked.
“I think an excellent one. He’s a freak with a rare dragon. Here he can have the freedom to do what he wants. His artistic skill is being wasted, and we aren’t going to make him volunteer for a bunch of shit just to get us to like him. We already do, so he can donate his time and energy where he wants and pursue his goals,” Dra’Kaedan remarked.
Mac stood and perused the application Rafe had set on his desk. “I’m going to get a letter from Elf just for records’ sake, and he’s left a few phone numbers of the people he’s volunteered with. I’m going to call them and see what I can learn, if anything.”
“You realize we don’t need any of that for this application, right?” Brogan inquired.
“Yeah, but I gotta pull my weight on this thing somehow. Plus, I’m curious. Maybe someone will spill the beans about his birth. I’m not going to hold my breath or anything, but you never know. Okay with you, Rafe?”
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Rafe replied. Although Aleksander was out, Rafe was comfortable with his decision to pursue Jeremiah’s inclusion to the sanctuary and hoped the rest of the D’Vaires agreed.
