Page 15 of Killian
“Until they can prove themselves to have some honor, this Council will have nothing to do with them,” Kolsten snarled. “We will not burden ourselves with their greed and disgrace.”
“Then you need not worry that we will seek the deaths of those who ended our lives,” Conley assured them. “It is for the dragons to figure out. Though I will miss my beast, my fifty years at Castle Draconis were lived in a constant state of apprehension and unrest. The dragons must help themselves first. You have taught me a little of your abilities, but war helps no one. Your people will die at the mercy of dragons. I doubt you would lose in the end, but even a single life lost is not one you should be willing to spare.”
“Your words are wise,” Egidius said, his gaze landing on Chander briefly. “It seems our young Arch Lich did not err in deciding you should be granted another chance. Like the dragons, all our people were granted immortality from Fate. But our bodies are still vulnerable to the weapons of war.”
“While yours are not,” Chander replied. “Nothing will harm you but the poison I created to allow your kind to complete their matebonds. You cannot be ensnared in a trap by humans or dragons again.”
“How can I ever give you the gratitude you deserve for giving me a second life with Drys?” Conley asked.
Chander shook his head, and his unruly curls bounced wildly around his boyish face. “I am fond of using my magick and was happy to rescue you. Now, I ask that you take the time to design a plan. You will need additional fallen knights, and we must provide you with a home and a place for all your people.”
“But first, you are owed rest,” Saura said. “You need a chance to heal. To reconcile your past. To adjust to all the information Chander has granted you with his resurrection spell. I would not have you face the future until your spirit is settled. We have placed a significant burden upon yourshoulders. Please know we are aware that we ask much of you. But we see ourselves as a big family, not just a Council. You are part of that now. A part of us. We owe you a celebration. One of life and new beginnings. To honor the matebond you so rightly cherish.”
“Thank you,” Conley replied, his eyes misty. “Thank you for everything you have already granted us and for your understanding. I am fair overwhelmed, but I welcome this chance. I will embrace it with everything I am. So will Drys. Neither of us is known for doing anything without putting our heart into it. We respect your Council and will do whatever we can to protect you. I beg of you, is there any way we can send word to our parents of our fate? King Aeron and Queen Helen of Court Bera. They are Drys’s blood but treated me as their own. They must be beside themselves with grief, and I could not bear it if we were to live without them knowing we breathe still.”
“The warlocks can lift memories from you,” Benton said. “Bax and I can teleport to them and inform them of your new lives.”
“I will go with you,” Killian insisted, eager to learn anything he could of dragons and to aid their new Reverent Knights. Killian doubted bringing two supposedly dead men to the sides of their parents would go well, so he did not suggest the men accompany them on the trip to Court Bera. But he hoped someday the family would be reunited in some fashion.
“It is far too dangerous,” Baxter replied.
“No, you will keep me safe,” Killian said and dared anyone to stop him from traveling to the home of the Beradraconises. “Perhaps you wish to write a letter to them? I could carry it to your parents.”
“Yes, please. We will both write them,” Drystan responded.
“You can keep in contact with them as long as they will keep your existence protected from dragonkind,” T’Eirick stated. “Magick can enable you to correspond with them, and any of us would aid you in that endeavor.”
“Thank you,” Conley replied. “We will work on that and on our plans.”
“It is our pleasure to help,” Chander commented. “I am eager to start the resurrections.”
Drystan chuckled. “Your greatest feat will be to find others with Conley’s abilities with a sword. He has no match.”
“You must spar with us,” Baxter insisted. “Our weapon of choice is a dagger, but I should like to learn to wield a sword if you will teach us.”
“Teach me to use a dagger. I will show you everything I know about swordplay,” Conley promised.
Killian was pleased at the excitement on Conley’s face, and the guilt of taking two people from their former home slipped away. Resurrecting the fallen knights was the right choice, and Killian had little doubt Conley and Drystan would serve their people and the Council well.
As for the dragons, Killian cared only for one. He dearly hoped it would take far less than six months to receive word from the handsome Dravyn.
Chapter 6
Dravyn’s stay at Castle Draconis had become a nightmare. Word had spread quickly throughout the stronghold that Fate had cursed young King D’Vaire. Within a day, servants ran from Dravyn and the other D’Vaires, while the Dukes watched them with hate in their eyes. No one spoke to them directly, but loud whispers of their supposed misdeeds followed in their wake.
Two weeks had passed, and no new Emperor had arrived to command the thousands of dragons scattered across the land. Imperial Duke Bernal seized upon the opportunity to blame Aleksander for that as well. It was Aleksander’s stay at the castle preventing Fate from choosing the ruler dragonkind desperately needed.
The D’Vaires debated leaving, but where would they go? No dragon would aid them, and the humans hated their kind—enough to have murdered the Emperors. The brief visit from the sorcerers who’d stolen the bodies of Conley and Drystan was determined to be an act of war, and Dravyn spoke to no one about his connection to Killian the Dwyer.
Dragons were searching for the sorcerers to demand answers for the theft. Yet there was no funeral pyre lit forthe Emperors. Their belongings were sent to Court Bera, where Emperor Drystan’s parents ruled. The Dukes never mentioned the humans that had barged into the castle to commit the murders or how they got past the huge litany of guards.
As for Dravyn, he had to pretend to mourn the loss of Conley and Drystan with the D’Vaires. His wild day meeting his mate and the inexplicable sight of a necromancer granting life to the dead Emperors was a secret Dravyn easily kept. It was not as if he knew the other D’Vaires well despite the blood ties among them.
Free from their previous home, the D’Vaires could converse and often discussed their plans. Although it was difficult to stay at Castle Draconis, they wanted to speak with their new Emperor. They wanted a chance to clear their name and live without the shadow of guilt Bernal had so effectively created. So, they waited for Fate to make her move and coped with their fear and the hatred of every other person in the castle.
Nature had been Dravyn’s refuge since he was four, but even walking among the flowers and plants in the small garden tended by the servants did not fully quell his dread. Or settle the conflict of finding himself tied to a sorcerer with skills that frightened him. His dragon was no less apprehensive. Neither man nor beast knew what to make of it.
The magical paper Killian the Dwyer had given Dravyn was buried beneath a stone bench in the garden. With rumors flying that Aleksander and the D’Vaires were cursed, and the open war Bernal craved against the sorcerers, Dravyn could not be caught with something crafted by a druid. It was a damning piece of evidence, and Dravyn doubted the dragons discovering his matebond would take it well.
