Page 82 of Killian
“Then Duke Macardle’s tale makes sense,” Killian said. “His mother is mated to King Stenet, but Macardle is not the man’s son. Apparently, King Stenet blames Macardle for his own birth. He has treated the man poorly, and while he is somehow a Duke, Macardle was taught no duties or how to perform his role.”
“It would be an insult to draconic tradition not to make a black dragon a Duke,” Marcus explained. “They are believed to be the strongest of our kind. I am open to the idea that it is the man or woman who should be considered and not necessarily the color of their scales, but no King can get away with ignoring ablack dragon in their midst. Outside of Court Draconis, they are rare.”
“Which is why my father couldn’t strip me of the title he gave me prematurely, though he would have loved to do so,” Zane commented. “By the time I shifted, he no longer believed in my loyalty. He was right to think that way, of course. Once I was finally a grown dragon, my duties were mostly denied me. It was an insult to me and my dragon. Our beasts are instinctual, and my dragon did not take things well. To have power then to lose it? Unacceptable to my dragon. A war started inside me that day. If Duke Macardle has a similar story, he may have a temperamental dragon chafing against his inability to properly embrace his title.”
“Thank you for explaining,” Killian replied with a grin. It fell away as he turned to face Dravyn. “You were made a Duke before Bernal had you chained in the garden. Did you suffer from a temperamental dragon all those years?”
Memories of his years at Court Draconis flooded Dravyn, and he gave Killian a grateful smile when his mate took his hand. Killian’s touch instantly soothed Dravyn and his beast.
“My dragon was angrier that I had a chain around my ankle and my ability to shift was hindered,” Dravyn said. “Our matebond was an issue too. I was no longer as fearful of magick, but my beast was. It was not until you healed my wounds that we were no longer at odds with each other about having a druid in our lives.”
Killian cupped Dravyn’s cheek and kissed him. “Thank Fate you are both fond of me now.”
“Yes, yes, your love is something to rejoice,” Brogan commented impatiently. “But what of this Duke Macardle? Did you invite him to arrive on our doorstep posthaste?”
“Do not be absurd,” Killian responded, facing Brogan and frowning. “He seems a kind man from our brief acquaintance,and he wants a family. Sorcery is also interesting to him, which I thought was a bonus. But none of us present knew what questions you would have for the man. We explained that to him and told him we would speak to him again with those questions.”
“So, we must put our thoughts to paper and allow Killian to return to Duke Macardle with them,” Noirin stated.
“Where do we begin?” Madeline asked.
“With the most important ones,” Larissa told her mate. “Aleksander, what question is of utmost magnitude to allowing another to join our court?”
“I suppose isolation must be considered first,” Aleksander answered thoughtfully. “Unless our circumstances change profoundly, we will not move from this spot. Our ranks may grow, but only through the efforts of people like Killian and the Grand Warlock. This man is likely used to a grand court and will have to adjust to the humbleness of our home. We will invite no strangers here. We prefer the quiet. Can he live with that?”
“Excellent question,” Killian said. A parchment appeared in front of the druid, and without a pen, the question flowed onto the lightly glowing page. “What else?”
“Are we not going to comment on the oddness of what Killian is doing right now?” Brogan asked.
“I was unaware you feared magick,” Dravyn remarked with a smile.
“I would not call it fear,” Brogan refuted, but his navy gaze remained locked on Killian’s magical paper. “My dragon and I are unaccustomed to it. You have grown comfortable with it given the time you spend with Killian, but he rarely uses sorcery in our presence.”
“A ruler of a government plagued by dragons terrorizing anyone with magick,” Madeline commented. “It is no wonder Killian is cautious about his spells.”
“We are losing the point of this conversation,” Marcus said. “Our goal is to send Killian to Duke Macardle with the entire list of our questions, not comment about something given to him by Fate. What would you consider our second most important query, Aleksander?”
“I will not abide a dragon searching for mischief,” Aleksander replied. “D’Vaire is peaceful. If this man is seeking a quiet, humble life, then this place may appeal to him. But if he prefers the intrigue so constant in royalty, he must find other arrangements.”
“Yes, we do not condone rumors or games played with the hearts of anyone here,” Noirin added.
“Perfect,” Killian said, adding it to his parchment magically. “Next?”
“Wait, how can we verify Duke Macardle is speaking the truth?” Brogan asked. “He may have conjured this tale as easily as Killian is making those words move across his page.”
“Rest easy,” Killian replied. “Bax and Ben were there. So were Drystan and Conley. Fallen knights and sentinels, to an even greater degree, can detect lies. If anything he or his companion said was untruthful, they would have alerted us to that fact.”
“An ability to unearth dishonesty,” Zane said. “How I wish to have such a talent.”
“Agreed, I believe we could all find it useful,” Aleksander commented. “We are grateful they are using such a skill on our behalf.”
“How we’ve grown from simple dragons to people so quick to trust magick—I have no clue,” Brogan muttered.
“At this point, we will begin ignoring you whenever you insult magick,” Noirin retorted. “Do not offend the mate of my brother.”
Dravyn did not mind the panic in Brogan’s navy gaze. Neither he nor his dragon appreciated the slight toward Killian’s sorcery, but they were perfectly happy allowing Noirin to fight that battle on their behalf. No one was fiercer than his sister, and Brogan was right to be afraid.
“You deserve her ire,” Aleksander told Brogan. “I believe our next point of relevance for Duke Macardle is to learn his plans. What is it he wants to do? While I am content allowing him to be a Duke with the same importance as the other titled men and woman here, in such a small family, royal duties are few and far between.”
