Page 27 of Enchanter of Dragons
Kitaro sighed with frustration. “Is something about to happen?”
“Such as?”
“It feels like something is about to happen, but I do not know what that something is.” Kitaro frowned. “I am unsettled.”
“Surely, Kizoshi has given you some type of cryptic clue to confuse you further.” It was one of his niece’s favorite things to do.
Kitaro scowled. While he loved his sister and was extremely amiable, even he had his limits with Kizoshi’s fondness for enigmatic riddles. “She told me to focus on my training.”
It wasn’t the hint Jaega had been expecting. “How strange.”
“Surely, Father would not start another campaign so soon after his victory at Shadron. It would make our allies nervous.” Kitaro had always been clever with strategizing and understanding the bigger picture of warfare. “But I cannot think of what other reason she would give me to work on training in my dragon form.”
It shouldn’t have surprised Jaega that Kizoshi’s involvement made the situation more confusing. “She specifically told you to work on training your dragon form?” It took massive amounts of energy to maintain a larger form, so it was common for a shifter of Kitaro’s young age to work on growing larger for longer.
“She said my efforts to work on maintaining a larger form would behoove me in the near future. It makes me wonder if perhaps I am getting ready for battle. But I do not see one on the horizon.”
“We are nowhere close to the Galinor situation becoming actionable, nor would I put you on the front lines of that. If Kizoshi is telling you to work on dragon training, she has her own reasons outside of battle, as near as I can tell.”
Kitaro sighed. “I do not know whether to feel relieved or annoyed.”
Jaega chuckled at his nephew’s dilemma. “Kizoshi is good at inspiring that conflict in others.” He reined in his amusement for Kitaro’s sake. “While I do not profess to know the reasoning behind her suggestion, I know better than to disobey what is an unusually straightforward command from her. If she has told you to train your dragon form, there is surely a good reason. She never does anything without one.”
“Her vagaries leave too much room for my imagination to run wild.” Kitaro tossed his long, white hair over his shoulder. “It undoubtedly has to do with something Sophina told her. And while I am aware Sophina has been very kind to our family because of her friendship with my sister, it still makes me nervous.”
“Well, if it is not to ready you for war, then perhaps it is to prepare you to meet your fated mate,” Jaega suggested.
Kitaro’s expression turned thoughtful. “So long as my mate is not Prince Nasume, I would be open to that unlikely possibility.”
Nasume was the eldest son of King Soseki of Kunushi. Both father and son were nasty, narcissistic, unpleasant wolf shifters. Nasume had an unfortunate obsession with Kitaro that only seemed to grow stronger by the year.
Jaega had urged Tatsuki in private to ban the persistent prince from the castle so he could not bother Kitaro, but Valzerna’s alliance with Kunushi was too important. Mercifully, Tatsuki at least found the wolf prince abhorrent enough to protect Kitaro from an arranged marriage by arguing their alliance was strong enough without a marriage to secure the bond between the two countries.
“Kizoshi has stated clearly and on many occasions that Prince Nasume will never be your mate, so I believe her.” Nasume was the only person Kizoshi hated as much as Mitsuki. “You know she would not lie to you about something that important. I have no doubt if she could kill Nasume without causing a diplomatic incident, he would have been dead centuries ago.”
That drew a laugh from Kitaro. “She would sooner kill him than have me suffer through being his mate.”
“And I love her for that and so much more,” Jaega said with pride. “Regardless of the reason, working on maintaining a larger dragon form for longer is sound advice. We have been lax with that kind of training of late, so I say take her advice and see where it leads you.”
“Thank you for at least giving me peace of mind that a war is not imminent.” Kitaro stood up to leave. “I will visit the library, then after dinner, I will work on training this evening since it is a full moon.”
“It smells like rain may be coming later tonight, so I would not fly too far from home unless you wish to get wet,” Jaega suggested.
“I will be mindful. Thank you, Uncle.” Kitaro hugged Jaega when the older shifter stood up from his chair. “I am so happy for you. Fersen seems wonderful.”
“He truly is the best thing that has happened to me since I lost my girls.” Jaega would be forever grateful to Sophina for bringing Fersen into his life. “Once he’s had time to rest from the journey, I will introduce him to the Enchanters. With his magical abilities and the right training, I believe he could do incredible things with them.”
“A unicorn shifter in the ranks of the Enchanters? Who would have thought such a thing was possible in this day and age?”
“Certainly not me.” It seemed almost impossible to believe, but there was no doubt in Jaega’s mind about how much he loved his new mate.
* * *
Jaega looked up when there was a tentative knock on the door to his suite. “Come in!”
Fersen seemed almost sheepish about entering. Jaega gestured for his mate to join him on the chaise lounge. “Sorry I’m late.”
“There is no need to apologize or knock to enter your own room,” Jaega said as he set his book aside. “You can come and go freely. This is your home now.”
