Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

S eeing Wylan shrouded in morning fog in the distance was breathtaking. It was home. Or rather a place where I knew what to expect anyway. From the moment we took my father off the throne, the wrenches thrown amok became fewer and fewer.

Wylan was strong. Healthy.

And dammit if I didn't want the same for Dra Skor. So what did that mean? Was Wylan really my home at all anymore? A memory flashed into my mind. Of Krew telling me that it was possible to have more than one home. Maybe that was what I felt. To be in a constant state of wandering, torn between two places that held an equal chunk of my soul.

Malachi stood on the deck speaking to the three other Dra Skor guards we brought with us, readying them for docking. Esta stood next to me on the railing, taking it all in. Her hair was slightly blowing behind her, and she had never seemed more lovely to me.

"So they won't rush us right as we pull ashore?" she asked me over her shoulder .

I snorted a laugh. "I mean, they might. Not for violence, likely just for hugs." My nephew came to mind. "Maybe a few violent hugs, but no, no more pyres."

She reached out and grabbed my hand, interweaving our fingers together. I could clearly see her nerves clawing at her much like the wind was tousling her hair.

"They will love you," I whispered gently so the crew would not overhear as I brought her hand up and placed a kiss on it.

"I am their enemy."

I made sure to look her directly in the eyes as I said, "You are no more their enemy than I was yours."

She nodded. "Have I mentioned how terribly proud I am to know you, Keir?"

"You do know me better than most," I jested.

She smirked. "I mean it. I love your heart. Your fervor for doing the right thing. Your intelligent mind. You are... impressive in character and have been from the very start."

I wrapped my other arm around her to bring her close enough to whisper, "Impressive only in character, sweetheart?"

We were both laughing when John pointed, and I saw Krew and Warrick standing on the docks. As if his shoes were on fire, Warrick was jumping up and down while waving.

As the anchor went down, Warrick was running back and forth and back and forth from the end of the dock to where Krew stood waiting on land. There were no fewer than eight guards standing beyond them.

And when my boots hit the dock, there Warrick was, hurling himself toward me.

I lifted him into a hug, overcome by the emotions of the moment. Warrick, no longer a secret heir to the Wylan throne, but the rightful one. And he was not only safe with my brother at the castle, but also safe enough to meet me on the docks. "Missed you, favorite nephew. "

He patted my cheeks. "Missed you, favorite uncle." That was all the attention I would get it seemed, as his neck snapped in Esta's direction. "Is this her?" he whispered to me, still dangling in my arms. "The dragon queen?"

Esta gave him a small bow. "Pleased to finally meet you, Prince Warrick. I heard many stories about you on the way over."

Warrick gave her a proper bow back, followed by, "Good ones, right?"

Esta gave him a grin which would have devastated most men. "All good ones."

Warrick's wide eyes hit mine. "She's a dragon? Like there's a dragon under all that?"

I laughed. "Pretty amazing, isn't it?"

"Will she burn me?"

Esta was pressing her lips together in an effort not to laugh at the cuteness which was my nephew.

"Not unless you make her very angry," I told him.

"Got it." He looked at her, and back to me.

"Warrick," Krew called. "You are holding up the entire ship."

Warrick leaned in and asked Esta at a whisper, "Can I go for a ride sometime?"

Esta smiled. "You will have to get that approved with your parents, so I'm afraid that's not up to me."

Warrick started wiggling, so I put his feet back on the dock. He immediately rushed at Krew. "Dad! Hey, Dad!"

"I wouldn't blame them if they tell him no," she said to me quietly as I took her hand in mine.

"If I go also, they likely won't care." I inhaled deeply as we made our way toward Krew.

"How does it feel to be home, my moon?" she asked.

I cocked my head and looked at the looming mountain. "Well. We have a three-to-four-hour carriage ride ahead of us after being cooped up in a ship for two days. I would feel a hell of a lot better about it if you could just fly us up there."

"I think you've gotten entirely too used to being my passenger," she laughed. "You've taken a liking to flying."

And then our conversation ended as we made it to Krew. As we boarded a large enough carriage to fit both Krew and Warrick and the two of us, I considered all that had happened in the last year. I had been the rightful heir and given the throne of Wylan only to hand it off. Then I had moped around a bit before heading to Dra Skor. Now I was back in Wylan with the dragon queen of Dra Skor and we would be bonded the following evening.

How could life inch on in the hard seasons, a grueling effort to make and claw for another day in some instances, and then in other instances, so much could change so very quickly? An absolute blur of chaos and beauty.

Still, as I thought of all those nights I had sat right here on this beach watching the sunsets, feeling drawn to the sea, I couldn't help but wonder if I had actually been drawn to her.

Everything in the last five years had led us to these moments. And these moments, becoming soul bound or not, were everything.

We stood out in the meadow as the sun set. Warrick had badgered his parents enough that they had finally agreed that tonight, before our busy day tomorrow readying for the bonding, we could go for a short ride.

"When I shift, I will not look like me anymore," Esta explained to Warrick.

Earlier this afternoon when Esta and I were supposed to be resting, Warrick found us. Rather than be annoyed, she took the time to be with him. The two of them sat propped up against the headboard of my bed. Esta had explained how Dra Skor worked, even going so far as to having me fetch a map for them.

Just when I didn't think I could love her more, I saw the way she spoke to my nephew. She could breathe fire, snap a person in half if she wanted to. Yet there was a gentle side to her that no one would expect. I suspected she let few people close enough to see it.

"Nonsense," I argued. "Your eyes stay the same brilliant color of green."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Okay, fine, the eye color does not change. Other than that, I will not look like me."

"She is still very pretty in her dragon form though," Jorah explained from where she stood holding Warrick's hand.

Esta laughed. "I think I am going to head home with an inflated ego if I stay long."

"Better than going home with a deflated one?" Krew offered with a laugh.

Esta looked to Warrick. "And should you see me in my dragon form and are too scared to go for a ride, I want you to know that it is still brave of you to say no."

"Not a chance, lady," Warrick replied. "Err—Your Highness."

I laughed. "Es, just shift already."

So she did exactly that. There was that rippling motion and there she was. A dragon. A dragon in Wylan. I never even knew I could dare to dream it, that was how impossible it had been only a few months ago.

"Whoaaa," Warrick whispered, taking her in.

"She will speak to you through your mind," I explained to him. "Like your parents can talk. That's how she speaks in this form."

Are you sure you still want to go for a ride, little prince? Esta asked him.

He nodded but did look a little scared.

I couldn't say I blamed him. "I'll be with you the entire time. Promise. "

We got settled and Esta took off, giant wings powering her in the sky. The laughter coming from Warrick as we circled around the castle would have solved a lot of the realm's problems, I was convinced.

She dipped low and swooped over the meadow, Warrick putting out both arms to copy her motion.

Then she climbed higher and higher, until we went above a cloud and could take a look at the moon.

She flew slowly there, letting Warrick take it in.

"This is the best day of my life!" Warrick exclaimed.

Would you like to roll? she asked him.

"Yes," he whispered. "But will I fall?"

I will not allow you to, she promised.

We rolled twice before she swept back down over the meadow.

The wolves had arrived. On the way over I had explained to Esta about the wolves and forest and the strange things that happened there.

Then much to my delight, as she flew low, the wolves began running alongside her. Rather than running from this predator, they must have somehow sensed her intentions and ran with her.

It was all entirely too much. A stark contrast from a blackened and dead forest just a year ago.

"Es?" I asked.

Yes?

"Can I light you up?"

You did at least feed me first, she joked.

So I let my Enchantment out to wrap around her scales, threads of my magic the armor that she did not truly need in this form, yet it was still beautiful to witness her wings beating with my magic wrapped around them.

"Dragons are the best," Warrick laughed. "Again!"

Esta turned her head toward Jorah, I assumed asking her for permission .

"Two more laps, sir, then bedtime," Jorah called out from the ground.

Up and up we climbed, Warrick laughing and yelling as Esta gave us a ride.

I wasn't sure who was happier, Warrick or me .

The next morning, I was in a long meeting with Krew and the sages about our bonding taking place that evening while Esta was doing something similar with Malachi and her guards.

John would perform our bonding, just like he had done for Jorah and Krew. Yet there was so much this time that was up in the air. So we were doing this in the dead of the night, away from extra eyes and whisperings.

It would be the two of us, John, River, and a few guards. Owen included, of course. And Malachi. Malachi was the only one from Dra Skor that Esta wanted there.

I told Krew, "Esta is convinced my power is the strongest, but all it takes is one look at her in her dragon form for me to think the opposite." Then to John and River I added, "I only hope I will not be able to shift into a dragon the size of a bird after this. Not that I personally care too much, but the Dra Skor culture prizes the size of their dragons."

"You would be a very powerful bird, though?" John commented.

"I do not care if I can never shift into anything. I am not doing this to gain anything for myself. Esta needs and wants this. And there is the chance that she will have a bit of our Enchantment too. If she does, it would pose as another safeguard to even her dragon instincts."

Krew's blue eyes hit mine. "I happen to know someone who came into her own Enchantment not that long ago who can help with that. "

Jorah.

"Then again, you could each simply keep your own Enchantment," River said. "Just have that tether that Jorah and Krew seem to have. Some sort of link between your two very different powers."

"So to be clear," John began. "I feel the need to ask after the last ceremony I performed. Are you giving her a drop of your power? Or going to go full Krew on it and giving it all away?"

I shook my head. "I cannot give it all away, I need it to heal Dra Skor, but I also don't want to give her only a drop as that does not seem adequate enough. My plan is while we are bonding to will her enough to be safe. And if it ends up that she takes it all, then we will figure it out from there."

John rubbed his hand across his brow.

"What?" I asked.

He tossed up his hands into an exaggerated shrug and then laughed a deep, hearty laugh. "No one knows. We can sit here talking potential outcomes, but this hasn't happened in decades. And I am not sure it has ever happened between Wylan and Dra Skor powers." He laughed. "And I'll be damned if I'm not excited for it."

River laughed hard enough his belly bounced slightly. "I feel exactly the same."

That was because they weren't the ones about to be shifting into a small dragon.

Still, we spent the next hour planning for all possible outcomes anyway. Esta would shift after our palms were cut, as was the Dra Skor custom. After that, absolutely everything was up in the air.