Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

I was distracted in feeling that Esta was moving closer to me. As if sensing my distraction, Dex swung forward at that exact moment striking with his free arm down on my wrist. The result that my sword fell from my wrist to the sand of the training pit. I was weaponless.

Granted, I still had my Enchantment and my wings, but Emric was having us train early in the mornings without our Enchantment. A way to make sure we were ready to defend ourselves should any need arise. Usually, Emric gave the guys a full day to rest after the healings, but the second day, he would train the team hard. And I, a glutton for punishment, decided to join in.

But I was not about to go down like that in front of my woman.

So on his next lunge toward me, I stopped his arm with both of mine, swung around and elbowed him in the back.

He grunted out in pain but didn't drop his weapon, unfortunately.

On we went, his trying to finish me, and me not allowing it.

In one such case, I again blocked his arm, grunting against the force he had put behind his swing. I knew I was going to pay for it later, but I moved to headbutt him.

I hated doing it. It was such an Owen Raikes move and would make both of us hurt, but if that kept him from forcing me to yield in front of Esta, then so be it.

He cursed and fell to the ground, time enough for me to grab his arm and pull it behind his back until his sword also fell to the sand.

We were even now.

I do like watching you train, Esta sent to me.

My eyes couldn't help but go to her. We have more than established your affinity for pretty things, but what about your affinity for violence?

Violent pretty things?

Dex was apparently feeling as restless as I was, so he took that opportunity to tackle me to the ground. He had to have known I was distracted talking to her. The knucklehead.

We went rolling, halfheartedly swinging at each other in the process. He got me in the corner of the mouth, but I lifted through my legs and threw myself over his behemoth size to pin him to the sand on his stomach.

"The hell is she doing?" Dex asked.

I stilled from where I was applying pressure on Dex's back. Esta had a sword in hand as black as the polished onyx set in its hilt. Her dark hair was braided back out of her way. And she was wearing the damn leather again.

She and Malachi had just started up training against one another. I had heard of her skills in this ring but hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

"You will not go easy on me," she commanded Malachi as she deflected his first advance.

"Did I ever?" he shot back.

Esta had told me she and Malachi had become close in training because he refused to treat her differently. Where everyone else was afraid to train her and hurt her because she was an heir, Malachi had made it his mission to go hard on her. An unlikely friendship formed, and when Esta took the throne, he was the first general she chose, not Amory.

And then they were moving. My breath was lodged in my chest, unable to get free with every clang of their swords against one another.

My initial worry quickly wore off as I watched Esta move. It took Esta a few swings to get back into the groove of training like this, but then she settled; I felt it in her heart rate and saw it in her body language as well. Instead of only defending, she began getting attacks in with a grace and a smoothness that only came from hours upon hours of practicing in this ring.

I was unable to take my eyes away from them, even as Dex managed to wiggle free of my grip and flip us to pin me to the sand. I grunted with his weight on top of me.

"Yield," I offered immediately. "I yield."

Dex laughed and patted me on the cheek. "You have it bad, boss. That was the easiest yield I've ever gotten from you."

I hadn't known women like Esta existed before I met her. Yes, because of her dragon form, but so much of what made Esta her was in both forms. An intelligent viciousness that would make any king take heed. A way of defending and protecting her people which made me proud every day to know her. It defied her shifter form, defied her gender, defied the very essence of being human itself. It was a soul deep grit that was rarer than the rarest of jewels.

Keir? Esta asked down the bond as she swung out and dove downward for a double hit against Malachi's sword.

Yes, sweetheart?

Could you not think about whatever you are thinking about so I can focus? I haven't trained in a while and would prefer to keep breathing .

I laughed as Dex moved to help me up. She must have felt my adoration chasing down the bond.

Emric and the rest of us soon finished our matches in order to watch Esta and Malachi. We stood against the walls of the training pit and enjoyed the show.

Every time I thought Malachi would gain the upperhand, Esta would somehow maneuver herself away and free. He might tower over her, but she was faster, more flexible. The strong arms throwing her sword paired with her sure steps made me fall a little more in love.

Malachi moved quickly across the sand toward the rest of us, and I swore I saw Esta's scales trying to come forward for a moment.

"Do not," she bit out. "Do not bring Keir into this."

Malachi shot me a grin. "I just know how to win. That's all."

"Then have the honor to do so fairly," she bit out before unleashing multiple strikes and moves against him.

It was all I could do to watch and keep breathing. Or not stride across the sand and kiss her. The dragon queen was fierce, even in the way her one dimple haunted me.

In the end, Malachi had stopped, sweat pouring down his back, and said, "Enough."

"So you yield?" Esta panted back.

He shook his head. "No. But I want us both to be able to move tomorrow."

She gave him a little nod and spun to leave. "Do not even think of attacking a dragon with her back turned."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he bit out. "Still have the scar to show I learned that lesson."

"You attacked me with my back turned and cut my hair, what did you expect?"

On her way to the exit, she stopped by me, reached out and grabbed me by the neck, only to pull me in for a quick and harsh kiss. And then she was gone, leaving the ring as quickly as she'd joined us.

What was that for? I sent her.

She looked over her shoulder in my direction but responded through the bond, Because I felt like it. Don't tell the others, but I am going to go take a nap now. I haven't trained in far too long.

I laughed. I won't.

"Lucky prick," Emric laughed as he looked at her and back to me.

I knew. I so knew. I spun to Malachi. "Were you the man she made cry in this ring?"

He cocked his head. "No, but I have had a few close calls, if I'm being honest."

"Are all the women in Dra Skor trained like that?" one of the other men asked curiously.

"No," he bit out. "They have the option to if they'd like to. But Esta as the heir apparent was required to train starting at ten."

"Ten?" Dex whispered.

I mourned for young Esta. A child who was barely allowed to be one at all because of the weight of the throne she carried on her shoulders.

"She mastered a sword before she even had her wings," Malachi confirmed. "A human warrior before she became a shifter one."

I could be jealous. Malachi was an attractive enough man, and he was the reason Esta had mastered the sword. Their training against one another from a young age. He and Esta were not merely friends, they were closer than that. But rather than listen to the urge to be jealous of Malachi and how long he'd been a part of Esta's life, the role he played in getting her on the throne, I chose to be grateful instead. I reached out and patted him on the arm. "I am glad she had you, brother."

"She needs us both," was his response with a smirk, "in very different ways. "

"How are things with Amory anyway?" Emric asked him as he threw his arm around his shoulder.

Malachi let out a long sigh. "I don't even know."

"Women, eh?" Emric laughed.

They were nothing if not complicated creatures. Luring us to frustration and devotion both.

Two days later, I was with John and Emric in their rooms while the rain blocked out the sunset. It had been a gloomy day, despite helping Esta with her palm magic that morning and helping to heal five more shifters.

Malachi and Esta were on a patrol and meeting with the other evening patrols. We still hadn't found Morana, or any clues as to which direction she'd gone once her scent had disappeared. Once again, all our leads had dried up.

Yet this time it felt far less dire because we finally knew the face of our enemy. We might not know where to look, but we did at least know whom to look for.

"I am going to propose to Esta," I said, apparently interrupting John and Emric's discussion about the healings to take place next.

"You don't say," Emric said, voice drenched in sarcasm.

"Soon," I clarified.

John took down his glasses to look at me. "Why do you seem a bit resigned to the fact when she is your soul mate?"

I took a moment to think through my answer, walking to John's balcony doors, the rain droplets sliding down the glass. "I was hoping that Morana and this threat to Dra Skor would be resolved and taken care of by the time I proposed. But just like with our bonding, it seems this is going to take longer than we wanted. In the meantime, we can't just stop living our lives."

John said wisely, "Happiness and fear coexist in all of us. The issue lies when the fear takes over enough that the happiness is harder to reach. Or when the fear begins making all the decisions and doing all the talking."

I inhaled deeply. "I also feel as if I have been living the best of both worlds these last months. I know that when we have finished healing Dra Skor the rest of you will return home to Wylan." I paused. "I know this is where I belong. I know my home is with Esta, wherever she may be. I also know I will forever have a home in Wylan." I had to take a moment, the emotion thick in my throat. "I would not have been able to do any of this without those of you who were willing to come with me. And I dread the day you all sail for Wylan without me. Still, I know this is where I belong."

"Don't be so tenebrous, Keir," Emric said lightly. "Like Krew is really going to leave you to your own devices with no guards of our own to protect you. I am sure a rotation of guards will be here for you."

Miles said from the door. "I know I wouldn't mind going back and forth."

And it was after a brief pause that John stated, "I'm not leaving."

All our heads snapped his direction, and in my case, I had to spin around to look at him. Had I heard him correctly? "What?"

"I have decided to stay," John offered simply.

The lump in my throat was difficult to swallow down. "I cannot ask that of you, John."

"You didn't ask. I decided it for myself. Remember my heavy trunk when we returned back after your bonding?"

I gave him a nod.

"I knew then. Packed my belongings I knew I would miss. Everything I need."

Everything he was saying made sense. They were simple words in and of themselves. "I can't?—"

He cut me off. "Again, you didn't ask, Keir. It is a decision I made for myself a while ago. I knew you would be staying, and as someone who has watched over you from a young age, fancying myself as a father type figure in your life who did not let you down, I have decided that where you go, I too shall go, if you should have me."

Keir? Esta sent to me, picking up on my shock and emotion.

I'm fine, I told her. John just offered to stay in Dra Skor permanently and I don't quite know what to do with it.

I knew I liked him, she sent back.

I didn't know what to say. "I—" I wanted to say no. I should say no. He should go back to Wylan. The only home he had ever known. "You wish to stay?"

"So long as you do, Prince," John said with a nod. After a long pause consisting entirely of my disbelief, he added, "I have requested access to Dra Skor's libraries. Their history is rich and more complete than ours. I think comparing theirs to our own might even help fill in some gaps where we believe your father and grandfather burned information."

He would stay. A piece of Wylan would stay with me? It was more than I could have hoped or asked for. "I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll allow me to disappear into the libraries," John smirked.

"Of course you can," I agreed. "And also, I'd like to say that I appreciate all you have done for me, the years you have looked after me."

"You have always been an inquiring and kind soul," John smiled at me as if I were eight again and not pushing thirty. "I knew I found a kindred spirit in you from a young age."

"So you'll stay," I repeated.

"I will. And I can come along to Corsha as well. However I am needed."

"More than you are needed, you are also wanted, old man," I got out .

Emric saw me struggling and moved to give me a hug. "Now enough of that doom and gloom attitude you have going on. You are to be king consort of Dra Skor. We have managed to make an ally out of our greatest enemy. Regardless of how long it takes us to smoke out Morana, you have already won, Keir."

There was a rustling in Emric's pocket that sounded like the crumpling of parchment as he moved back. He quickly moved to adjust it, taking the care to make sure it stayed put.

His eyes met mine and mine hit his. The same moment I reached for it, he was moving out of the way. The result was a chase while I heard John snort.

While Emric might have more honor than I did, having a twin brother did nothing but prepare me for this moment in time.

We landed on the bed in a heap of limbs, and when he went to shove me away, I went with the cheap shot of biting down on his finger. The good ol' fish hook maneuver. Simple but wildly effective.

In his hesitation of pain, I finally snagged the parchment out of his pocket and held it high in the air.

"Give me that," Emric demanded. Still shaking out his finger.

"Is this a love letter?" I asked, holding it out of his reach. "If so, I will not breech your privacy like that."

"Not exactly," Emric said.

"Have you been writing your own sea shanties again?" John asked from his chair; he hadn't moved at all. Nor did he seem fazed.

"Not exactly," Emric again said.

"Then why is it so important to you?" I asked.

He stopped fighting against me. "Oh, for gods sakes, just read it."

I did. It wasn't a love letter at all. Or a to-do list. Or a sea shanty. It was a list .

Words like reverie, insolent, volatile, misanthrope, respite , and tenebrous. He had been checking them off one by one.

My eyes went to Emric's. "Your budding vocabulary."

He fidgeted beneath where I still had him pinned down. "I've been reading and trying to expand my vocabulary."

Miles died laughing at the door, but something in Emric's eyes had me refraining. Though it was damn funny that he kept parchment with words on it right there in the pocket of his jacket.

"You do not have to do this for us," I told him. "We accept you just as you are."

He groaned and shoved me off him as I handed the parchment back over, which he did not hesitate to tuck right back into the pocket of his jacket. "I know but the lot of you are smart. So absurdly smart it makes me feel lacking sometimes. So I have been reading in my spare time. I write down words I like and have been trying them out in conversation. Turns out, I actually like reading."

John supplied from his chair, "That is great so long as you are not trying to be anyone other than yourself."

Emric sighed. "My humor is not helping me find my own soul bound love, so I thought maybe improving myself in this way might."

"She's out there somewhere," I told him as I helped him to his feet. "And she will take you and all your quirks. All your tenebrous moods."

There was a pause in which Emric grinned, and then we were all laughing.

I would miss Emric when he left for home, but I was entirely grateful for the people in my life who had made all of this possible. And John was staying. I still couldn't believe it. Yes, I had Malachi and Amory and Esta here.

But now my life in Dra Skor would not have to be entirely cut off, separate from my life in Wylan. They could meld together.