17. Jaega

Although his dragon rattled in his cage over being separated from their mate, Jaega knew he could entrust Fersen to Kizoshi's care. He loved his feisty niece as much as his own daughters. It never failed to amuse him to see her put Mitsuki in his rightful place. Sadly, Mitsuki rarely retained the lesson she violently taught him.

"Truly, we are happy for you, brother," Tatsuki said with a rumble of approval. He was always united with his dragon, so they always spoke as one. "Fersen is as remarkable as Kizoshi promised."

"I cannot believe he survived the Necromancer War," Tyrian said in awe. "I have never heard so much as a rumor about a surviving unicorn shifter. How did he pull that off?"

"He worked very hard to stay unnoticed," Jaega said. "But once our paths crossed, I could not bear to let him go."

"He seems sweet. I hope Mitsuki did not upset him too much," Kitaro said with a frown. "I do not know why my oldest brother must always be so disagreeable."

"It is his way," Tatsuki said with a dismissive wave. "Grisden gave us a thorough briefing, Jaega, but we still wish to speak with you later about some details. For now, you should rest after your long journey home."

Jaega recognized the dismissal and stood up with a bow. "Perhaps we can speak over dinner?"

"We are pleased with that idea."

"Tyrian, would you like to talk now or later?" Jaega asked his son. He was sure he had a lot of questions about Jaega's new mate.

Tyrian's expression grew weary. "I would love nothing more, but we are training new castle guard recruits today. Unfortunately, I really must get back to it. They have been a motley bunch so far. Would after dinner work?"

"That would be fine. Good luck with the recruits."

"Actually, would it be possible for me to speak with Uncle Jaega now?" Kitaro asked, looking to his father for approval for dismissal.

Tatsuki nodded. "We have other things we must attend to, so we will take our leave." Tatsuki walked away, but not before clasping his son on the shoulder with a firm squeeze and a bear hug to Jaega. "We are so proud of you, brother. Never doubt that."

Jaega patted his oldest brother's back. "I missed you, too." Tatsuki exited with Tyrian, leaving Jaega alone with Kitaro. He asked his nephew, "Would you like to stay here or go somewhere else?"

"Here is fine with me."

Jaega sat down across the table from Kitaro. "What troubles you, nephew?"

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."

The unicorn shifter looked around the large sitting room in amazement. "That's going to take some getting used to. This room is bigger than my entire tree house."

Jaega guided Fersen to sit on his lap. "How was your visit with Kisano?"

"Great, but it confused me more. I don't understand how Kisano, Kitaro, and Kizoshi are all so kind but Mitsuki is so vile." Fersen frowned as he mulled over the issue. "I still can't believe Kizoshi sent him sailing out the wall. We were on the tenth floor!"

"It is not a problem when Mitsuki has wings and can fly," Jaega said with a chuckle. "I say this with love in my heart, but Mitsuki is all the worst traits of my oldest brother and father rolled into one miserable person. He was not spoiled or coddled, nor was he treated overly harshly. But he resents the world with an anger that makes me fear for this country if anything ever happens to my brother."

Fersen paled at the suggestion. "Honestly, the thought of Mitsuki being king terrifies me. All of Valzerna would suffer."

"Undoubtedly. He would be a cruel king, if not the cruelest in Talwynian history. Powers willing, that day will never come." Jaega said a silent prayer to the deities for the ongoing health and safety of his oldest brother. "But there is no sense in worrying about a day that may never happen."

"Kisano's library is so amazing, though. I'm glad he has a sanctuary where Mitsuki can't mess with him."

"Mitsuki is stupid, but he is not so foolish as to go after Kisano again."

Fersen tilted his head with curiosity. "Again?"

"Kizoshi caught him in the library once, bullying Kisano by destroying one of his books. She punished him so severely that he was in danger of bleeding out before his body could heal itself. Healers had to be called before it was too late, which further wounded Mitsuki's battered pride. The only reason she spared his life was because Kisano begged her to stop."

Fersen covered his mouth in shock. "Did she get in trouble for it?"

"While Tatsuki views Kisano as a wasted effort?—"

"That's awful!"

Jaega rubbed his mate's back to soothe him. "I did not say I agreed with him. But because Kisano has no dragon and no interest in fighting, he is worthless as an heir, in Tatsuki's opinion."

Confusion tempered Fersen's outrage. "What do you mean Kisano doesn't have a dragon? I saw he had shifter markings, so his mother had to be a shifter and not a human." Half-shifters with a human parent lacked a beast and shifter markings.

"She was also a dragon shifter. But his dragon does not exist despite Kizoshi implying otherwise."

A furrow appeared on Fersen's brow. "I haven't known her for very long, but isn't it unwise not to believe her? She seems to know everything because she's friends with Sophina. If she says Kisano has a dragon, then I believe he has one, even if it's not that active."

"It is for the best that it doesn't appear," Jaega said. "I fear if it ever appeared, Tatsuki would insist we try to make a warrior out of Kisano, even though it is against his very nature. The greater kindness is to leave Kisano content in his library, away from the machinations of my brother and Mitsuki."

"I can't argue against that." Fersen frowned. "My heart breaks for Kisano that Mitsuki destroyed one of his books."

"Once Mitsuki healed enough, Kizoshi made him buy Kisano one hundred books to atone for what he had done. It cost him a small fortune, but he has never stepped foot in the library or spoken to Kisano since that day, so her methods clearly worked. It is no exaggeration to say that Mitsuki almost lost his life that day. Sending him through a wall today is actually Kizoshi showing restraint."

A shudder ran through Fersen. "Remind me to never piss her off, wow."

"Between Tatsuki's temper and Arenthia's anger, Kizoshi is the perfect blend of lethal rage. She is the fiercest ally you could ever hope to have, but cross her, and she will be the worst nightmare of your life." It was true, but Jaega didn't want Fersen to fear his niece when there was no need. "But you will never betray her, so you need not worry about such consequences. The only two who should live in fear of her are Mitsuki and Nasume."

"Nasume?" Fersen scratched his head. The name was familiar, but it took a moment for him to place it. "You mean Prince Nasume of Kunushi?"

"Indeed. Kizoshi has been very vocal about the only reason he lives and breathes is because Sophina says there is something very important he still must do first. But once that thing is done, I do not believe there is a single person who can stop Kizoshi from sending him to the Beyond Realm."

"What could he have possibly done to make her want to kill him so badly?"

"He has an uncomfortable obsession with Kitaro. As you can see with Kisano, there is nothing she would not do to protect him and Kitaro. The bond between those three runs deep. Nasume is living on borrowed time, yet he insists on provoking her every time they meet."

Fersen shook his head in amazement. "He must have a death wish to tempt her like that."

"I count my lucky stars Kizoshi is on our side. But enough of such heavy talk. Would you like to rest or perhaps take a bath?"

"The bath sounds amazing." Fersen let out a whoop followed by a laugh when Jaega picked him up in one fell swoop. "Something tells me we'll be distracted from getting clean, though."

Jaega chuckled. "You already know me so well, dear mate."

Fersen snuggled against Jaega with a murmur. Jaega couldn't agree more. It had been a long time since he had been so happy and carefree. He looked forward to more days and nights enjoying all the pleasures his beloved mate offered.