Chapter 3

Duke Dravyn D'Vairedraconis was terrified. So was his dragon. The last few days of his life had spiraled out of control, and he wondered if his hold on sanity had snapped. For nearly a century, Dravyn had toiled from dawn to dusk in a vast garden. Few spoke to him, and he lost himself in nature. An orphan, Dravyn did not lack for family, but he was kept far from them. Even his sister, Noirin, was a stranger, since she was ordered to work in the kitchen.

Then Dravyn had reached his hundredth birthday. Not long after that auspicious and yet unremarkable day, Dravyn had stood in a field with his sister and cousin, Prince Aleksander, as they prepared to welcome their dragons for the first time. Their leader, Boian, was Dravyn's uncle, and although his only child had stood among the drakelings readying to change to scaly beasts, King Ethelin offered no words of comfort. Dravyn's ruler did not utter a single condolence to a man whose son had lost his life high in the sky attempting the daunting feat of changing from man to dragon.

To Dravyn's vast relief, he had a deep green beast—an unusual color, but one dark enough to be strong among their kind. Dravyn cared not for prestige. His celebration of those richly colored scales had been rooted in comfort. It was the lighter hues who struggled to survive, as the pale yellow beast who'd taken the life of one of their own could attest to.

It should have been a day of joy. But it was not. Prince Aleksander had turned into an impossibility. Instead of a single color, Aleksander was both blue and black. Boian had ordered Aleksander to return to his human form immediately and coldly cast him out of his home. Dravyn had locked eyes with the sister he knew little of and had decided in that instant he would follow Aleksander off the land of King Ethelin.

Aleksander's best friend, Brogan, and a mated pair of female dragons called Larissa and Madeline, had also followed the young prince. Madeline and Larissa were strangers to them all, but Brogan had learned of their plight and wished to save them. King Boian was intolerant of same-sex relationships, and if the pair had stayed, Madeline and Larissa would never have been allowed to complete the bond Fate had granted them.

Although scared of the unknown, Dravyn had followed Aleksander without regret. They had nothing more than a few coins given to them by Boian's first Duke, Drogo, and the man's advice that they seek the Emperors for succor. Eager to oblige, they had left Court Ethelin, and Aleksander had frozen in pain.

The burning of his eyes had left behind a silver ring around his irises, proclaiming him a King by the law of Fate. D'Vairedraconis was briefly scrawled across his arm, giving them their new name. Although none of them could explain why Aleksander also had a thin circle of gold—a color normally reserved for the Emperors alone—they were pleased to shed anything connecting them to Court Ethelin.

Aleksander's next act had been to appoint Brogan and Dravyn as his Dukes, then they'd flown to the land of Court Draconis. It was a beautiful castle with a foreboding air. They'd known not who to trust, and Aleksander had gone alone to meet with the Emperors. Hours later, they were roused from bed to learn that those same men were now dead.

Not much later, Imperial Duke Bernal announced he believed Aleksander's unique scales were cursed. He and his Dukes had held Aleksander responsible for the atrocity. Bernal insisted Aleksander leave. But the D'Vaires had decided to defy Bernal. Aleksander was a King, and believing in curses was for fools. If Aleksander were to be thrown off the land of Court Draconis, it would be by an Emperor.

Fate had yet to pick the replacement for Emperors Drystan and Conley, so they would await the man's arrival. With little sleep and his head still spinning from all that had happened in his formerly quiet world, Dravyn escaped to a place that brought him comfort. At four years old, following the suspicious deaths of his parents, he was stripped of his honorary title as the son of a Duke and ordered to toil in the garden.

There, Dravyn had learned to love growing things. It had brought him joy. It became his passion. Dravyn had hardly any contact with people and had grown wary of dragonkind. With rich daydreams of gorgeous plants in his head, he'd found happiness, though it was incomplete. Loneliness had eaten at him, but his plants came to his rescue. He could talk to them. They would not judge, admonish, or hurt him.

A quick stroll through the rather small flower garden of Castle Draconis convinced him he may be losing his mind. Something had him craning his head upward, and moments later, a man with a gold circlet of leaves atop his head appeared out of thin air. With his prick hard in his hose, Dravyn breathed in the rich smell of dirt as he stood in the presence of his mate.

The man was not a dragon. His name was Killian. What was he? His senses detected him as a ruler. What business did Dravyn have being connected to one of Fate's chosen? Genuine fear settled into Dravyn's heart as Killian asked for his trust, then somehow made the ground beneath his feet disappear twice.

To Dravyn's horror, he discovered himself in a room full of strangers with the crowned bodies of two men a few feet away. Were those the former dragon Emperors? What was going on? Who were all these people? Both dragon and man were appalled. Gone was the initial thrill of meeting the other half of his soul, and in its place was a spreading terror.

"Who in the name of Fate is this man?" demanded a man in a hideous crown. Like Boian, his eyes were mean. None of them were dragons, though some sense told him the tallest of the bunch was some kind of shifter. His blue gaze lacked the scales of a dragon though. Until a few minutes ago, Dravyn had believed dragon shifters were unique in their ability to shift into beasts. And magick? That was the stuff of fairy tales. Had his mind snapped from the events of the past few days? Was his sanity already too far gone to be saved?

"This is Dravyn," Killian said. His chest puffed with pride. "He is my mate."

"Oh, Killian," a tiny blond woman in a silver-and-gold crown exclaimed. The voluminous folds of her heavy cloak nearly swallowed her up, but there was kindness on her pretty face as she rushed up to Dravyn's mate and took one of his hands in hers. "What grand tidings I wish to give you both. Fate truly intended for us to visit the dragon castle today. I feared all was lost for a moment, but we were not led astray. By what name are you called?"

"Dravyn," he muttered to the wooden floorboards.

"I am Saura."

Dravyn jumped as a thick door swung open and a man barely taller than Saura rushed in. Like her, his hair was golden and full of ringlets. They were clearly related.

"How did you fare?" the man demanded. His deep blue gaze reminded Dravyn of Brogan's beast in color and was full of youth, innocence, and mischief.

"The dragon leaders are dead," someone snarled. Dravyn glanced under his lashes and stared at a man wearing a crown with an otherworldly dark smoke gently rising from it. Like the others, he wore a thick cloak. The lush fabric was jet black and decorated in macabre skulls.

"Dead?" the newcomer asked in shock.

"Fetch your father and brother," Saura ordered. "Decisions must be made. I would have the current and future leaders of the Coven of Warlocks take part in what we decide here today."

"While we wait, may I introduce you to everyone?" Killian asked, taking a cautious step toward Dravyn. Wondering if he would ever return to his family, Dravyn nodded. What other choice did he have? He and his dragon were curious about their mate, but their fear was far greater than anything else. It was imperative that he find a way home as soon as possible, no matter how handsome Dravyn had initially found Killian in the garden. Although his green-brown eyes were alluring, the attraction was lost in Dravyn's fright.

"Saura is Grand Summoner of the Coven of Warlocks. Her mate, Grand Warlock T'Eirick, is being fetched by the eldest of her twins, Dra'Kaedan. His brother is called Dre'Kariston. As the twins were born with the mark of Fate, T'Eirick and Saura will cede their titles to their children when they deem them ready for the mantle of ruling," Killian explained as Saura smiled and nodded.

"At my side is Arch Lich Chander Daray. Chosen at birth by Fate, Chander rules the Order of Necromancia. They have the power to return life to the dead. The tall blond near him is Jarl Kolsten Eldrvalkyria. Like you, he is a shifter. A phoenix. A bird of pure flame. Next, we have Magus Superus Jurdann, the leader of the mages. They master four elements."

Killian waved toward the scowling man in the ugly crown. "Finally, we have Arch Wizard Egidius of Giles. His people are alchemists."

"And you? What do your people do?" Dravyn dared to ask.

"He is Killian the Dwyer," the Arch Lich replied. "The Dwyers lead the Circle of Druids. They nurture the land and can grow anything from nothing."

"Mostly, I am a gardener," Killian added.

That was the first thing Killian had said that had not caused fear to grow in Dravyn's heart. Someone with a love of plants would understand Dravyn's need to find solace in dirt and leaves. But what did nature think of being manipulated by the magick of a sorcerer?

"I'm a gardener too," Dravyn whispered and received a bright smile from Killian.

Dra'Kaedan returned with two dark-haired men. They stood a few inches taller than Dra'Kaedan, but the warlocks did not share the height of dragons. None of the sorcerers in the room were as tall as Dravyn.

"What have you done?" Grand Warlock T'Eirick asked curiously as he approached the dead men laid out on a round table. It was the closest Dravyn had ever been to his former rulers, and he could allow no one—not even the man chosen for him by Fate—to do anything untoward to the former rulers of the dragons.

"They murdered them," Saura explained. "Humans somehow found their way into a castle with thick walls and teeming with dragons."

"Dishonorable," snarled her son, Dre'Kariston.

"They blame a cursed dragon," Arch Wizard Egidius remarked. "Which makes them fools."

Dravyn refused to volunteer that he served the man Imperial Duke Bernal had called cursed in the dead of night. He did not know these people or their intentions. All he could hope was to make it out of the room before his body was added to the table where his former Emperors were resting.

"They should be resurrected," Arch Lich Chander stated emphatically, beginning to pace. "We can give them an army."

"What an opportunity for you," the Arch Wizard replied. "To have an entire second race at your behest."

"You know well that resurrected people need not be beholden to their necromancers," the Arch Lich snarled.

"Then explain the sentinels," Arch Wizard Egidius snapped.

"Without the ruler of the sentinels willing to meet with Chand, he can do nothing to save them," Killian protested while Dravyn wondered what they were talking about. Not brave enough to question this lot, Dravyn focused on controlling his fear so he could find an escape route.

"There is no need to argue," Grand Warlock T'Eirick said. "The dragons cannot help us. They have problems of their own, and we are not looking to add to our woes. If we want defense and we trust these men can do it, Chander's idea is the best we have. Dravyn can counsel us. You are a dragon. Are these men ones of honor?"

Dravyn swallowed thickly. "I know little of the world, but even I have heard the tales of my Emperors. They are noble, but I do not understand your intent."

"I can offer them a second chance to live," Arch Lich Chander explained, though Dravyn still lacked the ability to comprehend the inner workings of magick. He supposed that was understandable. Dravyn had learned of its existence only minutes ago. "A fresh start, though they will not be the dragons that once defined them. We can make them warriors. Give them soldiers. But there are things to consider. It is said among my kind that if we leave them with their memories, they may forget their duties to seek vengeance. We cannot afford war with whoever is responsible for murdering these men."

"It will gain us nothing to wipe their memories, Chand," Saura said. "They are mates. The soul remembers. After they seal their bond again, everything that they were in their previous lives will return to them."

"I fear we must separate them for a time," the Arch Lich commented. "Long enough for the flames of retribution to die."

"How long do you suggest?" Killian asked. "I care not for the idea of tearing apart a matebond."

"A century," Chander replied.

Dravyn took a step forward. Although naturally shy, he could allow no one to be hurt. "You cannot do this. Their rule was a mere fifty years. Yet every tale of my Emperors was of their undying love for one another. They say they were never apart. A hundred years would be cruelty. As a dragon, I…I cannot…I will not allow it."

"Do you think you can stop us?" the Arch Wizard demanded.

Killian took a step forward and blocked Dravyn's view of the cantankerous wizard. "We know nothing of Dravyn's kind. We must heed his words."

The Grand Warlock crossed his arms. "I agree. Put the pair in stasis for a few weeks. It will allow the dragons enough time to find a new leader. Their successors will be responsible for whatever vengeance they feel is necessary. Among us, Drystan and Conley will start fresh. Their minds will be their own. If they are the honorable men we believe them to be, they will turn their attention to the future and the needs of our Council. Their Council now. They will need a new race. One designed by them and brought to life by Chander alone. I want no interference from the necromancer elders."

"They have many years left to counsel Chander in his role," Egidius argued.

"None of them are chosen by Fate. Chand was. They can dislike it all they want. They certainly made the fight to keep his power an unsettling one. I would not be surprised if these two men Chand is about to resurrect find themselves quelling a necromantic uprising of a few scorned elders as their first task," Killian said.

"Settle yourself, Egidius," Saura warned. "We have had this fight before, and I will remind you that you would allow no one to usurp your power. Put yourself in Chand's shoes, and be honest about how you would feel as an Arch Lich forced to cede your power to a group of people who appointed themselves as his elders."

"Can we please get on with this so I can get home?" Arch Wizard Egidius demanded.

"I fear what will happen when Drystan and Conley regain their memories," Arch Lich Chander said.

"If they regain their memories," Killian replied. "Do we know if it is a certainty?"

"Why would you wipe away a life rooted in Fate and love?" Jarl Kolsten asked.

"I believe they will regain their memories fully. Bring them forth as they were," Saura demanded. "Let the lessons they have learned in life guide their hands, and may they be rooted in the love Dravyn speaks of. Give them that gift. You are not asking permission to give them the role of protecting this Council. Expect anger. Confusion. They deserve our understanding. We will give it along with anything else they require."

Dravyn was only slightly mollified by her words. Everything was happening too quickly, and he desperately needed a moment to sort out his thoughts. They were so twisted he feared he would never understand the world again.

But he was given no chance to find his tongue again or to comprehend anything. A thick swirl of black magick hid the bodies of the Emperors murdered the night before, then Dravyn's heart skipped a beat as their chests lifted with heavy breaths. Their wounds disappeared, and Dravyn decided he had either lost his wits entirely or was having a horrible nightmare. His dragon roared in his head.

Both man and beast desperately wanted to escape. The beautiful man with the green-brown eyes frightened Dravyn. Everyone in the room did, and though the thought of returning to Castle Draconis did not appeal, it was far safer than his current circumstance.